ML052360061

Request for Additional Information (RAI) for the Review of the Palisades Nuclear Plant, License Renewal Application (Pkg. 20)

ML052360061
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	08/23/2005
From:	Morgan M NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLEP
To:	Harden P Nuclear Management Co
morgan M NRR/NRC/DRIP/RLEP, 415-2232
References
TAC MC6433
Download: ML052360061 (7)

Text

August 23, 2005 Paul A. Harden Site Vice President Nuclear Management Company, LLC 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (RAI) FOR THE REVIEW OF THE PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT, LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION (TAC NO. MC6433)

Dear Mr. Harden:

By letter dated March 22, 2005, Nuclear Management Company, LLC, (NMC or the applicant) submitted an application pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54), to renew the operating license for Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP), for review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Subsequently, on May 5, 2005, the NRC received a supplement to the license renewal application. The NRC staff is reviewing the information contained in the license renewal application (LRA) and supplement and has identified, in the enclosure, areas where additional information is needed to complete the review.

The question was discussed with your staff, Mr. Robert Vincent, and a mutually agreeable date for this response is within 30 days from the date of this letter. If you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-2232 or via e-mail at MJM2@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Michael J. Morgan, Project Manager License Renewal Section A License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No.: 50-255

Enclosure:

As stated cc w/encl: See next page

ML052360061 Document Name: E:\\Filenet\\ML052360061.wpd OFFICE PM:RLEP LA:RLEP SC:RLEP NAME MMorgan YEdmonds SLee DATE 08/23/05 08/18/05 08/23/05

Palisades Nuclear 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 Inspectors 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 Robert A. Vincent Licensing Lead - License Renewal Project Palisades Nuclear Plant 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043

Palisades Nuclear Plant cc:

Darrel G. Turner License Renewal Project Manager Palisades Nuclear Plant 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 Mr. James Ross Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 Mr. Douglas F. Johnson Director, Plant Life Cycle Issues Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE, Room 1A Washington, DC 20426 Chairperson Michigan Public Service Commission PO Box 30221 Lansing, MI 48909-7721

DISTRIBUTION: Letter to P. Harden, Re: RAIs for Palisades LRA, Dated: August 23, 2005 ADAMS Accession No.:ML052360061 HARD COPY RLEP RF M. Morgan (PM)

E-MAIL:

RidsNrrDrip RidsNrrDe G. Bagchi K. Manoly W. Bateman J. Calvo R. Jenkins J. Fair RidsNrrDssa RidsNrrDipm D. Thatcher R. Pettis G. Galletti C. Li K. Winsberg (RidsOgcMailCenter)

R. Weisman M. Mayfield A. Murphy S. Smith (srs3)

S. Duraiswamy Y. L. (Renee) Li RLEP Staff P. Lougheed, RIII J. Ellegood, RIII M. Garza, RIII A. Stone, RIII L. Raghavan T. Mensah OPA

Enclosure PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION (LRA)

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (RAI)

RAI 3.5.2-1 In Section 3.3.2.2.10 of the license renewal application (LRA), the applicant describes the neutron absorbing panels in the spent fuel pool (SFP) Region 1 racks as B4C plates sheathed between stainless steel plates. To complete its review, the staff requests the applicant to provide a detailed description of the neutron absorbing panels, to include, at a minimum, the B4C content, existing areal density, B4C matrix, and composition. In addition, the staff requests the applicant to clarify that this material is also known as Carborundum.

RAI 3.5.2-2 Section 9.11.3.2 of the applicants current Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) states that the B4C panels have been in service since 1977. In addition, in Section 3.2.2.10 of the LRA, the applicant states that there is no industry experience that boron carbide sheathed in stainless steel has experienced loss of material due to corrosion. However, a site audit recently identified Corrective Actions (CAPs) CAP032988 (2003) and CAP004729 (1995). These documents discuss the evaluation of stuck fuel assemblies in the spent fuel racks. The possible cause of the stuck assemblies is the swelling of individual cell locations due to vent hole plugging. The vent hole documents indicate that plugging may be caused by any of the following: (1) B4C degradation, (2) improperly drilled vent holes, and (3) debris in the SFP. The exact root cause for the stuck fuel assemblies has not been determined. In addition, the swelling and stuck fuel assemblies has not been an industry problem, except at Palisades.

Therefore, the staff requests the applicant to further discuss and justify that there is no aging effect applicable to this material given the discussion in the referenced documents (i.e., CAPs) report. This discussion should also address Carborundum Test Report No. CBO78-299. This report is typically used to qualify the material for 40 years. For Palisades, the use of this report would bring the service life of the material approximately 6 years into the period of extended operation. The staff requests the applicant to discuss why this component is not defined as a Time Limited Aging Analysis (TLAA) per 10 CFR 54.3.