Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
December 6, 1989
Information Notice No. 89-59, SUPPLEMENT 1: SUPPLIERS OF POTENTIALLY
MISREPRESENTED FASTENERS
Addressees:
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power
reactors.
Purpose:
This information notice is intended to provide supplementary information to
that provided in Information Notice 89-59 which identified the Service
Supply Company as providing fasteners suspected of being misrepresented.
The NRC has been informed by the source of this information that it cannot
be determined that Service Supply Company did in fact supply suspect
fasteners. As a result of Information Notice 89-59, recipients may have
removed Service Supply Company from their approved vendors list. It is
expected that recipients 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.
Background:
On August 16, 1989, the NRC issued Information Notice 89-59 to all holders
of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power reactors.
This notice supplied names and addresses, if known, of companies suspected
of supplying fasteners to the industry that may have been misrepresented,
that is, marked as having a material content and composition different from
the actual content. The information notice was issued to provide to the
nuclear industry the results of NRC's review of fastener test data that the
licensees provided in response to NRC Bulletin 87-02, "Fastener Testing To
Determine Conformance With Applicable Material Specifications." The vendor
names and addresses were taken from this licensee supplied data.
However, in a letter to the NRC dated November 13, 1989, the Omaha Public
Power District (OPPD) clarified that its January 19, 1988, submittal
responding to NRC Bulletin 87-02 did not support the conclusion that the
Service Supply Company was a supplier of fasteners suspected of being
misrepresented. OPPD stated that, although Service Supply Company is its
primary supplier of nonsafety-related
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IN 89-59, Supplement 1
December 6, 1989
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fasteners, other suppliers were also used. OPPD did not segregate the
nonsafety-related fasteners supplied by the Service Supply Company from
those provided by other vendors and therefore cannot positively trace the
fasteners to any supplier.
Discussion:
Over the past several years, various industries, associations, and Federal
agencies have identified the presence of misrepresented fasteners among
fasteners they have procured. Because of the potential safety significance
of this issue, the NRC, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, has been
actively trying to identify suspected suppliers or manufacturers of
misrepresented fasteners. Because of the potential adverse affect of
releasing such information, it is imperative that the information be
correct. In instances such as this, the NRC relies on the licensees to
provide correct information.
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: Gregory C. Cwalina, NRR
(301) 492-3221
Attachment: List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
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