ML050340224
| ML050340224 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 02/03/2005 |
| From: | Milano P NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD1 |
| To: | Kansler M Entergy Nuclear Operations |
| Milano P, NRR/DLPM ,415-1457 | |
| References | |
| TAC MC3391 | |
| Download: ML050340224 (11) | |
Text
February 3, 2005 Mr. Michael Kansler President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
SUBJECT:
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - AMENDMENT RE:
CYCLE 17 MINIMUM CRITICAL POWER RATIO SAFETY LIMITS (TAC NO. MC3391)
Dear Mr. Kansler:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 281 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application transmitted by letter dated June 4, 2004, as supplemented by letters dated July 27, September 27, and December 14, 2004.
The amendment revises the safety limit values in TS 2.1.1.2 for the minimum critical power ratio for both single and two recirculation loop operation.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's next regular biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Patrick D. Milano, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-333
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 281 to DPR-59
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page
February 3, 2005 Mr. Michael Kansler President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
SUBJECT:
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - AMENDMENT RE:
REVISION TO TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR CYCLE 17 MINIMUM CRITICAL POWER RATIO SAFETY LIMITS (TAC NO. MC3391)
Dear Mr. Kansler:
The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 281 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application transmitted by letter dated June 4, 2004, as supplemented by letters dated July 27, September 27, and December 14, 2004.
The amendment revises the safety limit values in TS 2.1.1.2 for the minimum critical power ratio for both single and two recirculation loop operation.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's next regular biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Patrick D. Milano, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-333
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 281 to DPR-59
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page Accession Number: ML050340224 OFFICE PDI-1\\PM PDI-1\\LA DSSA:SRXB OGC PDI-1\\SC NAME PMilano SLittle FAkstulewicz TSmith RLaufer DATE 01/24/05 01/24/05 02/01/05 2/01/05 02/03/05 Official Record Copy
DATED: February 3, 2005 AMENDMENT NO. 281 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 FITZPATRICK PUBLIC PDI-1 R/F RLaufer OGC GHill (2)
TBoyce ACRS PMilano SLittle THuang FAkstulewicz GMatakas, RI cc: Plant Service list
FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant cc:
Mr. Gary J. Taylor Chief Executive Officer Entergy Operations, Inc.
1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213 Mr. John T. Herron Sr. VP and Chief Operating Officer Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Theodore A. Sullivan Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Lycoming, NY 13093 Mr. Kevin J. Mulligan General Manager, Plant Operations Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Lycoming, NY 13093 Mr. Danny L. Pace Vice President, Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Brian OGrady Vice President, Operations Support Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John F. McCann Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Resident Inspector's Office James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 136 Lycoming, NY 13093 Ms. Charlene D. Faison Manager, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Michael J. Colomb Director of Oversight Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. William Maquire Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Lycoming, NY 13093 Mr. Andrew Halliday Manager, Regulatory Compliance Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 110 Lycoming, NY 13093 Supervisor Town of Scriba Route 8, Box 382 Oswego, NY 13126 Mr. Charles Donaldson, Esquire Assistant Attorney General New York Department of Law 120 Broadway New York, NY 10271
FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant cc:
Regional Administrator, Region I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 Oswego County Administrator Mr. Steven Lyman 46 East Bridge Street Oswego, NY 13126 Mr. Peter R. Smith, President New York State Energy, Research, and Development Authority 17 Columbia Circle Albany, NY 12203-6399 Mr. Paul Eddy New York State Dept. of Public Service 3 Empire State Plaza Albany, NY 12223-1350 Mr. John M. Fulton Assistant General Counsel Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Ken L. Graesser BWR SRC Consultant 38832 N. Ashley Drive Lake Villa, IL 60046 Mr. Jim Sniezek Nuclear Management Consultant 5486 Nithsdale Drive Salisbury, MD 21801 Mr. Ron Toole BWR SRC Consultant 1282 Valley of Lakes Box R-10 Hazelton, PA 18202 Ms. Stacey Lousteau Treasury Department Entergy Services, Inc.
639 Loyola Avenue Mail Stop L-ENT-15E New Orleans, LA 70113 Ms. Deb Katz, Executive Director Nuclear Security Coalition c/o Citizens Awareness Network P.O. Box 83 Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC.
DOCKET NO. 50-333 JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 281 License No. DPR-59 1.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A.
The application for amendment by Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the licensee) dated June 4, 2004, as supplemented on July 27, September 27, and December 14, 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 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; 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 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-59 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2)
Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment No. 281, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.
3.
This license amendment is effective as of the date of its issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/
Richard J. Laufer, Chief, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: February 3, 2005
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 281 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 DOCKET NO. 50-333 Replace the following page of the 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. 281 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-59 ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC.
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (JAFNPP)
DOCKET NO. 50-333
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By letter dated June 4, 2004 (Reference 1), as supplemented on July 27 (Reference 2),
September 27 (Reference 3), and December 14, 2004 (Reference 4), Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the licensee) submitted a request for changes to the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant Technical Specifications (TSs). The requested changes would revise the safety limit for minimum critical power ratio (SLMCPR) value in TS 2.1.1.2 for Cycle 17 operation. The July 27, September 27, and December 14, 2004, letters 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 July 20, 2004 (69 FR 43459).
