L-87-313, Provides Addl Info in Response to NRC 870609 Request Re Use of Boraflex Poison Matl in Spent Fuel Storage Racks at Plant.Util Completed Review of Possible Options If Degraded Boraflex Discovered by Surveillance Program
| ML17342A818 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Turkey Point  |
| Issue date: | 07/27/1987 |
| From: | Woody C FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM) |
| References | |
| L-87-313, NUDOCS 8707310319 | |
| Download: ML17342A818 (6) | |
Text
ACCESSION NBR:
FAC IL: 50-250 50-25i AUTH. NAME MOODY'. O.
REC IP. NAME REGULATORY NFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SY EM (RIDS) 8707310319 DOC. DATE: 87/07/27 NOTARIZED:
NO DOCKET 0 Turkey Point Planti Unit 3i Florida Power and Light C 05000250 Turkey Point Planti Unit 4i Florida Power and Light C 0500025i AUTHOR AFFILIATION Florida Power 5 Light Co.
RECIPIENT AFFILIATION Document Control Branch (Document Control Desk)
SUBJECT:
Provides addi info in response to NRC 870609 request re use of boroflex poison matl in spent fuel storage racks at plant. Util completed review of possible options if degraded borof 1 ex discovered bg survei 1 lance program.
DISTRIBUTION CODE:
AOOiD COPIES RECEIVED: LTR l
ENCL 0 SIZE:
TITLE:
OR Submittal:
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REC IP IENT ID CODE/NAME PD2-2 LA McDONALDID COPIES LTTR ENCL RECIPIENT ID CODE/NAME PD2-2 PD COPIES LTTR ENCL INTERNAL: ARM/DAF/LFMB NRR/DEST/ADS NRR/DOEA/TSB QGC/HDS2 RES/DE/EIB EXTERNAL:
EG8cG BRUSKEs S NRC PDR NRR/DEST/ADE NRR/DEBT/CEB NR ILRB G
Oi LPDR NSIC TOTAL NUMBER OF COPIES REQUIRED:
LTTR 20 ENCL 4Z
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P. O. 8 4000, JUNO BEACH, FL 33408 FLORIDAPOWER & LIGHTCOMPANY
~ULY 87 1987 L-87-313 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attn: Document Control Desk Washington, D. C. 20555 Gentlemen:
Re:
Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 Docket Nos. 50-250 and 50-25 I Request for Additional Information Boraflex Usa e in S ent Fuel Pools Your letter dated June 9,
l987 requested information concerning the use of Boraflex poison material in the spent fuel storage racks at Turkey Point Units 3 and 4.
Florida Power & Light provided a response to those questions by our letter L-87-279 dated July IO, l987.
As this response
- explains, FPL considers the Boraflex to be acceptable for continued use.
FPL will be performing a
surveillance test, known as Blackness Testing, on these racks and will provide the results of this surveillance to the staff.
The purpose of this letter is to provide additional information in response to NRC Staff question regarding the existence of possible options if degradation of the Boraflex were to occur.
FPL has completed a review of possible options if degraded Boraflex poison is discovered by our surveillance program.
I)
The degraded Boraflex could be evaluated to determine whether the degradation and any expected future degradation would adversely affect FPLs abIIIty to satIsfy the.95 Keff IImIt for the Turkey POInt spent fuel pools.
If the pools could still satisfy this limit, no further action would be necessary.
2)
Administrative controls could be imposed on the placement of new fuel assemblies around storage cell locations that have degraded Boraflex.
The sensitivity analysis performed for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 assumes only new fuel with 4.5 w/o fuel is stored in the spent fuel pool.
By limiting the amount and location of the storage of new fuel assemblies and by inserting spent fuel between the new fuel, FPL could reduce the Keff to less than or equal to.95.
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U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commmission L-87-3 I3 Page two 3)
A poison material similar to a control rod or burnable poison could be added to any new fuel assembly to be placed in a storage cell with degraded Boraflex. This would reduce the Keff to less than or equal to the.95 limit.
4)
Poison plates could be added into the space between the fuel assembly and the cell wall to assure a Keff of less than or equal to.95.
5)
FPL has taken no credit for the l950 ppm boron concentration in the spent fuel pool water.
This boron concentration alone assures a Keff of less than
.90.
In order to take credit for this boron, FPL could establish various administrative controls to provide a high level of confidence that the spent fuel pool water will remain borated.
These controls could include isolating pure water sources and routine sampling of the boron concentration.
6)
The storage cells with the degraded Boraflex could be blocked off to prevent loading of any fuel assembly into the cell.
7)
The storage racks with the degraded Boraflex could be coated with boron with a sufficient density to assure a Keff of less than or equal to.95.
8)
The storage racks which contain degraded Boraflex could be replaced.
. It should be emphasized tha FPL believes that the Boraflex at Turkey Point is acceptable for continued use and that no changes will be necessary in the manner in which FPL plans to store fuel at Turkey Point.
The purpose of this letter is only to indicate that there are several possible actions which could be taken to assure the continued safe storage of fuel at Turkey Point if the Boraflex in the spent fuel racks were to experience degradation.
Should there be any further questions, please contact us.
Very truly yours, g~ C. O. Woody Group Vice President Nuclear Energy COW/RG/gp cc:
Dr. J. Nelson Grace, Regional Administrator, Region II, USNRC Senior Resident Inspector, USNRC, Turkey Point Plant RG3/050a/2
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