ML14283A271

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff Review of Licensee Response to Request of Additional Information Related to a License Amendment Request to Restore Normal Operating Pressure and Temperature

ML14283A271
Person / Time
Site:	Cook
Issue date:	10/22/2014
From:	Mahesh Chawla Plant Licensing Branch III
To:	Weber L Indiana Michigan Power Co
Chawla M
References
TAC MF2916
Download: ML14283A271 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 October 22, 2014 Mr. Lawrence J. Weber Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Indiana Michigan Power Company Nuclear Generation Group One Cook Place Bridgman, Ml 49106

SUBJECT:

DONALD C. COOK NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 1 - NUCLEAR REGULA TORY COMMISSION STAFF REVIEW OF LICENSEE RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO A LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO RESTORE NORMAL OPERATING PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE (TAC NO. MF2916)

Dear Mr. Weber:

By letter dated September 30, 2014 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML14275A453), Indiana Michigan Power Company (I&M), the licensee for the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant (CNP), Units 1 and 2, provided a response to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's requests for additional information relating to the subject license amendment request to restore normal operating pressure and temperature at CNP1 consistent with previous licensed conditions. In this letter, I&M was unable to adequately provide the requested information due to errors in the existing Westinghouse methodology described in WCAP-10325.

The NRC staff has reviewed the submittal and agrees with the statement made by I&M regarding the existing Westinghouse methodology in WCAP-10325 as it pertains to CNP1. The methodology is currently used in the above application, has known errors, and these errors contributed to an analysis that indicates exceeding the CNP1 primary containment design pressure limit of 12 pounds per square inch gauge. The NRC staff agrees with the licensee's proposal to utilize and adopt the newly revised Westinghouse topical report WCAP-17721-P, "Westinghouse Containment Analysis Methodology- PWR [Pressurized Water Reactor] LOCA

[Loss-of-Coolant Accident] Mass and Energy Release Calculation Methodology," for reanalyzing containment pressure as a result of mass and energy release during a design basis accident.

WCAP-17721-P is currently undergoing NRC staff review and, once approved, the staff recognizes that I&M intends to supplement the subject license amendment request to reference the topical report. Therefore, taking into account the current situation, including the progress of the NRC staff's review and comparing the benefit against the alternative of withdrawing this amendment, the NRC has decided to place this licensing action on hold.

However, please recognize that the time line provided in your letter may not necessarily align with the NRC staff's current review and approval schedule for the new Westinghouse methodology. The current schedule for NRC approval of this new methodology is on or about July 31, 2015, and this date takes into account a March 2015 date provided by Westinghouse to

L. Weber respond to the NRC staff requests for additional information (RAis) regarding the new methodology. I&M states that it could take approximately three months after NRC approval of this new methodology to provide its final submittal in response to the NRC staff's RAis. Based on the above estimates, the NRC staff anticipates a final supplement to this license amendment request in October 2015. Assuming an adequate response is provided, the NRC staff will then have approximately three months to review the revised information and to issue an approved amendment by January 2016 for supporting implementation at CNP1 during the 2016 spring refueling outage.

Therefore, there are a many variables in the projected schedule which could challenge the overall goal of implementing this license amendment during the 2016 outage. We will make every effort to minimize the impact on plant operation and to keep you duly informed of the project status. We strongly encourage I&M to make similar efforts that are under its control to support expediting the process and to be prepared for any contingencies.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at (301) 415-4037.

Sincerely,

(

r Mahesh Chawla, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 111-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-315 cc: Distribution via ListServ

L. Weber respond to the NRC staff requests for additional information (RAis) regarding the new methodology. I&M states that it could take approximately three months after NRC approval of this new methodology to provide its final submittal in response to the NRC staff's RAis. Based on the above estimates, the NRC staff anticipates a final supplement to this license amendment request in October 2015. Assuming an adequate response is provided, the NRC staff will then have approximately three months to review the revised information and to issue an approved amendment by January 2016 for supporting implementation at CNP1 during the 2016 spring refueling outage.

Therefore, there are a many variables in the projected schedule which could challenge the overall goal of implementing this license amendment during the 2016 outage. We will make every effort to minimize the impact on plant operation and to keep you duly informed of the project status. We strongly encourage I&M to make similar efforts that are under its control to support expediting the process and to be prepared for any contingencies.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at (301) 415-4037.

Sincerely,

/RAJ Mahesh Chawla, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 111-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-315 cc: Distribution via ListServ DISTRIBUTION:

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DATE 10/20/14 10/17/14 10/20/14 10/22/14 10/22/14 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY