NS SAVANNAH PRIMARY COOLANT PUMP REPLACEMENT. PART 1: PUMP FAILURE AND INVESTIGATION

As a result of failure of two of the N.S. Savannah's four canned rotor primary coolant pumps, all four primary system pumps were replaced. This report covers the failure of the pumps and the subsequent investigation into the cause of failure. While the exact cause of the failure is somewhat uncertain, the failures apparently occurred during the 60 psi leak rate testing of the containment vessel. The mechanism of the failure is believed to the inward deformation of the thin Inconel stator can due to lower pressure in the primary system than was present in the stator space. This allowed the pump rotor to contact the stator can and wear through the can wall, permitting primary system water to enter the stator windings, shorting out the pump. Contributing factors might have been the relatively large amount of air present in the primary system during the leak rate test and a drop in primary system pressure during a loss of electrical shore power.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document is available for review at the Department of Commerce Library, Main Commerce Building, Washington, D.C., under reference number STS-72.
• Corporate Authors:

  Savannah Technical Staff

  Maritime Administration and Atomic Energy Commission
  Washington, DC  United States 
• Publication Date: 1966-2

Media Info

• Pagination: 2 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Equipment maintenance; Failure analysis; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear powered ships; Nuclear reactors
• Old TRIS Terms: Nuclear reactor accidents; Nuclear reactor maintenance
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00027585
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Maritime Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: STS-72
• Contract Numbers: NP-16299 (Pt 1)
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 9 1973 12:00AM