Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
SSINS No.: 6835
IN 85-39
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
May 22, 1985
Information Notice No. 85-39: AUDITABILITY OF ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
QUALIFICATION RECORDS AT LICENSEES'
FACILITIES
Addressees:
All holders of a nuclear power reactor operating license (OL) or a
construction permit (CP).
Purpose:
This information notice is being issued to alert licensees of deficiencies
in the implementation of 10 CFR 50.49 requirements at operating facilities.
These deficiencies were identified during recent NRC inspections and relate
to the review and approval of qualification documents by licensees and
auditability of qualification files.
It is suggested that recipients review this notice for generic applicability
to ensure that their equipment files contain adequate and auditable
documentation to support environmental qualification requirements.
Suggestions contained in this notice do not constitute NRC requirements;
therefore, no specific action or response is required.
Description of Circumstances:
On May 23, 1980, the NRC issued Memorandum and Order CLI-80-21 specifying
that all holders of a nuclear power reactor OL or CP must meet the
requirements set forth in Division of Operating Reactors (DOR) guidelines
and NUREG-0588.
In mid-1981, the NRC issued Safety Evaluation Reports (SERs) on
environmental qualification of safety-related electrical equipment to
licensees of all operating plants. Where additional qualification
information was required, licensees were directed to respond to the NRC
within 90 days of receipt of the SER. With technical support from the
Franklin Research Center (FRC), the NRC staff reviewed licensees' submittals
and published the results in Technical Evaluation Reports (TERs). These TERs
became part of the new SERs for each of the 71 operating plants that the
staff reviewed. Subsequently, licensees responded with commitments to
correct specific deficiencies identified in the TERs and schedules of
completion dates to meet the qualification deadline required by 10 CFR
50.49.
8505200590
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May 22, 1985
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The staff has conducted a number of inspections at licensees' facilities to
review licensee implementation of 10 CFR 50.49 requirements and to verify
that TER corrective action commitments are being properly implemented. These
inspections have identified deficiencies in the contents and auditability of
document files used to support equipment qualification. Specific examples
follow:
1. Equipment qualification (EQ) files contained no indication that the
documentation contained in these files had been reviewed by the
licensee or that the licensee had determined the equipment to be
qualified.
2. Handwritten material used to support qualification was not signed or
dated and showed no indication that this material had been verified or
approved.
3. The required postaccident operating time for equipment was not
correlated to qualified life as established in the test report.
4. The qualification of replacement equipment was not upgraded as required
by 10 CFR 50.49. Qualification of some replacement equipment was based
on previously allowed DOR guidelines that stated "equipment is
considered qualified for main steam line break (MSLB) environmental
conditions if it was qualified for a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA)
environment in plants with automatic spray systems not subject to
disabling single component failures." This basis of qualification is
not acceptable without additional justification for replacement
equipment was procured and installed after February 22, 1983.
5. The applicability of generic communications such as vendor technical
letters, Part 21 reports, and NRC information notices and bulletins
affecting qualification and performance of specific equipment were not
considered in establishing and maintaining the qualified status of the
equipment.
6. Certain documents used to support qualification (procurement documents,
test reports, certificates of conformance, vendor correspondence, etc.)
were not contained in the files nor did the files reference where these
documents could be found.
7. Some reports discussed test anomalies and modifications to equipment
during testing but the licensee had not provided evaluations or
analyses to assess the applicability of this information to the
qualification of the installed equipment.
Discussion:
Licensees and permit holders are responsible for the adequacy and
completeness of documents and for the EQ review process used to support the
qualification of safety-related equipment at their facilities. Paragraph (j)
of 10 CFR 50.49 states that a record of qualification, including
documentation in paragraph (d) of the regulation, must be maintained in an
auditable form for the entire period
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IN 85-39
May 22, 1985
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during which the covered item is installed in the nuclear power plant or is
stored for future use. Section 3 of IEEE-323-1971 and 1974 defines auditable
data as information that is documented and organized so as to be readily
understandable and traceable to permit independent verification of
inferences or conclusions based on the information.
An EQ test report, in and of itself, does not completely support a
determination that equipment is qualified. In order to ensure that
plant-specific requirements are adequately considered, the following types
of additional information may be needed: (1) required postaccident operating
time compared to the duration of time the equipment has been demonstrated to
be qualified; (2) similarity of tested equipment to that installed in the
plant (e.g., insulation class, materials of components of the equipment, and
tested configuration); (3) evaluations of the adequacy of test conditions,
aging calculations for qualified life, and replacement, interval
determination; (4) effects of decreases in insulation resistance on
equipment performance; (5) evaluations of test anamolies; and (6)
applicability of EQ problems reported in IE information notices and
bulletins and their resolution.
No specific action or written response is required by this notice. If you
have any questions concerning this notice, please contact the Regional
Administrator of the appropriate NRC regional office or this office.
Edward L. Jordan, Director
Division of Emergency Preparedness
and Engineering Response
Office of Inspection and Enforcement
Technical Contact: G. T. Hubbard, IE
(301) 492-9759
Attachment: List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices