ML030150005

Issuance of Amendments on Atmospheric Steam Relief Valves

ML030150005
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	01/13/2003
From:	Thadani M NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD4
To:	Cottle W South Texas
Thadani M, NRR/DLPM, 415-1476
References
TAC MB5162, TAC MB5163
Download: ML030150005 (11)

Text

January 13, 2003 Mr. William T. Cottle President and Chief Executive Officer STP Nuclear Operating Company South Texas Project Electric Generating Station P. O. Box 289 Wadsworth, TX 77483

SUBJECT:

SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS ON ATMOSPHERIC STEAM RELIEF VALVES (TAC NOS. MB5162 AND MB5163)

Dear Mr. Cottle:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No.148 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-76 and Amendment No.136 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-80 for the South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2, respectively. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated May 22, 2002.

The amendment revises TS 3/4.3.5, allowing the automatic operation of the atmospheric steam relief valves during Mode 2 to maintain secondary side pressure at or below an indicated steam generator pressure of 1225 psig during startup and shutdown of the reactors.

A copy of our related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. The Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions next biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Mohan Thadani, Senior Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 148 to NPF-76

2. Amendment No. 136 to NPF-80

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

Mr. William T. Cottle January 13, 2003 President and Chief Executive Officer STP Nuclear Operating Company South Texas Project Electric Generating Station P. O. Box 289 Wadsworth, TX 77483

SUBJECT:

SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS ON ATMOSPHERIC STEAM RELIEF VALVES (TAC NOS. MB5162 AND MB5163)

Dear Mr. Cottle:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No.148 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-76 and Amendment No.136 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-80 for the South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2, respectively. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated May 22, 2002.

The amendment revises TS 3/4.3.5, allowing the automatic operation of the atmospheric steam relief valves during Mode 2 to maintain secondary side pressure at or below an indicated steam generator pressure of 1225 psig during startup and shutdown of the reactors.

A copy of our related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. The Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions next biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Mohan Thadani, Senior Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 148 to NPF-76

2. Amendment No. 136 to NPF-80

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

PUBLIC RidsNrrPMMHoncharik PDIV-1 r/f RidsNrrPMTAlexion G. Hill (4) RidsNrrLAMMcAllister RidsNrrDlpmLpdiv (W. Ruland) RidsNrrDripRorp (R. Dennig)

RidsNrrDssaSrxb (J. Wermiel) RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter RidsNrrDlpmLpdiv-1 (R. Gramm) RidsOgcRp RidsNrrPMMThadani RidsRgn4MailCenter (B. Johnson)

C. Liang ACCESSION NO: ML030150005 *no substantive change from SE input OFFICE PDIV-1/PM PDIV-1/PM PDIV-1/PM PDIV-1/LA NAME MHoncharik TAlexion MThadani MMcAllister DATE 12/13/02 12/13/02 1213/02 12/13/02 OFFICE SRXB/SC OGC NLO PDIV-1/SC NAME FAkstulewicz AFernandez RGramm DATE 11/15/02* 1/7/03 1/10/03 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

STP NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY DOCKET NO. 50-498 SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 148 License No. NPF-76

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

A. The application for amendment by STP Nuclear Operating Company* acting on behalf of itself and for Texas Genco, LP, the City Public Service Board of San Antonio (CPS), Central Power and Light Company (CPL), and the City of Austin, Texas (COA) (the licensees), dated May 22, 2002, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commissions rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, as amended, 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; D. The issuance of this license 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.

• STP Nuclear Operating Company is authorized to act for Texas Genco, LP, the City Public Service Board of San Antonio, Central Power and Light Company, and the City of Austin, Texas, and has exclusive responsibility and control over the physical construction, operation, and maintenance of the facility.

2. Accordingly, the license is amended by 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-76 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 148, and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, are hereby incorporated in the license. The STP Nuclear Operating Company shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

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

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA by Mohan Thadani for/

Robert A. Gramm, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: January 13, 2003

STP NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY DOCKET NO. 50-499 SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 136 License No. NPF-80

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

A. The application for amendment by STP Nuclear Operating Company* acting on behalf of itself and for Texas Genco, LP, the City Public Service Board of San Antonio (CPS), Central Power and Light Company (CPL), and the City of Austin, Texas (COA) (the licensees), dated May 22, 2002, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commissions rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, as amended, 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; D. The issuance of this license 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.

• STP Nuclear Operating Company is authorized to act for Texas Genco, LP, the City Public Service Board of San Antonio, Central Power and Light Company, and the City of Austin, Texas, and has exclusive responsibility and control over the physical construction, operation, and maintenance of the facility.

2. Accordingly, the license is amended by 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-80 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 136, and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, are hereby incorporated in the license. The STP Nuclear Operating Company shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

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

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA by Mohan Thadani for/

Robert A. Gramm, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: January 13, 2003

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NOS. 148 AND 136 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NOS. NPF-76 AND NPF-80 DOCKET NOS. 50-498 AND 50-499 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A Technical Specifications with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

REMOVE INSERT 3/4 3-87 3/4 3-87

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NOS. 148 AND 136 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NOS. NPF-76 AND NPF-80 STP NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, ET AL.

SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-498 AND 50-499

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By application dated May 22, 2002, STP Nuclear Operating Company (the licensee) requested changes to the South Texas Project (STP), Units 1 and 2, Technical Specifications (TSs). The proposed changes would revise TS 3/4.3.5, allowing the automatic operation of the atmospheric steam relief valves (ASRVs) during Mode 2 to maintain secondary side pressure at or below an indicated steam generator pressure of 1225 psig during startup and shutdown of the reactors.

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The ASRV manual controls must be operable in Modes 1, 2, 3, and 4 when steam generators (SGs) are being used for decay heat removal to allow operator action needed for decay heat removal to achieve plant safe shutdown in accordance with Branch Technical Position RSB 5-1.

In the accident analysis, automatic controls of the ASRVs at a nominal setpoint of 1225 psig are assumed in STP, Units 1 and 2 for mitigation of a small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).

The current TS 3/4.3.5 requires that: (1) All four instrumentation channels of the manual actuation controls are operable during Modes 1, 2, 3, and 4 when the SGs are being used for decay heat removal, and (2) All four instrument channels of the automatic actuation controls are operable during Modes 1 and 2 to support accident analysis assumptions. In order to support startup and shutdown activities, a footnote in the current TS Table 3.3.14 indicates that the ASRVs may be in manual operation during Mode 2 to maintain the secondary pressure at or below an indicated SG pressure of 1225 psig. The proposed change will modify the footnote in the TS Table 3.3.14 to read Atmospheric steam relief valve(s) may be in manual operation and open, or in automatic operation, to maintain secondary side pressure at or bellow an indicated steam generator pressure of 1225 psig.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

In Amendment Nos. 114 and 102 to Facility Operating Licenses for STP, Units 1 and 2, dated August 19, 1999, the NRC staff concluded that the ASRVs and their automatic controls at STP,

Units 1 and 2 are designed to safety-grade standards and powered from Class 1E power supplies. Since the automatic controls of the ASRVs are credited in the SBLOCA analysis, a new TS regarding ASRV instrumentation was added to ensure that the automatic feature of the ASRVs remains operable during Modes 1 and 2.

The footnote in the current TS Table 3.3.14 allows manual operation of the ASRVs during Mode 2 operation to maintain secondary pressure below an indicated SG pressure of 1225 psig. Maintaining the secondary pressure below an indicated SG pressure of 1225 psig satisfies the conditions assumed in the SBLOCA analysis. The licensees proposed addition of the words or in automatic operation to the footnote, provides more flexibility for controlling the ASRVs during Mode 2 startup and shutdown activities, while protecting the plant from a design-basis accident.

Based on the above, the NRC staff considers that the licensee's proposed change provides enhancement of TS 3/4.3.5 and is therefore acceptable.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

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

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendments change a requirement with respect to the installation or use of a facility component located within the restricted area as defined in 10 CFR Part 20. 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 (67 FR 45571, dated July 9, 2002). 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.

6.0 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: C. Liang Date: January 13, 2003

South Texas, Units 1 & 2 cc:

Mr. Cornelius F. OKeefe A. H. Gutterman, Esq.

Senior Resident Inspector Morgan, Lewis & Bockius U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW P. O. Box 910 Washington, DC 20004 Bay City, TX 77414 Mr. T. J. Jordan, Vice President A. Ramirez/C. M. Canady Engineering & Technical Services City of Austin STP Nuclear Operating Company Electric Utility Department P. O. Box 289 721 Barton Springs Road Wadsworth, TX 77483 Austin, TX 78704 S. M. Head, Manager, Licensing Mr. M. T. Hardt Nuclear Quality & Licensing Department Mr. W. C. Gunst STP Nuclear Operating Company City Public Service Board P. O. Box 289, Mail Code: N5014 P. O. Box 1771 Wadsworth, TX 77483 San Antonio, TX 78296 Environmental and Natural Resources Mr. C. A. Johnson/R. P. Powers Policy Director AEP - Central Power and Light Company P. O. Box 12428 P. O. Box 289 Austin, TX 78711-3189 Mail Code: N5022 Wadsworth, TX 77483 Jon C. Wood Matthews & Branscomb INPO 112 East Pecan, Suite 1100 Records Center San Antonio, TX 78205 700 Galleria Parkway Atlanta, GA 30339-3064 Arthur C. Tate, Director Division of Compliance & Inspection Regional Administrator, Region IV Bureau of Radiation Control U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Texas Department of Health 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 1100 West 49th Street Arlington, TX 76011 Austin, TX 78756 D. G. Tees/R. L. Balcom Brian Almon Texas Genco, LP Public Utility Commission P. O. Box 1700 William B. Travis Building Houston, TX 77251 P. O. Box 13326 1701 North Congress Avenue Judge, Matagorda County Austin, TX 78701-3326 Matagorda County Courthouse 1700 Seventh Street Bay City, TX 77414 September 2002

Susan M. Jablonski Office of Permitting, Remediation and Registration Texas Commission on Environmental Quality MC-122 P.O. Box 13087 Austin, TX 78711-3087 G. R. Bynog, Program Manager/

Chief Inspector Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Boiler Division P. O. Box 12157, Capitol Station Austin, TX 78711 Mr. Ted Enos 4200 South Hulen Suite 630 Ft. Worth, Texas 76109