ML20032C571
| ML20032C571 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde, Columbia, Diablo Canyon, San Onofre, Humboldt Bay, Rancho Seco, Washington Public Power Supply System, Satsop, Trojan |
| Issue date: | 11/05/1981 |
| From: | Engelken R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE CO. (FORMERLY ARIZONA NUCLEAR, PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO., PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO., WASHINGTON PUBLIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8111100604 | |
| Download: ML20032C571 (9) | |
Text
i putoq'o UNITED STATES e
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h NUCLEAR RESULATORY COMMISSION 3
E REGION V 1450 MANIA LANE SulTE 260 o
WALNUT CHEEK. CALIFORNIA 94594 November 5, 1981
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O MEMORANDUM FOR: ALL THOSE ON IE CIRCULAR DISTRIBUTION LIST
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IE - REGION V
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SUBJECT:
IE CIRCULAR NO. 81-14: MAIN STEAM ISOLATION N
AILURES g,-
TO CLOSE The attached IE Circular No. 81-14 was issued this date to the following licensees:
1.
Arizona Public Service Company (Palo Verde 1, 2 & 3, Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529 & 50-530).
2.
Pacific Cas & Electric Company (Humboldt Bay Unit 3, Diablo Canyon
" nits 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-133, 50-275 & 50-323).
3.
Portland General Electric Company (Trojan, Docket No. 50-344).
4 Sacramento Municipal Utility District (Rancho Seco, Docket No. 50-312).
5.
Southern California Edison Company (San Onofre Units 1, 2 & 3, Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361 & 50-362).
6.
Washington Public Power Supply System (WNP-1, WNP-2, WNP-3, WNP-4
& WhP-5, Docket Nos. 50-397, 50-460, 50-508, 50-509 & 50-513).
Enclosures:
1.
Transmittal Letter 2.
IE Circular No. 81-14 8111100604 811105 DR ADOCK 05000
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p-November 5, 1981 Docket Nos.30-528, 50-529, 50-530 Arizona Public Service Company P. O. Box 21666 Phoenix, Arizona 85036 Attention: Mr. E. E. Van Brunt, Jr.
Vice President - Nuclear Projects Gentlemen:
The enclosed circular is forwarded for your appropefite action. No written response to this circular is required.
If you have :*ny questions related to this matter, please contact this office.
Sincerely, Originar signed by
- 1. L. Crews R. H. Engelken Director
Enclosure:
IE Circular No. 81-14 cc w/ enclosures:
F. W. Hartley, APS G. C. Andognini, APS s
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I SSINS No.: 6835 Accession No.:
I 8107230037 IEC 81-14 UNITED STATES
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMIESION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 i
November 5, 1981 IE CIRCULAR NO. 81-14: MAIN STEAM ISOLATION VALVE FAILURES TO LLOSE I
Description of Circumstances:
Based on data available in Licensee Event Report (LER) files, the failure rate l
of main steam isolation valve; (MSIVs) closing has ranged from a ten-year low Recent failures, similar to those occurring)over of three to fourteen in 1980.
the last ten years, are primarily related to the following two causes:
(1 poor quality control air to the pilot valves and (2) binding of the MSIV valve stems with the valve stem packing.
(Refer to IE Information Notice 80-16 for additional details.) These two failure modes contributed to about 85% of the MSIV failure to close events.
Both causes also represent common-mode failure mechanisms of which two examples occurred in 1980:
(1) two' valves failed to close at Nine Mile Point Unit 1 bacause of rust in the pilot solenoid valves, l
and (2) three valves failed to close at Trojan Unit 1 because of stem binding.
These two failure modes are significant in that; (1) they identify mechanisms by which more than one MSIV may fail to close at the same time thus leading to conditions which have not been considered in 'he plant's safety analyses,* and (2) they are continuing to occur even thou21 orrective actions reported in the LERs indicate that the technology is availabie to prevent such failures.
