ML083110324
| ML083110324 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Oyster Creek |
| Issue date: | 11/06/2008 |
| From: | Brian Holian Division of License Renewal |
| To: | Jaczko G, Klein D, Peter B. Lyons, Kristine Svinicki Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, NRC/Chairman, NRC/OCM |
| Davis J NRR/DLR/REBB, 415-3835 | |
| References | |
| FOIA/PA-2009-0070, LBP-07-17 | |
| Download: ML083110324 (6) | |
Text
November 6, 2008 Board Notification MEMORANDUM TO: Chairman Klein Commissioner Jaczko Commissioner Lyons Commissioner Svinicki Atomic Safety and Licensing Board All Parties FROM:
Brian E. Holian, Director
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Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
NOTIFICATION OF INFORMATION IN THE MATTER OF OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION An appeal of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards decision in LBP-07-17 is pending before the Commission. Therefore, in accordance with the Commissions policy on notification to the Commission, the staff is providing the following information.
During the late 1980s, the sand bed region near the bottom of the drywell shell on the outside was discovered to be corroded at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant. In 1992, the sand was removed from the sand bed region, and a three layer epoxy coating was applied to the sand bed region. As part of the commitments for License Renewal, a 100 percent visual inspection of the coating in the sand bed region was conducted in 2006. The next 100 percent inspection was planned for the current refueling outage, and then future inspections are planned for every other refueling outage (i.e. every four years).
Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant staff are currently conducting a refueling outage and NRC Region I staff are on site performing a license renewal commitment inspection. On October 31, 2008, the lead inspector for the license renewal commitment inspection received information that a blister was observed in the epoxy coating in the sand bed region of the drywell in one bay. The blister is located in bay 11 very close to the ultrasonic test (UT) location 11A. This was the only blister observed during visual inspection of the coating in all bays. On November 2, 2008, the inspector entered the affected bay and observed the blister. The blister is about one quarter of an inch in diameter with an approximately 6 inch brown stain, dry to the touch, trailing down from the blister. Three additional bumps, similar in size to the blister, were observed in the same area but without any evidence of a brown stain.
AmerGen briefed Region I, the State of New Jersey, and NRC Headquarters staff on November 3, 2008, on planned repairs, apparent cause, and extent of condition. During that call, the staff from AmerGen outlined plans for investigating the cause of the blister and repair of the affected area. These plans included:
Providing opportunities for the NRC to observe the excavation and examination of the defect; Performing chemical analysis to determine the composition of the surface stain, specifically for the presence of iron; Removal of the coating over the blister and the bumps to assist in the examination; Removing the blister to assist in the assessment of the cause (e.g., is there on-going corrosion of the drywell shell),
Conducting a UT scan from the inside of the drywell at the location of the blister; Repairing of the coating in the disturbed area.
These plans were initiated on the evening of November 5, 2008. The blister was removed and saved for further analysis. Additionally, scrapings of the stained coating were removed and retained for chemical analysis.
The staff continues to follow the licensees investigation. Although this issue is considered to be of very low safety significance, a Board Notification was considered prudent due to interest in the drywell.
Docket No. 50-219 cc: See next page CONTACT: David Pelton, NRR 301-415-2307
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station cc:
Site Vice President - Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station AmerGen Energy Company, LLC P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Senior Vice President -
Operations Support AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Kathryn M. Sutton, Esq.
Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 Patrick Mulligan, Chief Bureau of Nuclear Engineering New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 25 Arctic Parkway Ewing, NJ 08638 Vice President - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Regional Administrator, Region I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Mayor of Lacey Township 818 West Lacey Road Forked River, NJ 08731 Senior Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 445 Forked River, NJ 08731 Director - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Correspondence Control P.O. Box 160 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Manager Licensing - Oyster Creek Exelon Generation Company, LLC Correspondence Control P.O. Box 160 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Regulatory Assurance Manager Oyster Creek AmerGen Energy Company, LLC P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Assistant General Counsel AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way Kennett Square, PA 19348 Ron Bellamy, Region I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Correspondence Control Desk AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 1-1 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Plant Manager AmerGen Energy Company, LLC P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 License Renewal Manager Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, Suite 230 Kennett Square, PA 19348
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station cc:
Mr. Michael P. Gallagher Vice President License Renewal Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, Suite 230 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Mr. Christopher M. Crane President and Chief Nuclear Officer AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 E. Roy Hawkens, Chair Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: T-3F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Anthony J. Baratta Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: T-3F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Paul B. Abramson Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: T-3F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Office of the Secretary ATTN: Docketing and Service Mail Stop: O-16G4 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: O-16G4 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Emily Krause Law Clerk Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: T-3F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Suzanne Leta Liou New Jersey Public Interest Research Group 11 N. Willow Street Trenton, NJ 08608 Donald Silverman, Esq.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20004 Alex S. Polonsky, Esq.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20004 Raphael P. Kuyler, Esq.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20004 Paul Gunter, Director Reactor Watchdog Project Nuclear Information and Resource Service 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Kevin Kamps Reactor Watchdog Project Nuclear Information and Resource Service 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340 Takoma Park, MD 20912 J. Bradley Fewell, Esq.
Exelon Corporation 4300 Warrenville Road Warrenville, IL 60555
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station cc:
Richard Webster, Esq.
Eastern Environmental Law Center 744 Broad Street, Suite 1525 Newark, NJ 07102 Julia LeMense, Esq.
Eastern Environmental Law Center 744 Broad Street, Suite 1525 Newark, NJ 07102 Manager Regulatory Assurance Oyster Creek Generating Station AmerGen Energy Company, LLC P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Associate General Counsel Exelon Gernation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Chief Operating Officer (COO)
AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Senior Vice President - Mid-Atlantic Operations AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-N Kennett Square, PA 19348
AmerGen briefed Region I, the State of New Jersey, and NRC Headquarters staff on November 3, 2008, on planned repairs, apparent cause, and extent of condition. During that call, the staff from AmerGen outlined plans for investigating the cause of the blister and repair of the affected area. These plans included:
Providing opportunities for the NRC to observe the excavation and examination of the defect; Performing chemical analysis to determine the composition of the surface stain, specifically for the presence of iron; Removal of the coating over the blister and the bumps to assist in the examination; Removing the blister to assist in the assessment of the cause (e.g., is there on-going corrosion of the drywell shell),
Conducting a UT scan from the inside of the drywell at the location of the blister; Repairing of the coating in the disturbed area.
These plans were initiated on the evening of November 5, 2008. The blister was removed and saved for further analysis. Additionally, scrapings of the stained coating were removed and retained for chemical analysis.
The staff continues to follow the licensees investigation. Although this issue is considered to be of very low safety significance, a Board Notification was considered prudent due to interest in the drywell.
Docket No. 50-219 cc: See next page CONTACT: David Pelton, NRR 301-415-2307 DISTRIBUTION:
DLR R/F RidsEdoMailcenter RidsNrrDlr SECY LHill OCA LLund OGC DAshley OPA RidsNrrOd CFO Accession Number: ML083110324 OFFICE LA:DLR OGC RI BC:RPB1 OGC (nlo)
AD:DLR NAME YEdmounds KFarrar DPelton EWilliamson BHolian DATE 11/06/08 11/06/08 11/06/08 11/06/08 11/06/08 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY