ML020710589

License Amendments, Revise Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.13 to Once in 24 Months with a Maximum of 30 Months

ML020710589
Person / Time
Site:	Vogtle
Issue date:	04/22/2002
From:	Rinaldi F NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD2
To:	Beasley J Southern Nuclear Operating Co
Rinaldi F, NRR/LPD2-1, 415-1447
Shared Package
ML021160122	List: ML020710589 ML021150388
References
TAC MB2329, TAC MB2330
Download: ML020710589 (11)

Text

April 22, 2002 Mr. J. B. Beasley, Jr.

Vice President Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Post Office Box 1295 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295

SUBJECT:

VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 RE: ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS (TAC NOS. MB2329 AND MB2330)

Dear Mr. Beasley:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 126 Facility Operating License NPF-68 and Amendment No. 104 to Facility Operating License NPF-81 for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TS) and associated Bases in response to your application dated June 27, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated January 23, 2002.

The amendments revise Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.13, which is currently performed with a frequency of once every 18 months with a maximum of 22.5 months including the 25 percent grace period. The change revises the frequency of SR 3.8.1.13 to once in 24 months with a maximum of 30 months accounting for the allowable grace period. The change allows this SR to performed following the diesel generator (DG) inspection/maintenance, which is performed at 24-month interval in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. The TS change was submitted in accordance with the guidance in Generic Letter (GL) 91-04, Changes in Technical Specification Surveillance Intervals to Accommodate a 24-month Fuel Cycle.

A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Frank Rinaldi, Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-424 and 50-425

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 126 to NPF-68

2. Amendment No. 104 to NPF-81

3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page

April 22, 2002 Mr. J. B. Beasley, Jr.

Vice President Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Post Office Box 1295 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295

SUBJECT:

VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 RE: ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS (TAC NOS. MB2329 AND MB2330)

Dear Mr. Beasley:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 126 to Facility Operating License NPF-68 and Amendment No. 104 to Facility Operating License NPF-81 for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TS) and associated Bases in response to your application dated June 27, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated January 23, 2002.

The amendments revise Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.13, which is currently performed with a frequency of once every 18 months with a maximum of 22.5 months including the 25 percent grace period. The change revises the frequency of SR 3.8.1.13 to once in 24 months with a maximum of 30 months accounting for the allowable grace period. The change allows this SR to performed following the diesel generator (DG) inspection/maintenance, which is performed at 24-month interval in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. The TS change was submitted in accordance with the guidance in Generic Letter (GL) 91-04, Changes in Technical Specification Surveillance Intervals to Accommodate a 24-month Fuel Cycle.

A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Frank Rinaldi, Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-424 and 50-425

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 126 to NPF-68

2. Amendment No. 104 to NPF-81

3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC JNakoski OGC WBeckner PDII-1 R/F FRinaldi ACRS CHolden HBerkow CHawes GHill (4) SCahill, RII Package: ML021160122 **See previous concurrence Accession Number: ML020710589 TS: ML021150388 *No major changes to SE OFFICE PDII-1\PM PDII-1\LA EEIB* OGC** PDII-1\SC NAME FRinaldi CHawes CHolden SUttal JNakoski DATE 4/18/02 4/18/02 2/13/02 03/25/02 4/19/02 Official Record Copy

SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.

GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 126 License No. NPF-68

1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:

A. The application for amendment to the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 1 (the facility) Facility Operating License No. NPF-68 filed by the Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated June 27, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated January 23, 2002, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commissions rules and regulations as set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C. There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commissions regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; D. The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E. The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commissions regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.

2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Facility Operating License No. NPF-68 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 126, and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, both of which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days of issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

John A. Nakoski, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Technical Specification Changes Date of Issuance: April 22, 2002

SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.

GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 104 License No. NPF-81

1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:

A. The application for amendment to the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 2 (the facility) Facility Operating License No. NPF-81 filed by the Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated June 27, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated January 23, 2002, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commissions rules and regulations as set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C. There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commissions regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; D. The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E. The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commissions regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.

2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Facility Operating License No. NPF-81 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 104, and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, both of which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days from issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

John A. Nakoski, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Technical Specification Changes Date of Issuance: April 22, 2002

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 126 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-68 DOCKET NO. 50-424 AND TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 104 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-81 DOCKET NO. 50-425 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A Technical Specifications and associated Bases with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert 3.8.1-13 3.8.1-13 B3.8.1-31 B3.8.1-31 B3.8.1-32 B3.8.1-32 B3.8.1-38 B3.8.1-38

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 126 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NPF-68 AND AMENDMENT NO. 104 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NPF-81 SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC., ET AL.

VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-424 AND 50-425

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated June 27, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated January 23, 2002, Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., et al. (the licensee) proposed license amendments to change the Technical Specifications (TS) for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (Vogtle),

Units 1 and 2. The proposed amendments would revise Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.13, which is currently performed with a frequency of once every 18 months with a maximum of 22.5 months including the 25 percent grace period. The proposed change would revise the frequency of SR 3.8.1.13 to once in 24 months with a maximum of 30 months accounting for the allowable grace period. The proposed change would allow this SR to performed following the diesel generator (DG) inspection/maintenance, which is performed at 24-month interval in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. The proposed TS change was submitted in accordance with the guidance in Generic Letter (GL) 91-04, Changes in Technical Specification Surveillance Intervals to Accommodate a 24-month Fuel Cycle. The January 23, 2002, supplement contained clarifying information that did not expand the scope of the original Federal Register notice or change the initial proposed no significant hazards consideration determination.

