Headquarters Daily Report
FEBRUARY 02, 1999
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REPORT NEGATIVE NO INPUT
ATTACHED INPUT RECEIVED RECEIVED
HEADQUARTERS X
REGION I X
REGION II X
REGION III X
REGION IV X
PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION III FEB. 02, 1999
Licensee/Facility: Notification:
MR Number: 3-99-0004
Midwest Testing, Inc. Date: 02/01/99
Bridgeton,Missouri Telephone notification at 10:30 a.m
Dockets: 03032036 License No: 24-24619-02
Subject: STOLEN CAMPBELL-PACIFIC NUCLEAR PORTABLE MOIST. DENS.GAUGE FOUND
Discussion:
The licensee reported to Region III that a Campbell-Pacific Nuclear (CPN)
portable moisture density gauge, Model CPN-131, containing 10 millicuries
(370 MBq) cesium-137 and 50 millicuries (1.85 GBq) americium-241 had been
found by a West Virginia Highway Patrol State Trooper in a pile of
garbage dumped in a ravine on the side of a highway near Charleston, West
Virginia. In December, the licensee reported the device had been stolen
from the licensee's locked construction trailer at a temporary job site
during the evening of December 13, 1998, or early morning of December 14,
1998 (PNO-III-98-059).
The gauge did not appear to be damaged and survey results did not
indicate any unusual readings. The gauge was taken to the West Virginia
Highway Department for storage and the licensee's radiation safety
officer (RSO) was notified. The RSO plans to leak test the gauge and if
results are negative, ship the gauge to the manufacturer for disposal.
Regional Action:
A follow-up 30-day written notification to the Region will be forwarded.
Contact: Bob Hays (630)829-9819
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REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2, 1999
Licensee/Facility: Notification:
Southern California Edison & San MR Number: 4-99-0003
Diego Gas & Electric Co. Date: 02/01/99
San Onofre 2 RESIDENT INSPECTOR
San Clemente,California
Dockets: 50-361
PWR/CE
Subject: UNUSUAL EVENT DECLARED FOR LOSS OF SHUTDOWN COOLING GREATER
THAN 10 MINUTES (EVENT NUMBER: 35336)
Discussion:
On February 1, 1999, at 9:59 a.m. (PST), a loss of shutdown cooling
occurred at San Onofre Unit 2. The facility was in Mode 6, with
refueling in progress. At the start of the event, the Train A 4.1 kV
Vital Bus 2A04 was being fed from the off-site transmission system via
the unit auxiliary transformer. Train A Bus 2A04 was the protected
supply to the operating shutdown cooling pump (used to cool the reactor
coolant system) and to the operating containment spray pump (used to cool
the spent fuel pool).
The licensee was implementing a clearance order so that maintenance could
be performed on the reserve auxiliary transformer, which was an alternate
power supply for Train A 4.1 kV Bus 2A04. Breakers on the high and low
side of the transformer had been opened and a ground buggy had been
installed on the high side of the reserve transformer. The clearance
called for racking out the Train A 4.16 kV breaker to the reserve
auxiliary transformer. While attempting to rack out the breaker,
electricians noted that the breaker was stuck and would not disengage. In
the end, the breaker remained fully racked in.
Discussions were held and the licensee incorrectly decided that
discharging the closing springs would prevent the breaker from
inadvertently closing, while attempting to rack the breaker out.
Operators and electricians believed that pushing the button that
discharges the closing springs would not cause the breaker to close,
because they had pushed the button with the breaker racked out and the
springs discharged without closing the breaker. However, the
electricians pushed the button and the breaker closed. This resulted in
the completion of the circuit between the offsite transmission system and
the ground buggy installed on the high side of the reserve transformer,
generating a fault.
Preliminarily, the licensee believes that the fault was cleared by the
loss of voltage relays on Bus 2A04. All of the supply breakers for Bus
2A04 tripped open, except the breaker to the reserve transformer. This
breaker was in an off normal configuration (closed) with the control
power fuses removed due to the actions of the electricians described
above; therefore it could not open. As designed, the emergency diesel
generator for Bus 2A04 started but did not tie to the bus because of a
protective interlock that prevents more than one feed to the bus at a
time. The operators secured the emergency diesel generator because other
safety loads such as the emergency diesel generator auxiliaries were
lost.
REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 FEBRUARY 2, 1999
MR Number: 4-99-0003 (cont.)
The licensee evacuated the Unit 2 containment as required by the abnormal
operating instruction for loss of shutdown cooling. Operators declared
an Unusual Event at 10:09 a.m., and restored shutdown cooling at
10:25 a.m. Heatup of the reactor coolant system and the spent fuel pool
was minimal during the period that the shutdown cooling and containment
spray pumps were not operating (2 - 3 degrees F).
The licensee exited the Unusual Event at 10:40 a.m. The licensee
continues to investigate the exact cause for the loss of Vital Bus 2A04
and the failure of the emergency diesel generator to load onto the bus.
Regional Action:
NRC inspection of the event and its causes will continue.
Contact: Linda J. Smith (817)860-8137
Jim Sloan (949)492-2641
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