ML15355A157
| ML15355A157 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 12/24/2015 |
| From: | Siva Lingam Plant Licensing Branch IV |
| To: | Halpin E Pacific Gas & Electric Co |
| Lingam S | |
| References | |
| CAC MF6399, CAC MF6400, CAC MF6121, CAC MF6120 | |
| Download: ML15355A157 (10) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 December 24, 2015 Mr. Edward D. Halpin Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Pacific Gas and Electric Company Diablo Canyon Power Plant P.O. Box 56, Mail Code 104/6 Avila Beach, CA 93424
SUBJECT:
DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - REGULATORY AUDIT PLANS FOR JANUARY 12-14, 2016, AUDIT AT WESTINGHOUSE FACILITY IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, IN SUPPORT OF ALTERNATIVE SOURCE TERM, AND BEACON POWER DISTRIBUTION MONITORING SYSTEM METHODOLOGY LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUESTS (CAC NOS. MF6399 AND MF6400, AND MF6120 AND MF6121)
Dear Mr. Halpin:
By letter dated June 17, 2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15176A539), as supplemented by letters dated August 31, October 22, November 2, and November 6, 2015 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML15243A363, ML15295A470, ML15321A235, and ML15310A522, respectively), Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E, the licensee), submitted a license amendment request (LAR) to revise the licensing bases to adopt the alternative source term (AST) as allowed by Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 50, Section 50.67, "Accident source term," for Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), Units 1 and 2.
Additionally, by letter dated April 16, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15107A333), PG&E submitted an LAR to revise the Best Estimate Analyzer for the Core Operations-Nuclear (BEACON) power distribution monitoring system methodology described in the DCPP Updated Final Safety Analysis Report Section 4.3.2.2, "Power Distribution," to the method described in WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4, "BEACON Core Monitoring and Operation Support System." This LAR also proposes to revise Technical Specification (TS) 5.6.5, "Core Operating Limits Report (COLR)," Section b to replace WCAP-11596-P-A, "Qualification of the PHOENIX-P/ANC Nuclear Design System for Pressurized Water Reactor Cores," with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC}-approved WCAP-16045-P-A, "Qualification of the Two-Dimensional Transport Code PARAGON," and NRG-approved WCAP-16045-P-A, Addendum 1-A, "Qualification of the NEXUS Nuclear Data Methodology."
To support its safety evaluations, the NRC staff will conduct an audit at the Westinghouse facility in Rockville, Maryland, during the week of January 12-14, 2016. Enclosure 1 provides an audit plan to support the review of the AST LAR and Enclosure 2 provides an audit plan to support the review of the BEACON LAR.
E. Halpin If you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-1564 or via e-mail at Siva.Lingam@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
~~.~~
Siva P. Lingam, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323
Enclosures:
- 2. Audit Plan for BEACON LAR cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv
REGULATORY AUDIT PLAN FOR JANUARY 12-14, 2016, AUDIT AT WESTINGHOUSE FACILITY IN ROCKVILLE. MARYLAND. TO SUPPORT REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE SOURCE TERM LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT. UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-275 AND 50-323
Background
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is currently engaged in a review of a license amendment request (LAR) for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), Units 1 and 2.
By letter dated June 17, 2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15176A539), as supplemented by letters dated August 31, October 22, November 2, and November 6, 2015 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML15243A363, ML15295A470, ML15321A235, and ML15310A522, respectively), Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E, the licensee), submitted an LAR to revise the licensing bases to adopt the alternative source term (AST) as allowed by Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 50, Section 50.67, "Accident source term," for DCPP, Units 1 and 2.
The NRC staff has determined that a regulatory audit of the DCPP LAR should be conducted in accordance with the Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Office Instruction LIC-111, "Regulatory Audits," for the NRC staff to gain a better understanding of the licensee's calculations and other aspects of the LAR.
Regulatory Audit Basis The basis of this audit is PG&E's LAR and NUREG-0800, "Standard Review Plan for the Review of Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition" (SRP) Section 15.0.1, "Radiological Consequence Analyses Using Alternative Source Terms."
This audit will provide information necessary to complete the NRC staff's evaluation of the proposed AST LAR for the NRR Reactor Systems Branch.
Regulatory Audit Scope The scope of this regulatory audit will include supporting calculation documents used in the application.
Information Necessary for the Regulatory Audit The licensee is requested to have the following documentation available on site for the audit team. The documentation could be provided electronically or by paper copies. If provided Enclosure 1
electronically, the licensee is requested to have at least two computers available for the audit team, with a printer attached.
- 1. WCAP-16638-P, "Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 Replacement Steam Generator Program NSSS Licensing Report"
- 2. WCAP-16685-P, "Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 Tavg and Treed Ranges Program NSSS Engineering Report"
- 3. Supporting Chapter 15 analysis calculations and documentation for the AST amendment
- 4. Calculations performed to generate the gas gap fraction provided in Attachment 4 to the LAR Additional information needs identified during the audit will be communicated to the designated point of contact.
The NRC staff also requests the licensee to make personnel who are familiar with the LAR (including site staff and contractors, if appropriate) accessible upon request (either in person or by phone). The personnel should be able to respond to NRC staff questions.
Team Assignments I Resource Estimates Audit Team Lead Matthew Hardgrove (NRC)
Technical Reviewer William MacFee (NRC)
Logistics The audit will be conducted at the Westinghouse Office in Rockville, Maryland, from January 12-14, 2016. Entrance and exit briefings will be held at the beginning and end of this audit, respectively. The licensee is requested to provide a room for the use by the audit team.
The audit will start at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, and conclude on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at the Westinghouse offices in Rockville, Maryland.
Our tentative schedule for the audit is as follows:
January 12, 2016 8:00 a.m. Check-in at Westinghouse Office - meet licensee contact(s), setup for entrance meeting.
8:30 a.m. Entrance Meeting - introductions, audit activities, goals, and logistics.
9:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. Audit Team Daily Closeout.
January 13, 2016 8:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/ Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. Audit Team Daily Closeout.
January 14, 2016 8:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/ Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. NRG/Licensee Exit Meeting.
Deliverables At the conclusion of the audit, the NRC staff will conduct an exit briefing and will provide a summary of audit results in each subject area defined in the audit scope. An audit report/summary will be issued to the licensee within approximately 90 days from the end of the audit. Additionally, the results of the audit will be utilized to focus the scope of any requests for additional information issued in the course of this review.
REGULATORY AUDIT PLAN FOR JANUARY 12-14, 2016, AUDIT AT WESTINGHOUSE FACILITY IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, TO SUPPORT REVIEW OF BEST ESTIMATE ANALYZER FOR THE CORE OPERATIONS-NUCLEAR POWER DISTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-275 AND 50-323
Background
By letter dated April 16, 2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML15107A333), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E, the licensee) submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), Units 1 and 2, requesting approval to revise the Best Estimate Analyzer for the Core Operations-Nuclear (BEACON) power distribution monitoring system methodology described in the DCPP Updated Final Safety Analysis Report Section 4.3.2.2, "Power Distribution, to the method described in WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4, "BEACON Core Monitoring and Operation Support System." This LAR also proposes to revise Technical Specification (TS) 5.6.5, "Core Operating Limits Report (COLR), Section b to replace WCAP-11596-P-A, "Qualification of the PHOENIX-P/ANC Nuclear Design System for Pressurized Water Reactor Cores, with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-approved WCAP-16045-P-A, "Qualification of the Two-Dimensional Transport Code PARAGON, and NRG-approved WCAP-16045-P-A, Addendum 1-A, "Qualification of the NEXUS Nuclear Data Methodology."
The NRC staff has determined that a regulatory audit of the DCPP LAR should be conducted in accordance with the Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Office Instruction LIC-111, "Regulatory Audits, for the NRC staff to gain a better understanding of the other aspects of the LAR.
Regulatory Audit Basis The basis of this audit is PG&E's LAR and this audit will provide information necessary to complete the NRC staff's evaluation of the proposed BEACON LAR for the NRR Reactor Systems Branch.
Regulatory Audit Scope The NRC staff will focus on the following areas during this audit:
- History of changes related to the present LAR topic.
Enclosure 2
- DCPP's plant-specific information that impacts the Core Power Distribution Monitoring.
- Present Core Monitoring System.
