ML070430134

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to the Issuance of Exemption to 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R

ML070430134
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	02/20/2007
From:	Ellen Brown NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLII-2
To:	Singer K Tennessee Valley Authority
Brown, E, NRR/DORL, 415-2315
References
TAC MD3412, TAC MD3413, TAC MD3414
Download: ML070430134 (7)

Text

February 20, 2007 Mr. Karl W. Singer Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT:

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT RELATED TO THE ISSUANCE OF EXEMPTION TO 10 CFR PART 50, APPENDIX R (TAC NO. MD3412, MD3413, AND MD3414)

Dear Mr. Singer:

Enclosed is a copy of the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact related to your application for exemption from certain requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Appendix R, dated October 26, 2006, as supplemented by a letter dated January 11, 2007. The proposed exemption would permit the Tennessee Valley Authority to have intervening combustibles in the specified 20-foot separation zone.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Eva A. Brown, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296

Enclosure:

Environmental Assessment cc w/encl: See next page

February 20, 2007 Mr. Karl W. Singer Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT:

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT RELATED TO THE ISSUANCE OF EXEMPTION TO 10 CFR PART 50, APPENDIX R (TAC NO. MD3412, MD3413, AND MD3414)

Dear Mr. Singer:

Enclosed is a copy of the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact related to your application for exemption from certain requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Appendix R, dated October 26, 2006 as supplemented by a letter dated January 11, 2007. The proposed exemption would permit the Tennessee Valley Authority to have intervening combustibles in the specified 20-foot separation zone.

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

Sincerely,

/RA/

Eva A. Brown, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296

Enclosure:

Environmental Assessment cc w/encl: See next page DISTRIBUTION: RidsNrrDraAfpb RidsNrrPMMChernoff RidsNrrPMEBrown PUBLIC LPL2-2 R/F LRegner RidsNrrLABClayton (hard copy)

RidsNrrDorlLpl3-1 RidsOgcRp RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter RidsNrrDlrReba RidsRgn2MailCenter RidsNrrDlrRebb Accession Number: ML070430134 OFFICE LPL2-2/PM LPL2-2/PM LPL2-2/ LA REBA/BC OGC LPL2-2/BC NAME EBrown MChernoff BClayton EBenner SHamisk LRaghavan NLO DATE 2/12/07 2/15/07 2/15/07 2/15/07 2/20/07 2/20/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

7590-01-P UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY DOCKET NOS. 50-259, 50-260, AND 50-296 BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 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), Part 50, Appendix R, for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68, issued to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA, the licensee), for operation of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN), Units 1, 2, and 3, located in Limestone County, Alabama. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 50.21, 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 intervening combustibles such as the 480V Reactor Building Vent Boards 1B, 2B, and 3B; small panels in Units 1, 2 and 3; and the 1-hour fire rated fire wrap (Thermo-lag) material in the 20-foot separation zones identified.

The proposed action is in accordance with the licensees application dated October 26, 2006, as supplemented by a letter dated January 11, 2007.

The Need for the Proposed Action:

Section III.G of Appendix R to 10 CFR Part 50 is related to fire protection features to ensure that components of redundant trains of equipment, including cables and circuits, to achieve and maintain safe-shutdown are free of fire damage. Either the fire protection

configurations must meet the specific requirements of Section III.G or an alternative fire protection configuration must be justified by a fire hazard analysis.

During the September 2006 NRC audit of the Unit 1 Fire Protection Program, it was identified that 20-foot separation zones included intervening combustibles that were not specifically addressed in an approved exemption by the NRC dated October 21, 1988. TVA has requested this exemption in order to revise the October 1988 exemption to include additional combustibles such as the 480V Reactor Building Vent Boards 1B, 2B, and 3B; small panels in Units 1, 2 and 3; and the one hour fire rated fire wrap (Thermo-lag) material for the 20-foot separation zones identified.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action:

The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents. The NRC staff has completed its evaluation of the proposed exemption and associated amendment and finds that the calculated total doses remain within the acceptance criteria of 10 CFR 50.67 and General Design Criterion 19, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. The NRC staff, thus, concludes that granting the proposed exemption would result in no significant radiological environmental impact.

The proposed action does not affect nonradiological plant effluents or historical sites, and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological impacts associated with the proposed exemption.

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

Alternative to the Proposed Action:

As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the "no action" alternative). Denial of the exemption would result in no change in current environmental impacts. Thus, 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 BFN dated September 1, 1972, for Units 1, 2, and 3.

Agencies and Persons Consulted:

In accordance with its stated policy, on February 6, 2007, the NRC staff consulted with the Alabama State official, Kirk Whatley of the Office of Radiological Control, 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 Commission concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

Accordingly, the Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

For further details with respect to the purposed action, see the licensee's letter dated October 26, 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 O-1 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 20th day of February 2007.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

Eva A. Brown, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Mr. Karl W. Singer BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT Tennessee Valley Authority cc:

Mr. Ashok S. Bhatnagar, Senior Vice President Mr. Robert G. Jones, General Manager Nuclear Operations Browns Ferry Site Operations Tennessee Valley Authority Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant 6A Lookout Place Tennessee Valley Authority 1101 Market Street P.O. Box 2000 Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 Decatur, AL 35609 Mr. Larry S. Bryant, Vice President Mr. Larry S. Mellen Nuclear Engineering & Technical Services Browns Ferry Unit 1 Project Engineer Tennessee Valley Authority Division of Reactor Projects, Branch 6 6A Lookout Place U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1101 Market Street 61 Forsyth Street, SW.

Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 Suite 23T85 Atlanta, GA 30303-8931 Brian OGrady, Site Vice President Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Ms. Beth A. Wetzel, Manager Tennessee Valley Authority Corporate Nuclear Licensing P.O. Box 2000 and Industry Affairs Decatur, AL 35609 Tennessee Valley Authority 4X Blue Ridge Mr. Preston D. Swafford, Senior Vice President 1101 Market Street Nuclear Support Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place Mr. William D. Crouch, Manager 1101 Market Street Licensing and Industry Affairs Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority General Counsel P.O. Box 2000 Tennessee Valley Authority Decatur, AL 35609 ET 11A 400 West Summit Hill Drive Senior Resident Inspector Knoxville, TN 37902 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Mr. John C. Fornicola, General Manager 10833 Shaw Road Nuclear Assurance Athens, AL 35611-6970 Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place State Health Officer 1101 Market Street Alabama Dept. of Public Health Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 RSA Tower - Administration Suite 1552 Mr. Bruce Aukland, Plant Manager P.O. Box 303017 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Montgomery, AL 36130-3017 Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Chairman Decatur, AL 35609 Limestone County Commission 310 West Washington Street Mr. Masoud Bajestani, Vice President Athens, AL 35611 Browns Ferry Unit 1 Restart Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Mr. Robert H. Bryan, Jr., General Manager Tennessee Valley Authority Licensing and Industry Affairs P.O. Box 2000 Tennessee Valley Authority Decatur, AL 35609 4X Blue Ridge 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801