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
Operation above the boundary of the nucleate boiling regime could result in excessive cladding temperature because of the onset of transition boiling and the resultant sharp reduction in heat transfer coefficient. Thus, operating limits are specified to maintain adequate margin before the onset of transition boiling. The critical power ratio is defined as the ratio of the critical power (bundle power at which some point within the fuel assembly experiences onset of transition boiling) to the operating bundle power. Thermal margin is stated in terms of the minimum value of the critical power ration (MCPR), which corresponds to the most limiting fuel assembly in the core. As described in JAFNPP Final Safety Analysis Report, Section 3.7, Thermal and Hydraulic Design, the SLMCPR is calculated for each operating cycle based on NRC-approved methodology, using actual core loading, fuel bundle peaking parameters, and the full cycle exposure range. The SLMCPR is set such that no significant fuel damage is calculated to occur if the limit is not violated. The SLMCPR ensures that during normal operation and during abnormal operational transients, at least 99.9% of the fuel rods in the core do not experience transition boiling.
General Design Criterion (GDC) 10, Reactor design, of Appendix A to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50) requires 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.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff evaluates the licensees plant-specific SLMCPR analyses as prescribed in Section 4.4, Thermal and Hydraulic Design, of NUREG-0800, Standard Review Plan (SRP). SRP Section 4.4 specifies the SLMCPR to have an appropriate margin 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 does not experience a departure from nucleate boiling or boiling transition for the power distribution within the core including all uncertainties.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
The core design for Cycle 17 at JAFNPP has 560 fuel assemblies, of which there are 204 fresh GE14 fuel bundles, 196 once-burned GE14 fuel bundles, and 160 twice-burned GE12 fuel bundles.
In its June 4 submittal, the licensee referenced the NRC-approved methodologies used to calculate the proposed SLMCPR values. The licensees contractor, Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), performed the SLMCPR analysis using plant-and cycle-specific fuel and core parameters. In addition, GNF used the NRC-approved methodologies, which include:
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 1.09 to 1.07 for two recirculation loop operation, and from 1.10 to 1.09 for single recirculation loop operation using the approach delineated in Amendment 25 to GESTAR II, (2) the response from GE Nuclear Energy in a 10 CFR Part 21 Report, dated August 24, 2004 (Reference 5), and (3) the adequacy of the SLMCPR calculation with respect to the end-of-cycle (EOC) penalty for a top-peaked power shape.
In its July 27, 2004, letter, the licensee explained the overall reduction of the SLMCPR values for operation during the JAFNPP Cycle 17 as compared to the values for the Cycle 16 operation. The calculated reductions in SLMCPR values from Cycle 16 to Cycle 17 is due to using reduced power and non-power distribution uncertainties to determine the calculated SLMCPR values which are provided in Table 1 of Attachment 4 to Reference 1 and in Tables R-1 through R-4 of Attachment 1 to Reference 3. The licensee also addressed the actions in response to non-conservatism in the methodology (as reported in the 10 CFR Part 21 Report, dated August 24, 2004) in Attachment 5 to Reference 3 and provided the results of the calculation in Tables 1 through 3. An increase of 0.01 in the SLMCPR value over the proposed value in References 1 and 2 is due to an evaluation at the limiting condition of 80% rated flow/rated power at middle of cycle (MOC) and higher plant-cycle-specific uncertainties as listed in Table 2a of Attachment 5 to the licensees September 27, 2004, letter. In its December 14, 2004, letter, the licensee provided additional information in Table 1 to demonstrate that the SLMCPR evaluation at rated power for the Reference Loading Pattern in Figure 2 of Reference 1 at the low flow condition of 80% results in an SLMCPR value that is equivalent to or will conservatively bound SLMCPR calculations performed at higher core flow rates of 87% and 100% rated core flow. The licensee indicated that no outlet-peaked power shapes were observed in GE-14 bundles at any of the SLMCPR cycle evaluation point during Cycle 17 (see References 1 and 2).
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensees justification to address the 0.02 reduction of the SLMCPR values in relation to the nonconservatism discussed in the 10 CFR Part 21 report and the SLMCPR penalty due to an oulet-peaked power shape at the EOC. The staff has concluded that the licensees justification for those two issues is acceptable because the calculation results based on NRC-approved methodologies indicate that the proposed SLMCPR values are indeed conservative and confirm that there is no top-peaked axial power profile of these bundles at any point in the cycle. The proposed JAFNPP Cycle 17 SLMCPR values will ensure that 99.9% of the fuel rods in the core will not experience boiling transition, which satisfies the requirements of GDC 10 regarding specified acceptable fuel design limits. The NRC staff concludes that the justification for analyzing and determining the SLMCPR values of 1.07, for two recirculation loop operation, and 1.09, for single recirculation loop operation, are acceptable for JAFNPP Cycle 17 because NRC-approved methodologies listed above were used and the values provide sufficient thermal-hydraulic margin.
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 (69 FR 43459). 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 Commission's 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.
7.0 REFERENCES
1.
Letter (JAFP-04-0083) from T. A. Sullivan to USNRC, Proposed License Amendment to Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR), dated June 4, 2004.
2.
Letter (JAFP-04-0117) from T. A. Sullivan to USNRC, Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Proposed License Amendment to Safety Limits for Minimum Critical Power Ratio (TAC No. MC3391), dated July 27, 2004.
3.
Letter (JAFP-04-0158) from T. A. Sullivan to USNRC, Follow-up Response to Request for Additional Information and Revision to Proposed License Amendment to Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR) (TAC No. MC3391), dated September 27, 2004.
4.
Letter (JAFP-04-0189) from T. A. Sullivan to USNRC, Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Proposed License Amendment to Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR) (TAC No. MC3391), dated December 14, 2004.
5.
GE Nuclear Energy Letter to USNRC (MFN 04-081) Part 21 Reportable Condition and 60-Day Interim Report Notification: Non-conservative SLMCPR, dated August 24, 2004.
Principal Contributor: T. Huang Date: February 3, 2005