ML14181A335
| ML14181A335 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Robinson  |
| Issue date: | 09/19/1996 |
| From: | Mozafari B NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Hinnant C CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| References | |
| IEB-96-001, IEB-96-1, TAC-M95017, NUDOCS 9609240007 | |
| Download: ML14181A335 (5) | |
Text
September 19, 1990 Mr. C. S. Hinnant, Vice President Carolina Power & Light Company H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2 3581 West Entrance Road Hartsville, South Carolina 29550
SUBJECT:
NRC BULLETIN 96-01, "CONTROL ROD INSERTION PROBLEMS" (TAC NO. M95017)
Dear Mr. Hinnant.:
On July 26, 1996, during a teleconference between Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) and the'NRC, CP&L was informed by the NRC staff that the NRC had not relaxed the requirements in Bulletin 96-01, "Control Rod Insertion Problems," and that licensees of Westinghouse-designed PWR plants are still required to perform the testing requested in the bulletin. As a result, the NRC staff informed CP&L that the testing activities planned for the fall-outage at the H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2 (HBR), as described in CP&L's April 4, 1996, response, were inadequate.
On August 13, 1996,' the NRC staff met with the Westinghouse Owners Group (WOG) to discuss incomplete rod insertion issues. At the conclusion of the meeting, the WOG indicated that a written request for relaxation of the testing requirements in the bulletin, including the basis for relaxation, would be provided to the NRC staff in the near future. On August 23, 1996, the NRC staff received the WOG request dated August 22, 1996, that requested staff action by August 30, 1996.
Enclosed is a copy of the September 4, 1996, NRC response to the WOG request. As indicated in the response, certain testing requirements in the bulletin may be relaxed on a plant-specific basis. However, to be afforded such relaxation, a request in writing with an appropriate justification must be made, followed by NRC review and approval of the request for testing relaxation. Therefore, pending NRC staff review and approval of such a request, testing as delineated in Bulletin 96 01 is expected to be performed during the fall outage at HBR.
If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact me on (301) 415 2020.
Sincerely, (Original Signed By)
Brenda Mozafari, Project Manager Project Directorate II-1 Division of Reactor Projects I/II Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-261/
Enclosure:
Letter from NRC to WOG dated September 4, 1996 cc w/enclosure: See next page DISTRIBUTION: See next page FILENAME -
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D:PDII-1 BC:SRXB NAME Dunnington f_
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_a GEdiso RJones DATE 9///96 9/11696 9/1196 9/1 /96 COPY N
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Mr. C. S. Hinnant H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Carolina Power & Light Company Plant, Unit No. 2 cc:
Mr. William D. Johnson Mr. Dayne H. Brown, Director Vice President and Senior Counsel Department of Environmental, Carolina Power & Light Company Health and Natural Resources Post Office Box 1551 Division of Radiation Protection Raleigh, North Carolina 27602 Post Office Box 27687 Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-7687 Ms. Karen E. Long Assistant Attorney General Mr. Robert P. Gruber State of North Carolina Executive Director Post Office Box 629 Public Staff - NCUC Raleigh, North Carolina 27602 Post Office Box 29520 Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0520 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Resident Inspector's Office Mr. Max Batavia, Chief H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant South Carolina Department of Health 2112 Old Camden Road Bureau of Radiological Health Hartsville, South Carolina 29550 and Environmental Control 2600 Bull Street Regional Administrator, Region II Columbia, South Carolina 29201 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 101 Marietta St., N.W., Ste. 2900 Mr. J. Cowan Atlanta, Georgia 30323 Vice President Nuclear Services and Environmental Mr. Dale E. Young Support Department Plant General Manager Carolina Power & Light Company Carolina Power & Light Company Post Office Box 1551 - Mail 0HS7 H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant Raleigh, North Carolina 27602 3581 West Entrance Road Hartsville, South Carolina 29550 Mr. Milton Shymlock U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Service Commission 101 Marietta Street, N.W. Suite 2900 State of South Carolina Atlanta, Ga. 3023-0199 Post Office Drawer 11649 Columbia, South Carolina 29211 Mr. R. M. Krich Manager - Regulatory Affairs Carolina Power & Light Company H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2 3581 West Entrance Road Hartsville, South Carolina 29550
DISTRIBUTION
,-Docket:File PUBLIC PDHI-I RF S. Varga J. Zwolinski M. Shymlock, RH OGC ACRS KThomas, PDIV-2 LKopp, SRXB MChatterton, SRXB
UNITED STATES UCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISS 49 WASHINGTON, D. C. 20655 September 4, 1996 Mr. Vance VanderBurg, Chairman WOG Analysis Subcommittee American Electric Power Nuclear Generation Group 500 Circle Drive Buchanan. MI 49107 Subject*
Westinghouse Owners Group Westinghouse Owners GrouD Reauest for Relaxation of NRC Bulletin 96-01 Reautrements (MUHP-12101 On August 22. 1996, the Westinghouse Owners Group (WOG) submitted a letter requesting relaxation of NRC Bulletin 96-01, 'Control Rod Insertion Problems,"
raquiremLnts (MIJH-1210). WOG's basis for the request for the relaxation was attached for the staff's review.
The staff reviewed the request and basis for the request, and concluded that the following items are acceptable:
- 1)
Definition of an Outage of Sufficient Duration -The WOG proposed that this be defined as wan outage that allows time to properly setup and test the rods by established plant procedures without restraining a plant restart."
- 2)
Allow Drag Testing in Reactor Vessel or Spent Fuel Pool - The WOG proposed that the testing be performed in either the vessel or pool.
- 3)
Fuel Burnup Increment Between Successive Tests - The WOG proposed a minimum burnup increment of 2,500 MWDIMTD (or equivalent) between tests.
The above items are clarifications of NRC Bulletin 96-01 and are in agreement with the intent of the bulletin. They are, therefore, acceptable.
With respect to the 'Bulletin Relaxation Request," Attachment 1 of the August 22, 1996, letter, the staff did not find sufficient technical basis to support the request to eliminate testing on fuel with burnup below 40,000 MWD/MTU. While most of the rod insertion problems have been in high burnup fuel, there have been cases of anomalous behavior with fuel in the approximately 32,000 MWD/MTU range. If individual licensees wish to supplement their bulletin responses and request elimination of testing below 30,000 MWD/MTU, the staff will evaluate these cases depending on the availability of data on the particular fuel type.
With respect to the request to eliminate testing on fuel with intermediate flow mixing (IFM) grids, the staff received insufficient information. To date, no clear root cause to the control rod insertion problem has been identified. The staff's present understanding of the phenomena which led to the incomplete control rod insertion at Wolf Creek is that it was a
V. VanderBurg
- 2-September 4, 1996 combination of factors. The problem appears to be very sensitive to this combination of factors; the interaction of which is not clearly understood. While we agree that, if considered alone, the additional stiffness resulting from the IFMs is more likely to be beneficial than detrimental to the problem, data comparisons of non-IFM and IFM fuel with corresponding factors such as power history, time, and temperature have not been presented to support this premise. Without such data we can not agree to eliminate further testing on fuel with IFMs.
With regard to the request to perform either rod drop tests or drag tests as opposed to both sets of tests, the staff continues to consider the drop testing essential. If individual licensees believe that there is sufficient data available on their fuel type and wish to make the case for not doing the drag testing, the staff will consider such requests. Such requests should address factors such as fuel type, power history, and temperature.
As was stated in the August 13, 1996 meeting, the commitments made in the bulletin responses remain in effect unless the licensees submit plant-specific changes to their initial response to Bulletin 96-01.
Should you have any questions, please contact Margaret Chatterton at (301) 415-2889 or Claudia Craig at (301) 415-1053.
Sincerely, David B. Matthews, Chief Generic Issues and Environmental Projects Branch Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Project No. 694 cc: see next page