ML051380005
| ML051380005 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 05/19/2005 |
| From: | Jaffe D NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD3 |
| To: | Domonique Malone Nuclear Management Co |
| Jaffe D, NRR/DLPM, 415-1439 | |
| References | |
| TAC MC6544 | |
| Download: ML051380005 (4) | |
Text
May 19, 2005 Mr. Daniel J. Malone Site Vice President Palisades Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043-9530
SUBJECT:
PALISADES PLANT - RE: APPLICATION FOR LICENSE AMENDMENT TO EXTEND THE COMPLETION TIME FOR RESTORATION OF A SERVICE WATER TRAIN TO OPERABLE STATUS (TAC NO. MC6544)
Dear Mr. Malone:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the status of our review of your licensing amendment request dated April 1, 2005. Your proposed amendment would provide a one-time extension to the completion time for restoration of a service water train to operable status in Technical Specification (TS) 3.7.8, Service Water System (SWS). You requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) complete its review and issue its approval by September 1, 2005. Your requested target date provides only 5 months for our review time.
While the NRC will endeavor to complete its review consistent with your requested schedules, we cannot commit ourselves to complete our review by the requested time period and that you should make appropriate contingency plans.
More significantly, the NRC expects that licensees will be able to operate consistent with its TSs, including completion times, or propose permanent changes to the TS. The NRC expects that one-time only changes to the TS are rare and involve unanticipated conditions that are not reasonably expected to recur and a compelling need for the proposed change is clearly demonstrated. Based on our review of your request, we understand that the in-service testing (IST) data for service water pump (SWP) 7C has been showing a steady decline in performance since the 2001 timeframe. Further, it is our understanding that the current IST trending information for SWP-7C indicates that the pump may become inoperable as soon as September 2005, but might remain operable until the next refueling outage that is scheduled for the spring 2006. Prudent management of the use of SWP-7C until the next refueling outage in spring 2006, may avoid the need for a one-time amendment to perform on-line repair of the pump.
D. Malone Given these considerations, there is no adequate justification at this time for completing our review for a proposed one-time change to the TS by September 1, 2005. Therefore, we will delay the completion of our review of your application until such time as a need for this amendment is clarified. Your proposal has already been noticed in the Federal Register and thus, should there be a need for the amendment to effect a repair to the SWP, we could reinitiate our review as appropriate.
Sincerely,
/RA/
David H. Jaffe, Acting Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate III Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-255 cc w/encls: See next page
ML051380005 OFFICE PDIII-1/(A)PM PDIII-1/LA PDIII-1/SC NAME DJaffe THarris LRaghavan DATE 05/19/05 05/18/05 5/19/05
Palisades Plant cc:
Robert A. Fenech, Senior Vice President Nuclear, Fossil, and Hydro Operations Consumers Energy Company 1945 Parnall Rd.
Jackson, MI 49201 Arunas T. Udrys, Esquire Consumers Energy Company 1 Energy Plaza Jackson, MI 49201 Regional Administrator, Region III U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 801 Warrenville Road Lisle, IL 60532-4351 Supervisor Covert Township P. O. Box 35 Covert, MI 49043 Office of the Governor P. O. Box 30013 Lansing, MI 48909 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Resident Inspector's Office Palisades Plant 27782 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Waste and Hazardous Materials Division Hazardous Waste and Radiological Protection Section Nuclear Facilities Unit Constitution Hall, Lower-Level North 525 West Allegan Street P.O. Box 30241 Lansing, MI 48909-7741 Michigan Department of Attorney General Special Litigation Division 525 West Ottawa St.
Sixth Floor, G. Mennen Williams Building Lansing, MI 48913 Manager, Regulatory Affairs Nuclear Management Company, LLC 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 Director of Nuclear Assets Consumers Energy Company Palisades Nuclear Plant 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 John Paul Cowan Executive Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Jonathan Rogoff, Esquire Vice President, Counsel & Secretary Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Douglas E. Cooper Senior Vice President - Group Operations Palisades Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 October 2003