ML15020A167
| ML15020A167 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | San Onofre  |
| Issue date: | 02/27/2015 |
| From: | Thomas Wengert Plant Licensing Branch IV |
| To: | Thomas J. Palmisano Southern California Edison Co |
| Wengert T | |
| References | |
| 2.206 | |
| Download: ML15020A167 (7) | |
Text
Proposed DD-XX-XX UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION William M. Dean, Director In the Matter of ) Docket Nos. 50-361 and 50-362
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON ) License Nos. NPF-10 and NPF-15
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San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, )
Units 2 and 3 )
PROPOSED DIRECTORS DECISION UNDER 10 CFR 2.206 I. Introduction By letter dated June 18, 2012 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML12171A409), the Friends of the Earth (the petitioner) filed an intervention petition and hearing request, and a stay of any decision to authorize restart of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Units 2 and 3, following the steam generator tube leak that led to the rapid shutdown of Unit 3 in January 2012. As part of its filing, the petitioner argued that the licensee violated Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.59, Changes, Tests, and Experiments, when the steam generators for SONGS, Units 2 and 3, were replaced in 2010 and 2011 without a license amendment.
In its November 8, 2012, memorandum and order on this matter (ADAMS Accession No. ML12313A118), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) referred the portion of the June 18, 2012, petition concerning the asserted 10 CFR 50.59 violation to the
NRCs Office of the Executive Director for Operations (EDO) for consideration as a petition under 10 CFR 2.206, Request for Action under This Subpart.
The petition was supplemented by letters dated November 16, 2012, and February 6, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML12325A748 and ML13109A075, respectively).
Actions Requested for June 18, 2012, Petition In the original petition, the petitioner requested that the NRC take enforcement action against Southern California Edison (SCE, the licensee). The petitioner requested that the NRC order SCE to submit a license amendment application for the design and installation of the SONGS, Units 2 and 3, replacement steam generators. As the basis for the petition request, the petitioner stated that the licensee violated 10 CFR 50.59 when it replaced its steam generators in 2010 and 2011 without first obtaining NRC approval of the design changes through a license amendment.
On January 16, 2013, the petitioner met with the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) petition review board (PRB) to clarify the bases for the petition. During the PRB meeting, the petitioner further requested that the NRC suspend SCEs licenses until they are amended.
The NRC treated the transcript of the PRB meeting (ADAMS Accession No. ML13029A643) as a supplement to the petition, and it is available for inspection at the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North (O1F21),
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD 20852. Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are accessible electronically through ADAMS in the NRC library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRCs PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
The NRCs acknowledgement letter to the petitioner for the June 18, 2012, petition, dated April 30, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13106A193), addressed the original petition dated June 18, 2012, as supplemented by letter dated November 16, 2012, verbally during the January 16, 2013, PRB meeting, and by letter dated February 6, 2013. The November 16, 2012, and February 6, 2013, supplements did not request additional actions, but only provided supporting information. In the acknowledgment letter, the NRC informed the petitioner that the petition had been accepted for review under the 10 CFR 2.206 process. In this letter, the NRC stated that it would also consider the safety significance and complexity of the information submitted on April 4, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15044A057), and determine if the new information should be consolidated with the existing petition. The April 4, 2013, letter included several assertions related to SCEs knowledge regarding the defects in the [replacement steam generator] RSG design at the time it conducted its 50.59 evaluations. No additional actions were requested.
II. Discussion Disposition of the June 18, 2012, Petition Under 10 CFR 2.206(b), the Director of the NRC office with responsibility for the subject matter shall either institute the requested proceeding or shall advise the person who made the request in writing that no proceeding will be instituted in whole or in part, with respect to the request, and the reason for the decision. Accordingly, the decision of the NRR Director is provided below.
As stated previously, the NRC accepted for review the June 18, 2012, petition request for the NRC to order the licensee to submit a license amendment application for the design and installation of the SONGS, Units 2 and 3, replacement steam generators and to suspend SCEs
licenses until they are amended. The SONGS, Units 2 and 3, reactors have been shut down since January 9, 2012, and January 31, 2012, respectively. On June 7, 2013, the licensee verbally notified the NRC of its determination not to seek restart of SONGS, Units 2 and 3.
On June 12, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML131640201), the licensee provided the certifications required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i) to the NRC staff, that SONGS Units 2 and 3, had permanently ceased power operations. On June 28 and July 22, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13183A391 and ML13204A304, respectively), the licensee provided certifications required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii) that all fuel had been permanently removed from the SONGS, Unit 3 and Unit 2 reactors, respectively. In accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), upon docketing of these two certifications, the licensees 10 CFR Part 50 (Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities) licenses no longer authorize operation of the SONGS reactors or emplacement or retention of fuel into the reactor vessels. Accordingly, the licensee is prohibited by regulation from restarting SONGS, Units 2 and 3 or loading fuel into the reactor vessels. Because the licensee is no longer authorized to operate the reactors, SONGS, Units 2 and 3 may not enter a mode of operation that requires the steam generators to be in an operable condition. As such, the petitioners request for the NRC to order the licensee to submit a license amendment application for the design and installation of the SONGS, Units 2 and 3, replacement steam generators and to suspend SCEs licenses until they are amended is moot.
Although the NRC staff will not take action on the petitioners request, the NRC has taken several actions related to the SONGS steam generator issues raised in the petition.
Accordingly, the NRC staff provides the following additional information summarizing these actions:
- 1. In 2014, the NRCs Office of Investigations initiated an investigation (OI 4-2012-038) to determine if an SCE employee at SONGS willfully failed to
provide complete and accurate information concerning the SONGS steam generator replacement to NRC inspectors. Based on the evidence developed during the investigation, the allegation was not substantiated. Consequently, the PRB determined that the results of the investigation had no impact on the petition request.
- 2. In 2014, the NRCs Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated an event inquiry in response to concerns regarding the NRCs oversight of the replacement steam generators at SONGS. The event inquiry examined the NRCs oversight of SCEs application of the 10 CFR 50.59 process for the replacement steam generators at SONGS, Units 2 and 3. OIG also sought to ascertain from NRC officials whether SONGS required a license amendment for the steam generator replacements and whether the problems at SONGS could have been identified through the NRCs license amendment review process.
The OIG report dated October 2, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14276A478),
included several findings related to the SONGS 10 CFR 50.59 evaluations for the replacement steam generators. The OIG inquiry included topics similar to the petitioners request, but focused primarily on the NRC staff actions and processes, rather than on SCEs actions. As such, the NRC staff is evaluating the OIG report as part of the SONGS lessons learned effort discussed below, and not as part of this petition request.
- 3. In a memorandum dated March 20, 2014 (Review of Lessons Learned from the San Onofre Steam Generator Tube Degradation Event, ADAMS Accession No. ML14028A028), the EDO directed the NRC staff to evaluate the lessons learned from the recent experiences related to the SONGS steam generator tube
degradation event and to identify and implement appropriate actions. The charter for this effort, described in the March 20, 2014, memorandum, establishes the scope of review, relevant topics, roles and responsibilities, and deliverables for the review of lessons learned from the SONGS steam generator tube degradation event. In conducting the reviews, the staff was requested to seek and incorporate input from all of the appropriate stakeholders. The tasks for the review of lessons learned include, in part, an examination of the 10 CFR 50.59 process in light of the SONGS event and will attempt to determine whether the 10 CFR 50.59 rule continues to be adequate for major or complex component replacements such as steam generators, as well as whether the NRC needs to provide additional guidance and information related to major component replacements to licensees and NRC staff. The staffs report for this effort is expected to be completed in March 2015.
III. Conclusion The petitioner raised concerns regarding the validity of SCEs 10 CFR 50.59 evaluations for the steam generators at SONGS, Units 2 and 3.
Since the submittal of the initial petition and the subsequent supplements, SCE has submitted written certifications to the NRC in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82, Termination of License, that it has permanently ceased power operations at SONGS, Units 2 and 3, and that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessels. In accordance with 10 CFR 50.82, upon docketing these certifications, SCE is prohibited by regulation 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2) from operating SONGS, Units 2 and 3. They also cannot load fuel into the reactor vessels, so that operation of the steam generators is not applicable. As such, the
petitioners request for the NRC to order the licensee to submit a license amendment application for the design and installation of the replacement steam generators and to suspend SCEs licenses until they are amended is moot. Based on the above, the NRR Director will not be instituting the proceeding requested by the petitioner, either in whole or in part.
As provided in 10 CFR 2.206(c), a copy of this directors decision will be filed with the Secretary of the Commission for the Commission to review. As provided for by this regulation, the decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision unless the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that time.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this day of 2015.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Uhle, Deputy Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.