ML113550161

Acceptance Review Associated with Proposed License Amendment Request to Adopt National Fire Protection Standard 805

ML113550161
Person / Time
Site:	Kewaunee
Issue date:	12/22/2011
From:	Feintuch K Plant Licensing Branch III
To:	Heacock D Dominion Energy Kewaunee
Feintuch K, NRR/DORL/LPL3-1, 415-3079
References
TAC ME7250
Download: ML113550161 (6)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 I~cember 22, 2011 Mr. David A. Heacock President and Chief Nuclear Officer Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc.

Innsbrook Technical Center 5000 Dominion Boulevard Glen Allen, VA 23060-6711

SUBJECT:

KEWAUNEE POWER STATION -ACCEPTANCE REVIEW ASSOCIATED WITH PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO ADOPT NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION STANDARD 805 (TAC NO. ME7250)

Dear Mr. Heacock:

By letter dated September 21, 2011 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML11277A240), Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc (DEK, the licensee) submitted a license amendment request for the Kewaunee Power Station (KPS). The proposed amendment would adopt National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 805, "Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants," 2001 Edition, in accordance with Section 50.48(c) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.48(c)).

The purpose of this letter is to provide the results of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's acceptance review of this amendment request. The staff performed the acceptance review to determine if there is sufficient technical information in scope and depth to allow the NRC staff to start its detailed technical review. The acceptance review is also intended to identify whether the application has any readily apparent information insufficiencies in its characterization of the regulatory requirements or the licensing basis of the plant.

Consistent with 10 CFR 50.90, an amendment to the license (including the technical specifications) must fully describe the changes requested, following as far as applicable, the form prescribed for original applications. Section 50.34 of 10 CFR addresses the content of technical information required. This section stipulates that the submittal address the design and operating characteristics, unusual or novel design features, and principal safety considerations.

The NRC staff has reviewed your application and concluded that the information delineated in the enclosure to this letter is necessary to enable the NRC staff to make an independent assessment regarding the acceptability of the proposed amendment request in terms of regulatory requirements and the protection of public health and safety and the environment.

The NRC staff provided DEK staff the request for supplemental information in an e-mail dated December 19, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML11355A074). The supplemental information is provided as an enclosure to this letter. On December 19, 2011, the NRC staff participated in a teleconference with Mr. Craig Sly to discuss the information requested in the enclosure and the associated timeframe for a response.

D. Heacock - 2 If further clarification of the NRC staff's requested information is necessary, then your staff should arrange for a teleconference as soon as possible. In order to make the application complete, the NRC staff additionally requests that DEK supplement the application to address the information in the enclosure to this letter no later than January 17, 2012. This will enable the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review. If the information responsive to the NRC staff's request is not received by the above date, the application will not be accepted for review pursuant to 10 CFR 2.101, and the NRC staff will cease its review activities associated with the application. If the application is subsequently accepted for review, you will be advised of any further information needed to support the NRC staff's detailed technical review by separate correspondence. The failure to provide the requested supplemental information within the requested timeframe will result in: 1) non-acceptance of the license amendment request, 2) cessation of further NRC staff review activities pursuant to 10 CFR 2.101, and 3) loss of enforcement discretion.

By letter dated December 16,2011, DEK requested that the NRC postpone all review activities associated with the September 21, 2011, license amendment request. The licensee based its request on the potential sale of KPS, and that postponing the NRC review would 1) allow the buyer of the plant to determine if continuing with a transition to NFPA 805 was in its best interest, 2) eliminate the difficulties associated with the NRC staff interfacing with two separate licensees during the review process, and 3) result in a more efficient use of NRC staff and licensee resources, in that there would not be competing resources associated with the review of two license amendment requests.

The NRC staff does not consider postponing the review of the proposed license amendment request to be a viable option. Postponement is not recognized in the NRC's acceptance review process for review of licensing actions because it may lead to regulatory uncertainty. Finally, if the NRC staff's decision is to non-accept the requested license amendment request then, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.101, you should be made aware that the application may be withdrawn pursuant to 10 CFR 2.107.

D. Heacock - 3 Should you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-3079, or via email at Karl.Feintuch@nrc.gov.