It was noted that more than half'of the current operating reactor units have not reported any failure;of an MSIV to close 'n ten years, whereas t'1e 28 reporting units experienced at -least 90 failo. s (from all causes). This indicates that major difierences may exist in MSIV reliability and in the quality of support systems and operational controls that affect the MSIV reliability.
Data from the LER files is attached -to show' trends, recent history, and detailed 4
data showing licenste experience:
~
Table 1 - MSIV Failures To Clo.se Per' Year,-shows the ten-year history of all reported failures by three. categories: solenoid or pilot valve related, stem binding, and other. The first two categories account for 92% of the failures.
(The 85% for the two ciauses stated in t"e first paragraph of this circular was obtained by disregarding what appeared to be-truly isolated solenoid or solenoid j
installation failures not related to control fluid quality.)
- Note: The potential for poor quality air leading to multiple valve control failures in other safety-related systems is currently under evaluation by NRC.
1 IEC 81-14 i
November 5, 1981
]
Page 2 of 2 Table 2 - MSIV Failures To Close, by Plant, for 1979 and 1980, shows failure experiences by plant for the last two years.
Table 3 - LER Data, by Plant, on MSIV Failures To Close (1970-1980), is an extraction of all the LER data from 1970 to 1980 that show details of each plants experience. Tables 1 and 2 were developed from data in t._is table.
[
Recommended Actions for Holders of Operatino Licenses:
1.
Keview MSIV operating experience for problems that are causing failure to 3
close events or are causing equipment degradation that requires other than routine maintenance to prevent a failure to close.
I 2.
Evaluate corrective action identified in maintenance records, LERs, etc.,
for adequacy in addressing the root cause of problems and develop plans for i
additional corrective action as necessary.
3.
Where control air quality is suspected of contributing to problems-.
4 Review the air system (s) to ensure that measures have or will be i
a.
taken to prevent air quality degradation in the future.
b.
Consider monitoring and/or alarms (such as dew point alarms) to warn i
of air quality degradation.
4.
When stem binding is contributing to problems, maintenance procedures should be reviewed to ensure that they:
J Include precautions against detrimental affects such as over tightening a.
j packing glands or using inappropriate lubricants.
b.
Require tests to demonstrate that the valves will perform under cperating conditions before being placed in service.
Recommended Action for Holders of Construction Perhits:
1.
Evaluate MSIV control air system designs in light of both successful and unsuccessful industry experience.
2.
Consider design changes where appropriate to ensure high reliability and to minimize or eliminate the commen-mode failure potential present in current designs.
No written response to this~ circular is required.
If you desire additional information regarding these matters, please contact the Director of the appropriate NRC Regional Office.
Attachments:
1.
Tables I, II, III 2.
Recently issued IE Circulars y
TABLE 1 Pilot Valve Stem Year Related Binding Other Total 1970 9
9 71 2
1 3
72 3
3 73 1
1 1
3 74 8 (7) 8 (7) 75 5 (1) 1 6 (1) 76 4 (1) 3 2
9 (1) 77 4 (1) 1 5 (1) 78 5
2 7
79 3 (4) 5 1
9 (4) 80 7
6 1
14 Ten-Year Total 65 (14) 18 7
90 (14)
Sites reporting failures:
22 Reactor units involveo:
28 Numbers in parentheses represent failures listed'in the LERs as previous occurrences but not found reported in other LERs in the file.
TABLE 2 Pilot Valve Stem Year Related Binding Other Total 1979 Point Beach 2 3
3 Quad Cities 1 1
1 Trojan 1 2
2 Vermont Yankee 1
1 Zion 1 1
1 Zion 2 1
1 Total 3
5 1
9 1980 E. I. Hatch 2 1
1 Nine Mile Point 1 2
2 Quad Cities 1 3
3 Trojan 1 4
4 Big Rock Point 1
1.
Monticello 1
1 North Anna 1 1
1 Point Beach 2 1
1 Total 7
6 1
14
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1 of 4 Table 3 LER DATA, PLANT, ON MSIV FAILURES TO CLOSE ( 1970-1980)
Number of Nature of Plant Failt es Failures (Note 1*)
Event Date Notes 2-4*)
(Note 5*)
Manufacturer Beaver Valley 1 09-19-76 1
c Unknown Schutte & Koerting Co.
Big Rock Point 09-06-78 1
b Packing / binding stem Wm. Powell Co.
03-03-73 1
b Packing / binding stem Wm. Powell Co.
11-01-80 1
b Packing / binding stem Wm. Powell Co.
Dresden 1 04-11-73 1
c Unknown Not listed Dresden 2 01-22-71 1
a Air pilot valve / residue Not listed 05-08-70 a
a Pilot valve / clearance Not listed 12-04-70 4
a Pilot valve / thin film Not listed E. 1. Hatch 1 04-17-75 1
a Pilot solenoid / stuck Atwood & Morrill Co.
06-15-75 1(.+1)a Solenoid / debris buildup Automatic Valve Corp, 07-07-75 3
a Solenoid / operated improperly /
Model 443B12 air filters cleaned E. I. Hatch 2 05-21-80 1
a Solenoid / faulty o-ring ASCO H. B. Robinson 2 12-17-78 1
b Packing gland / misadjusted Schutte & Koerting Co.
Haddam Neck 1 01-22-76 1
a Solenoid Valve / frozen moisture Schutte & Koerting Co.
09-16-77 1
b Packing gland /too tight Indian Pcint 3 12-17-76 2
b Packing gland / shaft binding Atwood & Morrill Co.
La Crosse BWR 07-02-71 1
a Pilot valve / residue buildup Not listed
- See footnotes on last page of table.
2 of 4 TABLE 3 (continued)
Number of P3ture of r ilures Failures Plant a
(Note 1*)
Event Date (Notes 2-4*)
(Note 5*)
Manufacturer Millstone 1 11-19-70 1
a Slide valve / failed to vent air Not listed 11-04-74 1(F3)a Pilot valve / crud buildup Numatics 11-15-74 1
a Air slide valve / foreign Numatics material Menticello 1 02-16-74 2
a Solenoid Valves / metal shavings Automatic Valve Corp.
08-17-80 1
a in air nanifold/ Solenoid /part-iculate in solenoid plunger Atwood & Morrill Co.,Inc.
Nir.e Mile Point 1 03-03-80 2
a Pilot valves / rust buildup Numatics North Anna 1 01-10-80 1
c Auxiliary relay /open Westinghouse Electric Corp.
Oyster Creek 1 04-23-77 1
a Solenoid valves /deforr - 1asket Not listed 01-16-74 1
a Pilot valve / residue Numatics 12-29-72 1
a Pilot valve / fine dust Not listad 11-16-71 1
c Dashpot piston / iron cushion spud failure Not listed Peach Bottom 2 11-18-76 1
b Backseat / gouging stem Atwood & Morrill Co.
Peach Bottom 3 01-02-76 1
a Solenoid valve / seat damaged Allied Control Co.
07-22-77 1
a Solenoid valve / winding failure Automatic Valve Corp.
Pilgrim 1 11-16-73 1
a Activator /snall foreign particle Not listed 11-29-72 1
a Pilot valve / stuck Not listed 07-25-74 1
a Spool piece / containment build-up (air system)
Not listed Point Beach 2 02-19-79 2
b Valve Shaft / binding Atwood & Morrill Co.
02-29-79 1
b Packing / binding shaft 09-12-80 1
b Packing / binding shaft
3 of 4 TABLE 3 (continued)
Number.of Nature of Plant Failures Failures (Note 1*)
Event Date (Notes'2-4*)-
(Note 5*)
Manufacturer-Quad Cities 1 09-14-79 1
a Pilot valve / sticking Automatic Valve Co.
