ML030860088
| ML030860088 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 05/01/2003 |
| From: | Vissing G NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD1 |
| To: | Kansler M Entergy Nuclear Operations |
| Vissing G, NRR/DLPM, 415-1441 | |
| References | |
| TAC MB6945 | |
| Download: ML030860088 (11) | |
Text
May 1, 2003 Mr. Michael Kansler, President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
SUBJECT:
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - AMENDMENT RE: REGARDING LOCAL POWER RANGE MONITOR CALIBRATION FREQUENCY (TAC NO. MB6945)
Dear Mr. Kansler:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 277 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application transmitted by letter dated December 6, 2002. The amendment increases the surveillance interval of the local power range monitor calibrations from 1000 megawatt-days/ton to 2000 megawatt-days/ton.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions next regular biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Guy S. Vissing, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-333
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 277 to DPR-59
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page
FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant cc:
Mr. Jerry Yelverton Mr. Harry P. Salmon, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer Director of Oversight Entergy Operations Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
1340 Echelon Parkway 440 Hamilton Avenue Jackson, MS 39213 White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John Herron Ms. Charlene D. Faison Senior Vice President and Licensing Chief Operating Officer Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 440 Hamilton Avenue 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 White Plains, NY 10601 Supervisor Mr. Theodore H. Sullivan Town of Scriba Vice President Operations Route 8, Box 382 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Oswego, NY 13126 James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Charles Donaldson, Esquire Lycoming, NY 13093 Assistant Attorney General New York Department of Law Mr. Dan Pace 120 Broadway Vice President, Engineering New York, NY 10271 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue Regional Administrator, Region I White Plains, NY 10601 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road Mr. John Kelly King of Prussia, PA 19406 Director - Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Oswego County Administrator 440 Hamilton Avenue Jack Tierney White Plains, NY 10601 46 East Bridge Street Oswego, New York 13126 Mr. George Tasick Licensing Manager Mr. William M. Flynn, President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. New York State Energy, Research, James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant and Development Authority P.O. Box 110 17 Columbia Circle Lycoming, NY 13093 Albany, NY 12203-6399 Resident Inspectors Office Mr. Arthur Zaremba, Licensing Manager U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Director, Safety Assurance P.O. Box 136 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Lycoming, NY 13093 James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Lycoming, NY 13093
FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant cc:
Mr. Paul Eddy Mr. Charles W. Hehl Electric Division SRC Consultant New York State Dept. of Public Service Charles Hehl, Inc.
3 Empire State Plaza, 10th Floor 1486 Matthew Lane Albany, NY 12223 Pottstown, PA 19465 Michael J. Colomb Mr. Tim Judson General Manager Organizer Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Citizens Awareness Network James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant 140 Bassett St.
P.O. Box 110 Syracuse, NY 13210 Lycoming, NY 13093 Deborah Katz Mr. James Knubel Executive Director Vice President, Operations Support Citizens Awareness Network Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. P.O. Box 83 440 Hamilton Avenue Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 White Plains, NY 10601 Shawn McConnell Mr. John M. Fulton NYPIRG Project Coordinator Assistant General Counsel 13 Hewitt Union Entergy Nuclear Generation Co. SUNY Oswego Pilgrim Station Oswego, NY 13126 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360 Tom Dellwo Oswego NYPIRG Environmental Mr. J. Spath, Program Director Project Leader New York State Energy, Research, and 13 Hewitt Union Development Authority SUNY Owego 17 Columbia Circle Oswego, NY 13126 Albany, NY 12203-6399 Mr. Ronald Schwartz SRC Consultant 64 Walnut Drive Spring Lake Heights, NJ 07762 Mr. Ronald J. Toole SRC Consultant Toole Insight 605 West Horner Street Ebensburg, PA 15931
May 1, 2003 Mr. Michael Kansler, President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
SUBJECT:
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - AMENDMENT RE: REGARDING LOCAL POWER RANGE MONITOR CALIBRATION FREQUENCY (TAC NO. MB6945)
Dear Mr. Kansler:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 277 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application transmitted by letter dated December 6, 2002. The amendment increases the surveillance interval of the local power range monitor calibrations from 1000 megawatt-days/ton to 2000 megawatt-days/ton.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions next regular biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Guy S. Vissing, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-333
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 277 to DPR-59
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page ADAMS Accession Number: ML030860088, TS(s): ML , Package: ML
- SE provided - no significant changes made Office PDI-1\PM PDI-1\LA EEIB SRXB* RORP\SC OGC PDI-1\SC Name GVissing SLittle EMarinos RCaruso RDenning RHoefling RLaufer Date 4/3/03 4/3/03 4/14/03 3/19/2003 4/16/03 4/22/03 4/30/03 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
DATED: May 1, 2003 AMENDMENT NO. 277 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 FITZPATRICK PUBLIC PDI-1 R/F RLaufer OGC EKendrick GHill (2)
WBeckner ACRS BPlatchek, RI GVissing SLittle cc: Plant Service list
ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC.
DOCKET NO. 50-333 JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 277 License No. DPR-59
- 1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A. The application for amendment by Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the licensee) dated December 6, 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, 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 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 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. DPR-59 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment No. 277, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.
- 3. This license amendment is effective as of the date of its issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/
Richard J. Laufer, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: May 1, 2003
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 277 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 DOCKET NO. 50-333 Replace the following page of the Appendix A Technical Specifications with the attached revised page. The revised page is identified by amendment number and contains marginal lines indicating the areas of change.
Remove Page Insert Page 3.3.1.1-4 3.3.1.1-4
SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 277 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC.
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DOCKET NO. 50-333
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By letter dated December 6, 2002 (Reference 1), Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO or the licensee) submitted an application to amend the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (JAFNPP) Technical Specifications (TSs). The proposed amendment would change the surveillance requirement (SR) TS 3.3.1.1.7 to allow JAFNPP to increase the interval between whole core traversing in-core probes (TIP) to local power range monitors (LPRM) calibrations from 1000 megawatt days per ton (MWD/T) to 2000 MWD/T. Increasing the frequency interval between required LPRM calibrations is justified by improvements in the fuel analytical bases, the core monitoring process, and the nuclear instrumentation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has previously reviewed and approved similar amendments for the Vermont Yankee and River Bend Stations.
The JAFNPP LPRM system consists of 31 LPRM string assemblies, each containing 4 miniature fission chamber type neutron detectors. The 124 detectors are positioned at various locations on 4 horizontal planes in the reactor core. Each LPRM assembly also contains a calibration tube for a TIP. The TIP system is used to calibrate the LPRMs to maintain design accuracy during operation. The TIP system provides a signal proportional to the gamma flux, which correlates to the neutron flux at LPRM locations, and this high precision signal is used to adjust LPRM amplifier gains during the LPRM calibration. The Plant Computer System is used for data collection and storage and to calibrate each LPRM signal by comparing TIP scanned signals to current LPRM readings and calculating gain adjustment factors (GAFs).
The calibrated LPRMs provide neutron flux signals to the average power range monitor (APRM) system, the rod block monitor (RBM) system, and the Emergency Plant Information Computer (EPIC) process computer. The LPRMs are grouped by axial and radial location to provide a representative indication of neutron flux to the six APRM channels. The APRMs provide indication of the core average thermal power and input to the reactor protection system (RPS).
The RBM system receives flux inputs from LPRMs around a selected control rod and prevents withdrawal of that rod when local power is above a preset limit. LPRM inputs to the EPIC computer are used to calculate core thermal limits and ensure operations are with established limits.
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
The JAFNPP Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) provides details of the LPRM, APRM, RBM, and TIP systems, in Sections 7.5.6, 7.5.7, 7.5.8, and 7.5.9, respectively. The APRM and RBM systems are the only nuclear instrumentation (NI) systems which use the calibrated LPRM readings.
The justification to increase the surveillance interval between LPRM calibrations is based upon maintaining the uncertainty in core power distribution within the limits contained in the NRC approved Licensing Topical Report General Electric Boiling-Water Reactor Thermal Analysis Basis (GETAB) (Reference 2). The NRC staff has previously reviewed and approved similar amendments for River Bend, dated June 11, 1999, (ADAMS Accession Number ML02162090),
and for Vermont Yankee, dated July 18, 2000, (ADAMS Accession Number ML003733066).
