ML15103A469

Relaxation of Response Due Dates Regarding Flooding Hazard Re-Evaluations for Recommendation 2.1 of the Near-Term Task Force Review of the Insights from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Accident

ML15103A469
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	04/27/2015
From:	Bill Dean Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	Dean Curtland NextEra Energy Seabrook
Govan, Tekia 415-6197
References
TAC MF6087
Download: ML15103A469 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 April 27, 2015 Mr. Dean Curtland Vice President, Seabrook Nuclear Plant c/o Michael Ossing NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC P.O. Box 300 Seabrook, NH 03874

SUBJECT:

SEABROOK, UNIT 1- RELAXATION OF RESPONSE DUE DATES REGARDING FLOODING HAZARD REEVALUATIONS FOR RECOMMENDATION 2.1 OF THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE REVIEW OF THE INSIGHTS FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAl-ICHI ACCIDENT (TAC NO. MF6087)

Dear Mr. Curtland:

The purpose of this letter is to respond to your recent extension request to the submission date of your Seabrook, Unit 1 (Seabrook) flooding hazard reevaluation report (FHRR). When evaluating your request, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) considered the following information.

By letter dated March 12, 2012, 1 the NRC issued a request for information under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 50.54(f) (hereafter referred to as the 50.54(f) letter). The agency issued the request as a part of implementing lessons-learned from the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Enclosure 2 to the 50.54(f) letter requested licensees perform a reevaluation of external flooding hazards using present-day guidance and methodologies.

By letter dated May 11, 2012, 2 the NRC issued a prioritization of due dates for all sites. For Seabrook the FHRR submission date was March 12, 2015.

By letter dated March 6, 2015, 3 NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC (NextEra) requested an approximate 6-month extension to the submittal schedule for the FHRR for Seabrook with a new due date of September 30, 2015. As justification for the request, NextEra stated that it would require additional time to refine the hazard evaluations and incorporate the results into the FHRR. In its letter, NextEra described a number of additional factors to justify the new schedule.

The NRC staff reviewed NextEra's justification and considered the following factors when reviewing the proposed new schedule:

1 The 50.54(f) letter is available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML12053A340.

2 The prioritization letter is available under ADAMS Accession No. ML12097A509.

3 The extension request from NextEra is available under ADAMS Accession No. ML15070A545.

D. Curtland

• NextEra has completed walkdowns of the Seabrook site and verified that existing flood barriers and protection features comply with the current Seabrook flooding design-basis.

During the walkdowns, no deficiencies were found and Seabrook was able to verify that permanent structures, systems, and components were adequately protected from external floods and capable of performing their design function as credited in the current design basis.

• As stated in NRC letter dated March 1, 2013, 4 "incomplete hazard reports that only contain an analysis of some flooding hazard mechanisms would not be of substantive benefit for staff and would not be acceptable." Therefore, Seabrook will need to complete the Local Intense Precipitation and the wave runup portion of the Probable Maximum Storm Surge/Combined Events evaluation before a FHRR can be acceptably submitted to the NRC in compliance with the request in the 50.54(f) letter.

• The limited duration of the proposed extension (6 months) and the NextEra commitment to submit its integrated assessment, as originally scheduled, on March 12, 2017, supports the proposed extension.

Given these factors, the NRC considers NextEra's proposed revised schedule to be acceptable.

Accordingly, and based upon the authority granted to the Director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, the required response date for submitting the FHRR for Seabrook is now September 30, 2015.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, or if it is necessary to revise the submittal schedule, please contact Tekia Govan, of my staff, at (301) 415-6197 or by e-mail at Tekia.Govan@nrc.gov.

William M. Dean, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-443 cc: Listserv 4

The NRC's March 1, 2013 letter is available under ADAMS Accession No. ML13044A561.

ML15103A469 *via email OFFICE NRR/JLD/JHMB/PM NRR/JLD/LA NRR/DORULPL 1-2/PM* NRR/JLD/JHMB/BC NAME TGovan Slent Jlamb MShams DATE 04/15/15 04/14/15 04/15/15 04/21/15 OFFICE OGC NRR/JLD/D NRR/D NAME BHarris (NLO w/ comments) JDavis WDean DATE 04/20/15 04/23/15 04/27/15