ML041260466
| ML041260466 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Arkansas Nuclear  |
| Issue date: | 05/04/2004 |
| From: | Alexion T NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD4 |
| To: | Forbes J Entergy Operations |
| Alexion T W, NRR/DLPM, 415-1326 | |
| References | |
| TAC MC2034 | |
| Download: ML041260466 (11) | |
Text
May 4, 2004 Mr. Jeffrey S. Forbes Site Vice President Arkansas Nuclear One Entergy Operations, Inc.
1448 S. R. 333 Russellville, AR 72801
SUBJECT:
ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT NO. 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE:
REMOVAL OF PRESSURIZER HEATUP AND COOLDOWN LIMITS (TAC NO. MC2034)
Dear Mr. Forbes:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 253 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-6 for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit No. 2. This amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications in response to your application dated February 9, 2004, as supplemented by letter dated March 2, 2004.
The amendment removes the pressurizer heatup and cooldown limits, and the associated action and surveillance requirements, from the Technical Specifications and places them in the Technical Requirements Manual.
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/
Thomas W. Alexion, Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-368
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 253 to NPF-6
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page
May 4, 2004 Mr. Jeffrey S. Forbes Site Vice President Arkansas Nuclear One Entergy Operations, Inc.
1448 S. R. 333 Russellville, AR 72801
SUBJECT:
ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT NO. 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE:
REMOVAL OF PRESSURIZER HEATUP AND COOLDOWN LIMITS (TAC NO. MC2034)
Dear Mr. Forbes:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 253 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-6 for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit No. 2. This amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications in response to your application dated February 9, 2004, as supplemented by letter dated March 2, 2004.
The amendment removes the pressurizer heatup and cooldown limits, and the associated action and surveillance requirements, from the Technical Specifications and places them in the Technical Requirements Manual.
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/
Thomas W. Alexion, Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-368 DISTRIBUTION PUBLIC RidsNrrLADJohnson
Enclosures:
PDIV-1 RF G.Hill(2)
- 1. Amendment No. 253 to NPF-6 RidsNrrDlpmPdiv (HBerkow)
DRIP/RORP/TSS
- 2. Safety Evaluation RidsNrrDlpmLpdiv1 (RGramm)
RidsOgcRp RidsRgn4MailCenter (AHowell)
RidsNrrPMTAlexion cc w/encls: See next page RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter Accession No.:ML041260466
- See previous concurrence OFFICE PDIV-1/PM PDIV-1/LA IROB/SC SRXB/SC OGC PDIV-1/SC NAME TAlexion DJohnson TBoyce*
JUhle*
TSmith(NLO)
RGramm DATE 3/22/04 3/19/04 3/4/04 3/8/04 3/22/04 5/3/04 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC.
DOCKET NO. 50-368 ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT NO. 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 253 License No. NPF-6 1.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A.
The application for amendment by Entergy Operations, Inc. (the licensee), dated February 9, 2004, as supplemented by letter dated March 2, 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 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 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.
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-6 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2)
Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 253, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.
3.
The license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 60 days from the date of issuance. Implementation shall include placement of the pressurizer heatup and cooldown rates, and action and surveillance requirements, in the Technical Requirements Manual, as committed to in the licensees application dated February 9, 2004, as supplemented by letter dated March 2, 2004, and as discussed in the staffs Safety Evaluation related to this amendment.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/
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: May 4, 2004
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 253 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-6 DOCKET NO. 50-368 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 VI VI 3/4 4-23b 3/4 4-23b 3/4 4-24 3/4 4-25
SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 253 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-6 ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC.
ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT NO. 2 DOCKET NO. 50-368
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By application dated February 9, 2004 (Accession No. ML040480565), as supplemented by letter dated March 2, 2004 (Accession No. ML040650302), Entergy Operations, Inc. (the licensee), requested changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit No. 2 (ANO-2). The supplement dated March 2, 2004, provided additional information that clarified the application, did not expand the scope of the application as originally noticed, and did not change the staffs original proposed no significant hazards consideration determination as published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2004 (69 FR 9860).
The proposed changes would remove the pressurizer heatup and cooldown limits, and the associated action and surveillance requirements, from the TSs and place them in the Technical Requirements Manual (TRM). Specifically, the proposed change would delete TS 3/4.4.9.2, Reactor Coolant System - Pressurizer. The licensee application indicates that the proposed amendment is consistent with the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC or the Commission) approved Standard Technical Specifications, Combustion Engineering Plants (NUREG-1432).
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
Criteria for Inclusion of Items in TSs Section182a of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, requires applicants for nuclear power plant operating licenses to include TSs as part of the license. The NRC regulatory requirements related to the content of TSs are set forth in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.36, which requires that the TSs include items in five specific categories, including (1) safety limits, limiting safety system settings and limiting control settings; (2) limiting conditions for operation (LCOs); (3) surveillance requirements (SRs);
(4) design features; and (5) administrative controls.
As set forth in 10 CFR 50.36 the following four criteria are to be used in determining whether an LCO is required to be included in the TSs:
(1)
Installed instrumentation that is used to detect, and indicate in the control room, a significant abnormal degradation of the reactor coolant pressure boundary; (2)
A process variable, design feature, or operating restriction that is an initial condition of a design basis accident (DBA) or transient analysis that either assumes the failure of or presents a challenge to the integrity of a fission product barrier; (3)
A structure, system, or component (SSC) that is part of the primary success path and which functions or actuates to mitigate a DBA or transient that either assumes the failure of or presents a challenge to the integrity of a fission product barrier; or (4)
An SSC which operating experience or probabilistic risk assessment has shown to be significant to public health and safety.
Therefore, existing TS LCOs and related SRs that fall within or satisfy any of these criteria must be retained in the TSs, while those TS requirements that do not fall within or satisfy any of these criteria may be relocated to other, licensee controlled documents.
The NRC staff notes that the proposed amendment is consistent with NUREG-1432.
Pressurizer The pressurizer is a cylindrical carbon steel vessel with stainless steel or nickel-chromium-iron (Ni-Cr-Fe) clad internal surfaces. A spray nozzle on the top of the head is used in conjunction with heaters in the bottom head to provide pressure control. Overpressure protection is provided by two safety valves. The pressurizer is supported by a cylindrical skirt welded to the bottom head. A surge line connects the pressurizer to the reactor coolant system piping.
The pressurizer is designed and fabricated in accordance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code,Section III. The interior surface of the cylindrical shell and upper head is clad with weld deposited stainless steel. The lower head is clad with Ni-Cr-Fe alloy to facilitate welding of the Ni-Cr-Fe alloy heater sleeves to the shell. The structural integrity of the pressurizer is also assessed by performing inservice inspections in accordance with the ASME B&PV Code,Section XI.
Five hundred heatup and cooldown cycles (350 for the replacement steam generator) were considered in the fatigue analysis during the design life of the components in the reactor coolant system, with heating and cooling at a rate of 100 F/hour between 70 F and 545 F (200 F/hour between 70 F and 653 F for the pressurizer). The heatup and cooldown rate of the system is administratively limited by the licensee, via procedure, to assure that these limits will not be exceeded. This is based on consideration of both historical plant transient history and projections of transient lifetime occurrences for the components.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
TS 3/4.4.9.2 The existing TS 3/4.4.9.2 conditions, actions, and SRs for the pressurizer temperature limits will be removed from the TSs and placed in the TRM. These requirements define the limitations on the pressurizer heatup and cooldown to assure that the pressurizer remains within the design criteria assumed for the pressurizer fatigue analysis. As discussed in Section 5.5.10 of the ANO-2 Safety Analysis Report (SAR), the pressurizer is made in accordance with the requirements of the ASME B&PV Code,Section III. The related analyses show that the pressurizer is adequate for all normal operating and transient conditions expected for the life of the plant. In addition, following fabrication, the pressurizer was hydrostatically tested and then nondestructively tested in accordance with the ASME B&PV Code,Section III.
The staff evaluated the existing TSs against the four LCO criteria set forth in 10 CFR 50.36(c)(2)(ii). Pressurizer temperature limits are not a form of instrumentation nor a structure, system or component, and therefore, do not meet Criteria 1, 3 or 4.
The pressurizer temperature limits are process variables, and therefore, need to be considered under Criterion 2. However, these process variables are consistent with boundaries assumed in the structural analyses of the pressurizer and not as an initial condition for a DBA or transient analysis. Therefore, the pressurizer temperature limits do not meet Criteria 2 for inclusion in the TSs.
The staff notes that the pressurizer pressure high and low trips are included as Reactor Trip System setpoints in TS 3/4.3.1, Instrumentation - Reactor Protective Instrumentation. The trip setpoints have been selected to ensure that the reactor core and reactor coolant system are prevented from exceeding their safety limits during normal operation and design-basis anticipated operational occurrences, and to assist the Engineered Safety Features Actuation System in mitigating the consequences of accidents. However, the pressurizer heatup and cooldown limits in TS 3/4.4.9.2 do not affect the pressurizer high and low pressure reactor trip setpoints in TS 3/4.3.1.
The staff also notes that TS 3/4.4.4, Reactor Coolant System - Pressurizer, which requires the pressurizer to be operable, is retained in the ANO-2 TSs. Therefore, TS 3/4.4.4 is also not affected by the proposed change.
Based on the above, the staff finds that the pressurizer temperature limits in TS 3/4.4.9.2 do not satisfy any of the four criteria used in determining whether an LCO is required to be included in the TSs. Therefore, TS 3/4.4.9.2 may be removed from the TSs and placed in a licensee-controlled document.
The licensee has committed in its February 9, 2004, application as supplemented by the March 2, 2004, letter, that upon approval of this amendment, it will place the existing TS 3/4.4.9.2 (i.e., the pressurizer heatup and cooldown rates, and action and SRs) in the TRM.
The ANO-2 SAR, Section 13.8.2, states that the TRM is administered as part of the SAR, changes to the TRM are subject to the criteria of 10 CFR 50.59, and administrative controls for processing TRM changes are included in the site procedure. Therefore, the staff finds that sufficient regulatory controls exist for the TRM.
Accordingly, the staff finds that the requirements associated with the pressurizer temperature limits in TS 3/4.4.9.2 may be removed from the TSs and placed in the TRM because (1) the 10 CFR 50.36 TS inclusion criteria are not applicable, (2) these requirements will be appropriately placed in the licensees TRM, and (3) sufficient regulatory controls exist for the TRM.
Affected TS Pages As a result of the removal of TS 3/4.4.9.2, the licensee proposed TS changes for the affected TS pages, as follows: a revision to TS Index page VI to remove the listing for the pressurizer pressure and temperature limits in Section 3/4.4.9, and the listing for page 3/4 4-25; the addition of a notation on TS page 3/4 4-23b, which has an unrelated TS, to state that the next page is 3/4 4-26; the deletion of TS page 3/4 4-24 (this page is currently blank, except that it indicates that a table was previously deleted); and the deletion of TS page 3/4 4-25 (this page currently has TS 3/4.4.9.2, which is the subject of this license amendment and which is being removed).
The staff has reviewed the revisions to the above affected TS pages and finds them to be consistent with the removal of TS 3/4.4.9.2, and therefore, acceptable.
4.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commissions regulations, the Arkansas State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendments change 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 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 (69 FR 9860, dated March 2, 2004). 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 Commissions 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: T. Alexion Date: May 4, 2004
November 2003 Arkansas Nuclear One cc:
Executive Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer Entergy Operations, Inc.
P. O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Director, Division of Radiation Control and Emergency Management Arkansas Department of Health 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 30 Little Rock, AR 72205-3867 Winston & Strawn 1400 L Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005-3502 Mr. Mike Schoppman Framatome ANP, Richland, Inc.
Suite 705 1911 North Fort Myer Drive Rosslyn, VA 22209 Senior Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P. O. Box 310 London, AR 72847 Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-8064 County Judge of Pope County Pope County Courthouse Russellville, AR 72801 Vice President, Operations Support Entergy Operations, Inc.
P. O. Box 31995 Jackson, MS 39286-1995 Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway P. O. Box 651 Jackson, MS 39205