Information Notice No. 82-34, Revision 1: Welds in Main Control Panels

                                                            SSINS No.: 6835 
                                                            IN 82-34 Rev. 1 

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

                             September 17, 1982 

Information Notice No. 82-34, REV 1: WELDS IN MAIN CONTROL PANELS 

Addressees: 

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

Purpose: 

This revision is made to provide the specific time period during which   R1
the potentially significant problem pertaining to welds in main          R1
control panels may have existed. The panels of concern were supplied to  R1
a number of operating plants and construction sites by Systems Control   R1
of Iron Mountain, Michigan prior to March 1980; Reliance Electric of     R1
Stone Mountain,  Georgia prior to March 1982; and Comsip of Linden, New  R1
Jersey prior to March 1982. Only those panels manufactured prior to      R1
these dates are now included in the list of sites which may have panels  R1
with defective welds. The potential  safety significance of this problem R1
is still under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff.  R1
If NRC evaluation so indicates, further licensee action may be           R1
requested. In the interim, the staff expects licensees to review the     R1
information herein for applicability to their facilities. No specific    R1
action or response is required at this time.                             R1

Description of Circumstances: 

Inspections at the vendors' facilities conducted in March of 1980        R1
(Systems Control) and March of 1982 (Reliance and Comsip) disclosed      R1
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 obtained, not available,   R1
          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 112" 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 

8208190222  
.

                                                      IN 82-34, Rev 1 
                                                      September 17, 1982  
                                                      Page 2 of 2 

Since the inspection determined that the non-conforming practices of all
three vendors were similar and widespread at each manufacturing          R1
facility, it can be assumed that any panel furnished by these            R1
vendors prior to the respective NRC inspection dates may have            R1
defective welds. Although the vendors have seismically qualified         R1
similar panels, improper welding practices and defective welds prior     R1
to the NRC inspection may affect the validity of those qualifications.   R1

Some control panels were identified during vendor inspections as         R1
having defective welds. Sites which have received panels that may have
defective welds are as follows: Palo Verde 1, 2, and 3; Byron 1 and 2;   R1
Braidwood 1 and 2; Midland 1 and 2; Vogtle 1 and 2; Callaway 1;          R1
Comanche Peak 1 and 2; Waterford 3; Wolf Creek; Brunswick 1 and 2;       R1
Seabrook; Susquehanna; Three Mile Island 1; Salem 1 and 2; Hope Creek;
Monticello; Perry 1 and 2; Hatch 1 and 2; Indian Point 2; Shearon        R1
Harris 1, 2, 3, and 4; St. Lucie 2; Shoreham; Virgil Summer; Dresden;    R1
and LaSalle. 

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