ML050680508

3/8/05 Callaway Plant, Unit #1 - Issuance of Amd. 166 Elimination of Requirements to Provide Monthly Operating Reports and Annual Occupational Radiation Exposure Reports (Tac. MC5078)

ML050680508
Person / Time
Site:	Callaway
Issue date:	03/08/2005
From:	Donohew J NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD4
To:	Naslund C Union Electric Co
Donohew J N, NRR/DLPM,415-1307
Shared Package
ML050680526	List: ML050680508 ML050690318
References
TAC MC5078
Download: ML050680508 (12)

Text

March 8, 2005 Mr. Charles D. Naslund Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Union Electric Company Post Office Box 620 Fulton, MO 65251

SUBJECT:

CALLAWAY PLANT, UNIT 1 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE:

ELIMINATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE MONTHLY OPERATING REPORTS AND ANNUAL OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION EXPOSURE REPORTS (TAC NO. MC5078)

Dear Mr. Naslund:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 166 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-30 for the Callaway Plant, Unit 1. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated October 27, 2004 (ULNRC-05074).

The amendment revises the TSs by eliminating the requirements in TSs 5.6.1 and 5.6.4 to submit monthly operating reports and annual occupational radiation exposure reports.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Jack Donohew, Senior Project Manager, Section 2 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-483

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 166 to NPF-30

2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encl: See next page

March 8, 2005 Mr. Charles D. Naslund Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Union Electric Company Post Office Box 620 Fulton, MO 65251

SUBJECT:

CALLAWAY PLANT, UNIT 1 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE:

ELIMINATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE MONTHLY OPERATING REPORTS AND ANNUAL OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION EXPOSURE REPORTS (TAC NO. MC5078)

Dear Mr. Naslund:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 166 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-30 for the Callaway Plant, Unit 1. The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated October 27, 2004 (ULNRC-05074).

The amendment revises the TSs by eliminating the requirements in TSs 5.6.1 and 5.6.4 to submit monthly operating reports and annual occupational radiation exposure reports.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Jack Donohew, Senior Project Manager, Section 2 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-483 DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC GHill (2)

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No.166 to NPF-30 PDIV-2 Reading TBoyce

2. Safety Evaluation RidsNrrDlpmPdiv (HBerkow) RidsNrrDlpmDpr RidsNrrDlpmPdiv2 (RGramm) cc w/encls: See next page RidsNrrPMJDonohew RidsNrrLALFeizollahi RidsOgcRp RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter RidsRegion4MailCenter (D. Graves)

WReckley TS: ML050690318 NRR-100 PKG.: ML050680526 ACCESSION NO.: ML050680508 NRR-058 OFFICE PDIV-2/PM PDIV-2/LA CLIIP PM PDIV-2/SC NAME JDonohew LFeizollahi WReckley RGramm DATE 3/2/05 2/15/05 2/15/05 3/4/05 DOCUMENT NAME: E:\Filenet\ML050680508.wpd OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY CALLAWAY PLANT, UNIT 1 DOCKET NO. 50-483 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 166 License No. NPF-30

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

A. The application for amendment by Union Electric Company (UE, the licensee) dated October 27, 2004, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act) and the Commission's 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. NPF-30 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 166 and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.

3. This amendment is effective as of its date of issuance, and shall be implemented within 90 days of the date of issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

Robert A. Gramm, Chief, Section 2 Project Directorate IV Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: March 8, 2005

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 166 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-30 DOCKET NO. 50-483 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A Technical Specifications with the attached pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

REMOVE INSERT 5.0-28 5.0-28 5.0-29 5.0-29

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 166 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-30 UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY CALLAWAY PLANT, UNIT 1 DOCKET NO. 50-483

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By application dated October 27, 2004, Union Electric Company (the licensee) requested changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) for Facility Operating License No. NPF-30 for the Callaway Plant, Unit 1 (Callaway). The licensee is proposing to eliminate the requirements in TSs 5.6.1 and 5.6.4 to submit monthly operating reports (MORs) and annual occupational radiation exposure reports (ORERs).

The application is available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession Number ML043140307. The requested change would delete TS 5.6.1, "Occupational Radiation Exposure Report," and TS 5.6.4, "Monthly Operating Reports," as described in the Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register on June 23, 2004 (69 FR 35067).

