ATWS Event at Salem

GENERIC IMPLICATIONS OF ATWS EVENTS AT SALEM — OPERATIONAL QA PROGRAMS... 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "NRC Fact-Finding Task Force on the ATWS Events at Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1, on February 22 and 25, 1983," USNRC Report NUREG-0977, published March 1983. 

Other pressurized water reactors (PWRs) have experienced reactor trip breaker failures, both before and after the February 1983 Salem 1 events. None of them however, involved an ATWS event. The reactor trip breaker failures prior to the February 1983 events at Salem 1 had been the subject of several actions taken since 1971 by the AEC/NRC, Westinghouse, and General Electric. 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "Generic Implications of ATWS Events at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant," USNRC Report NUREG-1000, Vol. 1, (April 1983). 

However, major events at the Browns Ferry 3 BWR and the Salem 1 PWR soon provided significant motivation for resolution to the ATWS issue. 

Due to the serious nature of Salem 1 ATWS event, the NRC issued Inspection and Enforcement Bulletin No. 83-01 on the same day (on February 25,1983) to all PWR licensees for action and to other nuclear power reactor facilities for information. Subsequent initiatives on the part of NRC and industry identified and corrected potential deficiencies in reactor trip breakers and related maintenance procedures at several other plants as described in Appendix 2B. 

Because of previously identified problems at Salem and the licensee s failure to recognize that an ATWS event had occurred on February 22, 1983, the NRC did not permit the Salem plants to restart until both technical and... 

As noted previously, the Salem 1 licensee failed to recognize on February 22, 1983, that an ATWS event had occurred. This was due to the lack of a thorough and systematic review to achieve the necessary understanding of the event. This, and previously identified problems at Salem, indicated the need for both a number... 

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