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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
| Office of Public Affairs |
Telephone: 301/415-8200 |
| Washington, DC 20555-001 |
E-mail: opa@nrc.gov |
RIV: 96-52 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Breck Henderson September 9, 1996
OFFICE: 817/860-8128
PAGER: (800) 443-7243 (065477)
NRC PROPOSES TO FINE ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE $50,000
FOR VIOLATION OF MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has informed Entergy Operations, Inc., the
operator of Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) near Russellville, Ark., that it has proposed a
$50,000 fine against the company for violating NRC maintenance requirements at ANO Unit
1.
The problem occurred when ANO Unit 1 reactor automatically shut down May 19 and one
main steam safety valve failed to close, causing one of the plant's two steam generators to boil
dry. NRC inspectors determined that faulty maintenance performed on the main steam safety
valve caused the malfunction.
No radiation was released from the plant, but the dry steam generator complicated
recovery from the reactor shutdown and plant conditions caused operators to declare a Notice
of Unusual Event, the NRC's lowest level of emergency response. NRC inspectors noted that
operators at ANO Unit 1 responded well to the event and the challenges it created.
The NRC sent an augmented inspection team to ANO May 22-24 and conducted further
inspections July 12 to August 2. An enforcement conference was held August 26 at which
Entergy and NRC officials discussed circumstances surrounding the apparent violation.
Information from the inspections and the conference led the NRC to conclude that the
main steam safety valve, which is designed to open to protect the steam generator from
overpressure when the reactor is shut down from full power, failed to close because a cotter
pin that should have held a nut in a manual lifting device in place had not been properly
engaged following maintenance on the valve. The unpinned nut had worked its way into a
position that caused the valve to jam open.
Further inspections found that cotter pins on at least two other main steam safety valves
were not fully engaged, and that there was a potential for both steam generators to have been
affected. This could have presented a more difficult challenge to plant operators to safely
cool the reactor after the automatic shutdown.
NRC Regional Administrator L. Joe Callan, in a letter to Entergy Vice President J.W.
Yelverton, said the Severity Level III violation and civil penalty are being imposed "[T]o
emphasize the importance of proper maintenance on safety-related components, including the
need to identify problems encountered during the performance of such maintenance."
Entergy has 30 days to respond to the NRC's Notice of Violation. During this time it may
pay the civil penalty or protest it. If the protest is denied the company may ask for a hearing.
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