. - - - - . -- _- -

, . .

fn

t,

!

i k

W8LF CREEK !e

' NUCLEAR OPERATING CORPORATION.

b}John A. Bailey '

Vice PresidentOperations {

i

August 29, 1991 !

NO 91-0237

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory ConunissionATTH: Document Control DeskMail Station F1-137Washington, D. C. 20555

Subject: Docket No. 50-482: Licensee Event Report 91-012-00

Gentlemen:

The attached Licensee Event Report (LER) is being submitted pursuant to10 CFR 50.73 (a) (2) (1) concerning a Technical Specification violation.

Very truly yours,

,. 1

ed' } [l1 -"

/

|John A. Bailey

I'-

---Vice PresidentOperations

JAB /aem

Attachment

.cca L. L. Gundrum (NRC), w/aA. T. Howell (NRC), w/aR. D. Martin (NRC), w/aW. D. Reckley (NRC), w/a

id'5885Zi88E82 ga5 -

' '0 B * d" ' Burlingt n. KS 66839 : Pharie- (316) 364-8831

An Equal Opportunity Emptayer M F HC. VET /

. . _ . . . ._ . _ . . _ - -

e J

&

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER).

mcun NAMtor. |tuui %usH a0 ! 5 | o Loloj 4 | 8J 2disr]u'Q3

i .s , t

Wolf Creek Generating Station' ''' E (') Failure to Follow Procedures Results in Failure to Log Control Rod Position

Comparisons While Rod Deviat!on Monitor Was InoperablerVENT DATE th> LE R NUMinE R 16) | Rt WMf DAT E (7) | O'HF R F ACim[ S INVOL Vf D'I81

twv u4 i (**w * H N6?/;7p .i "4g jum4- o tilAJA1A1_LL

am4 - my van vtAn

1 1i

0|7 3|0 91 9 |1 - 0 |1 !2 - 0 !O |0!8 2|9 9 |1_ [Ctw4 por w mw. o, f% Wetry) {t1I

o isj ojoj o ! J l |

oPEFET M THis REFaOR1 IS SutWT1 ED PU43uAN1 TO THE F4LCASRt MLNTS OF 10 CfH

WE R 1_

20 402N y 20 mic) 60 73!.H2mv) 73 7IN

oc) 1IOl0_

20.405(ay1)(i) 50 36(c)O) 50 73ta)(2)(v) 73 7t(c)

20 06isu o m y 30 3ecH2i.-

20 405(nH1)!M) ! 60 73iah?)U),_

50 73(an2)(v,o_

arafi ,sg,c,,, m 43a,,ac,

M* "W # I''I NRC F am60 73; AK2Hvm4 A)

f.@ 20 405(a)O lps). 1 ma,-

bc 73(a H2)(.t} 50 73(a)(2)(vm)(0)s 3 ;

20 405(authvi } $0 73 tali?)m) 50 73;at(2Ha)

LICENSE f CONTAC7 foH This t f R 0?)

Nu 4 In to na u usr A

f Art A CLXi-Merlin G. Williams - Manager Plant Support _ _ _, ., _ _ _ _ . _ , [3 L1_16. 3 LG L4.L j 6 L013 L1

C(w1ETE CNE Lht FOR E ACH COMWJNF NT F AILLIRE DESCRitM'O N THis H[ R1RT 0 3)" ' \ ,CAAE SMM | CO404NT

AOCA WE SYSTEM RMud NTg

1IDfC!T!BI C l4 :9 [3 N ! l I ! I _[ l l_X ^

s ,

- .. .,_. -_. E 1e

SUPPLF{T/L FiE FORT EXPECTED 04) EXI4CTED !W MT M4u m ss a;

R ves a r s cmu,. expecrto stasu:ssioN oa re> .XNo | dan os> | L_L<

,ss-a-, ,. ,- -.a ...a-.,~,,-an.-.,,,..,,.~~a, v ,,

During the pericd of July 30, 1991, at approximtely 0900 CUT through July31, 1991, at approxinntely 0748 cur, the four-hour camparison of control roddemand position to digital position indication was not perforurxl as theresult of misinformtion concerning the operability of the rod positiondeviation nonitor. This condition is contrary to Technical SpocificationSurveillance Requirment 4.1.3.2. Although the monitor was not operable,the annunciator fed by the rod position deviation nonitor would have alarnodcorrectly.