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
The licensee requested a change to the JAFNPP TSs to revise TS 3.3.1.1, RPS Instrumentation,SR 3.3.1.1.7, and the associated Bases to increase the interval between whole core LPRM calibrations from 1000 MWD/T to 2000 MWD/T.
The revised TS would allow the licensee to increase the interval between LPRM calibrations from 1000 MWD/T to 2000 MWD/T on the basis that the uncertainty in the power distribution will remain within the previous limits contained in NEDO-10958-P-A, General Electric BWR Thermal Analysis Basis (GETAB) Data, Correlation and Design Application, dated January 1977 (Reference 2). The current requirement was based on using the older P-1 core monitoring process and older design LPRM chambers, which experienced drift between calibrations. The basis for the requirement was that the added uncertainty in the nodal power distribution due to LPRM based operation between the whole core TIP and LPRM calibration should not increase the uncertainty allowed by the original GETAB standard deviation limit of 8.7%.
The licensee cited detailed statistical evaluations of the uncertainty in LPRM-based monitoring cases run at exposure intervals in excess of 2000 equivalent full power hours, as reviewed and accepted in Reference 3, which have shown that the GETAB equivalent safety limit of 8.7%
would not be exceeded. This is due to improved LPRM chambers (the NA200 and NA300 series) that exhibit consistent LPRM sensitivity throughout their useful nuclear life (up to 40,000 MWD/T), and to the improved core monitoring systems (GE MONICORE) that utilizes nodal diffusion theory coupled with plant data including the improved nuclear instrumentation. These evaluations have shown that the equivalent total nodal uncertainty for the increased calibration interval of 2000 MWD/T would be 7.6% for fission chamber TIPs and less for the gamma TIPs installed at JAFNPP. For the analyzed cases (up to 2688 MWD/T) the total nodal uncertainty remains less than the original GETAB requirement of 8.7%. In addition, GE Nuclear Services confirmed the LPRM calibration acceptance criteria in a JAFNPP specific evaluation (Reference
- 4) and stated that the proposed changes conform to the generic and plant specific licensing topical reports.
Therefore, it is acceptable for JAFNPP to operate for 2000 MWD/T between whole core LPRM calibrations since it is using NA200 and NA300 series LPRM chambers in conjunction with the GE MONICORE core monitoring system.
4.0 CONCLUSION
S OF THE TECHNICAL EVALUATION Based on our review, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed change to the TS to change the frequency of SR 3.3.1.1.7, Calibrate the Local Power Range Monitors, from 1000 MWD/T average core exposure to 2000 MWD/T average core exposure and the revision to the associated BASES discussion is acceptable for incorporation because the use of improved LPRM chambers (NA200/NA300 series) and the improved GE MONICORE core monitoring system is still within the original GETAB requirement (Reference 2), as validated by the staff review and approval of the GE licensing topical reports in Reference 3.
5.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the New York State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.
6.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendment changes a requirement with respect to installation or use of a facility component located within the restricted area as defined in 10 CFR Part 20 and changes surveillance requirements. The NRC staff has determined that the amendment involves 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 amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding (68 FR 5674). Accordingly, the amendment meets 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 amendment.
7.0 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 amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
8.0 REFERENCES
- 1. Letter from T. A. Sullivan (EOI/JAF) to USNRC, Proposed Change to Technical Specifications Regarding Local Power Range Monitor Calibration Frequency (JPTS-02-002), dated December 6, 2002.
- 2. NEDO-10958-P-A, General Electric BWR Thermal Analysis Basis (GETAB) Data, Correlation and Design Application, dated January 1977.
- 3. Letter from F. Akstulewicz (NRR) to G. A. Watford (GE), Acceptance for Referencing of Licensing Topical Reports NEDC-32601P, Methodology and Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluations; NEDC-32694P, Power Distribution Uncertainties for Safety
Limit MCPR Evaluation; and Amendment 25 to NEDE-24011-P-A on Cycle-Specific Safety Limit MCPR (TAC Nos M97490, M99069 and M97491), dated March 11, 1999.
- 4. LPRM Calibration Interval Increase for James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, GE-NE-0000-0006-7210-01, dated October 2002.
Principal Contributor: E. Kendrick Date: May 1, 2003