Information Notice No. 82-34: Welds in Main Control Panels

                                                           SSINS No.: 6835 
                                                           IN 82-34 

                               UNITED STATES 
                       NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 
                    OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT 
                          WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 

                              August 20, 1982 

Information Notice No. 82-34:   WELDS IN MAIN CONTROL PANELS 

Addressees: 

All holders of a nuclear power reactor operating license (OL) or 
construction permit (CP). 

Purpose: 

This information notice is provided as an early notification of a 
potentially significant problem pertaining to welds in main control panels 
supplied by Systems Control of Iron Mountain, Michigan; Reliance Electric of 
Stone Mountain, Georgia; and Comsip of Linden, New Jersey, to a number of 
operating plants and construction sites. The potential safety significance 
of this problem is still under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) staff. If NRC evaluation so indicates, further licensee action may be 
requested. In the interim, the staff expects licensees to review the 
information herein for applicability to their facilities. No specific action
or response is required at this time. 

Description of Circumstances: 

Inspections at the vendors' facilities have disclosed numerous welding 
practices not in accordance with the American Welding Society (AWS) 
Standards and several quality assurance practices not in compliance with the 
vendors' procedures or NRC requirements. Among these were the following: 

     1.   Certified material test reports not required, not available, or 
          not in accordance with AWS specifications 

     2.   Changes to drawings not properly reviewed and accepted 

     3.   Welding being done by unqualified individuals without qualified 
          procedures and using uncalibrated equipment 

     4.   Poor welds, including lack of fusion, undercuts in excess of 1/32"
          and weld wire remnants from 1/2" to 4" in accepted welds 

     5.   Welding procedure qualification and welder qualification testing 
          required by AWS Standards not accomplished 

     6.   Essential variables as specified by AWS Standards violated 

     7.   Management oversight not accomplished for lengthy periods; lack of
          separate review and approval for Quality Assurance 

     8.   Unidentified weld filler metal used 
     
     9.   Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process used but not documented in
          place of required gas metal arc welding (GMAW) or shielded metal 
          arc welding (SMAW) processes 
.

                                                           IN 82-34  
                                                           August 20, 1982 
                                                           Page 2 of 2 

Since the inspection determined that the non-conforming practices of all 
three vendors are similar and widespread at each manufacturing facility, it 
can be assumed that any panel from these vendors may have defective welds. 
Although the vendors have seismically qualified similar panels, their 
current welding practices and resultant defective welds may affect the 
validity of those qualifications. 

Sites at which defective welds in control panels have been identified are 
Byron 1 and 2, Braidwood 1 and 2, Midland 1 and 2, Vogtle 1 and 2, Callaway 
1, Comanche Peak 1 and 2, and Waterford 3. 

Sites which have received panels which may have defective welds are as 
follows: Wolf Creek; Brunswick 1 and 2; Seabrook; Palo Verde 1, 2, and 3; 
Susquehanna; Three Mile Island 1; Salem 1 and 2; Hope Creek; Monticello; 
Perry 1 and 2; Hatch 1 and 2; Indian Point 2; Shearon Harris 1, 2, 3, and 4;
St. Lucie 2; Shoreham; Virgil Summer; Marble Hill 1 and 2; Dresden; LaSalle;
Clinton; Beaver Valley; and Millstone. 

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact the 
administrator of the appropriate Regional Office or this office. 



                                   Edward L. Jordan, Director 
                                   Division of Engineering and 
                                     Quality Assurance  
                                   Office of Inspection and Enforcement 

Technical Contact:  M. S. Wegner 
                    301-492-4511 

Attachment: 
List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices