ML072540833

Unit #1 - Letter and Notice of Denial of Amendment Request Appendix K Measurement Uncertainty Recapture Power Uprate

ML072540833
Person / Time
Site:	Fort Calhoun
Issue date:	09/27/2007
From:	Mcginty T Plant Licensing Branch III-2
To:	Ridenoure R Omaha Public Power District
Wang A, NRR/DORL/LPL4, 301-415-1445
References
TAC MC6656
Download: ML072540833 (7)

Text

September 27, 2007 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 - DENIAL OF AMENDMENT REQUEST RE: APPENDIX K MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY RECAPTURE POWER UPRATE (TAC NO. MC6656)

Dear Mr. Ridenoure:

By letter dated March 31, 2005 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML050940389), Omaha Public Power District (OPPD, the licensee) submitted a license amendment request to amend Renewed Facility Operating License No.

DPR-40 for the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1 (FCS) to increase the license core power.

FCS is currently licensed for a rated thermal power of 1500 megawatts thermal (MWt).

Through the use of more accurate feedwater flow measurement equipment, approval was sought to increase this core power by 1.5 percent to 1522 MWt. The power uprate would be based on the use of the CROSSFLOW TM system for determination of main feedwater flow and the associated determination of reactor power.

After careful review, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has concluded that your request cannot be approved. By letter dated September 26, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071650262), the NRC staff informed Westinghouse that the NRC staff was suspending its prior approval of CENPD-397-P-A, Improved Flow Measurement Accuracy Using Crossflow Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology, for new and future uses of the CROSSFLOW ultrasonic flow meter (UFM). The basis for this finding is documented in the referenced letter to Westinghouse. The NRC staff stated that it would not approve any current or future license amendment requests for measurement uncertainty recapture power uprates using the CROSSFLOW UFM that relied upon the CENPD-397-P-A topical report for supporting information.

The OPPD license amendment request to increase core power is based on CENPD-397-P-A and provides several assessments with respect to that topical report to justify the power increase. Because your license amendment request is based on CENPD-397-P-A and we have suspended our approval, as explained above, of the use of this topical report in license amendment requests, the NRC staff has determined that your license amendment request must be denied because there is no longer a basis for approving the amendment request.

R. T. Ridenoure A copy of the Notice of Denial of Amendment is enclosed and will be forwarded to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Timothy J. McGinty, Acting Director Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-285

Enclosure:

Notice of Denial cc w/encl: See next page

ML072540833 NRR-106 *See SE input dated 2/23/07.

OFFICE NRR/LPL4/PM NRR/LPL4/LA NRR/LPL4/BC SPWB/BC OGC DD:DORL NAME Awang:sp, JBurkhardt THiltz GCranston

• AHodgdon TMcGinty JND for DATE 9/27/ 07 9/12/07 9 / 25 / 07 2 / 23 / 07 9 / 24 / 07 9/27/07 Ft. Calhoun Station, Unit 1 cc:

Winston & Strawn Mr. David J. Bannister, Site Director ATTN: James R. Curtiss, Esq. Fort Calhoun Station 1700 K Street, N.W. Omaha Public Power District Washington, DC 20006-3817 Fort Calhoun Station FC-1-1 Plant P.O. Box 550 Chairman Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550 Washington County Board of Supervisors P.O. Box 466 Mr. Joe L. McManis Blair, NE 68008 Manager - Nuclear Licensing Omaha Public Power District Mr. John Hanna, Resident Inspector Fort Calhoun Station FC-2-4 Adm.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 550 P.O. Box 310 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0550 Fort Calhoun, NE 68023 Ms. Melanie Rasmussen Regional Administrator, Region IV Radiation Control Program Officer U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Bureau of Radiological Health 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Iowa Department of Public Health Arlington, TX 76011-4005 Lucas State Office Building, 5th Floor 321 East 12th Street Ms. Julia Schmitt, Manager Des Moines, IA 50319 Radiation Control Program Nebraska Health & Human Services R & L Public Health Assurance 301 Centennial Mall, South P.O. Box 95007 Lincoln, NE 68509-5007 September 2007

7590-01-P UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT DOCKET NO. 50-285 NOTICE OF DENIAL OF AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) has denied a request by Omaha Public Power District (the licensee), for an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-40 issued to the licensee for operation of the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1, located in Washington County, Nebraska.

Notice of Consideration of Issuance of this amendment was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on April 26, 2005 (70 FR 21459).

By letter dated March 31, 2005, the licensee requested an amendment to revise the Renewed Facility Operating License and Technical Specifications (TSs) to increase the license core power. Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1, is currently licensed for a rated thermal power of 1500 megawatts thermal (MWt). Through the use of more accurate feedwater flow measurement equipment, approval was sought to increase this core power by 1.5 percent to 1522 MWt. The power uprate would be based on the use of the CROSSFLOW TM system for determination of main feedwater flow and the associated determination of reactor power through the performance of the power calorimetric calculation currently required by the Fort Calhoun Station TSs.

The OPPD license amendment request to increase core power is based on Westinghouse topical report CENPD-397-P-A, Improved Flow Measurement Accuracy Using Crossflow Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology, for new and future uses of the

CROSSFLOW ultrasonic flow meter. The topical report provided several assessments with respect to that topical report to justify the power increase. Because the licensees license amendment request is based on CENPD-397-P-A and the NRC staff has suspended its approval, as explained in the NRC staffs letter to Westinghouse dated September 26, 2007, of the use of this topical report in license amendment requests, the NRC staff has concluded that the licensee's request cannot be granted. The licensee was notified of the Commission's denial of the proposed change by a letter dated September 27, 2007.

By 30 days from the date of publication of this notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER, the licensee may demand a hearing with respect to the denial described above. Any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a written petition for leave to intervene pursuant to the requirements of 10 CFR 2.309.

A request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001 Attention:

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, or may be delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, by the above date. A request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene may also be transmitted directly to the Secretary of the Commission by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-1101 or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov. A copy of any petitions should also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Copies of petitions may also be transmitted directly to the Office of the General Counsel by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy of any petitions should also be sent to James R. Curtiss, Esq., Winston & Strawn, 1700 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006-3817, Senior Counsel for the licensee.

For further details with respect to this action, see (1) the application for amendment dated March 31, 2005, and (2) the Commission's letter to the licensee dated September 27, 2007.

Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's PDR, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and will be accessible electronically through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room link 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 documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of September 2007.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/RA/

Timothy J. McGinty, Acting Director Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation