ML050470131

Amendment, Addition of Tracg Methodology for Determnining Core Operating Limits (Tac No. MC4385)

ML050470131
Person / Time
Site:	Brunswick
Issue date:	03/04/2005
From:	Mozafari B NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD2
To:	Gannon C Carolina Power & Light Co
mozafari B, NRR/DLPM, 415-2020
Shared Package
ML050730285	List: ML050470131 ML050660150
References
NEDE-32906P-A, TAC MC4385
Download: ML050470131 (10)

Text

March 4, 2005 Mr. C. J. Gannon, Vice President Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Carolina Power & Light Company Post Office Box 10429 Southport, North Carolina 28461

SUBJECT:

BRUNSWICK STEAM ELECTRIC PLANT, UNIT 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT ON ADDITION OF TRACG METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING CORE OPERATING LIMITS (TAC NO. MC4385)

Dear Mr. Gannon:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 262 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-62 for Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2. The amendment is in response to your application dated August 16, 2004.

The amendment adds topical report NEDE-32906P-A, "TRACG Application for Anticipated Operational Occurrences (AOO) Transient Analyses," to the list of documents specified in Technical Specification 5.6.5 describing the approved methodologies used to determine the core operating limits.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Brenda L. Mozafari, Senior Project Manager, Section 2 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-324

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 262 to License No. DPR-62

2. Safety Evaluation cc w/enclosures:

See next page

ML050470131 *No Legal Objection NRR-058 OFFICE PDII-2/PM PDII-2/LA SRXB OGC PDII-2/SC NAME BMozafari EDunnington FAkstulewicz SLewis MMarshall DATE 02/ 16 /05 02/ 16 /05 SE dated 02/ 28 /05 03/ 04 /05 02/04/05 CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY DOCKET NO. 50-324 BRUNSWICK STEAM ELECTRIC PLANT, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 262 License No. DPR-62

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

A. The application for amendment filed by Carolina Power & Light Company (the licensee), dated August 16, 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-62 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment No. 262, are hereby incorporated in the license. Carolina Power & Light Company 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 prior to startup for Unit 2 Cycle 17 operation.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

Michael L. Marshall, Jr., Chief, Section 2 Project Directorate II Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: March 4, 2005

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 262 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-62 DOCKET NO. 50-324 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 a marginal line indicating the area of change.

Remove Page Insert Page 5.0-20 5.0-20

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 262 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-62 CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY BRUNSWICK STEAM ELECTRIC PLANT, UNIT 2 DOCKET NO. 50-324

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated August 16, 2004, Carolina Power & Light Company (the licensee), also doing business as Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc., requested a change to the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant (BSEP), Unit 2, Technical Specifications (TS). The requested change would add topical report NEDE-32906P-A, "TRACG Application for Anticipated Operational Occurrences (AOO) Transient Analyses," to the list of licensing documents referenced in TS 5.6.5. This was approved separately under Amendment 27 to GESTAR II dated August 18, 2003 (ADAMS Accession ML032300504).

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

NRC Generic Letter (GL) 88-16, "Removal of Cycle-Specific Parameter Limits from Technical Specifications," provides guidance on modifying cycle-specific parameter limits in TS. For each fuel vendor and/or licensee, NRC approves the licensing and analytical method and codes used to perform the safety analyses. For each operating cycle, the licensee or the fuel vendor performs the cycle-specific safety analyses using the NRC-approved licensing methodology and the NRC-approved analytical methods and codes. The cycle core operating limit report (COLR) provides the cycle-specific core operating parameter. Section 5.0 of the TS references the applicable documents that describe the NRC-approved licensing and analytical methods.

Therefore, the licensee can perform the reload analyses and establish the cycle operating parameters under 10 CFR 50.59 because (1) the required reload analyses are specified in the NRC-approved licensing methodology, and (2) the analyses are performed using NRC-approved analytical methods and codes. However, any significant changes or modifications to the NRC-approved licensing methodology, analytical methods, or codes or the use of a code or analytical method that does not meet the 10 CFR 50.59 criteria would require NRC review and approval before using these analytical methods or codes to perform the reload safety analyses. For TS 5.6.5, the licensee proposed adding topical report NEDE-32906P-A, "TRACG Application for Anticipated Operational Occurrences (AOO) Transient Analyses," to the list of licensing bases documents referenced in TS 5.6.5.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The Cycle 17 safety limit for minimum critical power ratio (SLMCPR) analysis was performed by Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC (GNF)-A using plant- and cycle-specific fuel and core parameters and NRC-approved methodologies. The GNF-A methodology for determining the

SLMCPR is included in the overall GE licensing methodology topical report NEDE-24011-P-A, (GESTAR) Revision 14, and US Supplement NEDE-24011-P-A-US, June 2000, which incorporates Amendment 26. GNF-A SLMCPR methodology and analytical methods, and procedures are further specified in (1) NEDC-32405P, Revision 1 (R-Factor Calculation Method for GE11, GE12, and GE13 Fuel); (2) NEDE-10958-A (GETAB); (3) NEDC-32601P (Methodology and Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluations); and (4) NEDC-32694P (Power Distribution Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluation). Amendment 26 to GESTAR provides the methodology and uncertainties required for implementation of the cycle-specific SLMCPR. Amendment 27 to GESTAR includes additional NRC-approved codes (e.g., TRACG) to the GNF-A licensing methodology and makes several administrative changes.

BSEP, Unit 2, TS 5.6.5 references the licensing bases documents used to perform the reload licensing analyses; therefore, adding the specific topical report references of previously approved topical reports into plant-specific TS lists is an administrative change.

The NRC staff, therefore, finds the administrative change acceptable.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the State of North Carolina 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 62470). 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 (BSEP 04-0091, TSC-2004-02) from Cornelius J. Gannon to USNRC, "Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2, Docket No. 50-324/License No. DPR-62, Request for License Amendment - Addition of TRACG Methodology for Determining Core Operating Limits, August 16, 2004.

2. NEDE-32906P-A, "Methodology and Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluation,"

August 1999.

3. NEDC-32694P-A, "Power Distribution Uncertainties for Safety Limit MCPR Evaluation,"

August 1999.

4. XN-NF-80-19 (P), Volume 1, Supplement 3, Advanced Nuclear Fuels Methodology for Boiling Water Reactors, Benchmark Results for the CASMO-3G/MICROBURN-B Calculation Methodology, February 1989.

5. XN-NF-80-19 (P)(A), Supplement 4, Advanced Nuclear Fuels Methodology for Boiling Water Reactors, Benchmark Results for the CASMO-3G/MICROBURN-B Calculational Methodology, November 1990.

6. Letter, G.A. Watford (GNF) to R. Pulsifer (NRC), "Request for Additional Information-GE14 Review-Power Distribution Uncertainties and GEXL Correlation Development Procedure," FLN-2001-004, March 27, 2001.

7. Letter, G.A. Watford (GNF-A) to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk with attention to R. Pulsifer (NRC), "Confirmation of 10X10 Fuel Design Applicability to Improved SLMCPR, Power Distribution and R-factor Methodology,"

FLN-2001-016, September 14, 2001.

8. Letter, G.A. Watford (GNF-A) to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk with attention to J. Donoghue (NRC), "Confirmation Applicability of the GEXL14 Correlation and Associated R-Factor Methodology for Calculating SLMCPR values in Cores Containing GE14 Fuel," October 1, 2001.

Principal Contributor: R. Landry, NRR Date: March 4, 2005

Mr. C. J. Gannon Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Carolina Power & Light Company Units 1 and 2 cc:

David T. Conley Mr. Robert P. Gruber Associate General Counsel II - Executive Director Legal Department Public Staff - NCUC Progress Energy Service Company, LLC 4326 Mail Service Center Post Office Box 1551 Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4326 Raleigh, North Carolina 27602-1551 Mr. T. P. Cleary Mr. David R. Sandifer, Chairperson Director - Site Operations Brunswick County Board of Commissioners Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Post Office Box 249 Carolina Power & Light Company Bolivia, North Carolina 28422 Post Office Box 10429 Southport, North Carolina 28461-0429 Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mr. Norman R. Holden, Mayor 8470 River Road City of Southport Southport, North Carolina 28461 201 East Moore Street Southport, North Carolina 28461 Mr. John H. ONeill, Jr.

Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge Mr. Warren Lee 2300 N Street NW. Emergency Management Director Washington, DC 20037-1128 New Hanover County Department of Emergency Management Ms. Beverly Hall, Section Chief Post Office Box 1525 Division of Radiation Protection Wilmington, North Carolina 28402-1525 N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Mr. Chris L. Burton, Manager 3825 Barrett Dr. Performance Evaluation and Raleigh, North Carolina 27609-7721 Regulatory Affairs PEB 7 Progress Energy Mr. David H. Hinds Post Office Box 1551 Plant General Manager Raleigh, North Carolina 27602-1551 Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Carolina Power & Light Company Mr. Edward T. ONeil Post Office Box 10429 Manager - Support Services Southport, North Carolina 28461-0429 Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Carolina Power & Light Company Public Service Commission Post Office Box 10429 State of South Carolina Southport, North Carolina 28461 Post Office Drawer 11649 Columbia, South Carolina 29211 Mr. C. J. Gannon, Vice President Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Ms. Margaret A. Force Carolina Power & Light Company Assistant Attorney General Post Office Box 10429 State of North Carolina Southport, North Carolina 28461 Post Office Box 629 Raleigh, North Carolina 27602