ML12319A076

Technical Specifications (TS) Changes TS-431 and TS 418 - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) - Major Open Issues

ML12319A076
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	11/09/2012
From:	James Shea Tennessee Valley Authority
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
TAC MD5262, TAC MD5263, TAC MD5264
Download: ML12319A076 (3)

Text

Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 November 9, 2012 10 CFR 50.90 ATTN: Document Control Desk U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 NRC Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296

Subject:

Technical Specifications (TS) Changes TS-431 and TS 418 - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) - Major Open Issues (TAC Nos. MD5262, MD5263, and MD5264)

References:

1. Letter from TVA to NRC, "Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN) -

Unit 1 - Proposed Technical Specifications (TS) Change TS-431 - Request for License Amendment - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) Operation," dated June 28, 2004

2. Letter from TVA to NRC, "Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN) - Units 2 and 3 -

Proposed Technical Specifications (TS) Change TS-41 8 - Request for License Amendment - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) Operation," dated June 25, 2004 3

Letter from NRC to TVA, "Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3 -

Revised Schedule for Extended Power Uprate Amendment Request Review,"

dated September 18, 2009

4. Letter from NRC to TVA, "Resumption of Review of the Proposed Extended Power Uprate Amendment," dated May 15, 2011

5. Letter from NRC to TVA, "Summary of December 15, 2010, Meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority on Extended power Uprate Plans for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3," dated February 11, 2011

6. Letter from NRC to TVA, "Summary of September 15, 2011, Meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority on Extended Power Uprate," dated December 7, 2011 Printed on recycled paper

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 2 November 9, 2012 By letters dated June 28, 2004 (Ref. 1) and June 25, 2004 (Ref. 2), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) submitted license amendment applications for the Extended Power Uprate (EPU) of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN) Unit 1, and BFN Units 2 and 3, respectively. The proposed amendments would modify the operating licenses to increase the maximum authorized core thermal power level by approximately 14 percent to 3952 megawatts. By letter dated September 18, 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) review of the Browns Ferry EPU was delayed by the NRC to develop additional containment accident pressure (CAP) review criteria to ensure the technical adequacy of the EPU applications (Ref. 3). By letter dated May 15, 2011, the NRC notified TVA that the NRC staff was prepared to resume the EPU review (Ref. 4). Additionally, public meetings were held on December 15, 2010 (Ref. 5) and September 15, 2011 (Ref. 6) with the NRC staff to discuss the status of the EPU project and application review.

The purpose of this letter is to provide you our understanding of the three major open issues regarding the EPU requests for license amendment. As discussed during the public meetings and subsequent informal interactions, these issues are as follows: 1) use of containment accident pressure (CAP), 2) plans for steam dryer analyses, and 3) plans for re-review and verification of the EPU license amendment applications.

Tennessee Valley Authority is currently working on the revision of the CAP for the Browns Ferry EPU analyses to incorporate the review criteria developed by the NRC staff as described in, Section 6 of SECY-11-0014. Prior to submitting the results of the CAP analysis and consistent with the NRC staff recommendation provided in Ref. 6, TVA will request a meeting with NRC to discuss our plans for evaluation of CAP. As discussed during the public meetings, TVA will request formal NRC acceptance of the CAP analysis.

Tennessee Valley Authority plans to defer analyses related to the EPU steam dryer until after the approval of the CAP analysis. Following NRC approval of the CAP analysis, TVA plans to initiate analyses of the new General Electric-Hitachi replacement steam dryers.

During the September 15, 2011 public meeting, the NRC staff informed the licensee that it plans to re-review the entire Browns Ferry EPU application following the completion of the CAP analysis review. To aid in the re-review, TVA will evaluate Ref. 1 and 2 and the requests for additional information associated with them. The purpose of the evaluation will be to determine if the NRC staff's effort to complete the review are best served by TVA updating portions of the EPU submittals, updating the submittals in their entirety or withdrawing the submittals and resubmitting them.

Tennessee Valley Authority will work with the NRC Project Manager to arrange a meeting to be held by mid-December 2012 with the NRC staff to discuss all of these EPU issues.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 3 November 9, 2012 There is no new regulatory commitment in this letter. If you should have any questions regarding this submittal, please contact Terry Cribbe at (423) 751-3850.

J

~spe ly, J Shea President, Nuclear Licensing cc:

NRC Regional Administrator-Region II NRC Senior Resident Inspector - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Alabama Department of Public Health