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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 | | CONTACT: |
Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov |
or vld@nrc.gov
I-96-58 September 4, 1996
Contact: Diane Screnci FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Victor Dricks
NRC SENDS AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM TO HADDAM NECK NUCLEAR PLANT
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has sent an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT)
to look into the circumstances surrounding events at the Haddam Neck nuclear power plant in
Haddam, Connecticut. The team began its work yesterday.
Over the weekend, the licensee responded to multiple events, which occurred with the
plant shut down. The licensee discovered seepage from a valve in the residual heat removal
(RHR) system, which is designed to control the temperature of the reactor coolant system during
shutdowns and refueling operations. While trying to find the source of the seepage, they found
indications one of the RHR pumps was not operable.
In a separate event, operators also found that nitrogen from the volume control tank was
leaking through a closed valve into the reactor coolant system, forming a bubble at the top of the
vessel. Operators found the condition while preparing to remove the reactor head during a
refueling outage. They responded by stopping the nitrogen leak and adding water to stabilize
water level in the reactor. There is no indication the event adversely affected the reactor coolant
system.
Because the events are complex and the probable causes are difficult to understand, the
NRC staff has sent six inspectors to the site to review the causes and safety implications.
The team has been directed to develop a sequence of events; assess the shutdown risk and
recovery actions available to the operators; assess the quality of the operator actions, procedures,
and training; assess the operator actions taken to identify and respond to the events; assess the
quality and timeliness of the response by Haddam Neck management; conduct a root cause
analysis; and review these events for generic implications. The team will issue a report in about
30 days.
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