'Ihe misinformtion occurred because personnel had overlooked four failedpulse counter cards. When the cards failcd on July 18, 1991, a CorrectiveWork Request was not initiated. The individuals involved have beencounseled and proccdural guidance will be enhanced.

.

._ -

[. .

.

.

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER) !

TEXT CONTINUATION ,

,

i

+wv=m nummem jf*m m _ wo i

%',"M DUM i=:

_ olf Creek Generating Station l o [5] oloJoM8MhlQ)1kl0_jf_132 or ghwnx, or ~ we e n 1 ~ oamw w rn w e) on

[

i

WIN 00terim )i

During the pariod of July 30, 1991, at approximately 0900 CDT through July !

31, 1991, at appmximately 0748 CUT, the four-hour cognrison of contml Itd !damnd position to digital position indicaticn was not perfonted as the ;

msult of misinfornation concerning the operability of the trd positiondeviation nonitor (IB-MON). Technical Specification (T/S) Surveillance |Requirutent 4.1.3.2 states that each digital rod position indicator shall be

,

determined to be operable by verifying that the Dannd Position Indication [Systan and the Digital Rcd Position Indication Systan agroo within 12 stepsat least once per 12 hours except during tine intervals when the md

3

position deviation nonitor is inoperable. The sutveillance ruquimient istates that couparison of the Denand Position Indication Systan and theDigital Rod Position Indication Systen is to to perfonrad at least once por '

4 hours while the trd position deviation nonitor is inoperable. 7he ird t

position deviation nonitor mceives data from various Nuc3 ear Plant ?

Infornation Systan (NPIS) couputer [ID-CPU) points. When rod novenent i

occurs, the NPIS ca1puter nonitors the notion of the rod novatent through jpulse counter cards [ID-C7R] and transmits an alann condition to Annunciator79C, "RPI DEV OR PR TILT" {IB-ANN] when a deviation occurs. 7herefom thefailure to satisfy T/S Surveillance Requirutent 4.1.3.2 during this period '

is being reported in accordance with 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(1) as a condition ,

prohibited by the plant's T/S. !

|,

DESCRIPPKN OP IWFNIS

In April 1991, the process of installing a new NPIS camputer was initiated. I

Throughout the canputer installation process, the Control IKxxn operators i

have been periodically perforndng the portions of off-nonal pmceduru OFN00-023, " Loss of NPIS Camputer" as ITquimd by * ,3 status of the caqmter .

installation. i

During the installation of the NPIS canputer, two failures that affected theoperability of the position deviation nonitor weru identified. 7he firstfailure involved the intennittent failure of Multiplexer "E" [ID-MPX] to "

comunicate with the couputer. Multiplexer "E", which receives data input ,

| and transmits the data to the canputer via a camunication line, contains '

the prinary and secondary plant data needed for the canputer to cauplete'

various calculations including red deviation. 7he second failum identifiedinvolved four failed pulse counter cards which partially disabled the;

canputer's ability to nonitor the notion of certain control rod groups ard .

certain shutdown Danks. The pulse counter cards accept electrical pulses '

fran the field, and in the control rod groups and shutdown banks,

,

_ .___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

- - ._ - - - .

.

.

