ML102430551

Issuance of Amendment Secondary Containment Boundary Definition During Shutdown Conditions

ML102430551
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	10/18/2010
From:	Geoffrey Miller Plant Licensing Branch 1
To:	Pacilio M Exelon Nuclear, Exelon Generation Co
Miller G, NRR/DORL/LPL1-2, 415-2481
References
TAC ME3475
Download: ML102430551 (13)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 October 18, 2010 Mr. Michael J. Pacilio President and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 SUB"IECT:

OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT RE: SECONDARY CONTAINMENT BOUNDARY DEFINITION DURING SHUTDOWN CONDITIONS (TAC NO. ME3475)

Dear Mr. Pacilio:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 277 to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-16 for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek), in response to your application dated February 25, 2010, (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML100620010), as supplemented by letters dated July 9, October 14, and October 15, 2010 (ADAMS Accession Nos.

ML101930236, ML102880123, and ML102910153, respectively). The amendment revises the Oyster Creek Technical Specifications to allow the Reactor Building secondary containment boundary associated with the Trunnion Room to be relocated from the Trunnion Room outer wall and door to the Reactor Building inner walls and penetrations located inside the Trunnion Room.

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

Sincerelr J

(JODfjJ1lu cl(

G. Edward Miller, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 1-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-219

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 277 to Renewed DPR-16

2. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: Distribution via ListServ

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555*0001 EXELON GENERATION COMPANY, LLC DOCKET NO. 50-219 OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 277 License No. DPR-16

1.

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

A.

The application for amendment by Exelon Generation Company, LLC, dated February 25, 2010, as supplemented by letters dated July 9, October 14, and October 15, 2010, 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 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; 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

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 Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-16 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(2)

Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment 1\\10. 277, are hereby incorporated in the license. Exelon Generation Company shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

3.

Implementation Requirements:

This license amendment is effective as of the date of issuance, and shall be implemented within 60 days of issuance. Implementation of the amendment shall include the creation of a procedure or procedures to implement the modified secondary containment boundary, perform the maintenance and inspection activities described in the application and its supplements, and to return the secondary containment boundary to its normal configuration. Additionally, implementation shall include updating the UFSAR in accordance with 10 CFR 50.71(e) to include a description of the procedure or procedures.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSI N

//t arold K. Chernoff, Chief Plant Licensing Branch 1-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Attachment:

Changes to the License and Technical Specifications Date of Issuance:

October 18, 2010

ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 277 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-16 DOCKET NO. 50-219 Replace the following page of the Facility Operating License with the attached revised page.

The revised page is identified by amendment number and contains marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove Page 3 Page 3 Replace the following pages of the Appendix A, Technical Specifications, with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.

Remove 1.0-3 1.0-3 4.5-4 4.5-4

- 3 (3)

Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Parts 30,40, and 70, to receive, possess, and use at any time any byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials as sealed neutron sources for reactor startup, sealed sources for reactor instrumentation and radiation monitoring equipment calibration, and as fission detectors in amounts as required; (4)

Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Parts 3D, 40, and 70, to receive, possess, and use in amounts as required any byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials without restriction to chemical or physical form, for sample analysis or instrument calibration or associated with radioactive apparatus or components; and (5)

Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70, to possess, but not separate such byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials as may be produced by the operation of the facility.

C.

This license shall be deemed to contain and is subject to the conditions specified in the Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I and is SUbject to all applicable provisions of the Act and to the rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in effect and is SUbject to the additional conditions specified or incorporated below:

(1)

Maximum Power Level Exelon Generation Company is authorized to operate the facility at steady-state power levels not in excess of 1930 megawatts (thermal) (100 percent rated power) in accordance with the conditions specified herein.

(2)

Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendices A and B, as revised through Amendment No.

are hereby incorporated in the license. Exelon Generation Company shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

(3)

Fire Protection Exelon Generation Company shall implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the approved fire protection program as described in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report for the facility and as approved in the Safety Evaluation Report dated March 3, 1978, and supplements thereto, 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.

Renewed License No. DPR-16

~~endment No.2??

1.14 SECONDARY CONTAINMENT INTEGRITY Secondary containment integrity means that the reactor building is closed and the following conditions are met A.

At least one door at each access opening is closed.

(Note: Momentary opening and closing of the trunnion room door does not constitute a loss of secondary containment intergrity. In COLD SHUTDOWN CONDITION or REFUEL MODE, the trunnion room door may remain open provided the trunnion room is isolated from the secondary containment through the reactor building walls, penetrations and either the inboard or outboard valves to the main steam and feedwater piping being secured in the closed position.)

B.

The standby gas treatment system is operable.

C.

All automatic secondary containment isolation valves are operable or are secured in the closed position.

1.15 (DELETED) 1.16 RATED FLUX Rated flux is the neutron flux that corresponds to a steady state power level of 1930 MW(t). Use of the term 100 percent also refers to the 1930 thermal megawatt power level.

1.17 REACTOR THERMAL POWER-TO-WATER Reactor thermal power-to-water is the sum of (1) the instantaneous integral over the entire fuel clad outer surface of the product of heat transfer area increment and position dependent heat flux and (2) the instantaneous rate of energy deposition by neutron and gamma reactions in all the water and core components except fuel rods in the cylindrical volume defined by the active core height and the inner surface of the core shroud.

1.18 PROTECTIVE INSTRUMENTATION LOGIC DEFINITIONS A. Instrument Channel An instrument channel means an arrangement of a sensor and auxiliary equipment required to generate and transmit to a trip system a single trip signal related to the plant parameter monitored by that instrument channel.

B. Trip System A trip system means an arrangement of instrument channel trip signals and auxiliary equipment required to initiate action to accomplish a protective trip function. A trip system may require one or more instrument channel trip signals related to one or more plant parameters in order to initiate trip system action.

Initiation of protective action may require the tripping of a single trip system (e.g.,

initiation of a core spray loop, automatic depressurization, isolation of an isolation condenser, offgas system isolation, reactor building isolation, standby gas treatment and rod block) or the coincident tripping of two trip systems (e.g.,

initiation of scram, isolation condenser, reactor isolation, and primary containment isolation).

OYSTER CREEK 1.0-3 Change 7, Amendment No.: 10, 160, 168, 211, 233, 277

(3)

At least four of the suppression chamber - drywell vacuum breakers shall be inspected. If deficiencies are found, all vacuum breakers shall be inspected and deficiencies corrected such that Specification 3.5.A.5.a can be met.

(4)

A drywell to suppression chamber leak rate test shall be performed once every 24 months to demonstrate that with an initial differential pressure of not less than 1.0 psi, the differential pressure decay rate shall not exceed the equivalent of air flow through a 2-inch orifice.

G.

Reactor Building

1. Secondary containment capability tests shall be conducted after isolating the reactor building and placing either Standby Gas Treatment System filter train in operation.

2. The tests shall be performed at the frequency specified in the Surveillance Frequency Control Program and shall demonstrate the capability to maintain a 1/4 inch of water vacuum under calm wind conditions with a Standby Gas Treatment System Filter train flow rate of not more than 4000 cfm.

3. When in COLD SHUTDOWN CONDITION or REFUEL MODE, with the trunnion room door open after the secondary containment boundary has been moved to the penetrations inside the trunnion room and the trunnion room is isolated from the secondary containment in support of outage activities, Standby Gas Treatment System testing shall be performed to demonstrate the capability to maintain a 1/4 inch of water vacuum under calm wind conditions with a Standby Gas Treatment System Filter train flow rate of not more than 4000 cfm.

4. A secondary containment capability test shall be conducted at each refueling outage prior to refueling.

5. The results of the secondary containment capability tests shall be in the subject of a summary technical report which can be included in the reports specified in Section 6.

H.

Standby Gas Treatment System

1. The capability of each Standby Gas Treatment System circuit shall be demonstrated by:

a. At the frequency specified in the Surveillance Frequency Control Program, after every 720 hours0.00833 days <br />0.2 hours <br />0.00119 weeks <br />2.7396e-4 months <br /> of operation, and following significant painting, fire, or chemical release in the reactor building during operation of the Standby Gas Treatment System by verifying that:

(1) The charcoal absorbers remove <!:99% of a halogenated hydrocarbon refrigerant test gas and the HEPA filters remove

<!:99% of the DOP in a cold DOP test when tested in accordance with ANSI N510-1975.

OYSTER CREEK 4.5-4 Amendment No.: 144,186,193,219,276, 277

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 277 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-16 EXELOI\\l GENERATION COIVIPANY, LLC OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION DOCKET NO. 50-219

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated February 25,2010 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML100620010), as supplemented by letters dated July 9, October 14, and October 15, 2010 (ADAMS Accession Nos. IVIL101930236, IVIL102880123, and ML102910153, respectively) Exelon Generation Company, LLC (the licensee) requested a revision to the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek) Technical Specifications (TSs). The proposed change would allow the Reactor Building secondary containment boundary associated with the Trunnion Room to be relocated from the Trunnion Room outer wall and door to the Reactor Building inner walls and penetrations during cold shutdown. Additionally, the proposed change would add a TS Surveillance Requirement (SR) to include a requirement for testing of the Standby Gas Treatment System (SGTS) to ensure integrity of the temporarily relocated secondary containment boundary.

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The following criteria from Appendix A to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),

Part 50, "General Design Criteria" are applicable to the amendment request:

• Criterion 16 - Containment design. Reactor containment and associated systems shall be provided to establish an essentially leak-tight barrier against the uncontrolled release of radioactivity to the environment and to assure that the containment design conditions important to safety are not exceeded for as long as postulated accident conditions require.

• Criterion 19 - Control room. A control room shall be provided from which actions can be taken to operate the nuclear power until safely under normal conditions and to maintain it in a safe condition under accident conditions, including loss-of coolant accidents. Adequate radiation protection shall be provided to permit access and occupancy of the control room under accident conditions without personnel receiving radiation exposures in excess of 5 rem whole body, or its

- 2 equivalent to any part of the body, for the duration of the accident. Equipment at appropriate locations outside the control room shall be provided (1) with a design capability for prompt hot shutdown of the reactor, including necessary instrumentation and controls to maintain the unit in a safe condition during shutdown, and (2) with a potential capability for subsequent cold shutdown of the reactor through the use of suitable procedures.

• Criterion 60 - Control of releases of radioactive materials to the environment.

The nuclear power unit design shall include means to control suitably the release of radioactive materials in gaseous and liquid effluents and to handle radioactive solid wastes produced during normal reactor operation, including anticipated operational occurrences. Sufficient holdup capacity shall be provided for retention of gaseous and liquid effluents containing radioactive materials, particularly where unfavorable site environmental conditions can be expected to impose unusual operational limitations upon the release of such effluents to the environment.

Section 3.1 of the Oyster Creek Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) discussed conformance of the Oyster Creek design with the GOC. With respect to Criterion 16, the UFSAR states, in part, that when the primary containment (drywell) is open, the Reactor Building (Secondary Containment) provides the primary containment function.

With respect to Criterion 19, the UFSAR states, in part, that the plant is equipped with a centralized Control Room having adequate instrumentation and controls for safe operation of the plant under normal conditions and to maintain the plant in a safe condition in accident situations. The Control Room has adequate shielding, fire protection, air condition, and access facilities to permit continuous occupancy while maintaining radiation exposures under 10 CFR, Part 20 dose limits during all design-basis accident conditions.

With respect to Criterion 60, the UFSAR states, in part, that the station radioactive waste control systems were originally designed to limit the offsite radiation exposure to levels below dose limits set forth in 10 CFR Part 20. The station engineered safeguards, including the containment barriers, were designed to limit the offsite dose under various postulated design basis accidents to levels significantly below the 10 CFR, Part 100 limits. Additionally, new radioactive waste handling systems were designed and constructed to process radioactive materials to the degree required for effluents to meet the requirements of Appendix I to 10 CFR, Part 50. 10 CFR 50.36, "Technical Specifications," provides requirements for the content of TSs. Specifically, 10 CFR 50.36(c)(3) requires that the TSs include SRs to assure that the necessary quality of systems and components is maintained, that facility operation will be within safety limits, and that the limiting conditions for operation are met.

- 3

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The Oyster Creek Reactor Building Room that houses the main steam and main feedwater isolation valves, referred to as the Trunnion Room, has normal access via a single door that opens to the outside of the building rather than to another room or area within the Reactor Building. The following excerpts from the licensee's submittal further describe the arrangement and function of the Trunnion Room:

a Access openings to the Reactor Building which include the personnel, equipment, and rail/truck entrances have been designed to assure Reactor Building air in-leakage is maintained within specified design parameters (Le., maximum of 100% of the building free volume per day at 0.25 inches of water differential pressure).

a The Reactor Building Secondary Containment provides protection to the public by containing any radioactive releases that may result from transients or accidents evaluated in the Oyster Creek design bases.

a The Trunnion Room entrance (elevation 23'-6") has only a single door for entry by design. The Trunnion Room is located on the west side of the Reactor Building and is an integral part of the Reactor Building secondary containment. It is not an access opening to the Reactor Building, by design, and does not allow access to the entire Reactor Building. It permits access only to the Trunnion Room....

a The Reactor Building is provided with two ventilation systems: the Reactor Building Heating and Ventilation (HV) System and the Standby Gas Treatment System (SGTS). During normal power operation, shutdown, or refueling, the Reactor Building HV system provides fresh, filtered air to all areas including equipment rooms located in the Reactor Building. During shutdown and refueling, the normal capacity is increased, if necessary, to provide additional ventilation to the fuel handling and drywell areas. Heating and cooling units are installed within the ventilation system to maintain temperatures for personnel comfort and equipment protection. The normal Reactor Building HV system provides a minimum of one air change per hour. The air flow pattern is from the filtered supply to uncontaminated areas, to potentially contaminated areas, and then to the main stack. The air is not filtered before being exhausted. The SGTS is designed and utilized to treat and exhaust the atmosphere of the Reactor Building to the main stack during containment isolation conditions with a minimum release of radioactive material to the environs. The SGTS can also be used during normal power operation when the Reactor Building HV system is out-of-service.

a The Trunnion Room door design has been considered within the capability of the SGTS and the Reactor Building HV system to maintain Reactor Building air in-leakage within the systems' design parameters, thereby ensuring Secondary Containment integrity....

-4 o Reactor Building access openings, including personnel entrances, equipment entrances and rail/truck entrances, are provided with interlocked double doors to minimize Reactor Building air in-leakage. The Trunnion Room entrance has only a single door for entry from the Turbine Building. It is not an access opening to the Reactor Building and does not allow access to the entire Reactor Building. It permits access to the Trunnion Room only. Passage through any of the double door entrances to the Reactor Building can occur without loss of Secondary Containment integrity since only one door is open at a time. Passage through the Trunnion Room door occurs infrequently....

The existing TS secondary containment integrity definition contains a note indicating that momentary opening of the Trunnion Room door is not considered a loss of secondary containment integrity. However, during cold shutdown or refueling when secondary containment integrity is required, the licensee indicates there is a need to maintain the Trunnion Room door open to support outage-related work on the main steam isolation and main feedwater check valves and other components located within the Trunnion Room. The amendment request would allow for a temporary configuration change during cold shutdown or refueling plant conditions to move the secondary containment ventilation boundary from the Trunnion Room outer wall and door to the inner walls and floor by sealing penetrations (ventilation duct, drains, breeched piping) in this new ventilation boundary with engineered sealing devices/mechanisms. The licensee stated that the closure mechanisms for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning penetrations will be designed in accordance with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers handbook. For other closure mechanisms, the licensee stated that they would be constructed and installed to have the proper mechanical properties to withstand any differential pressure conditions that could be encountered. Further, the licensee stated that the materials used in this application would be procured and dedicated as "augmented quality" in accordance with the Oyster Creek quality assurance procurement process.

The proposed amendment would also add a new SR 4.S.G.3 which would require a secondary SGTS testing be conducted after the temporary change to the secondary containment boundary was made to verify that a SGTS filter train could maintain the required secondary containment vacuum condition. The licensee's letter of July 9, 2010, clarified that a secondary containment capability test to satisfy the periodic testing requirement of SR 4.S.G.2 would be performed prior to the implementation of the temporary modification so that the normal Reactor Building boundary configuration was tested. Subsequent to implementation of the modification, and pursuant to the proposed SR 4.S.G.3, the licensee would monitor integrity of the containment boundary by operating the SGTS and verifying its ability to draw greater than 0.2S" of water vacuum. Additionally, the licensee stated that daily visual inspections of the sealing devices/mechanisms would be conducted.

When the temporary configuration change is removed and the secondary containment boundary restored to its normal configuration, a visual inspection would be performed to verify the temporary sealing devices on penetrations and openings have been appropriately removed and the Trunnion Room outer walls and door have been returned to their normal configuration.

- 5 The NRC staff finds that the temporary configuration change to be allowed by the proposed TS changes will be of sufficient quality, as described above, to maintain secondary containment integrity while relocating the boundary inside the Trunnion Room. Further, the NRC staff finds that performance of the SGTS testing is sufficient to validate the adequacy of the temporary modification in maintaining secondary containment integrity during cold shutdown and refueling conditions. Additional confidence of the integrity of the sealing devices/mechanisms will be provided by daily visual inspections during their use. The visual inspection following removal of the temporary sealing devices provides additional assurance that any subsequent secondary containment capability test assesses the leak-tightness of the Trunnion Room outer walls and door and that normal ventilation boundary function was restored. Therefore, the NRC staff finds the proposed change to be acceptable.

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 SRs.

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 (75 FR 32513). 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.

Principal Contributor: J. Bettie G. E. Miller Date: October 18, 2010

ML101930236, ML102880123, and ML102910153, respectively). The amendment revises the Oyster Creek Technical Specifications to allow the Reactor Building secondary containment boundary associated with the Trunnion Room to be relocated from the Trunnion Room outer wall and door to the Reactor Building inner walls and penetrations located inside the Trunnion Room.

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

Sincerely,

/RN G. Edward Miller, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 1-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-219

Enclosures:

1. Amendment No. 277 to Renewed DPR-16

2. Safety Evaluation cc: Distribution via ListServ DISTRIBUTION:

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