ML15076A568

Response to Letter Dated March 4, 2014 (TAC Nos. MF3591, MF3592, MF3593, and MF3594

ML15076A568
Person / Time
Site:	Byron, Braidwood
Issue date:	05/27/2015
From:	Joel Wiebe Plant Licensing Branch III
To:	Kanavos M Exelon Generation Co
Joel Wiebe, NRR/DORL
References
TAC MF3593, TAC MF3594, TAC MF5392
Download: ML15076A568 (4)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 May 27, 2015 Mr. Mark E. Kanavos Site Vice President Braidwood Station 35100 S. Rt. 53, Suite 84 Braceville, IL 60407

SUBJECT:

BYRON STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2, AND BRAIDWOOD STATION, UNITS 1AND2-RESPONSE TO LETTER DATED MARCH 4, 2014 (TAC NOS.

MF3591, MF3592, MF3593 AND MF3594)

Dear Mr. Kanavos:

By letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) dated March 4, 2014 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML14066A479), you asked the NRC to either (1) affirm the stated position in Attachment 1 of your March 4, 2014, letter or (2) describe why the stated position is not consistent with the Braidwood and Byron Stations current licensing bases for a natural circulation cooldown event.

The NRC staff reviewed your letter and determined that consideration of your request is more appropriately performed in accordance with the criteria in NRC staff inspection procedures. A determination of whether or not the natural circulation cooldown event will be included in an inspection will be made in accordance with NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0305, "Operating Reactor Assessment Program" (ADAMS Accession No. ML14198A117). The specific activities and equipment included in the inspection scope are determined in accordance with the criteria in the specific inspection procedures. The reasons for considering your request in this manner are explained below.

By letter to Commonwealth Edison Company, the former licensee of Braidwood Nuclear Station, dated October 9, 1996 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15076A081), the NRC required information in accordance with Title 1O of the Code of Federal Regulations (1 O CFR), Section 50.54(f),

informatioR that could be used to verify compliance with the terms and conditions of licenses and NRC regulations, and that the plant updated final safety analysis reports properly describe the facilities, as well as to determine if other inspection activities or enforcement actions should be taken. The required information included the licensee's rationale for concluding that system, structure, and component configuration and performance are consistent with the design basis.

The stated position and supporting information in Attachment 1 of your March 4, 2014, letter is similar to the information required by the NRC's October 9, 1996, letter.

In its letter, the NRC stated:

It is emphasized that the NRC's position has been, and continues to be, that it is the responsibility of individual licensees to know their licensing basis, to have appropriate documentation that defines their design bases, and to have procedures for performing the necessary assessments of plant or procedure changes required by NRC regulations.

M. Kanavos The NRC's activities to confirm the information required by its October 9, 1996, letter is identified as design bases inspections. Similarly, the requested action in your March 4, 2014, letter is consistent with activities conducted during a Component Design Bases Inspection (CDBI). For example, the CDBI procedure (ADAMS Accession No. ML133318444), Section 02.02 a 2, instructs the inspector to verify that the licensing bases have not been degraded through modifications. To do this, the inspector needs to determine the current licensing bases.

The inspection procedure for Evaluation of Changes, Tests, and Experiments and Permanent Plant Modifications (ADAMS Accession No. ML101340791) has similar guidance.

The activities described above are most appropriately carried out at the plant where the inspectors have access to the plant, licensee documents, and licensee personnel. The interface between the inspector and licensee personnel and the accessibility of equipment and licensee documents during the inspection process facilitates thorough understanding of the equipment capability and design and licensing information. When unresolvable questions arise during inspection activities, the questions may be referred to NRC staff in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). The questions may be addressed and resolved informally or formally through the NRC Task Interface Agreement (TIA) process (ADAMS Accession No. ML13300A002). The above processes are well developed and understood. The processes support the ability to develop an informed determination about licensing bases that are often complex and located in historical licensing records. Responding to your request outside of these processes has the potential to result in an incomplete answer.

In your letter you included quotations from NRC staff safety evaluation reports. NRC safety evaluations (SEs) document NRC staff analysis and provide the regulatory bases for NRC decisions in licensing actions such as amendments, exemptions and relief requests and should not be used to attempt to establish licensing bases. The SEs may stress the importance of certain licensing bases information and can cite regulations, regulatory commitments, or other established licensing bases information. It is important to recognize that licensees provide the licensing bases information in their submittals so that there is no confusion following the licensing action.

It is important to note that 10 CFR provides the foundation for the licensing basis. A condition of the issued license is compliance with the regulations in 10 CFR. Without an exemption specifically approved by the NRC staff, the licensing basis includes compliance with 10 CFR regulations. The NRC staff provides guidance through the Standard Review Plan, Regulatory Guides, and other documents regarding methods to comply with 10 CFR that are acceptable to the staff. Deviations from this guidance are to be specifically pointed out and evaluated as to why they are acceptable alternatives by licensees in their licensing basis submittals.

M. Kanavos If you have any questions regarding this matter, I can be reached at 301-415-6606 or via e-mail at joel.weibe@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, c)-LV~

~oel S. Wiebe, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing 111-2 and Planning and Analysis Branch Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. STN 50-456, STN 50-457, STN 50-454 and STN 50-455 cc: Distribution via Listserv

ML15076A568 *via-email OFFICE LPL3-2/PM LPL3-2/LA OGC NLO RGNlll* LPL3-2/BC LPL3-2/PM NAME JWiebe SRohrer BMizuno EDuncan TT ate JWiebe DATE 4/27/15 4/28/15 4/3/15 3/30/15 4/30/15 5/27/15