LICENSEE EVENT REFORT (LER) !TEXT CONTINUATION

mu%mm tum seu.9 **wm__ us_

%AT ' "4NM"

Wolf Creek Generating Station } o I s I o I o I o ! 4_18_L2_1]lipjlj2_[_J.jLd1 o_id3_nxt tu more aw e em u euww wc 1m num n

it

cmputer application, a pulse point is used for nonitoring each inward or [outerd notion. On July 18, 1991, at appmxinntely 1555 CDr, Control Romt i

operators wre notified that Instrunnntation and Controls (I&C) cmputer |personnel had detennined that sme of the pulse points on four of the pulso !

counter cards had failed. Wis failure caused inoperability of the rodposition deviation nonitor. We Control Rom operators initiated four-hour

;

logging of the comparisons of control red dmund position to digital ;

position indication. Uhis logging was being used to dmonstrate cmplianco |with T/S Surveillance Requirment 4.1.3.2 during tine intervals when the rud :position acviation nonitor m s inoperable. t

i

On the norning of July 30, 1991, the Fhnager I&C discussed the status of theNPIS cmputer with I&C cmputer group puonnel. We I&C cmputer grouppersonnel indicated that the NPIS ccrputer was functioning correctly. .

Subsequently during thn daily nanacamnt neeting, the neal for logging rod [positions every four houre wn uiscussed. We Manager I&C indicated that he ;

did not know why the rod positions were still being logged since he believed -

this cmputer application to be working properly,,

As a result of this discussion during the daily nanagment neeting, the !

thnager Operations representative that had attended the noeting contactcd j

the Control Room operators at 0900 CDP to notify thm that they could i

discontinue four-hour logging of the comparisons of control red dmand ?

positions to digital position indication since Multiplexer "E" was '

performing satisfactory. We Control Rom operators then discontinued iour- ;

hour logging of rod positions. ;

Subsequently, an 1&C cmputer analyst, who recalled that the four pulse ;

counter cards had not been mpaired yet, becane aware that Control Romi '

operators wre no longer lcxjging rod position comparisons. On July 31,.

1991, at approxinately 0748 CDr, the I&C cmputer analyst notified Control !

Rom operators that the rod position deviation nonitor was not fully ;

operable because of the failed pulse counter cards. Upon roceipt of this ;infouration, Control Room operators re-initinted the four-hour logging of i

the cmparisons of control rod dmund position to digital positionindication.

!

Se four pulse counter cards were subsequently repalmd and were re- [

installed and verified to te operating properly on August 5,1991. Thecagnrison of control red dmand position to digital position indicarlon was ,

properly perfarned throughcut the period of July 31,1991, at 0900 CUT '

through August 5, 1991.,

1

,

4

- . _ _ _ .. __. _ _ . _ _

. .

.

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER)TEXT CONTINUATION.

mm om-~ -mm._ ~m__Q|@ i "g @_um

_

Wolf Creek Generating Station o i s j o l o Lo_Luaj 2 3 !1 0 la lLlolg_altattd1-

nxr or w. we e m v.* amame vm mnn

!

IYUP CNER AND COlm!UPJVR JCPTORS *

,

Review of this event has identified several factors which contributed to the,

failum to satisfy the surveillance Itquirment. We portion of the NPIScomputer that nonitors for rod position deviation ms turned over to Control

|Roan operators on June 28, 1991, following successful functional testing.Procedure AD4 01-042, " Plant Modification Request Implamntation," statesthat portions of plant nrxiifications nay be placed in-service prior to thecompletion of the enti.m nocification. Procedure AD4 01-042 also indicatesindi m ctly that a W rk Request that is initiated for the purposes ofimplemating a nrxilfication nay not be used for the cormction ofnonconformances. Procedure AD4 01-057, " Work Request", states that aCorrective Work Request is to be used for nonconfonmnce msolution. Wefailure of the pulse points and subsequent repair, re-installation andtesting was docunented by the inappropriate addition of a Work RequestContinuation Sheet to the Work Raquest for installation of the NPIScunputer. Werefore, one factor which contributed to this event was a

