ML14231A160

8/14/2014, Summary of Public Meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and National Nuclear Security Administration of Department of Energy Regarding Increase in Tritium Production

ML14231A160
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	09/02/2014
From:	Siva Lingam Watts Bar Special Projects Branch
To:
Lingam S
References
Download: ML14231A160 (4)

Text

LICENSEE:

Tennessee Valley Authority FACILITY:

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1

SUMMARY

OF AUGUST 14,2014, PUBLIC MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY AND NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGARDING INCREASE IN TRITIUM PRODUCTION On August 14, 2014, a public meeting was held between Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and representatives of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA or the licensee) at the request of the licensee. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the TVA's plan to submit a license amendment request in January 2015 to increase allowable tritium-producing (TP) bar loading for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (WBN-1}. The enclosure contains a list of attendees. The licensee's presentation slides may be accessed from the NRC Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML14231A067. The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA's) presentation slides may be accessed from the NRC ADAMS Accession No. ML14231A072.

Background

Tritium, a radioactive material with a half-life of 12.3 years, is an integral component of nuclear weapons. An assured supply of tritium must be available to meet the requirements of the nuclear weapons stockpile. One of NNSA's missions is to provide freshly filled tritium reservoirs that have reached their end of life. To achieve this, NNSA requested TVA to place the TP bars in the reactor at WBN-1. As a result, NRC approved a license amendment for TVA on May 4, 2009, to allow loading up to 704 TP bars at WBN-1. TVA is now planning to submit another license amendment in January 2015 requesting NRC approval to increase allowable TP bar loading from 704 to 1792 TP bars at WBN-1 to accommodate NNSA's needs. A pre-submittal meeting was held on August 14, 2014, at NRC headquarters to discuss the changes to the existing agreements on the use of TP bars at WBN-1. The participants included personnel from NRC, TVA, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and NNSA.

Summary The licensee and its representatives presented their approach to increase allowable tritium production at WBN-1. The licensee is planning to submit the license amendment request (LAR) in January 2015 to increase allowable TP bar loading from 704 to 1792 TP bars for WBN-1, and will request NRC approval of the LAR by August 2016. No regulatory decisions were made at the meeting.

Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-1564, or by email to siva.lingam@nrc.gov.

Docket No. 50-390

Enclosure:

List of Attendees cc w/encl: Distribution via Listserv

~()*~

Siva P. Lingam, Project Manager Watts Bar Special Projects Branch Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

LIST OF ATTENDEES U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC)

PUBLIC MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (TVA)

REGARDING INCREASE IN TRITIUM PRODUCTION NRC Margaret Chernoff Jeremy Dean Ryan Lantz Siva Lingam Louise Lund Mathew Panicker Ben Parks (by phone)

Roger Pedersen Jessie Quichocho FOR WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 1 AUGUST 14, 2014 Undine Shoop (by phone)

TVA Carla Borrelli Mark Burzynski (TVA contractor)

Thomas Hess Jim Lemons Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Supporting TVA Cheryl Thornhill National Nuclear Security Administration of Department of Energy Supporting TVA Jim Chapman (NNSA contractor)

Kevin Greenaugh Tom Rotella Westinghouse Supporting TVA Darrin Smith (by phone)

Platts Nucleonics Week William Freebairn (by phone)

Enclosure Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-1564, or by email to siva.lingam@nrc.gov.

Docket No. 50-390

Enclosure:

List of Attendees cc w/encl: Distribution via Listserv DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC RidsNrrLABCiayton RidsNrrDorl A. Bowers, EDO M. Panicker, NRR M. Chernoff, NRR IRA/

Siva P. Lingam, Project Manager Watts Bar Special Projects Branch Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation LPL-WB RIF RidsNrrDraArcb RidsRgn2MaiiCenter RidsAcrsAcnw MaiiCTR R. Pedersen, NRR B. Parks, NRR RidsNrrDorllp-wb RidsNrrPMWattsBar1 RidsAcrsAcnw MaiiCTR RidsNrrDssSrxb RidsNrrDssSnpb RidsNrrDssStsb Package Accession No.: ML14231A129 Meeting Notice Accession No.: ML14213A185 Meeting Summary Accession No.: ML14231A160 Slides Presentation Accession Nos.: ML14231A067 and ML14231A072 OFFICE LP-WB/PM LPL2-2/LA LP-WB/BC NAME Slingam BCiayton JQuichocho DATE 8/20/14 8/20/14 8/26/14 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY LP-WB/PM Slingam 9/2/14