ML041460089

Amendment Nos. 240 & 183

ML041460089
Person / Time
Site:	Hatch
Issue date:	05/25/2004
From:	Gratton C NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD2
To:	Sumner H Southern Nuclear Operating Co
Gratton C, NRR/DLPM, 415-1055
References
TAC MC1946, TAC MC1947
Download: ML041460089 (14)

Text

May 25, 2004 Mr. H. L. Sumner, Jr.

Vice President - Nuclear Hatch Project Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Post Office Box 1295 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295

SUBJECT:

EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS RE: REVISED ACTION FOR SCRAM DISCHARGE VOLUME VENT AND DRAIN VALVES (TAC NOS. MC1946 AND MC1947)

Dear Mr. Sumner:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 240 to Renewed Facility Operating License DPR-57 and Amendment No. 183 to Renewed Facility Operating License NPF-5 for the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated February 2, 2004.

The amendments revise TS 3.1.8, "Scram Discharge Volume (SDV) Vent and Drain Valves," for the condition of having one or more SDV vent or drain lines with one valve inoperable. A notice of availability for this TS improvement using the consolidated line item improvement process was published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2003 (68 FR 18294).

A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Christopher Gratton, Senior Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 240 to DPR-57

2. Amendment No. 183 to NPF-5

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

ML041460089 TS1: ML041460307 NRR-058 Package No.: ML041460106 TS2: ML041460308 *See previous concurrence OFFICE CLIIP LPM PDII-1/PM PDII-1/(A)LA PDII-1/SC NAME WReckley* CGratton DClarke SCoffin for JNakoski DATE 3/18/04 5/20/04 5/20/04 5/20/04 SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.

GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA DOCKET NO. 50-321 EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 240 Renewed License No. DPR-57

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

A. The application for amendment to the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (the facility)

Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-57 filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated February 2, 2004, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as 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 Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; 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 Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.

2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-57 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, as revised through Amendment No. 240, are hereby incorporated in the license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

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

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

John A. Nakoski, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Technical Specification Changes Date of Issuance: May 25, 2004

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 240 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-57 DOCKET NO. 50-321 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A Technical Specifications and associated Bases with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert 3.1-22 3.1-22 B 3.1-42 B 3.1-42 B 3.1-43 B 3.1-43

SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.

GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA DOCKET NO. 50-366 EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 183 Renewed License No. NPF-5

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

A. The application for amendment to the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 (the facility)

Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-5 filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated February 2, 2004, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as 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 Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; 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 Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.

2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-5 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, as revised through Amendment No. 183, are hereby incorporated in the license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

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

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

John A. Nakoski, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Technical Specification Changes Date of Issuance: May 25, 2004

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 183 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-5 DOCKET NO. 50-366 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A Technical Specifications and associated Bases with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert 3.1-22 3.1-22 B 3.1-42 B 3.1-42 B 3.1-43 B 3.1-43

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 240 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE DPR-57 AND AMENDMENT NO. 183 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NPF-5 SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC., ET AL.

EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-321 AND 50-366

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated February 2, 2004 [ADAMS Accession No. ML040350273], Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (Southern Nuclear, the licensee), et al., proposed license amendments to change the Technical Specifications (TS) for the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. The requested changes would revise the required action within TS 3.1.8, "Scram Discharge Volume (SDV) Vent and Drain Valves," for the condition of having one or more SDV vent or drain lines with one valve inoperable. These changes are based on Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF) change traveler TSTF-404 (Revision 0) that has been approved generically for the Boiling Water Reactor/4 (BWR) Standard Technical Specifications, NUREG-1433, Revision 2. A notice announcing the availability of this proposed TS change using the consolidated line item improvement process was published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2003 (68 FR 18294).

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations and review standards such as Appendix A, "General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants," to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, include specific requirements for reactor protection and reactivity control systems. The reactor protection systems for BWRs use a hydraulic system to insert control rods into the reactor core. During an actuation of the reactor protection system (a scram), water is exhausted from the control rod drive mechanisms to the SDVs. Proper maintenance and operation of the SDVs in terms of instrumentation and limiting water volumes are essential for assuring the reliability of the reactor protection system (see NRC Bulletin 80-17, "Failure of Control Rods to Insert During a Scram at a BWR," related Orders to specific facilities, and information provided in plant final safety analysis reports and TS Bases).

Maintaining the SDVs to ensure that accumulated water does not hamper or slow the insertion of control rods requires vent and drain valves. The vent and drain valves isolate during a scram to limit the amount of coolant discharged so that adequate core cooling is maintained and offsite doses remain within regulatory limits.

Specific regulatory requirements for SDV vent and drain valves are defined in TS 3.1.8. The existing Limiting Condition for Operation 3.1.8, requires that each SDV vent and drain valve be operable. The operability of all SDV vent and drain valves ensures that the SDV vent and drain valves will close during a scram to contain reactor water discharged to the SDV piping. Since the vent and drain lines are provided with two valves in series, the single failure of one valve in the open position will not impair the isolation function of the system. Additionally, the valves are required to open on scram reset and during plant operation to control the amount of water accumulating in the SDV. If one or more SDV vent and drain lines have a single valve that is inoperable, the existing required action is to restore the valve(s) to operable status within 7 days. If an inoperable valve is not restored to operable status, a plant shutdown to MODE 3 is required within 12 hours1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br />.

If one or more SDV vent or drain lines have both valves inoperable, the associated line must be isolated within 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br />. In this condition, the plant is allowed to operate indefinitely. A note associated with the required action clarifies that the valves may be opened under administrative controls to allow draining of the SDV. The existing SDV vent and drain valve required actions are inconsistent in that, although the operational and safety concerns are similar for having one or both valves in a line being inoperable, the actions for a single inoperable valve do not allow for the isolation of the line and administrative controls to support the draining of the SDV.

The proposed change would revise the required actions to be more consistent with the safety significance of one inoperable valve in a SDV line versus two inoperable valves in an SDV line.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The proposed changes to TS 3.1.8 are:

A. Required Action A.1 is revised from restoring the single inoperable SDV vent and drain valve in one or more SDV vent and drain lines to operable status to isolating the associated line.

2. The Note to Required Action B.1, which allows an isolated line to be unisolated under administrative controls for the purpose of draining and venting the SDV, is moved to a note that applies to both Conditions A (single inoperable valve) and B (both valves inoperable).

With one SDV vent or drain valve inoperable in one or more lines, the isolation function would be maintained since the redundant valve in the affected line would perform its safety function of isolating the SDV. The current ACTION statement allows 7 days to repair the inoperable valve; the proposed change is to allow for the isolation of the affected line and continue operation. If the affected line is not isolated within the 7-day time period (or the inoperable valve is not restored), the licensee would then be required to proceed to MODE 3 in the next 12 hours1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br />.

Maintaining the 7-day Completion Time is acceptable because of the low probability of the concurrent events of a scram within the 7 days of the Completion Time and a failure of the redundant valve(s). Alternately, if the inoperable valve was initially closed, there would be ample time and warning available to drain the SDV before an automatic scram would occur due to SDV high level.

The allowance to administratively open a line that is isolated to comply with the actions (to permit draining and venting the SDV) is allowed by existing Required Action B.1. This allowance is being moved to apply to all ACTIONS based on the change proposed to Action A.

This would allow any accumulated water in the line to be drained, to preclude a reactor scram on SDV high level. A reactor scram is initiated if the SDV water level in the instrument volume exceeds a specified setpoint. The setpoint is chosen so that all control rods are inserted before the SDV has insufficient volume to accept a full scram. Regarding the isolation of the SDV, the remaining operable SDV vent and drain valve(s) would close automatically on a scram signal to isolate the lines. Or, if both valves in a line were inoperable (and opened under this provision),

the reactor coolant release could be terminated by resetting the scram from the control room, or by manually closing the valves. Resetting the scram automatically closes the scram outlet valves, isolating the control rod drive discharge path to the SDV.

Based on the low probability of an event occurring during the defined Completion Time associated with this condition, the subsequent isolation of the affected lines, and the ability to open and drain the lines before an automatic scram due to SDV high water level, the proposed change maintains the necessary safety features and, is therefore, acceptable.

The licensee stated that associated changes to the Bases Section for TS 3.1.8 will be made in accordance with the Bases Control Program defined by TS 5.5.11. The NRC staff agrees that the TS Bases Control Program is the appropriate process for updating the affected TS Bases pages.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

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

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendments change a requirement with respect to the installation or use of facility components 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 12372). 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 Commission's 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: W. Reckley Date: May 25, 2004

DISTRIBUTION EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS RE: REVISED ACTION FOR SCRAM DISCHARGE VOLUME VENT AND DRAIN VALVES (TAC NOS. MC1946 AND MC1947)

Date: May 25, 2004 DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC PDII-1 R/F RidsNrrDlpmLpdii (EHackett)

RidsNrrDlpmLpdii-1 (JNakoski)

RidsNrrPMCGratton RidsNrrLACHawes RidsOgcRp RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter GHill (4 copies)

TBoyce RidsRgnIIMailCenter (VMcCree)

RidsNrrDlpmDpr

Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant cc:

Laurence Bergen Arthur H. Domby, Esq.

Oglethorpe Power Corporation Troutman Sanders 2100 East Exchange Place Nations Bank Plaza P.O. Box 1349 600 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 5200 Tucker, GA 30085-1349 Atlanta, GA 30308-2216 Mr. R. D. Baker Chairman Manager - Licensing Appling County Commissioners Southern Nuclear Operating County Courthouse Company, Inc. Baxley, Georgia 31513 P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295 Mr. J. B. Beasley, Jr.

Executive Vice President Resident Inspector Southern Nuclear Operating Plant Hatch Company, Inc.

11030 Hatch Parkway N. P. O. Box 1295 Baxley, Georgia 31531 Birmingham, Alabama 35201-1295 Harold Reheis, Director Mr. G. R. Frederick Department of Natural Resources General Manager, Edwin I. Hatch 205 Butler Street, SE., Suite 1252 Nuclear Plant Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Steven M. Jackson U.S. Highway 1 North Senior Engineer - Power Supply P. O. Box 2010 Municipal Electric Authority Baxley, Georgia 31515 of Georgia 1470 Riveredge Parkway, NW Mr. K. Rosanski Atlanta, Georgia 30328-4684 Resident Manager Oglethorpe Power Corporation Mr. Reece McAlister Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Executive Secretary P. O. Box 2010 Georgia Public Service Commission Baxley, Georgia 31515 244 Washington St., S. W.

Atlanta, Ga. 30334