'

failure to initiate a Corrective Work Request when the four failed pulsecounter cards were discovered. W e inappropriate use of work controls setthe stage that allowed Control Roan operators to rely solely on vertalcomunications concarning the operability of this equipmnt. 'Ib ensureCorrective Work Requests are used for any future nonconformance resolutionfor modifications which have been partially placed in-service, procedure AD401-042 will be revised to specifically state this requirmunt. %1srevision will be coupleted ry Novanber 1,1991. We I&C personnel who didnot use the app mpriate work controls as required have been counseled on theproper use. Additionally, Control Roan operators will require affirnationfran the work groups that the appropriate work control docunent is in theclosure process when they receive verbal comunications concerningoperability of equipmnt. As an verall enhancamnt, an evaluation of thecanputer software work controls will be conducted and enhancsentsimplmented where appropriate.

Another factor that contributed to this event was the naturn of the pulsecounter card failures. Although the failed pulso points would not monitor achange in rod positions, the actual positions of the rods were beingindicated. Werefore, when the Control Roan operators were notifial thatAnnunciator 79C was perfonning correctly, the NPIS cunputer points which arefed by the pulse points did appear to be perfornting cormctly.Additionally, even though the failed pulse points would have resulted infailure to update sane of the positions, Annunciator 79C would have alarnedhad a deviation of greater than 12 steps occurred, thereby alerting theControl Roan operator to the deviation. A review of recent problems withAnnunciator 79C found that on July 12, 1991, during the perfornance ofsurveillance procedure STS SF-001, " Control and Shutdown Rod OperabilityVerification," the on-duty Supervising Operator (50) displayed the NPIS

i

_ _ _ . _ - _ .-. ._ _ _ . .-

- .oi

i.

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER) i

TEXT CONTINUATION i;-

wun va ps tum mm a g3 y u muy_ m on ,

N#5tN _[ "rONE"

:

Wolf Creek Generating Station olsloloto m atta k M 1|2 -

0 lo ol5 0IS !o'itx1 g on .w. = -34 4 urw we r- m s; on

;.

!

cmputer points that indicate rod positions to verify that the points had !'been updated to reflect the as-left rod positicns. Mtile viewing this

display which includes all inputs to Annunciator 79C, the SO observed thatthe output to Annunciator 79C was irdicating an alarm condition even though !Annunciator 79C had not activated. As a result of this observation, the S0 !

contacted I&C cmputer personnel and declarud Annunciator 79C inoperable at i

1330 CDr. Troubleshooting activities by I&C cmputer personnel wereinitiated. At 1752 CDP, the NPIS carputer appeared to ba functioning |properly and at 1802 CDP, Annunciator 79C was decland operable. Frm the ;

inform tion available about this July 12,1991 prob 1m with Annunciator 79C,it is unknown if the pulse points were operating properly at that tine. |Surveillance procedure STS SF-001 will be revised to include a check of ;

these NPIS cmputer points to verify that the points are updating as the'

rods are cycled. 'Ihis revision will be campleted by October 1,1991.,

Am1TRNAL INFmMATICN !:

During the interval that four-hour cmparisons of the danmd position to the ,

!digital position indication were not perforned as Inquired by 'Ibchnical'Specification Surveillance Requirment 4.1.3.2, the unit ves operated in .

Mode 1, Power Operation, at 100 percent reactor power. 'Ihroughout this |interval Annunciator 79C would have alarmed had a rod deviation of gmater jthan 12 steps occurred, thereby alerting Control Rom operators to thecondition. % erefore, there was no threat to the health and safety of the

'

public.

We pulse counter cards are manufactured by Cmputer Products Incorporated, '

mcdel number 7437/33-014. W e cause of the failure of the pulse counter jcards was indeterminate.

'

,

mere have been no previous similar occurnmces.,

-

,!

t

I

s

i

|-

.

k

_ - - - ---