ML040490258

License Amendment, Issuance of Amendment No. 112 Re. Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio

ML040490258
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	02/25/2004
From:	Tam P NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD1
To:	Katz P Nine Mile Point
References
TAC MC1370
Download: ML040490258 (9)

Text

February 25, 2004 Mr. Peter E. Katz Vice President Nine Mile Point Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC P.O. Box 63 Lycoming, NY 13093

SUBJECT:

NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION UNIT NO. 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE: SAFETY LIMIT MINIMUM CRITICAL POWER RATIO (TAC NO. MC1370)

Dear Mr. Katz:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 112 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-69 for the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (NMP2). The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application transmitted by letter dated November 20, 2003, as supplemented by letter on February 5, 2004.

The amendment revises TS 2.1.1.2 to reflect the results of cycle-specific calculations performed for the upcoming Operating Cycle 10, which would employ a mixed core consisting of predominantly GE11 fuel bundles with some new GE14 fuel bundles.

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/

Peter S. Tam, Senior Project Manager,Section I Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-410

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 112 to NPF-69

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

ML040490258 OFFICE PDI-1\PM PDI-1\LA SRXB/SC OGC PDI-1\SC NAME PTam SLittle FAkstulewicz* MHiggins DSkay for RLaufer DATE 2/13/04 2/13/04 2/12/04 2/20/04 2/25/04 NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, LLC (NMPNS)

LONG ISLAND LIGHTING COMPANY DOCKET NO. 50-410 NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 112 License No. NPF-69

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

A. The application for amendment by Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC (the licensee) dated November 20, 2003, as supplemented by letter on February 5, 2004, 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 1; 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. NPF-69 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, both of which are attached hereto, as revised through Amendment No. 112 are hereby incorporated into this license.

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

3. This license amendment is effective as of the date of its issuance and shall be implemented prior to startup from Refueling Outage 9.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA by DSkay for/

Richard J. Laufer, Chief,Section I Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: February 25, 2004

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 112 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-69 DOCKET NO. 50-410 Replace the following page of 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 2.0-1 2.0-1

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 112 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-69 NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, LLC (NMPNS)

NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 2 DOCKET NO. 50-410

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated November 20, 2003, as supplemented by letter on February 5, 2004, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC (NMPNS or the licensee) proposed a license amendment to change the Technical Specifications (TSs) for the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (NMP2).

The amendment would revise TS 2.1.1.2 to reflect the results of cycle-specific calculations performed for the upcoming Operating Cycle 10, which would employ a mixed core consisting of predominantly GE11 fuel bundles with some new GE14 fuel bundles. The licensees February 5, 2003, letter provided clarifying information that did not change the scope of the proposed amendment as described in the original notice of proposed action published in the Federal Register, and did not change the initial proposed no significant hazards consideration determination.

Specifically, the licensee proposed to change the safety limit minimum critical power ratio (SLMCPR) value in TS 2.1.1.2 when the reactor steam dome pressure is greater than or equal to 785 psig, and core flow is greater than or equal to 10% of rated core flow, from the current specification to MCPR shall be $1.07 for two recirculation loop operation or $1.09 for single recirculation loop operation. The NMP2 Operating Cycle 10 core will have 764 fuel assemblies, of which 284 will be fresh GE14 fuel bundles, and the balance of 480 will be GE11 fuel bundles previously burned 1 to 3 times.

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The licensee identified the applicable regulatory requirements in its November 20, 2003, submittal. The regulatory requirements that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff considered in its review of the application are in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Section 36 (10 CFR 50.36), Technical Specifications, which prescribes the regulatory requirements for the contents of the TSs. Specifically, 10 CFR 50.36 requires that safety limits be included in the plant-specific TSs. Meanwhile, 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A, General Design Criterion (GDC) 10 provides that the reactor core and associated coolant, control, and protective system be designed with appropriate margin to assure that specified acceptable fuel design limits are not exceeded during steady-state operation, normal operational transients, and anticipated operational occurrences. To ensure compliance with GDC 10, the NRC staff will confirm that the licensee had performed the plant-specific SLMCPR analyses using NRC-

approved methodologies as prescribed in Section 4.4 of NUREG-0800, Standard Review Plan.

The SLMCPR ensures that sufficient conservatism exists in the operating MCPR limit such that, in the event of an anticipated operational occurrence, at least 99.9% of the fuel rods in the core are expected to avoid boiling transition for the power distribution within the core, including all uncertainties.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The licensee referenced NRC-approved methodologies used to calculate the proposed SLMCPR values. The licensees contractor, Global Nuclear Fuel -Americas, LLC (GNF-A) performed the SLMCPR analysis using plant- and cycle-specific fuel and core parameters. The methodologies used by GNF-A included NEDC-32505P, Revision 1, R-Factor Calculation Method for GE11, GE12, and GE13 Fuel; NEDO-10958-A, General Electric Boiling Water Reactor Thermal Analysis Basis (GETAB); NEDC-32601P, Methodology and Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluations; NEDC-32694P, Power Distribution Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluations; and Amendment 25 to NEDE-24011-P-A, General Electric Standard Application for Reactor Fuel (GESTAR II).

The NRC staff reviewed: (1) the licensees justification for the change to the SLMCPR from the current 1.06 to 1.07 for two recirculation loop operation, and from the current 1.07 to 1.09 for single recirculation loop operation using the approach delineated in Amendment 25 to GESTAR II; and (2) the adequacy of the SLMCPR calculation with respect to the end-of-cycle (EOC) penalty for a top-peaked power shape and R-factor uncertainty increase.

The licensee explained the overall increase of the SLMCPR values for Operating Cycle 10 operation with respect to those for Operating Cycle 9 operation in its February 5, 2004, letter.

The calculated increase in SLMCPR values is due to the increase of R-factor uncertainty and a penalty for top-peaked power shape for Operating Cycle 10 with respect to having no top-peaked power shape for Operating Cycle 9 near EOC.

The NRC staff reviewed the licensees justification to address the SLMCPR increase of 0.01 for two recirculation loop operation and of 0.02 for single recirculation loop operation corresponding to the SLMCPR penalty issue. The NRC staff concluded that the licensees justification for those two issues is acceptable because the calculations were performed with NRC-approved methodologies, and the results indicate that the proposed SLMCPR values are indeed conservative including a penalty for top-peaked axial power profile (as shown in Table 2 of Attachments 4 and 6 of the licensees November 20, 2003, application). The proposed NMP2 Operating Cycle 10 SLMCPR values will ensure that 99.9% of the fuel rods in the core will not experience boiling transition, thus satisfying the requirements of GDC 10 regarding specified acceptable fuel design limits. Accordingly, the NRC staff concludes that the licensees justification for analyzing and determining the SLMCPR value of 1.07 for two recirculation loop operation and 1.09 for single recirculation loop operation is acceptable since approved methodologies (listed above) were used.

4.0 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.

5.0 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. 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 74267). 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.

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 Commissions 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.

Principal Contributor: Tai Huang Date: February 25, 2004

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 cc:

Regional Administrator, Region I Mr. Michael J. Wallace U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission President 475 Allendale Road Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC King of Prussia, PA 19406 c/o Constellation Energy Group 750 East Pratt Street Resident Inspector Baltimore, MD 21202 Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station P.O. Box 126 James M. Petro, Jr., Esquire Lycoming, NY 13093 Counsel Constellation Energy Group, Inc.

Mr. James R. Evans 750 East Pratt Street, 5th Floor LIPA Baltimore, MD 21202 P.O. Box 129 Lycoming, NY 10393 Mr. Peter R. Smith, President New York State Energy, Research, Supervisor and Development Authority Town of Scriba 17 Columbia Circle Route 8, Box 382 Albany, NY 12203-6399 Oswego, NY 13126 Mr. Paul D. Eddy Electric Division NYS Department of Public Service Agency Building 3 Empire State Plaza Albany, NY 12223 Charles Donaldson, Esquire Assistant Attorney General New York Department of Law 120 Broadway New York, NY 10271 C. Adrienne Rhodes Chairman and Executive Director State Consumer Protection Board 5 Empire State Plaza, Suite 2101 Albany, NY 12223-1556 Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esquire Winston & Strawn 1400 L Street, NW.

Washington, DC 20005-3502