2.0 EVALUATION SR 3.8.1.13 is an endurance and margin test that requires, once every 18 months, demonstration of the load carrying capability of the DG over a period of 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />. This SR is performed by operating the DG for $2 hours while loaded to $6900 kW and #7700 kW and operating as close as practicable to 3390 kVAR; and, for the remaining hours of the test,

$6500 kW and #7000 kW and operating as close to 3390 kVAR as practicable. The licensee has proposed to extend the surveillance interval for this SR from the current once every 18 months to once in 24 months in the Vogtle, Units 1 and 2 TS.

The licensee stated that the proposed change would allow SR 3.8.1.13 to be preformed following the DG inspection/maintenance. With the previous NRC approval of an extended Completion Time of 14 days to restore an inoperable DG to an operable status, the DG inspection/maintenance can be performed during power operation at a 24-month interval based

on the manufacturers recommendation. The licensee stated that now that DG inspections can be performed outside of a refueling outage utilizing the extended Completion Time for restoring an inoperable DG to service, and the schedule for such inspections has been optimized at 24 months, it makes good engineering sense to perform the endurance and margin test

[SR 3.8.1.13] following the DG inspection. Further, since SR 3.8.1.13 requires dedicated operations personnel, the licensee stated that with the approval of the proposed change, greater efficiencies can be gained with respect to scheduling the test.

The licensee used the guidance of GL 91-04, Changes in Technical Specification Surveillance Intervals to Accommodate a 24-month Fuel Cycle, for the extension of the surveillance interval from 18-months to 24 months for this SR. Although the proposed change is not required to accommodate a 24-month fuel cycle, the licensee has followed guidance outlined in GL 91-04.

Regarding non-instrumentation changes, GL 91-04 requires licensees to evaluate the effect on safety of the change in surveillance intervals. This evaluation should support a conclusion that the effect on safety is small. In addition, GL 91-04 requires that the licensees should confirm that the performance of the affected surveillances at the bounding surveillance limit would not invalidate any assumption in the plant licensing basis. The licensee states that the guidance outlined in GL 91-04 should be equally applicable to its request and has offered the following analysis in support of the proposed change.

C SR 3.8.1.2 and SR 3.8.1.3 require that each DG be tested for operability every 31 days.

SR 3.8.1.2 requires that each DG start from standby conditions and achieve steady state voltage and frequency, and SR 3.8.1.3 requires that each DG synchronize with the grid, accept load between 6500 kW and 7000 kW, and operate for at least 60 minutes.

These SRs, which are not affected by the proposed change, will provide prompt identification of any substantial DG degradation.

C SR 3.8.1.7, which is performed every 184 days, requires that each DG start from standby conditions and achieve voltage and frequency within specified ranges in at least 11.4 seconds. This surveillance will also provide prompt identification of any substantial DG degradation or failure.

C Attributes of the DGs, which may be subject to degradation due to aging, such as fuel oil quality, are subject to their own requirements for replenishment and testing. These requirements are not affected by the proposed change.

C All other SRs that are performed at 18-month intervals are not affected by the proposed change and will continue to be performed at 18-month intervals.

C A review of the failures per last 20, 50, and 100 valid demands for each DG indicates that in all cases, these failures would be detectable via routine monthly testing or other surveillance testing not affected by the proposed change. Therefore, the proposed increase in the intervals for SR 3.8.1.13 would have a minimal impact on DG availability.

Based on the above, the staff concludes that the licensees proposal to perform the endurance and margin test following DG inspection/maintenance at a 24-month interval is appropriate and acceptable. The operability of the DGs will continue to be demonstrated by all of the other SRs that are not affected by the proposed change. Endurance and margin capability of the DGs will continue to be demonstrated by SR 3.8.1.13. The only difference will be the increased surveillance interval, which has been shown to have a minimal impact on safety as demonstrated by the licensee in its analysis performed in accordance with GL 91-04.

3.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the State of Alabama official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendments. The State official had no comments.

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendments change the surveillance requirements. The NRC staff has determined that the amendments involve no significant increase in the amounts and no significant change in the types of any effluents that may be released offsite and that there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure. The Commission has previously issued a proposed finding that the amendments involve no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding (66 FR 38767). Accordingly, the amendments meet the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendments.

5.0 CONCLUSION

The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendments will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.

Principal Contributor: O. Chopra Date: April 22, 2002

Vogtle Electric Generating Plant cc:

Mr. J. A. Bailey Harold Reheis, Director Manager, Licensing Department of Natural Resources Southern Nuclear Operating 205 Butler Street, SE. Suite 1252 Company, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia 30334 P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295 Attorney General Law Department Mr. J. Gasser 132 Judicial Building General Manager, Vogtle Electric Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Generating Plant Southern Nuclear Operating Mr. J. D. Sharpe Company, Inc. Resident Manager P. O. Box 1600 Oglethorpe Power Corporation Waynesboro, Georgia 30830 Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant P. O. Box 1600 Office of Planning and Budget Waynesboro, Georgia 30830 Room 615B 270 Washington Street, SW. Charles A. Patrizia, Esquire Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker 10th Floor Mr. J. D. Woodard 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue Executive Vice President Washington, DC 20004-9500 Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Arthur H. Domby, Esquire P. O. Box 1295 Troutman Sanders Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295 NationsBank Plaza 600 Peachtree Street, NE.

Steven M. Jackson Suite 5200 Senior Engineer - Power Supply Atlanta, Georgia 30308-2216 Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia Resident Inspector 1470 Riveredge Parkway, NW. Vogtle Plant Atlanta, Georgia 30328-4684 8805 River Road Waynesboro, Georgia 30830 Office of the County Commissioner Burke County Commission Waynesboro, Georgia 30830