Information Notice 1995-28, Emplacement of Support Pads for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Installations at Reactor Sites

Emplacement of Support Pads for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Installations at Reactor Sites
	ML031060295
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
Issue date:	06/05/1995
From:	Grimes B, Travers W; NRC/NMSS/SFPO, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	;
References
	IN-95-028, NUDOCS 9506010112
	Download: ML031060295 (12)
	v • d • e

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 June 5, 1995 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 95-28: EMPLACEMENT OF SUPPORT PADS FOR SPENT FUEL DRY

STORAGE INSTALLATIONS AT REACTOR SITES

Addressees

All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power

reactors.

Independent spent fuel storage installation designers and fabricators.

Purpose

-

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information

notice to alert addressees to the importance of complying with all conditions

and requirements specified in Section 72.212(b) of Title 10 of the Code of

Federal Regulations (10 CFR 72.212(b)) and other applicable NRC regulations

before using certified casks under the provisions of the general license under

10 CFR Part 72 for the dry storage of spent fuel. It is expected that the

recipients will review this information notice for applicability to their

facilities and consider actions, as appropriate. However, suggestions

contained in this information notice are not NRC requirements; therefore, no

specific action or written response is required.

Background

The NRC reviews and approves cask designs for use in storing spent fuel under

a general license as stated in Subpart L of 10 CFR Part 72. Approved cask

designs are listed in Subpart K of 10 CFR Part 72, (10 CFR 72.214), and a

certificate of compliance is issued to the cask designer after the rulemaking

approving the cask design is completed. Once a cask design has been certified

and casks fabricated, casks may be used to store spent-fuel at nuclear power

reactor sites in accordance with Subpart K of 10 CFR Part 72. Such a license

is only available to utilities that hold a license to possess or operate a

power reactor under 10 CFR Part 50.

Before storing spent fuel under the general license, reactor facility

licensees must meet the requirements stated in 10 CFR 72.212(b). Notably, they must--

Determine and document that storage activities are in accordance

with the provisions and conditions of the certificate of compliance

for the cask.

Ensure that reactor site parameters, including any external hazards, are enveloped by the design-basis values established in the cask

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IN 95-28 June 5, 1995 design safety analysis report referenced in the certificate of

compliance and the related NRC safety evaluation report.

Determine whether cask use will involve a reactor facility

unreviewed safety question or a change to the facility technical

specifications (10 CFR 50.59).

Review and modify the reactor facility quality assurance program, security program, emergency plan, training program, and radiation

control program to include spent fuel storage activities as

appropriate.

Develop reactor facility written operating procedures for cask

handling and storage operations.

This information notice discusses circumstances regarding the emplacement of

spent fuel dry storage cask pads.

Spent fuel storage cask designs are analyzed for normal, off-normal, and

accident conditions, including tip-over and cask drop accidents. In instances

where the pad supporting the casks, including the foundation beneath the pad, is not relied upon to perform a safety function, it is not treated as safety

related or as important to safety. The cask design safety analysis report

does not analyze for the effects of earthquakes, soil stability, or erosion on

the cask pad and foundation.

However, 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2) requires that the general licensee ensure that,

'cask storage pads and areas have been designed to adequately support the

stati(c] load of the stored casks." Section 72.212(b)(3) states that the

licensee shall, determine whether or not the reactor site parameters, including analyses of earthquake intensity and tornado missiles, are enveloped

by the cask design bases." The holder of a general license performs these

evaluations to ensure that the design and construction of the cask storage pad

is adequate to support the static load of the fully loaded storage casks. In

addition, if potential conditions exist at the reactor site that could

unacceptably diminish cask safety by any credible means, then the licensee

must evaluate the potential conditions to verify that impairment of cask

safety is highly unlikely. These evaluations are reviewed during NRC

inspections and audits of licensee operations.

Description of Circumstances

During its initial siting analysis for dry spent fuel storage at the Palisades

facility, Consumers Power Company (the licensee) noted that the peak ground

acceleration used in the initial analysis for siting the power plant was 0.2g.

The design-basis ground motion for the spent fuel dry storage casks is a peak

ground acceleration of 0.25g. Therefore, the licensee determined that the

safe shutdown ground acceleration of the site was enveloped by the design

basis for the cask. No additional analyses were performed for the siting

analysis at that time.

IN 95-28 June 5, 1995 Since the Palisades plant is in close proximity to Lake Michigan, questions

were raised by the NRC staff and interested members of the public regarding

the possible effects of earthquakes on soil liquefaction, wind and wave

effects on ground erosion, and the effects of these phenomena on the cask

support pad and the spent fuel storage casks.

As a result of these questions, the licensee performed a detailed analysis of

the effects of soil erosion, including the effects of high lake waves, wind, and rain on the cask support pad. In addition, the licensee analyzed the

effect of a safe shutdown earthquake (SSE) on soil and foundation stability, based on both existing soil data and new data acquired from additional soil

borings taken in response to the questions regarding the stability of the pad

site.

Other questions addressed by the review included the following:

Whether there had been any changes in the general site conditions

since the submittal of the environmental impact statement for

licensing of the facility (e.g., stability of site topography and

wind erosion concerns).

