ML14043A534
| ML14043A534 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Prairie Island  |
| Issue date: | 02/12/2014 |
| From: | Scott Wall Plant Licensing Branch III |
| To: | James Anderson Northern States Power Co |
| References | |
| MF1891, MF1892 | |
| Download: ML14043A534 (3) | |
Text
1 NRR-PMDAPEm Resource From:
Wall, Scott Sent:
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 2:49 PM To:
Anderson, Jon S.
Cc:
Huang, Tai; Anzalone, Reed; Vincent, Dale M.; Jackson, Christopher
Subject:
Prairie Island - Request for Additional Information Regarding Core Operating Limits Report (MF1891 and MF1892)
Attachments:
Prairie Island - Request for Additional Information Regarding Core Operating Limits Report (MF1891 and MF1892).pdf Mr. Anderson By letter dated May 23, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Number ML131144A750), Northern States Power Company (NSPM), a Minnesota Corporation, submitted a licensing amendment request for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. The proposed LAR will revise the Technical Specifications (TSs) to add a methodology to TS 5.6.5.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has reviewed the information provided by NSPM and has determined that additional information is needed to complete the review, as described in the attached request for additional information (RAIs). During a conference call held on February 12, 2014, your staff agreed to response to the enclosed RAIs and those provided on December 3, 2013 (ML13338A124), no later than 45 days from the date of this email.
Please note that review efforts on this task are being continued and further RAIs may develop.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely, Scott P. Wall, PMP, LSS BB, BSP Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch III-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 301.415.2855 Scott.Wall@nrc.gov
Hearing Identifier:
NRR_PMDA Email Number:
1092 Mail Envelope Properties (Scott.Wall@nrc.gov20140212144901)
Subject:
Prairie Island - Request for Additional Information Regarding Core Operating Limits Report (MF1891 and MF1892)
Sent Date:
2/12/2014 2:49:05 PM Received Date:
2/12/2014 2:49:01 PM From:
Wall, Scott Created By:
Scott.Wall@nrc.gov Recipients:
"Huang, Tai" <Tai.Huang@nrc.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Anzalone, Reed" <Reed.Anzalone@nrc.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Vincent, Dale M." <Dale.Vincent@xenuclear.com>
Tracking Status: None "Jackson, Christopher" <Christopher.Jackson@nrc.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Anderson, Jon S." <jon.anderson@xenuclear.com>
Tracking Status: None Post Office:
Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 1278 2/12/2014 2:49:01 PM Prairie Island - Request for Additional Information Regarding Core Operating Limits Report (MF1891 and MF1892).pdf 43589 Options Priority:
Standard Return Notification:
No Reply Requested:
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Recipients Received:
Enclosure REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION METHODOLOGY REGARDING CORE OPERATING LIMITS REPORT NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANY PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-282 AND 50-306 TAC NOS. MF1891 AND MF1892 By letter dated May 23, 2013 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML13144A750), Northern States Power Company (NSPM), the licensee for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (PINGP) Units 1 and 2, proposed to amend the PINGP facility operating licenses by adding references to WCAP-16045-P-A, Qualification of the Two-Dimensional Transport Code PARAGON (ADAMS Accession No. ML042250345) and WCAP-16045-P-A, Addendum 1-A, Qualification of the NEXUS Nuclear Data Methodology (ADAMS Accession No. ML072570352) to Technical Specification (TS) 5.6.5, Core Operating Limits Report. The NRC staff has determined that the following information is required to complete its review:
NRC Generic Letter (GL) 88-16, Removal of Cycle-Specific Parameter Limits from Technical Specifications, allows licensees to control certain reactor physics parameters on a cycle-by-cycle basis by moving them to a separate report, provided they specify the calculation methodology. The discussion in the GL makes reference to terms indicating that approval of licensee control of these parameters is contingent on selection of a single, specific methodology (e.g., the specified methodology and an NRC-approved methodology, etc.).
The proposed amendment would preserve both the current PHOENIX-P/ANC nuclear design methodology and the new PARAGON-NEXUS/ANC nuclear design methodology in the licensees TS. According to the submittal, this is due to the unavoidable transition period when the current and proposed methodologies are both required to support core operating limits, since the two plants at the site have overlapping fuel cycles.
By leaving both the current and proposed methodologies in the TS without also specifying how the method will be chosen, the proposed amendment leaves open the possibility that either methodology could be used to calculate the core operating limits addressed in the COLR, effectively creating a new, ambiguous methodology. The NRC staff has therefore been unable to determine that the proposed amendment is consistent with GL 88-16 guidance. Please propose a revision to TS 5.6.5 that provides for a single, unambiguous method to determine how the core operating limits discussed in the submittal will be calculated.