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Home       > Electronic Reading       Room       > Document       Collections       > General       Communications       > Information       Notices       > 2000       > IN 2000-18

UNITED STATESNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONOFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATIONWASHINGTON, D. C. 20555-0001

November 29, 2000
NRC INFORMATION NOTICE     2000-18:     SUBSTANDARD MATERIAL SUPPLIED BY CHICAGO BULLET PROOF     SYSTEMS- Addressees 
- Purpose 
- Description   of Circumstances    - Fort     St. Vrain 
  - Susquehanna 
- Discussion 
Addressees
All 10 CFR(1) Part 50 Licensees and Applicants.All Category I Fuel Facilities.All 10 CFR1 Part 72 Licensees and Applicants.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice to inform addressees of substandard material supplied by Chicago Bullet Proof Systems (CBPS) to Fort St. Vrain and Susquehanna nuclear power plants. It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems. However, suggestions contained in this information notice are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.
Description of Circumstances
CBPS supplied substandard materials to two NRC licensees.
Fort St. Vrain
Public Service Company Colorado (PSCo,) a contractor for the U. S. Department of Energy, the licensee for the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at Fort St. Vrain, notified the NRC that CBPS supplied substandard steel plating for a security alarm station at Fort St. Vrain. CBPS was required to provide a Certificate of Compliance to certify that materials conformed to Underwriters Laboratory (UL) Standard 752, Level 4. This UL Standard was specified on the PSC purchase order. With regard to the steel plating, the purchase order listed Shot-Tex #4 Bullet Resistant Steel Wall Armor (CBPS's proprietary name for material that conforms with UL Standard 752, Level 4). CBPS's subcontractor, Metaltek Fabricating, Inc., actually shipped the steel to Fort St. Vrain. PSC asked CBPS to provide a certified material test report for the steel, but CBPS declined to do so, claiming that the information was proprietary. CBPS told PSC that the material supplied, Shot-Tex #4, conformed to the UL standard and subsequently provided a Certificate of Compliance. PSC had the steel independently tested and determined it to be similar to A-36 type mild carbon steel, which is not in conformance with UL Standard 752, Level 4.
Susquehanna
A contractor for Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L), the licensee for Susquehanna, issued a purchase order to CBPS for a replacement gun port, including a mounting plate and side plate, for the Susquehanna plant. The purchase order specified that the gun port, the mounting plate and the side plate, were to be constructed of Shot Tex #4 Bullet Resistant Steel Wall Armor.

After supplying the gun port to PP&L, CBPS provided PP&L a Certificate of Compliance certifying that the gun port material conformed with UL Standard 752, Level 4. A PP&L metallurgist independently did a nondestructive test of the gun port mounting plate and slide plate. The test showed that the mounting plate had the hardness of A-36 type mild carbon steel, and was not in conformance with UL Standard 752, Level 4.
Discussion
The regulations in 10 CFR 73.51, "Requirements for the physical protection of stored spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste," and 10 CFR 73.55, "Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage," state that structures must be constructed of bullet-resistant material. NUREG-0908, "Acceptance Criteria for the Evaluation of Nuclear Power Reactor Security Plans," states that an acceptable security plan defines bullet-resistant material as capable of resisting a high-power rifle round (Level 4), as described in UL Standard 752.

In the two cases described above, CBPS supplied material that was not in conformance with specifications of the purchase orders and not in conformance with NRC guidance documents (NUREG-0908). CBPS certified by Certificates of Compliance that the steel wall armor material supplied to Fort St. Vrain and Susquehanna conformed with UL Standard 752, Level 4, when in fact metallurgical testing by licensees determined the material to be substandard. PSC's procurement program identified the material as substandard before installing it at Fort St. Vrain. PP&L, after determining that its installed gun port was not in compliance with UL Standard 752, Level 4, took appropriate corrective action.

The NRC staff found that although CBPS was responsible for material certification and verification at the Metaltek facility, CBPS did not adequately perform material quality and chemical verification activities. The NRC also found that CBPS did not typically request certified material test reports for any of the steel used for UL Standard 752, Level 4 applications.

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) or Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) project manager.
/RA//RA/Michael F. Weber, DirectorDivision of Fuel Cycle Safety and       SafeguardsOffice of Nuclear Material Safety and SafeguardsLedyard B. Marsh, ChiefEvents Assessment, Generic Communications          and Non-Power Reactors BranchDivision of       Regulatory Improvement ProgramsOffice of Nuclear Reactor   RegulationTechnical contacts: Joseph Petrosino, NRR301-415-2979E-mail: jjp1@nrc.govEric Benner, NRR301-415-1171E-mail: ejb1@nrc.govRobert Skelton, NRR301-415-3309E-mail: rfs1@nrc.govMichael Warren, NMSS301-415-8098E-mail:   msw@nrc.gov
Attachment:  List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
(ADAMS Accession Number ML003765058)
1. Code of Federal Regulations