02-24-80 1
a
" Pilot valve / blockage 06-21-80 2
a
, Pilot valve / exhaust restrictor Pilot valve / dirt fm instrum.iznt Not listed 11-15-72 1
^ a
, air Quad Cities 2 03-19-76 1
a
-Pilot assembly / foreign material Autonrtic Valve Co.
09 22-77 1
a Pilot valve / damaged o-ring Aut<matic Valve Co.
Surry 2 02-04-76 1-c Disc / binding against body Schutte & Koerting Co.
Trojan 1 02-21-78 1
a' Solenoid valve / rust accumulation Not listed 04-14-79 2;
b Packing / binding Atwood & Morrill 04-11-80 3
b Packing / binding Atwood & Morrill 10-03-80 1
b Component failure (binding of stem?)
Atwood & Morrill Turkey Point 3 10-26-75 1
c Unknown Schutte & Koerting Vermont Yankee 1 02-04-78 1
a Pilot valve / foreign particle Rockwell Mfg.
12-09-77 1(+1)a Pneumatic spool / foreign particle Rockwell Mfg.
04-03-79 1-c Spring / binding on. guide shaft Rockwell International 01-24-74 1
a Pilot valve / sticking Not listed 09-15-74 1(+4)a Pilot valve / failed to actuate Numatics Zion 1 05-06-78 1
a 4-way. directional control valve /
Rexrnth 05-23-79 1(+4)a jammed. hydraulic /DC solenoid /
stuck / hydraulic Teledyne e
4 of 4 TABLE 3 (continued)
Number of Nature of Plant Failures Failures (Note 1*)
Event Date (Notes 2-4*)
(Note 5*)
Manufacturer Zion 2 06-03-76 1(+1)a DC solenoid / corrosion / hydraulic Teledyne 10-15-78 1
a Solenoid valves / Failed to operate 02-05-78 1
a Solenoid valves failed to operate 02-09-79 1
a Solenoid valves / failure to operate /
hydraulic Notes: '1) All data are extracted from the LER file.
- 2) Numbers in parentheses represent "other related failures" mentioned by the LER but not the subject of another LER in the file.
- 3) Numbers greater than one represent several failures being reported by the same LER which frequently, but not necessarily, represent simultaneous failures.
~ 4) The letter "a" represents an input to Table I under " Pilot Valve Related" problems, "b" represents Stem Binding, and "c" represents "Other" on the table.
- 5) Some liberty was taken in interpreting the cause of failure where clear descriptions were not available.
O 1
IEC 81-14 November 5, 1981
' RECENTLY ISSUED IE CIRCULARS Circular Date of No.
Subject Issue Issued to 81-13 Torque Switch Electrical Bypass 9/25/81 All power reactor Circuit for Safeguards Service facilities with an Valve flotors OL or CP 81-12 Inadequate Periodic Test Proce-7/22/81 All power reactor dure in PWR Protection System facilities with an OL or CP 81-11 Inadequate Decay Heat Removal 7/23/81 All BWR facilities with OL or CP 81-10 Steam Voiding in the Reactor 7/2/81 All oower reactor Coolant System During Decay facilities with an Heat Removal Cooldown OL or CP 81-08 Foundation Materials 5/29/81 All power reactor facilities with an OL or CP 81-07 Control of Radioactively 5/14/81 All power reactor Contaminated Material facilities with an OL or CP 81-06 Potential Deficiency Affecting 4/14/81 All power reactor Certain Foxboro 20 to 50 facilities with an Milliamoere Transmitters OL or CP 81-05 Self-Aligning Rod End Bushings 3/31/81 All power reactor for Pipe Supports facilities with an OL or CP 81-04 The Role of Shift Technical 4/30/81 All power reactor Advisors and Importance of facilities with an Reporting Operational Events OL or near-term OL 81-03 Inoperable Seismic Monitoring 3/2/81 All power reactor Instrumentation fac~ilities with an OL or CP 81-02 Performance of NRC-Licensed 2/9/81 All power reactor Individuals While on Duty facilities (research
& test) with an OL or CP OL = Operating License CP = Construction Permit