Information Notice No. 91-01: Supplier of Misrepresented Resistors

                                 UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                    OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
                           WASHINGTON, D.C.  20555
 
                               January 4, 1991
 
 
Information Notice No. 91-01:  SUPPLIER OF MISREPRESENTED RESISTORS 
 
 
Addressees:
 
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power 
reactors.
 
Purpose:
 
This information notice is intended to notify addressees of the potential 
for improperly marked and/or misrepresented resistors from Impala 
Electronics, an electrical parts distributor located in Tampa, Florida.  It 
is expected that recipients of this notice will review the information for 
applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to 
avoid similar problems.  However, suggestions contained in this information 
notice do not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or 
written response is required.
 
Discussion:
 
On September 25, 1990, and on November 15, 1990, the Government-Industry 
Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) office issued Alert data sheets that discussed 
concerns regarding the sale by an electrical parts distributor, Impala 
Electronics, of improperly remarked Qualified Product List (QPL) resistors 
and non-QPL resistors that are misrepresented as QPL resistors.  All 
remarked resistors obtained from or through Impala were identified in the 
Alert to be suspect.  These resistors may be remarked with incorrect 
information that may include failure rate (FR) levels, tolerances, date 
codes, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), etc.
 
In the Alert, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service recommended the 
following actions for the disposition of all remarked products obtained from 
or through this distributor:
 
     a.   All remarked products in stock should be returned to the original 
          manufacturer for replacement or credit, or 
 
     b.   All products in stock should be screened to verify that the TCR 
          and tolerance are correct as marked, or that the parts are usable 
          as is. Because there are no known effective screens to verify the 
          correctness of marked date code or FR level, all parts used, or to 
          be used in applications in which proper date code or FR level are 
          critical should be removed and returned to the manufacturer.
 
 
 
9012270289 
. 
 
                                                            IN 91-01
                                                            January 4, 1991
                                                            Page 2 of 2
 
 
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service has informed the NRC that Impala 
Electronics, known for its responsiveness to requests for quick delivery of 
resistors, was suspended from government contracting in December 1989, 
closed its doors for business as of January 1990, and was indicted in August 
1990.
 
This information notice requires no specific action or written response.  If 
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact 
the technical contact listed below or the appropriate NRR project manager.
 
 
 
 
                              Charles E. Rossi, Director 
                              Division of Operational Events Assessment 
                              Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 
 
 
Technical Contact:  Walter P. Haass, NRR
                    (301) 492-3219
 
Attachment:  List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
.