Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
SSINS No: 6835
IN 86-03
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
WASHINGTON, DC 20555
January 14, 1986
Information Notice No. NO 86-03: POTENTIAL DEFICIENCIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALIFICATION OF LIMITORQUE MOTOR VALVE
OPERATOR WIRING
Addressees:
All nuclear power reactor facilities holding an operating license (OL) or a
construction permit (CP)
Purpose:
This notice is provided to alert recipients of potential generic problems
regarding the environmental qualification of electrical wiring used in
Limitorque motor valve operators It is expected that recipients will review
this information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions,
if appropriate, to preclude a similar problem occurring at their facilities
However, suggestions contained in this notice do not constitute NRC
requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required
Description of Circumstances:
On September 30, 1985, Commonwealth Edison (Zion Generating Station)
reported to the NRC that it had discovered four Limitorque motor-valve
operators with jumper wires different from those tested by Limitorque in its
environmental qualification program Subsequently, the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) notified the NRC that the manufacturer of the internal
control wiring of its Limitorque operators at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant either
could not be identified or qualification could not be established where the
manufacturer was known Similar circumstances have recently been identified
at other nuclear plants
Discussion:
The results of NRC inspections at Limitorque and TVA have determined that
even though Limitorque has conducted environmental qualification testing of
motor valve operators, the qualification test reports do not specifically
address wiring or wiring qualification Limitorque has installed wires from
several different manufacturers in safety-related operators
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IN 86-03
January 14, 1986
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Limitorque stated that it can provide or reference documentation to support
qualification of wires it has installed; however, valve manufacturers,
licensees, and/or others may have added additional wires that are not
qualified by this data The NRC physical inspection of Limitorque operators
at the Sequoyah plant determined that some valve operators contained wires
not qualified by the Limitorque tests
The NRC staff considers the resolution of this issue to be part of the
licensee's environmental qualification program to establish and maintain the
qualified status of electrical equipment within the scope of 10 CFR 5049
Because qualification of Limitorque installed wiring may be based on
separate qualification tests of wire, it is important that adequate analyses
have been performed and that documentation exists to demonstrate that the
separate wire qualification tests encompass the parameters for the valve
operator qualification If additional wiring has been added or replaced
after operator shipment from Limitorque, then additional documentation may
be appropriate for establishing qualification of the additional wires and
subsequently the valve operators for the valve operator specific
application
No specific action or written response is required by this information
notice If you have any questions about this matter, 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 Hubbard, IE
(301) 492-9759
Attachment: List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices
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