ML110600699
| ML110600699 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Rhode Island Atomic Energy Commission |
| Issue date: | 02/24/2011 |
| From: | Tehan T State of RI, Atomic Energy Comm, Nuclear Science Ctr |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML110600699 (5) | |
Text
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS P
RHODE ISLAND ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center 16 Reactor Road Narragansett, RI 02882-1165 ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 February 24, 2011 Re:
Letter dated 13 April 2010 Docket No. 50-193
Dear Mr. Kennedy:
Enclosure one is attached in reply to your Request for Additional Information (RAI) dated April 13, 2010 regarding license renewal for the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Reactor (RINSC). The enclosure contains the ninth set of answers to the questions specified in your letter. The RINSC staff is continuing to work on the RAI questions that remain outstanding.
Very V.1yyours, Terry Tehan, i ctor Rhode Island u lear Science Center I certify under penalty of perjury that the representation made above e true and correct.
Executed on:
[ J' i IBy:_
Docket No. 50-193 Enclosures I Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Ninth Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Dated April 13, 2010
Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Ninth Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Dated April 13, 2010 21 Chapter 2 of the SAR contains multiple section headings with no related information. Provide the omitted information.
2.3.1 General and Local Climate The average annual temperature in Rhode Island is 50'F (10°C). At Providence the temperature ranges from an average of 28'F (-2°C) in January to 73°F (23°C) in July. The record high temperature, 104'F (40'C), was registered in Providence on 2 August 1975; the record low, -
23°F (-3 l°C), at Kingston on 11 January 1942. In Providence, the average annual precipitation (1971-2000) was 46.5 in (118 cm); snowfall averages 37 in (94 cm) a year.
2.3.2.3 Humidity Rhode Island has a humid climate, with cold winters and short summers.
The humidity varies depending on wind direction and ocean temperature.
2.4.3 Sanitary Sewer System The Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center is connected to the Narragansett / South Kingstown municipal sewer system, which has a final outflow to the ocean.
2.4.4 Ground Water Ground water and site drainage flows directly into the Narragansett Bay.
The original site study report performed by General Electric cited this as being one of the reasons that the reactor was built at this site.
9.5 The references listed for this chapter lack dates and detail. Provide a more formal reference list for Chapter 9 that includes this information.
Most of the references are sufficient as listed. The SAR will not refer to specific revisions of the RINSC Emergency Plan, RINSC Operating Procedures, and RINSC Security Plan because these documents are revised and updated on a regular basis. The reference entitled "TRTR-5 Fabrication Requirements" will be removed. The reference to the BMI Cask Letter (Certificate) of Compliance will be removed because that shipping cask is no longer in service. References entitled "RINSC Quality Assurance Program", and "NRC Approval Letter" have been removed because they are not referenced in the text.
The new list of references will include:
9-1 RINSC Emergency Plan 9-2 RINSC Operating Procedures 9-3 Removed - Need to remove this reference from SAR Page 9-5 Line 38 9-4 RINSC Security Plan I
Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Ninth Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Dated April 13, 2010 9-5 Removed - Need to remove this reference from SAR Page 9-7 Line 3 9-6 Removed - Not used 9-7 Removed - Not used 9-8 RINSC Safety Manual 9-9 IAEA-TEC-643, April 1992, Appendix N-3.1 "Nuclear Criticality Assessment of LEU & HEU Fuel Storage", Argonne National Laboratory The references will be re-numbered so that they appear in a numerical order that is consistent with the order in which they are referenced in the text.
14.112 The "Bases" section of TS 3.7.2.a references a letter sent to the NRC in 1963.
10 CFR 50.36 requires that the proposed TS be derived from analysis included in the SAR. Revise the proposed TS to refer to the SAR submitted with the license renewal application, as amended.
Response: The calculation of the accident x/Q is provided in Chapter 13, Section 13.2.1.for short-term releases. The dispersion factor given in the technical specification for normal operations was calculated from historic wind rose data provided in the referenced letter. That data has been updated and is summarized below:
Wind From Frequency N
0.062 NNE 0.058 NE 0.044 ENE 0.013 E
0.012 ESE 0.013 SE 0.058 SSE 0.049 S
0.058 SSW 0.084 SW 0.105 WSW 0.064 W
0.068 WNW 0.095 NW 0.104 NNW 0.068 It should be noted that the wind pattern is heavily influenced by Narragansett Bay.
In our atmospheric dispersion model, we determined the radionuclide concentrations at ground-level receptors beneath an elevated, buoyant plume of dispersing airborne effluents using two major steps: First, we calculated the height to which the plume rises at a given downwind distance from the plume source. The calculated plume rise was then added to the height of the plume's 2
Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Ninth Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Dated April 13, 2010 source point to obtain the so-called "effective stack height", also known as the plume centerline height or simply the emission height. The stack at the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center is 35 meters high. The effective stack height is determined by the buoyancy of the airborne effluent resulting from the effluent's temperature relative to the temperature of the immediate atmosphere. The ground-level radionuclide concentration beneath the plume at a given downwind distance was then predicted using the Gaussian dispersion equation. It should be noted that our airborne effluents are lighter than the surrounding air because they are generally at a higher temperature than the ambient air into which they are discharged. The dilution factor given in the specification was based on a dispersion factor (X/Q = 105 sec/m 3). However, please change the specification to read: "The annual total dose equivalent to the maximally exposed individual from radioactive materials discharged to the atmosphere shall not exceed 10 millirems using a generally accepted atmospheric dispersion model."
14.129 TS 3.9.b appears to be a surveillance requirement and not a LCO on the physical condition of the fuel. Explain why the TS do not specify an LCO on the physical condition of the fuel, and revise the proposed TS as appropriate.
As submitted Technical Specification 3.9.b requires that the fuel elements be inspected for physical defects and reactor core box fit. This is a surveillance requirement rather than an LCO. Consequently, this specification has been moved to become Technical Specification 4.9.b. See the answer to RAI question 14.167.
14.130 TS 4.0 specifies that some surveillance requirements may be deferred during periods of reactor shutdown. As recommended in ANSI/ANS-15.1, allowed deferral of a surveillance requirement should be specified as part of the surveillance requirement. Each surveillance requirement that may be deferred during reactor shutdown must specify whether the surveillance must be completed prior to reactor operation. Each allowed deferral must be supported by a basis statement that explains the reason deferral is warranted during reactor shutdown. Revise the proposed TS as appropriate.
This question is best addressed after the set of RINSC surveillance items have been determined. The rationale and basis for deferring any given surveillance item, and the determination of how long the item may be deferred depends on what the complete set of surveillance items include, and therefore what other related operability checks, calibrations, and inspections are being performed during an outage.
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Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center Ninth Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Dated April 13, 2010 14.136 TS 4.1.2 requires inspection of the shim safety blades to detect swelling. The bases for TS 4.1.2 state that inspection will detect swelling and cracking.
Explain this apparent inconsistency between the specification and the bases, and revise the proposed TS as appropriate.
The purpose of inspecting the control blades is to ensure that they do not swell.
Swelling could cause the blade insertion rate to increase to an extent that scram drop times could be impacted. In an effort to make the basis consistent with the specification, the paragraph that describes the basis for this (P. 14-32 Lines 43-46) will be modified to say:
Shim safety blade inspections have the potential to be the single largest source of radiation exposure to the facility personnel. In order to minimize personnel radiation exposure and provide an inspection frequency that will detect early evidence of swelling, an annual inspection interval was selected for Specification 4.1.2.
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