On 22nd November 2002, a safety injection was automatically initiated during hot shutdown conditions by a low pressure in the primary system. A wrongly scheduled test resulted in the opening of one relief valve on the pressurizer. The pressure in the primary system decreased rapidly from 155 bars to about 85 bars. The safety injection signal was actuated as by design at about 120 bars. All safety trains started accordingly injecting water in the primary system. Due to the testing conditions, the operator in the control room was unable to close manually the concerned valve from the control room. Due to communication problems it took 3 minutes to get in contact with the operator performing the test and to close the valve. About 25 m3 of borated water was injected in the primary system. The protection signal that should have closed the discharge line at about 138 bars was inhibited in all safety related trains. This inhibition was not related to the testing conditions. The correct emergency procedures were used by the operators in the control room and, after closure of the discharge valve, the pressure was restored in the primary system. The event was rated at level 2 on INES.
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