ML070710265

License Amendment, Steam Generator Tube Integrity

ML070710265
Person / Time
Site:	Salem
Issue date:	03/29/2007
From:	Richard Ennis NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLI-2
To:	Levis W Public Service Enterprise Group
Ennis R, NRR/DORL, 415-1420
Shared Package
ML070710269	List: ML070710265 ML070920378
References
TAC MD0106, TAC MD1193
Download: ML070710265 (13)

Text

March 29, 2007 Mr. William Levis Senior Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer PSEG Nuclear LLC - N09 Post Office Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038

SUBJECT:

SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NO. 2, ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE: STEAM GENERATOR TUBE INTEGRITY (TAC NOS. MD1193 AND MD0106)

Dear Mr. Levis:

The Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 262 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-75 for the Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit No. 2. This amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated April 6, 2006, as supplemented by letters dated January 19, and February 27, 2007.

The amendment revises the TSs related to steam generator (SG) tube integrity consistent with Revision 4 to Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) Standard Technical Specification Change Traveler 449 (TSTF-449), Steam Generator Tube Integrity. A notice of availability for this TS improvement using the consolidated line item improvement process was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2005 (70 FR 24126). As stated in your letter dated February 15, 2006, the amendment is also the modification of the SG portion of the TSs requested in Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Generic Letter (GL) 2006-01, "Steam Generator Tube Integrity and Associated Technical Specifications." The NRC staff considers the amendment to be an acceptable and complete response to GL 2006-01. This completes the NRC staffs efforts on TAC No. MD0106 for the review associated with the GL.

W. Levis A copy of our safety evaluation is also enclosed. Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/ra/

Richard B. Ennis, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch I-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-311

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 262 to License No. DPR-75

2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page

W. Levis A copy of our safety evaluation is also enclosed. Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

Sincerely,

/ra/

Richard B. Ennis, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch I-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-311

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 262 to License No. DPR-75

2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC RidsOgcRp DBeaulieu LPL1-2 R/F RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter KKarwoski RidsNrrDorlLpl1-2 RidsNrrDirsltsb TWertz RidsNrrLASLittle RidsRgn1MailCenter RidsNrrPMREnnis GHill (2), OIS RidsNrrDorlDPR GMakar Package Accession No.: ML070710269 Amendment Accession No: ML070710265 TS Accession No.: ML070920378 *via memo dated 3/12/07 OFFICE LPL1-2/PM LPL1-2/LA CSGB/BC* ITSB/BC* OGC LPL1-2/BC NAME REnnis SLittle AHiser TKobetz MBarkman HChernoff DATE 3/14/07 3/15/07 3/12/07 3/12/07 3/26/07 3/28/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 cc:

Mr. Dennis Winchester Mr. Paul Bauldauf, P.E., Asst. Director Vice President - Nuclear Assessment Radiation Protection Programs PSEG Nuclear NJ Department of Environmental P.O. Box 236 Protection and Energy Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 CN 415 Trenton, NJ 08625-0415 Mr. Thomas P. Joyce Site Vice President - Salem Mr. Brian Beam PSEG Nuclear Board of Public Utilities P.O. Box 236 2 Gateway Center, Tenth Floor Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Newark, NJ 07102 Mr. George H. Gellrich Regional Administrator, Region I Plant Support Manager U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission PSEG Nuclear 475 Allendale Road P.O. Box 236 King of Prussia, PA 19406 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Senior Resident Inspector Mr. Carl J. Fricker Salem Nuclear Generating Station Plant Manager - Salem U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission PSEG Nuclear - N21 Drawer 0509 P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Mr. James Mallon Manager - Licensing 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-E Kennett Square, PA 19348 Mr. Steven Mannon Manager - Regulatory Assurance P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Jeffrie J. Keenan, Esquire PSEG Nuclear - N21 P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Township Clerk Lower Alloways Creek Township Municipal Building, P.O. Box 157 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038

PSEG NUCLEAR, LLC EXELON GENERATION COMPANY, LLC DOCKET NO. 50-311 SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NO. 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 262 License No. DPR-75

1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:

A. The application for amendment filed by PSEG Nuclear LLC, acting on behalf of itself and Exelon Generation Company, LLC (the licensees) dated April 6, 2006, as supplemented by letters dated January 19, and February 27, 2007, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations set forth in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C. There is reasonable assurance: (I) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; D. The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E. The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.

2. Accordingly, the license is amended by changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Facility Operating License No. DPR-75 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2) Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment No. , are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 60 days.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/ra/

Harold K. Chernoff, Chief Plant Licensing Branch I-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the Facility Operating License and the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: March 29, 2007

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 262 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-75 DOCKET NO. 50-311 Replace the following page of Facility Operating License No. DPR-75 with the attached revised page as indicated. The revised page is identified by amendment number and contains marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert Page 4 Page 4 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A, Technical Specifications, with the attached revised pages as indicated. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert V V XII XII 1-4 1-4 1-5 1-5 3/4 4-9 3/4 4-9 3/4 4-10 3/4 4-10 through 3/4 4-15a 3/4 4-11 ---

3/4 4-12 ---

3/4 4-13 ---

3/4 4-14 ---

3/4 4-15 ---

3/4 4-15a ---

3/4 4-17 3/4 4-17 3/4 4-18 3/4 4-18 3/4 4-19b 3/4 4-19b 6-19b 6-19b

--- 6-19c

--- 6-19d

--- 6-19e

--- 6-19f 6-21 6-21 6-24a 6-24a

--- 6-24b

SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 262 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-75 PSEG NUCLEAR, LLC EXELON GENERATION COMPANY, LLC SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NO. 2 DOCKET NO. 50-311

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated April 6, 2006, as supplemented by letters dated January 19, and February 27, 2007, PSEG Nuclear, LLC (the licensee) submitted a request for changes to the Salem Nuclear Generating Station (Salem), Unit No. 2, Technical Specifications (TSs). The proposed changes would revise the existing steam generator (SG) tube surveillance program. The changes are modeled after Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) traveler TSTF-449, Revision 4, Steam Generator Tube Integrity, and the model safety evaluation (SE) prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) and published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2005 (70 FR 10298). In this regard, the scope of the application includes changes to the definition of leakage, changes to the primary-to-secondary leakage requirements, changes to the SG tube surveillance program (SG tube integrity), changes to the SG reporting requirements, and associated changes to the TS Bases.

The supplements dated January 19, and February 27, 2007, provided additional information that clarified the application, did not expand the scope of the application as originally noticed, and did not change the NRC staffs original proposed no significant hazards consideration determination as published in the Federal Register on July 18, 2006 (71 FR 40753).

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The background, description, and applicability of the proposed changes associated with the SG tube integrity issue and the applicable regulatory requirements were included in the NRC staffs model SE published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2005 (70 FR 10298). The Notice of Availability of Model Application Concerning Technical Specification Improvement to Modify Requirements Regarding Steam Generator Tube Integrity Using the Consolidated Line Item Improvement Process, was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2005 (70 FR 24126),

and made the model SE available for licensees to reference.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

3.1 Overview In its April 6, 2006, application, and January 19, and February 27, 2007, supplements, the licensee proposed changes to the TSs that are modeled after TSTF-449. The NRC model SE provides a detailed evaluation of the proposed changes by the licensee in its application.

Consistent with TSTF-449, the proposed TS changes include: (1) a revised definition of LEAKAGE, (2) a revised TS 3.4.7.2 Reactor Coolant System Operational Leakage, (3) a new TS 6.8.4.i, Steam Generator (SG) Program, (4) a revised TS 3/4.4.6, Steam Generator (SG)

Tube Integrity, (5) a new TS 6.9.1.10, Steam Generator Tube Inspection Report, and (6) revised index pages to reflect the proposed changes. There were minor differences between TSTF-449 and the licensee's application. These included differences in the facility licensing basis (compared to that discussed in TSTF-449) and differences in TS format and numbering. These differences are discussed below.

With respect to the differences in the facility licensing basis, the differences did not invalidate the technical evaluation of TSTF-449; rather, they resulted in the licensee having to deviate from some of the modifications discussed in TSTF-449 or they resulted in slight differences in the requirements. For example, the licensee proposed in its TSs to enter cold shutdown within the following 30 hours3.472222e-4 days <br />0.00833 hours <br />4.960317e-5 weeks <br />1.1415e-5 months <br /> after achieving hot standby (with hot standby being entered within 6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br />) when tube integrity is not maintained (or not verified within the required time period when a tube is inadvertently not plugged). This proposal is slightly different than TSTF-449, which indicates that cold shutdown should be entered within 36 hours4.166667e-4 days <br />0.01 hours <br />5.952381e-5 weeks <br />1.3698e-5 months <br />. Another difference in the facility licensing basis relative to TSTF-449 is that the licensee indicated in its TS Bases that the dose consequences are within the limits of Section 50.67 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), rather than Part 100 as indicated in TSTF-449, since the plants current licensing basis is 10 CFR 50.67. It is important to note that the dosage contribution from primary-to-secondary leakage will be within the 10 CFR 50.67 limits when the assumptions in the accident analyses (e.g., on the amount of primary-to-secondary leakage) are satisfied.

Since these differences were minor in nature, consistent with the plants licensing basis, or consistent with the intent of TSTF-449, the NRC staff determined they were acceptable.

In addition to these minor changes, the licensee proposed to include a previously approved alternate repair criteria into their proposed new TSs. The structure of TSTF-449 allows licensees to incorporate alternate repair criteria into the TSTF-449 format. By incorporating the previously-approved repair criteria into the TSTF-449 format, there were several additions, deletions, and changes to the requirements. These changes (including additions and deletions) were made as a result of the format, content, and performance-based approach of TSTF-449.

The NRC staff verified that (a) the inspection criteria associated with these repair criteria and methods were moved, as appropriate, to the inspection section of the proposed SG TSs, (b) the repair criteria were moved, as appropriate, to the repair criteria section of the proposed SG TSs, (c) the reporting requirements were moved to the reporting section of the proposed SG TSs, and (d) a description of the alternate repair criteria was added to the TS Bases. As a result of incorporating these requirements into the TSTF-449 format, a pre-existing notification requirement associated with a previously approved repair criteria was deleted since the requirement was no longer necessary. This requirement was no longer necessary because the licensee incorporated the limits that would require the NRC to be notified into the definition of tube integrity (and the plant cannot operate when tube integrity is not maintained under the

proposed new SG TSs). In incorporating these alternate tube repair criteria in the new TS format, it is important to note that the lower portion of the tube in the hot-leg tubesheet region may only be excluded from inspection when the alternate repair criteria in TS 6.8.4.i.c.1 are implemented and that the repair criteria are only applicable to SGs with mill annealed Alloy 600 tubes that were explosively expanded into the tubesheet using the Westinghouse explosive tube expansion (WEXTEX) method.

With respect to the differences in numbering of the TSs, these differences were administrative in nature and did not affect the technical adequacy of the submittal. As a result, the NRC staff determined they were acceptable. With respect to the differences in the format of the TSs, these differences resulted in listing the requirements in sentence format rather than tabular format and using slightly different terminology. In addition, there are several sections in the TSTF-449 Bases that are not included in the proposed Bases since the format of the licensees Bases differ from the standard TSs. Since these differences were administrative in nature and did not affect the technical adequacy of the submittal, the NRC staff determined they were acceptable.

In addition to the above, the licensee also proposed a few changes that went beyond TSTF-449. For example, the licensee proposed an editorial change (i.e., adding a period) in TS 1.19 and correcting a typographical error (i.e., removing the word during) in Action b. of TS 3.4.7.2, and correcting the spelling of a word (i.e., iodine) in TS 6.8.4.g.9. Since these differences were administrative in nature and did not affect the technical adequacy of the submittal, the NRC staff determined they were acceptable. The licensee also made minor wording changes to prevent confusion. For example, the licensee replaced performed with completed to avoid confusion regarding when the verification that primary-to-secondary leakage was within limits was to be performed/completed. The licensee also added some text to their Operational Leakage Bases section. Since the added text was generally consistent with the standard TSs as modified to reflect existing requirements and the plants licensing basis, the NRC staff determined it was acceptable. The remainder of the application was consistent with or more limiting than TSTF-449.

In summary, the NRC staff determined that the model SE is applicable to this review and finds the proposed changes acceptable.

3.2 Conclusion The proposed TS changes establish a programmatic, largely performance-based regulatory framework for ensuring SG tube integrity is maintained. The NRC staff finds that it addresses key shortcomings of the current framework by ensuring that SG programs are focused on accomplishing the overall objective of maintaining tube integrity. It incorporates performance criteria for evaluating tube integrity that the NRC staff finds consistent with the structural margins and the degree of leak tightness assumed in the current plant licensing basis. The NRC staff finds that maintaining these performance criteria provides reasonable assurance that the SGs can be operated safely without increase in risk.

The revised TSs will contain limited specific details concerning how the SG Program is to achieve the required objective of maintaining tube integrity; the intent being that the licensee will have the flexibility to determine the specific strategy for meeting this objective. However, the NRC staff finds that the revised TSs include sufficient regulatory constraints on the

establishment and implementation of the SG Program such as to provide reasonable assurance that tube integrity will be maintained.

Failure to meet the performance criteria will be reportable pursuant to the requirements in 10 CFR 50.72 and 10 CFR 50.73. The NRC reactor oversight process provides a process by which the NRC staff can verify that the licensee has identified any SG Program deficiencies that may have contributed to such an occurrence and that appropriate corrective actions have been implemented.

In conclusion, the NRC staff finds that the TS changes proposed by the licensee in its April 6, 2006, application, and January 19, and February 27, 2007, supplements conform to the requirements of 10 CFR 50.36 and establish a TS framework that will provide reasonable assurance that SG tube integrity is maintained without undue risk to public health and safety.

The licensee included in its application the revised TS Bases to be implemented with the TS change. The NRC staff finds that the TS Bases Control Program is the appropriate process for updating the affected TS Bases pages and has, therefore, not included the affected Bases pages with this amendment.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the New Jersey State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendment changes a requirement with respect to installation or use of a facility component located within the restricted area as defined in 10 CFR Part 20 and changes surveillance requirements. The NRC staff has determined that the amendment involves no significant increase in the amounts, and no significant change in the types, of any effluents that may be released offsite, and that there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure. The Commission has previously issued a proposed finding that the amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding (71 FR 40753). Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendment.

6.0 CONCLUSION

The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.

7.0 REFERENCES

A complete list of references used to complete this review can be found in the NRCs model SE published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2005 (70 FR 10298).

Principal Contributor: G. Makar Date: March 29, 2007