ML032940169

Issuance of Amendment No. 171, Revising the Reporting Requirements for the Discovery of Defective or Degraded Steam Generator Tubes

ML032940169
Person / Time
Site:	Kewaunee
Issue date:	11/20/2003
From:	Anthony Mcmurtray NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD3
To:	Coutu T Nuclear Management Co
References
TAC MB6993
Download: ML032940169 (10)

Text

November 20, 2003 Mr. Thomas Coutu Site Vice President Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC N490 Highway 42 Kewaunee, WI 54216-9511

SUBJECT:

KEWAUNEE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT (TAC NO. MB6993)

Dear Mr. Coutu:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 171 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-43 for the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. This amendment revises the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated December 19, 2002, as supplemented July 25, 2003.

The amendment revises the reporting requirements for the discovery of defective or degraded steam generator tubes. The amendment aligns the TS reporting requirements with the current requirements in 10 CFR 50.72 and 10 CFR 50.73.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Anthony C. McMurtray, Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate III Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-305

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 171 to License No. DPR-43

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

ML032940169 *Provided SE input by memo OFFICE PM:PD3-1 LA:PD3-1 SC:EMCB* OGC SC:PD3-1 NAME AMcMurtray THarris LLund AFernandez MShuaibi for LRaghavan DATE 10/24/03 10/24/03 8/29/03 11/17/03 11/18/03 Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant cc:

John Paul Cowan Jonathan Rogoff Executive Vice President & Vice President, Counsel & Secretary Chief Nuclear Officer Nuclear Management Company, LLC Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Hudson, MI 54016 Larry L. Weyers Kyle Hoops Chairman, President and CEO Plant Manager Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant 600 North Adams Street N490 Highway 42 Greey Bay, WI 54307-9002 Kewaunee, WI 54216-9511 David Zellner Gordon P. Arent Chairman - Town of Carlton Manager, Regulatory Affairs N2164 County B Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant Kewaunee, WI 54216 N490 Highway 42 Kewaunee, WI 54216-9511 Mr. Jeffery Kitsembel Electric Division David Molzahn Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Nuclear Asset Manager PO Box 7854 Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Madison, WI 53707-7854 600 N. Adams Street Green Bay, WI 54307-9002 Thomas Webb Nuclear Asset Manager Wisconsin Public Service Corporation 600 N. Adams Street Green Bay, WI 54307-9002 Resident Inspectors Office U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission N490 Hwy 42 Kewaunee, WI 54216-9510 Regional Administrator Region III U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 801 Warrenville Road Lisle, IL 60532-4351

NUCLEAR MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC DOCKET NO. 50-305 KEWAUNEE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 171 License No. DPR-43

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

A. The application for amendment by Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC),

dated December 19, 2002, as supplemented July 25, 2003, 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-43 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 171, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensees shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

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

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA by MShuaibi for/

L. Raghavan, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate III Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: November 20, 2003

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 171 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-43 DOCKET NO. 50-305 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 TS 4.2-5 TS 4.2-5 TS 4.2.6 TS 4.2-6

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATING TO AMENDMENT NO. 171 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-43 NUCLEAR MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC KEWAUNEE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DOCKET NO. 50-305

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In an application dated December 19, 2002, and supplemented July 25, 2003, Nuclear Management Company (NMC or the licensee) proposed changes to the technical specifications (TSs) for the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The supplemental letter contained clarifying information and did not change the initial no significant hazards consideration determination and did not expand the scope of the original Federal Register notice.

NMC proposed to extend the reporting requirement, following each in-service inspection during which steam generator tubes were plugged, from within 30 days to within 60 days, and the notification of degraded steam generator tubes (C-3 category) from 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br /> to 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br />. The proposed changes are consistent with currently approved Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff positions as noted in 10 CFR 50.72, 10 CFR 50.73 and NUREG-1022, Revision 2, Event Reporting Guidelines 10 CFR 50.72 and 50.73."

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

2.1 Proposed Change to TS 4.2.b.7.a TS 4.2.b.7.a currently states that Following each in-service inspection of steam generator tubes during which tubes are plugged, the number of tubes plugged shall be reported to the Commission within 30 days. NMC proposed to extend the reporting period to within 60 days after steam generator in-service inspection to be consistent with the reporting period listed in 10 CFR 50.73, License Event Report System.

In a request for additional information dated June 13, 2003, the NRC staff requested NMC to cite and explain the specific subparagraph in 10 CFR 50.73 that is applicable to the tube plugging report. The NRC staff also requested clarification on the starting point of the 60-day reporting period.

In the July 25, 2003, response, NMC stated that the applicable subparagraph was 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(ii)(A), which states that the licensee shall report, within 60 days after the discovery of the event, any event or condition that resulted in the condition of the nuclear power plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded.

This determination is further clarified in the NRC report, NUREG-1022, Revision 2, Event Reporting Guidelines 10 CFR 50.72 and 50.73." NUREG-1022 states that the 60-day reporting criterion applies to material (e.g., metallurgical or chemical) problems that cause abnormal degradation of or stress upon the principal safety barriers (i.e., the fuel cladding, reactor coolant system pressure boundary, or the containment). Additionally, NUREG-1022 states that an example of a reportable event include serious steam generator tube degradation.

2.2 Proposed Change to TS 4.2.b.7.c TS 4.2.b.7.c currently states that If a steam generator tube inspection result falls into Category C-3, the Commission shall be promptly (within 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br />) notified according to requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(ii).... NMC proposed to replace 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(ii) in the above requirement with 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii) and delete the paranthetical phrase (within 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br />).

The regulation at 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii) requires notification be made within 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br />; therefore, this will extend the current TS reporting requirement for the C-3 category notification.

The C-3 category is defined in the Kewaunee TS as ...More than 10 percent of the total tubes inspected are degraded tubes or more than 1 percent of the inspected tubes are defective...

The degraded tube is defined as a tube containing degradation greater than or equal to 20 percent of the nominal wall thickness. A defect is defined as ...an imperfection that violates criteria [the plugging limit] used to determine acceptability of a tube for continued use in operation...

In the July 25, 2003, response to the NRC staffs question regarding the applicability of 10 CFR 50.72 to the C-3 category notification, NMC stated that 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) is applicable to the C-3 category notification. This subparagraph states that the licensee shall notify the NRC as soon as practical and in all cases within 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> of the occurrence of any event or condition that results in the condition of the nuclear power plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded.

NMC stated that the applicability of this subparagraph can also be found in NUREG-1022, Revision 2. In Table 2 of NUREG-1022, it is stated that an 8-hour report is required for the seriously degraded principal safety barriers in accordance with 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii). Also, in the NRCs safety evaluation for Kewaunee TS Amendment No. 73, dated April 1, 1987, the NRC staff stated that Category C-3 inspection results are considered abnormal degradation to a principal safety barrier and are, therefore, reportable under 10 CFR 50.72.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

3.1 Proposed Change to TS 4.2.b.7.a NMC will submit a license event report (i.e., the tube plugging report) within 60 days from the completion of the eddy current data analysis of the steam generator inspection results following each in-service inspection of steam generator tubes during which tubes are plugged. NMC noted that a logical date to start the reporting period is upon completion of the eddy current analysis, since a complete listing of tubes required to be plugged is not finalized until this point.

This is consistent with the current plant TSs.

The NRC staff finds the proposed change to TS 4.2.b.7.a acceptable because the proposed change will result in the steam generator inspection results being submitted to the NRC in a reasonably early period of plants operating cycle.

3.2 Proposed Change to TS 4.2.b.7.c NMC stated that if the Kewaunee steam generator inspection analysis resulted in categorizing a steam generator as C-3, the NRC would be notified within 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br />. Since the plant is in a shutdown condition during steam generator inspections, with the steam generators isolated from the reactor coolant and not providing any safety function, immediate followup notification to the NRC is not needed and reporting of inspection results to the NRC within 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> is reasonable.

The NRC staff finds that the proposed changes to TS 4.2.b.7.c are acceptable because the changes will result in the steam generator inspection information being submitted to the NRC in a timely manner.

3.3 Conclusion The NRC staff finds that NMCs proposed changes to TS 4.2.b.7.a and TS 4.2.b.7.c satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR 50.72 and 10 CFR 50.73 and are, therefore, acceptable.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

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

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

This amendment changes a reporting requirement. The staff has determined that the amendment involves no significant increase in the amounts, and no significant change in the types, of any effluent 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 this amendment involves no significant hazards consideration and there has been no public comment on such finding (68 FR 2807). Accordingly, this amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of this amendment.

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 this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.

Principal Contributor: J. Tsao Date: November 20, 2003