Whether there was sufficient vertical and horizontal separation

between Lake Michigan and the pad location to provide a conservative

margin against wave-driven erosion.

Whether the cask support pad had been analyzed for the SSE peak

ground acceleration defined for the Palisades site.

Whether the geologic and seismological analyses had been properly

performed.

The results of the licensee analysis showed that the pad could support the

casks safely. These results are documented in a letter to the NRC dated July

27, 1994.

NRC independently reviewed the licensee analyses of the soil liquefaction

effects on pad integrity, the pad design and construction, and the stability

of slopes surrounding the pad to determine both the long-term effects of

erosion under normal conditions and the effects of a postulated earthquake.

This independent analysis also concluded that the cask pad would adequately

support the cask as required by 10 CFR 72.212. The NRC independent assessment

of the licensee analysis is documented in the "Independent NRC Staff Final

Safety Assessment of the Dry Spent Fuel Cask Storage Facility at Palisades

Nuclear Power Plant Site," dated September 20, 1994.

Discussion

Potential dry cask storage users are required by 10 CFR 72.212 to perform

written evaluations, before use, that establish that the conditions for using

NRC-approved spent fuel storage casks set forth in the certificate of

compliance have been met. These evaluations include review of the cask design

IN 95-28 June 5, 1995 safety analysis report and the related NRC safety evaluation report to ensure

that the reactor site parameters are enveloped by the cask design bases. The

licensee is also required to perform a written evaluation that ensures that

the cask storage pad and areas are designed to support the static load of the

stored cask. The effects of a postulated earthquake based on the earthquake

ground motion used for the plant design-basis SSE is valid for the storage

casks without further analysis only if the foundation geology for the cask pad

is the same as that for the plant. A different soil amplification resulting

from SSE ground motion at the pad site could result in exceeding the cask

design basis.

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

one of the technical contacts listed below.

rian . Grimes, rector William D. Travers irector

Division of Project Support Spent Fuel Program Office

Office of Nuclear Reactor Office of Nuclear Material

Regulation Safety and Safeguards

Technical contacts: F. Sturz, NMSS

(301) 415-7278 M. Gamberoni, NRR

(301) 415-3024 Attachments:

1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices

2. List of Recently Issued NRR Information Notices

Attachment I

IN 95-28 June 5, 1995 Page I of I

LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NMSS INFORMATION NOTICES

Information Date of

Notice No. Subject Issuance Issued to

95-25 Valve Failure during 05/11/95 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Patient Treatment with Commission Medical

Gamma Stereotactic Licensees.

Radiosurgery Unit

94-64, Reactivity Insertion Trans- 04/06/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Supp. 1 ient and Accident Limits for Nuclear Power Reactors

for High Burnup Fuel and all fuel fabrication

licensees.

95-07 Radiopharmaceutical Vial 01/27/95 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Breakage during Preparation Commission medical licensees

authorized to use byproduct

material for diagnostic

procedures.

95-01 DOT Safety Advisory: 01/04/95 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

High Pressure Aluminum Commission licensees.

Seamless and Aluminum

Composite Hoop-Wrapped

Cylinders

94-89 Equipment Failures at 12/28/94 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Irradiator Facilities Commission irradiator

licensees.

89-25, Unauthorized Transfer of 12/07/94 All fuel cycle and material

Rev. 1 Ownership or Control of licensees.

Licensed Activities

94-81 Accuracy of Bioassay 11/25/94 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

and Environmental Commission licensees.

Sampling Results

93-60, Reporting Fuel Cycle 10/20/94 All 10 CFR Part 70

Supp. 1 and Materials Events to fuel cycle licensees.

the NRC Operations Center

Attachment 2 IN 95-28 June 5, 1995 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NRC INFORMATION NOTICES

Information Date of

Notice No. Subject Issuance Issued to

95-27 NRC Review of Nuclear 05/31/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Energy Institute, for nuclear power plants.

"Thermo-Lag 330-1 Combustibility Evaluation

Methodology Plant Screening

Guide'

95-26 Defect in Safety- 05/31/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Related Pump Parts due for nuclear power reactors.

to Inadequate Heat

Treatment

94-61, Corrosion of William 05/25/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Supp. 1 Power Gate Valve Disc for nuclear power reactors.

Holders

95-25 Valve Failure during 05/11/95 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Patient Treatment with Commission Medical

Gamma Stereotactic Licensees.

Radiosurgery Unit

95-24 Summary of Licensed 04/25/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Operator Requalification for nuclear power reactors.

Inspection Program

Findings

95-23 Control Room Staffing 04/24/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Below Minimum Regulatory for nuclear power reactors

Requirements and all licensed operators

and senior operators at

those reactors.

95-22 Hardened or Contaminated 04/21/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

Lubricants Cause Metal for nuclear power reactors.

Clad Circuit Breaker

Failures

95-21 Unexpected Degradation 04/20/95 All holders of OLs or CPs

of Lead Storage Batteries for nuclear power reactors.

OL = Operating License

CP = Construction Permit