ML091811030

Startup Report for the Installation of Areva Np, Inc. Advanced Mark-BW(A) Fuel Assemblies in Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15

ML091811030
Person / Time
Site:	Braidwood
Issue date:	06/30/2009
From:	Bryan Hanson Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
BW090063
Download: ML091811030 (10)

Text

June 30, 200S BW090063 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATIN: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001 Braidwood Station, Unit 1 Facility Operating License No. NPF-72 NRC Docket No. STN 50-456

Subject:

Startup Report for the Installation of AREVA NP, Inc. Advanced Mark-BW(A) Fuel Assemblies in Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15

References:

1. Letter from R. F. Kuntz (U. S. NRC) to C. M. Crane (Exelon Generation Company, LLC), "Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2 - Issuance of Amendments Re: Use of AREVA NP, Inc. Advanced Mark-BW(A) Fuel Assemblies," dated October 4, 2007

2. Letter from M. M. Thorpe - Kavanaugh (U. S. NRC) to C. G. Pardee (Exelon Generation Company, LLC), "Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2 - Correction for Issuance of Amendment No. 145," dated December 20, 2007 The purpose of this letter is to transmit a Startup Report for Braidwood Station Unit 1 in accordance with Technical Requirements Manual (TRM) Section 5.3.a, "Startup Report." TRM Section 5.3.a requires the submittal of a summary report of plant startup and power escalation testing within 90 days following installation of fuel that has a different design or has been manufactured by a different fuel supplier. References 1 and 2 allow up to eight AREVA NP Inc. (AREVA), modified Advanced Mark-BW (Advanced Mark-BW(A>> fuel assemblies containing M5 alloy to be placed in nonlimiting Braidwood Unit 1 core regions (Le., locations) for evaluation during Cycles 15, 16, and

17. The purpose of this evaluation is for Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC) to gain an understanding of the behavior of mixed fuel cores for a possible transition from Westinghouse to AREVA fuel. Eight AREVA Advanced Mark-BW(A) fuel assemblies were subsequently installed in support of Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 operation during the spring 2009 refueling outage. Enclosed are the Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 Startup and Power Ascension Test Results.

June 30, 2009 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 2 of 2 If there are any questions or comments regarding this submittal, please contact Mr. David Gullott, Regulatory Assurance Manager, at (815) 417-2800.

Respectfully, Bryan Hanson Site Vice President Braidwood Station

Attachment:

Braidwood Station Unit 1 Cycle 15 Startup Report cc: NRC Regional Administrator, Region III NRC Senior Resident Inspector - Braidwood Station

BRAIDWOOD STATION UNIT 1 CYCLE 15 STARTUP REPORT April 2009

Braidwood Station Unit 1 Cycle 15 Startup and Power Ascension Test Results INDEX Section Description Page 1.0 Introduction 1 Table 1.1 Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 Core Design Data 1 2.0 Core Testing 1 2.1 Low Power Physics Testing 1 2.2 Power Escalation Testing 2 2.3 Core Power Distribution 2 2.4 Full Power Loop Delta - T Determination 2 2.5 Reactor Coolant System Flow Measurement 2 Table 2.1 Startup Physics Test Results 3 Table 2.2 Core Power Distribution Results - < 50% Power 4 Plant Data 4 Fluxmap Results 4 Table 2.3 Core Power Distribution Results - Full Power 5 Plant Data 5 Fluxmap Results 5 Table 2.4 Full Power Loop Delta - T 6 Table 2.5 RCS Flow vs. Acceptance Criteria 6

1.0 Introduction Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC) conducted a comprehensive startup test program on Braidwood Station Unit 1 following core reload to support Cycle 15 operation. The startup test program outlined in this report summarizes events and testing performed from initial criticality and power ascension to 100% Rated Thermal Power (RTP).

The Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 core includes a feed batch of 81 Optimized Fuel Assemblies (OFA) manufactured by Westinghouse and 8 Advanced Mark BW(A) fuel assemblies manufactured by AREVA. Table 1.1 contains characteristics of the Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 core design.

The Cycle 15 reactor core achieved initial criticality on April 19, 2009 at 0524 hours0.00606 days <br />0.146 hours <br />8.664021e-4 weeks <br />1.99382e-4 months <br />.

The Unit 1 Main Generator was synchronized to the grid on April 19, 2009 at 1943 hours0.0225 days <br />0.54 hours <br />0.00321 weeks <br />7.393115e-4 months <br />. Power escalation testing, including testing at full power, was completed on April 29,2009.

Table 1.1 Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 Core Design Data

• Unit 1 Cycle 15 design length: 529 EFPO Region Fuel Type Number of Enrichment Cycles Burned Assemblies w/o U-235 15A OFA 8 4.939 2 15B OFA 4 4.759 2 16A OFA 40 4.952 1 168 OFA 24 4.594 1 16C OFA 20 4.397 1 160 OFA 8 4.013 1 17A OFA 44 4.950 0 17B OFA 16 4.800 0 17C OFA 21 4.450 0 170 Advanced Mark 8 4.000; 2.400 0 BW(A) with Gadolinia 2.0 Core Testing 2.1 Low Power Physics Testing Low Power Physics Testing (LPPT) is performed at the beginning of each cycle and a summary of the Startup Physics Test results from Braidwood Unit 1 Cycle 15 is contained in Table 2.1. LPPT consisted of Critical Boron, Isothermal Temperature Coefficient (lTC), Moderator Temperature Coefficient (MTC), and Rod Worth Testing.

All test results were determined to be acceptable.

Page 1 of 6

2.2 Power Escalation Testing Power Escalation Testing is performed during the initial power ascension to full power for each cycle and is controlled by procedure BwVS TRM 3.1.h.1. Tests are performed from 0% through 100% with major testing plateaus at approximately 50%, and 100%

power. Significant tests included:

• Core Power Distribution Measurements.

• Hot Full Power Critical Boron Concentration Measurement.

• Reactor Coolant System Delta-T Measurements.

• Reactor Coolant System Flow Measurements.

2.3 Core Power Distribution Core power distribution measurements were performed during power escalation at intermediate power (less than 50%) and full power. Measurements are made to verify flux symmetry and to verify core peaking factors are within limits. Data obtained during these tests are used to check calibration of Power Range Nuclear Instrumentation (NIS) channels and to calibrate them if required. Measurements are made using the Moveable Incore Detector System and analyzed using the BEACON computer code.

Results of the core power distribution measurements at <50%, and full power are shown in Tables 2.2 and 2.3, respectively.

2.4 Full Power Loop Delta-T Determination The purpose of this test is to determine the full power Delta-T for each Reactor Coolant System (RCS) loop in order to recalibrate any loop with significant change. This procedure is applicable in MODE 1 and is performed above 95% RTP after each refueling outage. Results are contained in Table 2.4.

2.5 Reactor Coolant System Flow Measurement The purpose of this test is to verify by precision heat balance that RCS total flow rate is within the limits specified in the Core Operating Limits Report (~386,OOO gpm). Results are contained in Table 2.5.

Page 2 of 6

Table 2.1 Startup Physics Test Results

.- .. *LM*l-mtr 1- Review Acceptance .*

.... Criteria ***

Criteria ARO Critical 1379 ppm 1392 ppm 13 ppm +/- 50 ppm +/- 1000 pcm Boron ARO ITC -5.24 -5.66 -0.42 +/- 2 pcm/oF of N/A pcm/oF pcm/oF pcmfOF design value ARO MTC -3.638 -3.57 -0.068 N/A Within Tech pcm/oF pcm/oF pcm/oF Spec 3.1.3 Rod Worth Measurements Control 347.2 pcm 360.7 pcm 3.9% 13.5  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A Bank A pcm pcm of design Worth Control 611.5 pcm 623.5 pcm 2.0% 12.0  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A Bank B pcm pcm of design Worth Control 859.0 pcm 878.1 pcm 2.2% 19.1  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A BankC pcm pcm of design Worth Control 526.0 pcm 517.1 pcm -1.7% -8.9  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A BankO pcm pcm of design Worth Shutdown 236.2 pcm 230.8 pcm -2.3% -5.4  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A Bank A pcm pcm of design Worth Shutdown 908.3 pcm 927.4 pcm 2.1% 19.1  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A Bank B pcm pcm of design Worth Shutdown 354.1 pcm 345.1 pcm -2.5% -9.0  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A BankC pcm pcm of design Worth Shutdown 349.2 pcm 344.0 pcm -1.5% -5.2  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A BankO pcm pcm of design Worth Shutdown 462.9 pcm 482.6 pcm 4.3% 19.7  :::;;15% or :::;;100 N/A Bank E pcm pcm of design Worth Total Rod 4654.4 pcm 4709.3 pcm 1.2% 54.9  :::;; 8% between  ;::: 90% of the Worth pcm measured & sum of the predicted predicted worths Page 3 of 6

Table 2.2 Core Power Distribution Results - <50% Power Plant Data Map ID: BW15m01 Date of Map: 04/20/2009 Cycle Burnup: 11 MWD/MTU Power Level: 45.6%

Control Bank D Position: 155 Steps FI uxmap Resuts Core Average Axial Offset 1.12%

Quadrant Power Tilt Ratios:

Quadrant (N41): 1.003 Quadrant (N42): 1.019 Quadrant (N43): 0.980 Quadrant (N44): 0.998 Max. Nuclear Enthalpy Rise Hot Channel Factor 1.5331 Nuclear Enthalpy Rise Hot Channel Factor Limit 1.9774 Max. Steady State Heat Flux Channel Factor 1.7810 Steady State Heat Flux Channel Factor Limit 5.200 Max. Transient Heat Flux Channel Factor 2.374 Transient Heat Flux Channel Factor Limit 4.972 The difference between the measured and predicted Nuclear Enthalpy Rise Hot Channel Factor for each instrumented assembly was within 0.1 Page 4 of 6

Table 2.3 Core Power Distribution Results - Full Power Plant Data Fluxma Results Core Avera e Axial Offset -1.77%

Quadrant Power Tilt Ratios:

Quadrant N41 :

Quadrant N42:

Quadrant N43:

Quadrant N44: 0.996 Max. Nuclear Enthal Rise Hot Channel Factor 1.4233 Nuclear Enthal Rise Hot Channel Factor Limit 1.7005 Max. Stead State Heat Flux Channel Factor 1.6535 Stead State Heat Flux Channel Factor Limit 2.6026 Max. Transient Heat Flux Channel Factor 2.062 Transient Heat Flux Channel Factor Limit 2.488 The difference between the measured and predicted Nuclear Enthalpy Rise Hot Channel Factor for each instrumented assembl was within 0.1 Page 5 of 6

Table 2.4 Full Power Loop Delta-T Loop TAva (OF) Full Power Delta-T (OF) 1A 587.319 59.511 1B 586.752 59.547 1C 587.555 59.827 1D 586.717 60.323 Table 2.5 RCS Flow vs. Acceptance Criteria RCS loop Measured Minimum Flow Flow (gpm) Requirement (gpm) 1A 101,229 18 99,545 1C 101,265 1D 98,225 Total 400,264 2386,000 Above data taken from Appendix B-M of 1BwVSR 3.4.1.4 RCS Flow Measurement Page 6 of 6