/2 Karl . Feintuch, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 111-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-305 cc

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Request for Supplemental Information Kewaunee Power Station Adoption of NFPA-805 Risk Informed Fire Protection Standard (TAC No. ME7250)

The NRC staff has determined that the items listed below need to be addressed relating to the acceptance determination of the Kewaunee Power Station NFPA 805 license amendment request (LAR):

1. Handling of modifications in the LAR need to be addressed as follows:

a. Insufficient justification for the extended modification completion time

b. Lack of a clear commitment (which will be changed to a license condition) to perform the specific modifications proposed

c. Proposal that the scope of the proposed modifications may be changed through self approval without prior staff approval To address these issues, the licensee should

• Explain why some of the modifications will require such an extended installation schedule,

• Describe the modifications that are required to achieve compliance,

• Make a deliberate commitment that these modifications will be performed, and

• Remove any references to the ability to change the scope of these modifications through any self-approved process.

2. A substantial number of NFPA 805 Chapter 3 elements require the completion of code compliance reviews.

a. 10 CFR 50.48(c)(3)(ii) requires:

"The licensee shall complete its implementation of the methodology in Chapter 2 of NFPA 805 (including all required evaluations and analyses) and, upon completion, modify the fire protection plan required by paragraph (a) of this section to reflect the licensee's decision to comply with NFPA 80S, before changing its fire protection program or nuclear power plant as permitted by NFPA805."

b. Regulations require the evaluations and analyses to be complete at time of submittal. Describe how the LAR meets the requirement.

c. The 8-1 Table should reflect the state of compliance at the end of implementation. Provide information in Table 8-1 to show that information.

Enclosure

-2

3. The discussion of the proposed Monitoring Program does not include the use of the Maintenance Rule for those components already included in that program. Verify if the Maintenance Rule program will be used. If the Maintenance Rule program will not be used, then provide additional detailed descriptions of the Monitoring Program, including any approaches in FAQ 10-0059.

4. NFPA 805 defines a fire model as "Mathematical prediction of fire growth, environmental conditions, and potential effects on structures, systems or components based on the conservation equations or empirical data."

a. NFPA 805 Section 2.4.1.1 requires that fire models be acceptable to the AHJ (which is NRC for nuclear power plants).

Although the KPS fire modeling was reviewed through the peer review process, the fire models used must be acceptable to the AHJ (which is NRC) even though they are used to support the Fire PRA.

b. NFPA 805 Section 2.7.3, requires each calculational model or numerical method used shall be independently reviewed, verified and validated, used within its limitations, performed by qualified reviewers, and include an uncertainty analysis.

Although the KPS fire modeling was reviewed through the peer review process, how these quality requirements have been met may not have been addressed by the peer review. For the NRC staff to conclude that these requirements have been met, explain how each of these items have been addressed.

5. Please provide the Facts and Observations (F&Os) from the latest independent Peer Review of the Kewaunee internal events PRA, and the resolution of the F&Os. From the current description of the reviews in the LAR, the latest independent Peer Review would have been performed before the 2007 self-assessment.

6. Please provide an estimate of the risk decrease associated with voluntary plant modifications (i.e., modifications not required to bring the plant into compliance with the deterministic fire protection requirements).

7. Is the final fire Peer Review report available? If the final report on the fire PRA peer review is available, please identify any substantive differences between the draft and the final reports.

D. Heacock - 3 Should you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-3079, or via email at Karl. Feintuch@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, IRA! Terry Beltz for Karl D. Feintuch, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 111-1 Division of Operating Reactor licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-305

Enclosure:

As stated cc w/encl: Distribution via Listserv DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC LPL3-1 rlf RidsNrrDraAfpb Resource GGulla,OE RidsNrrDorlLpl3-1 Resource RidsNrrDraApla Resource NHilton,OE RidsNrrPMKewaunee RidsOEMailCenter Resource KRiemer, Rill RidsRgn3MailCenter Resource PLain, NRR RKrsek, Rill RidsAcrsAcnw_MailCTR Resource LFields, NRR NShah, Rill RidsOgcRp Resource HBarrett, NRR RDaley, Rill RidsNrrDorlDpr Resource DPickett, NRR ADAMS Accession No. ML113550161 .. concurrence via e-mail OFFICE LPL3-1/PM LPL3-1/LA DRAlAFPB/BC DRAlAPLAlBC NAME TBeitz BTuily AKlein .. DHarrison ..

DATE 12/22/11 12/22/11 12/21/11 12/21/11 OFFICE OE/BC OGC INLO w/comments LPL3-1/BC (A) LPL3-1/PM NAME ARivera-Varona .. MLemoncelli SWiliiams KFeintuch /TBeltz for DATE 12121/11 12/22/11 12/22/11 12/22/11 OFFICIAL RECORD COpy