ML060310632
| ML060310632 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 02/14/2006 |
| From: | Catherine Haney Plant Licensing Branch III-2 |
| To: | Johnston G Florida Power & Light Co |
| Haney C | |
| References | |
| Download: ML060310632 (5) | |
Text
February 14, 2006 Mr. Gordon L. Johnston Acting Site Vice President St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Florida Power and Light Company 6351 S. Ocean Drive Jensen Beach, FL 34957
SUBJECT:
NRC RESPONSE TO FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT COMPANYS LETTER OF INTENT TO ADOPT 10 CFR 50.48(c) (NFPA 805 RULE) FOR ST. LUCIE NUCLEAR PLANT UNITS 1 AND 2
Dear Mr. Jefferson:
This letter responds to your letter dated December 22, 2005 (ML053640283), in which you informed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) intends to adopt National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 805, NFPA 805, Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light-Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants, 2001 Edition, in accordance with the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50.48(c) for St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2.
Your letter requests enforcement discretion for existing identified noncompliances in accordance with the NRCs Interim Enforcement Policy (69 FR 33684 and 70 FR 2662). Since you have met the deadline to receive discretion for existing identified noncompliances, the NRC approves your request.
In your letter, you informed us that your transition to the performance-based standard for fire protection will commence in January 2006, and you expect to take 42 months to develop the license amendment request (LAR). You indicated that the schedule is subject to change depending on the extent to which St. Lucie determines the need for either physical modifications or changes to the fire protection program to comply with NFPA 805.
You provided numerous reasons for requesting an enforcement discretion window of 42 months, as opposed to the 24-month window approved by the Commission. Some of the key reasons that you provided for requesting an extension are:
FPL will be one of the first licensees to follow the pilot plants in transition to NFPA 805; therefore, FPL believes that there is much to be learned from the pilot plants. The pilot plants are currently scheduled to submit their LARs in 2007 (Oconee Units 1, 2, and 3) and 2008 (Shearon Harris Unit 1).
W. Jefferson February 14, 2006 !
FPL has previously sent a letter of intent for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 to adopt NFPA 805. The Turkey Point plant is the lead for the FPL fleet and the St. Lucie schedule will be behind that of Turkey Point to capture lessons learned and utilize the same resources for key analysis areas to provide consistency in the evaluations.
Due to changes to regulations, standards, and regulatory interpretations over the years, noncompliances may be identified as FPL transitions to NFPA 805. The requested enforcement discretion window should ensure that FPL can perform a thorough investigation of the extent of condition at St. Lucie Units 1 and 2.
FPL has determined that, in transitioning to a performance-based fire protection program, a key element will be development of a fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) for the St. Lucie plant. The development of a fire PRA is expected to take approximately 18 to 24 months. Therefore, the fire PRA being developed for the change will not be available until approximately 2 years after the start of the transition.
Within FPL, and in the nuclear industry in general, there is a limited population of fire protection experts needed to support the transition to NFPA 805.
FPL believes that the risk of granting the requested enforcement discretion window is low, since noncompliances for which FPL would request enforcement discretion must meet the requirements of the Interim Enforcement Policy. The Interim Enforcement Policy applies only to nonsafety-significant issues.
Under the enforcement discretion policy currently in place, the discretion period for St. Lucie Units 1 and 2 began on December 31, 2005, and will expire on December 31, 2007. However, a number of other licensees have raised issues similar to those you raised as the basis to request an extension to the enforcement discretion window. The staff is considering your request and will contact you when we have reached a decision.
A number of utilities that are not pilots for NFPA 805 have requested meetings with the NRC staff to review and discuss their transition issues. We recognize the benefits of communication among transitioning licensees, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the regional staffs.
Therefore, we plan to hold periodic workshops at the regional offices on NFPA 805 implementation issues. We plan to inform you about these workshops, and encourage you to send representatives.
Your letter indicates that it is your understanding that the letter of intent initiates a window of enforcement discretion for St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, where no enforcement action will be taken by the NRC for nonsafety-significant noncompliances, subject to the guidance provided in the Interim Enforcement Policy. Your understanding is accurate. The noncompliance must be determined to be less than Red, or would not be categorized as Severity Level I. Please note that in order to receive the discretion, you must enter all noncompliances into your corrective action program and implement and maintain appropriate compensatory measures until the staff approves your LAR to transition to NFPA 805 and issues the safety evaluation report. Please refer to NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-07, Compensatory Measures to Satisfy the Fire Protection Program Requirements, to determine appropriate compensatory measures.
W. Jefferson February 14, 2006 If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Brendan T. Moroney at (301) 415-3974 or btm3@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Catherine Haney, Director Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-335 and 50-389
ML060310632 NRR-106 OFFICE LPLII-2/PM LPLII-2/LA LPLII-2/BC DRA/FPB DRA/FPB DRA/FPB/BC NAME BMoroney BClayton MMarshall NIqbal PLain SWeerakkody DATE 02/01/06 02/01/06 02/10 /06 02/01/06 02/02/06 02/03/06 OFFICE DIRS/IRIB/BC OE R-II/DRS/EB2/BC NRR/DRA/D NRR/DORL/D NAME RGibbs CNolan CPayne by email dated JLyons CHaney DATE 02/06/06 02/06/06 02/01/06 02/07/06 02/14/06
Florida Power and Light Company ST. LUCIE PLANT cc:
Mr. J. A. Stall Senior Vice President, Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer Florida Power and Light Company P.O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, Florida 33408-0420 Senior Resident Inspector St. Lucie Plant U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 6090 Jensen Beach, Florida 34957 Craig Fugate, Director Division of Emergency Preparedness Department of Community Affairs 2740 Centerview Drive Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100 M. S. Ross, Managing Attorney Florida Power & Light Company P.O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420 Marjan Mashhadi, Senior Attorney Florida Power & Light Company 801 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Suite 220 Washington, DC 20004 Mr. Douglas Anderson County Administrator St. Lucie County 2300 Virginia Avenue Fort Pierce, Florida 34982 Mr. William A. Passetti, Chief Department of Health Bureau of Radiation Control 2020 Capital Circle, SE, Bin #C21 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1741 Mr. C. R. Costanzo Acting Plant General Manager St. Lucie Nuclear Plant 6351 South Ocean Drive Jensen Beach, Florida 34957 Mr. Terry L. Patterson Licensing Manager St. Lucie Nuclear Plant 6351 South Ocean Drive Jensen Beach, Florida 34957 Mark Warner, Vice President Nuclear Operations Support Florida Power and Light Company P.O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420 Mr. Rajiv S. Kundalkar Vice President - Nuclear Engineering Florida Power & Light Company P.O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420 Mr. J. Kammel Radiological Emergency Planning Administrator Department of Public Safety 6000 Southeast Tower Drive Stuart, Florida 34997