2.0 BACKGROUND

In a letter dated January 5, 2004, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) proposed to remove the reporting requirements for MORs and ORERs from the improved standard technical specifications (NUREGs 1430 - 1434) on behalf of the industry to order, as stated by NEI, to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens required by the TSs on the licensees. This proposed change was designated TSTF-369, Revision 1, "Removal of Monthly Operating Report and Occupational Radiation Exposure Report."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff prepared a model safety evaluation (SE) for the elimination of requirements regarding the monthly operating report (MOR) and occupational radiation exposure report (ORER), and solicited public comment (69 FR 35067, published June 23, 2004) in accordance with the Consolidated Line Item Improvement Process (CLIIP).

The use of the CLIIP was intended to help the NRC to efficiently process amendments that propose to remove the MOR and ORER requirements from TSs. Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which this model applied were informed (69 FR 35067, published June 23, 2004) that they could request amendments conforming to the model, and, in such requests, should confirm the applicability of the SE to their reactors and provide the requested plant-specific verifications and commitments. The licensee stated in its application that the NRC staff's findings presented in the model SE are applicable to Callaway.

Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-06, "Consolidated Line Item Improvement Process for Adopting Standard Technical Specification Changes for Power Reactors," was issued on March 20, 2000. The CLIIP is intended to improve the efficiency of the NRC licensing processes. This is accomplished by processing proposed changes to the standard technical specification (STS) in a manner that supports subsequent license amendment applications.

The CLIIP includes an opportunity for the public to comment on proposed changes to the STS following a preliminary assessment by the NRC staff and finding that the change will likely be offered for adoption by licensees. The NRC staff evaluates any comments received for a proposed change to the STS and either reconsiders the change or proceeds with announcing the availability of the change for proposed adoption by licensees. Those licensees opting to apply for the subject change to TSs are responsible for reviewing the NRC staff's evaluation, referencing the applicable technical justifications, and providing any necessary plant-specific information. Each amendment application made in response to the notice of availability would be processed and noticed in accordance with applicable rules and the NRC procedures.

3.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

Section 182a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the "Act"), requires applicants for nuclear power plant operating licenses to state TSs to be included as part of the license. The Commissions regulatory requirements related to the content of TSs are set forth in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.36, "Technical specifications." The regulation requires that 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; (4) design features; and (5) administrative controls. However, the regulation does not specify the particular requirements to be included in a plants TSs.

The Commission has provided guidance for the content of TSs in its "Final Policy Statement on Technical Specification Improvements for Nuclear Power Reactors" (58 FR 39132, published July 22, 1993), in which the Commission indicated that compliance with the Final Policy Statement satisfies Section 182a. of the Act. The Final Policy Statement identified four criteria to be used in determining whether a particular item should be addressed in the TSs as an LCO.

The criteria were subsequently incorporated into 10 CFR 50.36 (60 FR 36593, published July 19, 1995). While the criteria specifically apply to LCOs, the Commission indicated that the intent of these criteria may be used to identify the optimum set of administrative controls in TSs.

Addressing administrative controls, 10 CFR 50.36 states that they are "the provisions relating to organization and management, procedures, recordkeeping, review and audit, and reporting necessary to assure operation of the facility in a safe manner." The specific content of the administrative controls section of the TS is, therefore, related to those programs and reports that the Commission deems essential for the safe operation of the facility, which are not adequately covered by regulations or other regulatory requirements. Accordingly, the NRC staff may determine that specific requirements, such as those associated with this change, may be removed from the administrative controls in the TS if they are not explicitly required by 10 CFR 50.36(c)(5) and are not otherwise necessary to obviate the possibility of an abnormal situation or event giving rise to an immediate threat to the public health and safety.

The impetus for the MOR came from the 1973-1974 oil embargo. Regulatory Guide 1.16, Revision 4, "Reporting of Operating Information - Appendix A Technical Specifications,"

published for comment in August 1975, identifies operating statistics and shutdown experience

information that was desired in the operating report at that time. In the mid-1990s, the NRC staff assessed the information that is submitted in the MOR and determined that while some of the information was no longer used by the NRC staff, the MOR was the only source of some data used in the NRC Performance Indicator (PI) Program of that time period (see NRC Generic Letter (GL) 97-02, "Revised Contents of the Monthly Operating Report"). Beginning in the late 1990s, the NRC developed and implemented a major revision to its assessment, inspection, and enforcement processes through its Reactor Oversight Process (ROP). The ROP uses both plant-level PIs and inspections performed by the NRC personnel. In conjunction with the development of the ROP, the NRC developed the Industry Trends Program (ITP). The ITP provides the NRC a means to assess overall industry performance using industry level indicators and to report on industry trends to various stakeholders (e.g., Congress). Information from the ITP is used to assess the NRCs performance related to its goal of having "no statistically significant adverse industry trends in safety performance."

The ITP uses some of the same PIs as the PI Program from the mid-1990s and, therefore, the NRC has a continuing use for the data provided in MORs. The NRC also uses some data from the MORs to support the evaluation of operating experience, licensee event reports, and other assessments performed by the NRC staff and its contractors.

Licensees are required by TSs to submit annual ORERs to the NRC. The reports, developed in the mid-1970s, supplement the reporting requirements currently defined in 10 CFR 20.2206, "Reports of individual monitoring," by providing a tabulation of data by work areas and job functions. The NRC included data from the ORERs in its annual publication of NUREG-0713, "Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors and Other Facilities," through the year 1997, but no longer includes the data in that or other reports.

4.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The licensee has proposed to replace the requirements on MORs and ORERs, in TSs 5.6.4 and 5.6.1, respectively, with the phrase "Not used." These two changes to the TSs remove the requirements for such reports, and they are addressed below:

4.1 Monthly Operating Reports As previously mentioned, the administrative requirements in TSs are reserved for "the provisions relating to organization and management, procedures, recordkeeping, review and audit, and reporting necessary to assure operation of the facility in a safe manner." The current use of the information from the MORs is not related to reporting on or confirming the safe operation of specific nuclear power plants. Instead, the data is used by the NRC to assess and communicate with stakeholders regarding the overall performance of the nuclear industry. Data related to PIs for specific plants are reported to the NRC as part of the ROP. The NRC staff has determined that the MORs do not meet the criteria defined for requirements to be included in the administrative section of TSs and the reporting requirement may, therefore, be removed.

Although the MORs do not satisfy the criteria for inclusion in TSs, the NRC staff nevertheless has a continuing need to receive the data in order to compile its reports on industry trends and to support other evaluations of operating experience. In addition, information such as plant capacity factors that are reported in the MORs are useful to the NRC staff and are frequently asked for by agency stakeholders.

The NRC staff interacted with licensees, industry organizations, and other stakeholders during the development of the Consolidated Data Entry (CDE) program (currently being developed and maintained by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operation), regarding the use of an industry database like CDE to provide data currently obtained from MORs. These discussions also involved the related Revision 1 to TSTF-369. As described in Section 5.0 of this safety evaluation, the licensee is making a regulatory commitment to continue to provide the data identified in GL 97-02, following the removal of the TS requirement to submit MORs, and will, therefore, continue to meet the needs of the NRC staff for the ITP and other evaluations. The use of an industry database such as CDE is more efficient and cost-effective for both the NRC and licensees than would be having the NRC staff obtain the needed information from other means currently available. Should a licensee fail to satisfy the regulatory commitment to voluntarily provide the information, the NRC could obtain the information through its inspection program (similar to the process described in NRC Inspection Procedure 71150, "Discrepant or Unreported Performance Indicator Data") with the licensee being charged for the time spent by the NRC staff.

The only significant changes resulting from the adoption of TSTF-369 are that the information will be provided quarterly instead of monthly (although the operating data will still be divided by month) and the form of the reporting will be from a consolidated database such as CDE instead of in correspondence from individual licensees. The change of reporting frequency to quarterly has some advantages for both the NRC staff and licensees, since it will coincide with the collection and submission of the ROP PI data. In terms of the specific method used to transmit the data to the NRC, the licensee has committed (see Section 4.0) to provide data identified in GL 97-02 on a quarterly basis. The NRC staff believes that the most efficient process for licensees and the NRC will be for all licensees to use a system such as CDE. Such systems have advantages in terms of improved data entry, data checking, and data verification and validation. The NRC will recognize efficiency gains by having the data from all plants reported using the same computer software and format. Although the data may be transmitted to the NRC from an industry organization maintaining a database such as CDE, the licensee provides the data for the system and remains responsible for the accuracy of the data submitted to the NRC for its plant. The public will continue to have access to the data through official agency records accessible through ADAMS. Based on this, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed change to delete the requirements on MORs in TS 5.6.4 meets 10 CFR 50.36.

4.2 Occupational Radiation Exposure Reports The information that the NRC staff needs regarding occupational doses is provided by licensees in the reports required under 10 CFR Part 20. The data from the Part 20 reports are sufficient to support the NRC trending programs, radiation related studies, and preparation of reports such as NUREG-0713. Accordingly, the NRCs limited use of the ORER submitted pursuant to the existing TS requirements no longer warrants the regulatory burden imposed on licensees. Therefore, the NRC staff finds it acceptable that TS 5.6.1 is being deleted and the ORER will no longer be submitted by the licensee. Based on this, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed change to delete the requirements for ORERs in TS 5.6.1 meets 10 CFR 50.36.

4.3 Conclusion Because, as discussed in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 of this safety evaluation above, the NRC staff concluded that the proposed changes to TSs 5.6.1 and 5.6.4 meet 10 CFR 50.36, the NRC

staff further concludes that the proposed amendment is acceptable.

5.0 VERIFICATIONS AND COMMITMENTS In order to efficiently process incoming license amendment applications, the NRC staff requested each licensee requesting the changes addressed by TSTF-369 using the CLIIP to address the following plant-specific regulatory commitment:

Each licensee should make a regulatory commitment to provide to the NRC, using an industry database, the operating data (for each calender month) that is described in GL 97-02 by the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter. The regulatory commitment will be based on use of an industry database (e.g., the industrys CDE program).

In Attachment IV to its application, the licensee has made the regulatory commitments to (1) provide the requested data described in GL 97-02 to NRC via an industry database (e.g.,

the industry's CDE program) by the end of the month following each calendar quarter and (2) put the first regulatory commitment in the Final Safety Analysis Report for Callaway.

The NRC staff finds that reasonable controls for the implementation and for subsequent evaluation of proposed changes pertaining to the above regulatory commitment(s) can be provided by the licensees administrative processes, including its commitment management program. The NRC staff has agreed that NEI 99-04, Revision 0, "Guidelines for Managing NRC Commitment Changes," provides reasonable guidance for the control of regulatory commitments made to the NRC staff (see Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-17, "Managing Regulatory Commitments Made by Power Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff," dated September 21, 2000). The NRC staff notes that this amendment establishes a voluntary reporting system for the operating data that is similar to the system established for the ROP PI program.

Should the licensee choose to incorporate a regulatory commitment into the final safety analysis report or other document with established regulatory controls, the associated regulations would define the appropriate change-control and reporting requirements.

6.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the Missouri State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official did not offer any comments.

7.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendment relates to changes in recordkeeping, reporting, or administrative procedures or requirements. The Commission has previously issued a proposed finding (70 FR 406) that the amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding. Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). 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.

8.0 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.

Principal Contributor: Jack Donohew Date: March 8, 2005

Callaway Plant, Unit 1 cc:

Professional Nuclear Consulting, Inc. Mr. Rick A. Muench 19041 Raines Drive President and Chief Executive Officer Derwood, MD 20855 Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation P.O. Box 411 John ONeill, Esq. Burlington, KA 66839 Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge 2300 N. Street, N.W. Mr. Dan I. Bolef, President Washington, D.C. 20037 Kay Drey, Representative Board of Directors Coalition for the Mr. Mark A. Reidmeyer, Regional Environment Regulatory Affairs Supervisor 6267 Delmar Boulevard Regulatory Affairs University City, MO 63130 AmerenUE P.O. Box 620 Mr. Lee Fritz, Presiding Commissioner Fulton, MO 65251 Callaway County Court House 10 East Fifth Street U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fulton, MO 65151 Resident Inspector Office 8201 NRC Road Mr. David E. Shafer Steedman, MO 65077-1302 Superintendent, Licensing Regulatory Affairs Mr. Les H. Kanuckel AmerenUE Manager, Quality Assurance P.O. Box 66149, MC 470 AmerenUE St. Louis, MO 63166-6149 P.O. Box 620 Fulton, MO 65251 Mr. Keith D. Young Manager, Regulatory Affairs Missouri Public Service Commission AmerenUE Governor Office Building P.O. Box 620 200 Madison Street Fulton, MO 65251 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0360 Mr. Scott Clardy, Director Regional Administrator, Region IV Section for Environmental Public Health U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 570 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0570 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 Certrec Corporation Mr. Ronald A. Kucera 4200 South Hulen, Suite 630 Deputy Director for Public Policy Fort Worth, TX 76109 Department of Natural Resources P.O. Box 176 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102