ML102010024

Issuance of Amendments Regarding Deletion of a License Condition Restricting Fuel Rod Burnup

ML102010024
Person / Time
Site:	Catawba
Issue date:	08/05/2010
From:	Jacqueline Thompson Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	Morris J Duke Energy Carolinas
Thompson Jon, NRR/DORL/LPL 2-1, 415-1119
References
TAC ME2622, TAC ME2623
Download: ML102010024 (16)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555*0001 August 5, 2010 Mr. J. R. Morris Site Vice President Catawba Nuclear Station Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC 4800 Concord Road York, SC 29745

SUBJECT:

CATAWBA NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2, ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS REGARDING DELETION OF A LICENSE CONDITION RESTRICTING FUEL ROD BURNUP (TAC NOS. ME2622 AND ME2623)

Dear Mr. Morris:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 259 to Renewed Facility Operating License (RFOL) NPF-35 and Amendment No. 254 to RFOL NPF-52 for the Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. The amendments consist of the deletion of license conditions in each of the unit's RFOLs in response to your application dated October 29,2009.

The amendments delete a license condition located in each of the unit's RFOLs which restricts the maximum fuel rod average burn up. Deletion of this condition would allow the maximum fuel rod average burnup up to increase.

A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.

J. Morris -2 If you have any questions, please call me at 301-415-1119.

Sincerely, Jon Thompson, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-413 and 50-414

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 259 to NPF-35

2. Amendment No. 254 to NPF-52

3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS, LLC NORTH CAROLINA ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION DOCKET NO. 50-413 CATAWBA NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 259 Renewed License No. NPF-35

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

A. The application for amendment to the Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (the acility) Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-35 filed by the Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, acting for itself, and North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (licensees), dated October 29,2009, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as set forth in 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 setforth 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 hereby amended by page changes to the Renewed Facility Operating License as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment.

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3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days of issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION c41J~~

Gloria Kulesa, Chief

.f 7--

Plant Licensing Branch 11-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to License No. NPF-35 Date of Issuance: August 5, 2010

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS, LLC NORTH CAROLINA MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY NO.1 PIEDMONT MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY DOCKET NO. 50-414 CATAWBA NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 254 Renewed License No. NPF-52

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

A. The application for amendment to the Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (the facility) Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-52 filed by the Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, acting for itself, North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No.1 and Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (licensees), dated October 29, 2009, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as set forth in 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 hereby amended by page changes to the Renewed Facility Operating License as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment.

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3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 30 days of issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION c1a/l',Lc;j!;, 1<'1~

Gloria Kulesa, Chief Plant Licensing Branch 11-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to License No. NPF-52 Date of Issuance: August 5, 2010

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 259 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-35 DOCKET NO. 50-413 AND LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 254 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-52 DOCKET NO. 50-414 Replace the following pages of the Renewed Facility Operating Licenses and the Appendix A Technical Specifications (TSs) with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Insert License Pages License Pages NPF-35 NPF-35 page 4 page 4 Appendix S, page 2 Appendix S, page 2 NPF-52 NPF-52 page 4 page 4 Appendix S, page 2 Appendix S, page 2

-4 (2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No ?59 which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this renewed operating license. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

(3) Updated Final Safety Analysis Report The Updated Final Safety Analysis Report supplement submitted pursuant to 10 CFR 54.21 (d), as revised on December 16, 2002, describes certain future activities to be completed before the period of extended operation. Duke shall complete these activities no later than December 6, 2024, and shall notify the NRC in writing when implementation of these activities is complete and can be verified by NRC inspection.

The Updated Final Safety Analysis Report supplement as revised on December 16, 2002, described above, shall be included in the next scheduled update to the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report required by 10 CFR 50.71 (e)(4), following issuance of this renewed operating license. Until that update is complete, Duke may make changes to the programs described in such supplement without prior Commission approval, provided that Duke evaluates each such change pursuant to the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 50.59 and otherwise complies with the requirements in that section.

(4) Antitrust Conditions Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall comply with the antitrust conditions delineated in Appendix C to this renewed operating license.

(5) Fire Protection Program (Section 9.5.1, SER, SSER #2, SSER #3, SSER #4, SSER #5)*

Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the approved fire protection program as described in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report, as amended, for the facility and as approved in the SER through Supplement 5, subject to the following provision:

The licensee may make ehanges to the approved fire protection program without prior approval of the Commission only if those changes would not adversely affect the ability to achieve and maintain safe shutdown in the event of a fire.

• The parenthetical notation following the title of this renewed operating license condition denotes the section of the Safety Evaluation Report and/or its supplement wherein this renewed license condition is discussed.

Renewed License No. NPF-35 Amendment No. 259

Amendment Implementation Number Additional Condition Date 173 The schedule for the performance of new and By January 31, 1999 revised surveillance requirements shall be as follows:

For surveillance requirements (SRs) that are new in Amendment No. 173 the first performance is due at the end of the first surveillance interval that begins at implementation of Amendment No. 173. For SRs that existing prior to Amendment No. 173, including SRs with modified acceptance criteria and SRs who intervals of performance are being extended, the first performance is due at the end of the first surveillance interval that begins on the date the surveillance was last performed prior to implementation of amendment No. 173. For SRs that existed prior to Amendment No. 173, whose intervals of performance are being reduced, the first reduced surveillance interval begins upon completion of the first surveillance performed after implementation of Amendment No. 173 In association with the ECCS sump strainer Within 30 days of modification and Generic Safety Issue (GSI) date of amendment 191 requirements: and no later than December 31,2007

1. Unit 1 shall enter Mode 5 for the outage to install the sump strainer modification no later than May 19, 2008 and

2. The Unit 1 sump strainer modification shall be completed prior to entry into Mode 4 after May 19, 2008.

Amendment No. 259

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-4 (2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No 254which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this renewed operating license. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

(3) Updated Final Safety Analysis Report The Updated Final Safety Analysis Report supplement submitted pursuant to 10 CFR 54.21 (d), as revised on December 16, 2002, describes certain future activities to be completed before the period of extended operation. Duke shall complete these activities no later than February 24, 2026, and shall notify the NRC in writing when implementation of these activities is complete and can be verified by NRC inspection.

The Updated Final Safety Analysis Report supplement as revised on December 16,2002, described above, shall be included in the next scheduled update to the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report required by 10 CFR 50.71 (e)(4) , following issuance of this renewed operating license. Until that update is complete, Duke may make changes to the programs described in such supplement without prior Commission approval, provided that Duke evaluates each such change pursuant to the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 50.59 and otherwise complies with the requirements in that section.

(4) Antitrust Conditions Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall comply with the antitrust conditions delineated in Appendix C to this renewed operating license.

(5) Fire Protection Program (Section 9.5.1, SER, SSER #2, SSER #3, SSER #4, SSER #5)*

Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC shall implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the approved fire protection program as described in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report, as amended, for the facility and as approved in the SER through Supplement 5, subject to the following provision:

The licensee may make changes to the approved fire protection program without prior approval of the Commission only if those changes would not adversely affect the ability to achieve and maintain safe shutdown in the event of a fire.

• The parenthetical notation following the title of this renewed operating license condition denotes the section of the Safety Evaluation Report and/or its supplements wherein this renewed license condition is discussed.

Renewed License No. NPF-52 Amendment No.254

Amendment Implementation Number Additional Condition Date 165 The schedule for the performance of new and By January 31, 1999 revised surveillance requirements shall be as follows:

For surveillance requirements (SRs) that are new in Amendment No. 165 the first performance is due at the end of the first surveillance interval that begins at implementation of Amendment No. 165. For SRs that existing prior to Amendment No. 165, including SRs with modified acceptance criteria and SRs who intervals of performance are being extended, the first performance is due at the end of the first surveillance interval that begins on the date the surveillance was last performed prior to implementation of amendment No. 165. For SRs that existed prior to Amendment No. 165, whose intervals of performance are being reduced, the first reduced surveillance interval begins upon completion of the first surveillance performed after implementation of Amendment No. 165 244 For steam generator (SG) integrity Prior to any entry I' assessments, the ratio of 2.5 will be used in into Mode 4 during completion of both the Condition Monitoring Cycle 17 operation (CM) and the Operational Assessment (OA) upon implementation of the Interim Alternate Repair Criterion (IARC). For example, for the CM assessment, the component of leakage from the lower 4 inches of the most limiting SG during the prior cycle of operation will be multiplied by a factor of 2.5 and added to the total leakage from any other source and compared to the allowable accident analysis leakage assumption. For the OA, the difference in leakage from the allowable limit during the limiting design basis accident minus the leakage from the other sources will be divided by 2.5 and compared to the observed leakage. An administrative limit will be established to not exceed the calculated value.

Renewed License No. NPF-52 Amendment No. 254

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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 259 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NPF-35 AND AMENDMENT NO. 254 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NPF-52 DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS, LLC CATAWBA NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-413 AND 50-414

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By application dated October 29, 2009 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML093140092), Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke, the licensee), requested changes to the Renewed Facility Operating Licenses (RFOLs) for Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2 (Catawba 1 and 2). The proposed changes would delete a license condition located in each of the unit's RFOLs which restricts the maximum fuel rod average burn up. Deletion of this condition would allow the licensee to increase the maximum fuel rod average burnup.

Catawba 1 and 2 have a condition in Appendix B of each of their RFOLs which limits the peak rod average burnup to up to and including 60 Gigawatt-days per Metric Ton Uranium (GWd/MTU) until the completion of a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) environment assessment (EA) supporting an increased limit. In January 2001, the NRC staff published NUREG/CR-6703, entitled "Environmental Effects of Extending Fuel Burnup Above 60 Gwd/MTU," (ADAMS Accession No. ML010310298) to support the burnup increase. The Catawba 1 and 2 reactor cores contain a Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse) robust fuel assembly (RFA) design with a 17x17 array. The RFA fuel design features the ZIRLO material for fuel rod cladding and other assembly structures, which were approved in topical report (TR) WCAP-12610-P-A, "VANTAGE+ Fuel Assembly Reference Core Report." The VANTAGE+ fuel design, including the RFA fuel, was approved to a peak rod average burnup limit of 60 GWd/MTU. In letter dated May 25,2006 (ADAMS Accession No. ML061420458), the NRC staff approved the Westinghouse request for the VANTAGE+ fuel burnup limit to be increased to 62 GWd/MTU, conditioned upon the evaluation of the fuel performance using the PAD 4.0 code. The PAD 4.0 code is a Westinghouse fuel performance code, as described in TR WCAP-15063-P-A, "Westinghouse Improved Performance Analysis and Design Model (PAD 4.0)," and was approved to a peak rod average burnup limit of 62 GWd/MTU.

-2 Based on the EA dated January 2001 and the NRC staff approval of TR WCAP-1261 O-P-A (along with the additional burnup using this TR authorized by the NRC staff in its letter dated May 25, 2006), the licensee requested an amendment for each of the RFOLs at Catawba 1 and 2 for the purpose of removing the license condition located in each RFOL, Appendix B, related to a fuel burnup limit. This license amendment will enable the licensee to increase the peak rod average burnup limit up to and including 62 GWd/MTU for RFAs.

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 50, Section 50.90, "Application for Amendment of License or Construction Permit," allow a licensee to amend or change the original license application.

The regulation at 10 CFR 50.92, "Issuance of Amendment," states in part that:

In determining whether an amendment to a license ... will be issued to the applicant, the Commission will be guided by the considerations which govern the issuance of initial licenses ... to the extent applicable and appropriate.

The regulation at 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A, "General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants, Criterion 10, "Reactor design," (GDC 10) states that:

The reactor core and associated coolant, control, and protection systems shall be designed with appropriate margin to assure that specified acceptable fuel design limits

[SAFDLs] are not exceeded during any condition of normal operation, including the effects of anticipated operational occurrences.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

3.1 Environmental Assessment In the EA to extend fuel burnup to 60 Gwd/MTU dated January 2001, the NRC staff concluded that there were no significant adverse environmental impacts associated with increasing the peak rod average burnup for nuclear fuel assemblies to 62 GWd/MTU. The licensee evaluated the applicability of the EA dated January 2001 to Catawba 1 and 2 and determined that its analysis enveloped the impacts at Catawba 1 and 2. In an EA dated July 15, 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML101670373), the NRC staff issued a finding of no significant impact with respect to the removal of these license conditions from the RFOL, Appendix B, for each of these units. Based on these EAs, the NRC staff concluded that the peak rod average burnup for fuel at Catawba 1 and 2 can be increased to 62 GWd/MTU with no significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

3.2 NRC Staff's Position In the past, the NRC staff has approved various burnup limits for Westinghouse fuel designs and fuel performance codes. Noticeably, the VANTAGE fuel series, including VANTAGE+, was approved to a burnup limit of 60 GWd/MTU, and the more recent Westinghouse fuel performance code, PAD 4.0, was approved for use to the burnup limit of 62 GWd/MTU.

-3 Recently, the NRC staff conducted an audit of the Westinghouse documents describing the fuel data, analytical models, and the fuel change procedures. The NRC staff reviewed documents, including several plant reload analyses. The reload analyses provided results for all the SAFDLs as described in GDC 10. The analyses were typically performed at bounding conditions such that plant thermal-mechanical safety evaluations were not required for each reload cycle. The SAFDLs include rod internal pressure, clad stress and strain, corrosion, clad fatigue, fuel melting temperature, rod growth, creep collapse, etc. The results showed that all SAFDLs were met for the bounding conditions. The NRC staff also recognized that the SAFDLs were analyzed using the PAD 4.0 code, which was approved to a peak rod average burnup of 62 GWd/MTU. Based on the audit results, the NRC staff concludes that burnup limit for WCAP 12610-P-A can be increased to 62 GWd/MTU provided that the evaluation of the fuel design performance is performed with PAD 4.0. This is consistent with the letter from the NRC staff dated May 25,2006, which approved the burnup increase for the VANTAGE fuel series.

Therefore, the burnup limit of the VANTAGE+ fuel design including the Catawba 1 and 2 RFA fuel can be increased to a 62,000 GWd/MTU peak rod average.

3.3 License Condition The license condition of Catawba Units 1 and 2 in Appendix B of the RFOL states:

liThe maximum rod average burnup for any rod shall be limited to 60 GWd/MTU until the completion of an NRC environmental assessment supporting an increased limit."

The licensee proposes to delete the license condition. Based on the NRC staff's evaluation, the NRC staff finds this acceptable.

3.4 Summary of Technical Evaluation The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's proposed license amendment to delete a license condition. Based on the application and the evaluation as set forth above, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed license amendment to delete the license condition in Appendix B of the RFOL is acceptable for Catawba 1 and 2.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the South Carolina State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendments. The State official had no comments.

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.21, 51.32, and 51.35, an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact was published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010 (75 FR 43572).

Accordingly, based upon the environmental assessment, the Commission has determined that issuance of this amendment will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

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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 amendments will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.

Principal Contributor: J. Proffitt Date: August 5, 2010

J. Morris -2 If you have any questions, please call me at 301-415-1119.

Sincerely, IRA!

Jon Thompson, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-413 and 50-414

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 259 to NPF-35

2. Amendment No. 254 to NPF-52

3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv DISTRIBUTION:

Public RidsNrrDorlLpl2-1 Resource LPL2-1 RlF RidsNrrPMCatawba Resource (hard copy)

RidsAcrsAcnw_MailCTR Resource RidsNrrLAMOBrien Resource (hard copy)

RidsNrrDirsltsb Resource RidsOgcRp Resource RidsNrrDssSnpb Resource RidsRgn2MailCenter Resource RidsNrrDorlDpr Resource RElliott, NRR JProffitt, NRR ADAMS Accession No. ML102010024

• no significant change from SE transmitted by memo dated 7/12/10 (ML101440422)

OFFICE NRRlLPL2-1/PM NRRlLPL2-1/LA DSS/SNPB/BC OGC/NLO NRRlLPL2-1/BC NRRlLPL2-1/PM LSubin GKulesa NAME JThompson MO'Brien AMendiola* (wi comments) (KCotton for) JThompson DATE 07/21/10 07/21/10 07/12/10 07/23/10 08/04/10 08/04/10 OFFICIAL RECORD COpy