ML062000097

Environmental Assessment for Use of M5

ML062000097
Person / Time
Site:	Fort Calhoun
Issue date:	08/09/2006
From:	Wang A NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLIV
To:	Ridenoure R Omaha Public Power District
Wang A, NRR/DLPM, 415-1445
References
TAC MC8097
Download: ML062000097 (7)

Text

August 9, 2006 Mr. R. T. Ridenoure Vice President - Chief Nuclear Officer Omaha Public Power District Fort Calhoun Station FC-2-4 Adm.

Post Office Box 550 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550

SUBJECT:

FORT CALHOUN STATION, UNIT NO. 1 RE: ISSUANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR USE OF M5 (TAC NO. MC8097)

Dear Ridenoure:

Enclosed is a copy of the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact related to your application for an exemption dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented on April 12, 2006. The proposed exemption would allow the use of M5 advanced alloy at the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1, nuclear power plant.

The assessment is being forwarded to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Alan B. Wang, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-285

Enclosure:

Environmental Assessment cc w/encl: See next page

Mr. R. T. Ridenoure August 9, 2006 Vice President - Chief Nuclear Officer Omaha Public Power District Fort Calhoun Station FC-2-4 Adm.

Post Office Box 550 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550

SUBJECT:

FORT CALHOUN STATION, UNIT NO. 1 RE: ISSUANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR USE OF M5 (TAC NO. MC8097)

Dear Ridenoure:

Enclosed is a copy of the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact related to your application for an exemption dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented on April 12, 2006. The proposed exemption would allow the use of M5 advanced alloy at the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1, nuclear power plant.

The assessment is being forwarded to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Alan B. Wang, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-285

Enclosure:

Environmental Assessment cc w/encl: See next page DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC GCranston, DSS LPLIV Reading TFord, DSS RidsNrrDorl (CHaney/CHolden)

RidsNrrDorlLpl4 (DTerao)

RidsNrrPMAWang RidsNrrLALFeizollahi RidsOgcRp RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter RidsRegion4MailCenter (DGraves)

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ACCESSION NO.: ML062000097 OFFICE NRR/LPL4/PM NRR/LPL4/LA SBWB/BC DLR/REB(A) OGC NRR/LPL4/BC NAME AWang LFeizollahi GCranston EBenner MZobler DTerao DATE 8/1/06 7/24/06 6/9/06 8/2/06 8/7/06 8/9/06 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

7590-01-P UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT DOCKET NO. 50-285 FORT CALHOUN STATION, UNIT 1 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, for Facility Operating License No. DPR-40, issued to Omaha Public Power District (OPPD, the licensee), for operation of the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 (Fort Calhoun Station), located in Washington County, Nebraska. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Identification of the Proposed Action:

The proposed action would allow the Fort Calhoun Station to use M5 an advanced alloy fuel cladding material for pressurized-water reactors (PWRs).

The proposed action is in accordance with the licensees application dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented by letter dated April 12, 2006.

The Need for the Proposed Action:

The proposed action is needed so that OPPD can use M5 an advanced alloy for fuel rod cladding and other assembly structural components at the Fort Calhoun Station. Section 50.46 and Part 50 of 10 CFR, Appendix K, make no provisions for use of fuel rods clad in a material

other than zircaloy or ZIRLO. Since the chemical composition of the M5 alloy differs from the specifications for zircaloy or ZIRLO, a plant-specific exemption is required to allow the use of the M5 alloy as a cladding material or in other assembly structural components at the Fort Calhoun Station.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action:

The underlying purposes of 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, are to ensure that facilities have adequate acceptance criteria for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS), and to ensure that cladding oxidation and hydrogen generation are appropriately limited during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and conservatively accounted for in the ECCS evaluation model, respectively. Neither 10 CFR 50.46 nor 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, explicitly allows the use of M5 as a fuel rod cladding material or for other assembly structural components. Topical Report (TR) BAW-10227P, "Evaluation of Advanced Cladding and Structural Material (M5) in PWR Reactor Fuel," which was approved by the NRC on February 4, 2000, demonstrated that the effectiveness of the ECCS will not be affected by a change from zircaloy to M5. In addition, TR BAW-10227P demonstrated that the Baker-Just equation (used in the ECCS evaluation model to determine the rate of energy release, cladding oxidation, and hydrogen generation) is conservative in all post-LOCA scenarios with respect to M5 advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding material or in other assembly structural components. The licensee will use NRC-approved methods for the reload design process for Fort Calhoun Station reloads with M5. The NRC has completed its safety evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that licensee's request to use the M5 advanced alloy for fuel rod cladding and in other assembly structural components in lieu of zircaloy or ZIRLO is acceptable.

The details of the staffs safety evaluation will be provided in the exemption that will be issued as part of the letter to the licensee approving the exemption to the regulation.

The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents. No changes are being made in the types of effluents that may be released off site.

There is no significant increase in the amount of any effluent released off site. There is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the proposed action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant non-radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action:

As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the no-action alternative). Denial of the application would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action are similar.

Alternative Use of Resources:

The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the Fort Calhoun Station dated August 1972.

Agencies and Persons Consulted:

In accordance with its stated policy, on June 14, 2006, the staff consulted with the Nebraska State official, Julia Schmitt of the Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensor, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments.

FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the licensees letter dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented on April 12, 2006. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or send an e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2006.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

Alan B. Wang, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Ft. Calhoun Station, Unit 1 cc:

Winston & Strawn Mr. Daniel K. McGhee ATTN: James R. Curtiss, Esq. Bureau of Radiological Health 1700 K Street, N.W. Iowa Department of Public Health Washington, DC 20006-3817 Lucas State Office Building, 5th Floor 321 East 12th Street Chairman Des Moines, IA 50319 Washington County Board of Supervisors P.O. Box 466 Blair, NE 68008 Mr. John Hanna, Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 310 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023 Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 Ms. Julia Schmitt, Manager Radiation Control Program Nebraska Health & Human Services R & L Public Health Assurance 301 Centennial Mall, South P.O. Box 95007 Lincoln, NE 68509-5007 Mr. David J. Bannister, Manager Fort Calhoun Station Omaha Public Power District Fort Calhoun Station FC-1-1 Plant P.O. Box 550 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550 Mr. Joe L. McManis Manager - Nuclear Licensing Omaha Public Power District Fort Calhoun Station FC-2-4 Adm.

P.O. Box 550 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550 April 2006