ML042660144

Duke Energy Corporation Catawba Nuclear Station Units 1 & 2, Proposed Amendments to the Facility Operating License and Technical Specifications to Allow Insertion of Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Lead Assemblies (Dose Inputs)

ML042660144
Person / Time
Site:	Catawba
Issue date:	08/31/2004
From:	Mccollum W Duke Energy Corp, Duke Power Co
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML042660144 (5)

Text

kDuke UWPower.

A i, Et C....y Duke Power 526 South Church Street P.O. Box 1006 Charlotte, NC 28201-1006 August 31, 2004 Document Control Desk U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001

Subject:

Duke Energy Corporation Catawba Nuclear Station Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-413, 50-414 Proposed Amendments to the Facility Operating License and Technical Specifications to Allow Insertion of Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Lead Assemblies (Dose Inputs)

Reference:

(1)

Letter, M. S. Tuckman (Duke) to U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Proposed Amendments to McGuire and Catawba Facility Operating Licenses to Allow Insertion of Mixed Oxide Fuel Lead Assemblies, February 27, 2003.

This letter provides additional information to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding Duke's MOX fuel lead assembly license amendment request. This letter briefly summarizes an issue discussed with members of the NRC staff during a conference call on August 26, 2004. As described below, Duke intends to provide additional information by September 10, 2004.

In Reference 1, Duke applied to the NRC for amendments to the McGuire and Catawba operating licenses that would provide for receipt and use of four MOX fuel lead assemblies.

This application was later limited to Catawba Nuclear Station. Duke supplemented the initial submittal with numerous responses to NRC requests for additional information (RAI). Some of that dose information was derived from data currently listed in Table 15-4 of the Catawba Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR). Duke has subsequently determined that the calculated doses in Table 15-4 have not been updated for a period of time; the table includes a disclaimer stating that "The following values are presented for the purpose of illustration and do not necessarily reflect the current design basis of the plant."

Duke has made a corrective action program entry to lead to a root cause and corrective actions to prevent recurrence. The corrective action program will address UFSAR update practices, as well as methods and sources for engineering inputs. As an immediate corrective action, Duke staff at Catawba Nuclear Station have reviewed pending license amendment applications and open operability evaluations and have not identified any reliance on the doses contained in Table 15-4 except for the pending MOX fuel license amendment application.

Duke will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff with updated MOX license application materials appropriately updated to reflect current design basis and licensing basis information related to UFSAR Table 15-4. Duke is working to provide this updated material by September 10, 2004.

Duke does not anticipate that the revised doses wvill affect the conclusion that doses are within applicable regulatory limits or the proposed no significant hazards consideration determination. The issue does not impact LOCA mechanical or thermal-hydraulic analyses and therefore does not impact matters subject to the ongoing Atomic Safety and Licensing Board proceedings related to Safety Contention I.

Please contact Mike Cash at (704) 382-5826 or Steve Nesbit (704) 382-2197 regarding questions on this matter.

Sincerely, W.R. Mc Collum7 Senior Vice President - Nuclear Generation Duke Energy Corporation 2

Oath and Affirmation I affirm that I, W.R. Mc Collum, am the person who subscribed my name to the foregoing, and that all the matters and facts set forth herein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

W.R. Mc Collum Subscribed and sworn to before me on this P1 d &,L Notary Public 31 IS' day of.

aqtts1r 6160 X.

My Commission expires:

Date r-S..

MICHAEL T. CASH Notwy Public Lincoln Court cy. North Carolina commission Expires January 22,2008

'Dqf 3

cc: w/attachments Dr. William D. Travers I

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regional Administrator, Region II Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth St., SW, Suite 23T85 Atlanta, GA 30303 R. E. Martin (addressee only)

NRC Project Manager U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop O-8G9 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E. F. Guthrie Senior Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Catawba Nuclear Station J. B. Brady Senior Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission McGuire Nuclear Station Diane Curran Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP 1726 M Street, N.W.

Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 H. J. Porter, Director Division of Radioactive Waste Management Bureau of Land and Waste Management Department of Health and Environmental Control Columbia, SC 29201 4

bcc: w/attachments Richard Clark-DCS Martin Newdorf-DOE Guy Lunsford-DOE Don Spellman-ORNL NCMPA-1 NCEMC PMPA SRE bcc: wv/attachment (via email)

S. P. Nesbit M. T. Cash F. J. Verbos J. L. Eller S. P. Schultz T. Shafeek-Horton D.A. Repka-Winston & Strawn L. J. Rudy J. Hoemer - Framatome ANP G. A. Meyer - Framatome ANP bcc: w/attachments (paper copy)

NRIA File/ELL - ECO5O MOX File 1607.2304 Catawba Document Control File 801.01-CN04DM Catawba RGC Date File (J. M. Ferguson - CNOISA) 5