- The BEACON updated thermocouple evaluation methodology documented in Addendum 4 to WCAP-12472-P-A includes example results for two, four-loop Westinghouse reactor plants with differing core exit thermocouple configurations. Please provide a technical description of the DCPP, Units 1 and 2, core exit thermocouple design configuration and justification that the updated thermocouple evaluation process, and the examples provided in WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4, are applicable to DCPP, Units 1 and 2.
- The updated thermocouple evaluation process utilizes thermocouple readings at various power levels during initial startup of each operating cycle, as described in WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4. Please explain how failures of thermocouples are to be treated at DCPP, Units 1 and 2, including detection of thermocouple failures, and the treatment of thermocouple failures in the analysis of thermocouple mixing factors, including resultant mixing factor and mixing factor standard deviation functions.
- Please provide a description of any changes that need to be made to the BEACON core monitoring system software as a result of the proposed updated thermocouple evaluation process, and/or the implementation of the PARAGON and NEXUS core design methodologies. In addition, please describe the software quality control process used to ensure that the installed software performs according to its intended function, including on-site testing and configuration management.
- The applicant states that WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 1-A will be replaced with Addendum 4. To ensure no loss of licensing basis information or requirements, the applicant is requested to confirm that all of the information and requirements currently in WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 1-A are also in Addendum 4, as applicable.
- WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4 provides two examples (Plant X and Plant Y) of the application of the updated power-dependent thermocouple standard deviation and uncertainly methodology. Tables 1 and 2 in that report provide a comparison of results obtained using the earlier method with the updated method. To ensure that the implementation of the new methodology at DCPP, Units 1 and 2, is correct and the results are consistent with WCAP-12472-P-A, Addendum 4, please provide a similar comparison using DCPP-specific cycle/power dependent data and plant-specific implementation of the methodology.
- Page 11 of the LAR states that "different assembly types were calculated using NEXUS and the K-infinity results from these calculations were compared directly to PARAGON K-infinity results." Please provide a description of the DCPP,
Units 1 and 2, fuel types to be utilized with the revised methodologies (PARAGON and NEXUS) and justification that the DCPP, Units 1 and 2, fuel types are bounded by the qualifications presented in WCAP-16045-P-A and WCAP-16045-P-A, Addendum 1-A.
Information Necessary for the Regulatory Audit The licensee is requested to have the above documentation available on site for the audit team.
The documentation could be provided electronically or by paper copies. If provided electronically, the licensee is requested to have at least two computers available for the audit team, with a printer attached.
Additional information needs identified during the audit will be communicated to the designated point of contact.
The NRC staff also requests the licensee to make personnel who are familiar with the LAR (including site staff and contractors, if appropriate) accessible upon request (either in person or by phone). The personnel should be able to respond to NRC staff questions.
Team Assignments I Resource Estimates Audit Team Lead Margaret Watford (NRC)
Technical Reviewer Fred Forsaty (NRC)
Logistics The audit will be conducted at the Westinghouse Office in Rockville, Maryland, from January 12-14, 2016. Entrance and exit briefings will be held at the beginning and end of this audit, respectively. The licensee is requested to provide a room for the use by the audit team.
The audit will start at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, and conclude on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at the Westinghouse offices in Rockville, Maryland.
Our tentative schedule for the audit is as follows:
January 12, 2016 8:00 a.m. Check-in at Westinghouse Office - meet licensee contact(s), setup for entrance meeting.
8:30 a.m. Entrance Meeting - introductions, audit activities, goals, and logistics.
9:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. Audit Team Daily Closeout.
January 13, 2016 8:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/ Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. Audit Team Daily Closeout.
January 14, 2016 8:00 a.m. NRC Team Breakout/ Discussion with the licensee.
12:00 p.m. Lunch.
1:00 p.m. NRC Team Breakout/Discussion with the licensee.
3:30 p.m. Audit Team Caucus.
4:00 p.m. NRG/Licensee Interim Meeting.
4:30 p.m. NRG/Licensee Exit Meeting.
Deliverables At the conclusion of the audit, the NRC staff will conduct an exit briefing and will provide a summary of audit results in each subject area defined in the audit scope. A regulatory audit summary will be provided within 90 days of the completion of the audit.
E. Halpin If you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-1564 or via e-mail at Siva.Lingam@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, IRA/
Siva P. Lingam, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323
Enclosures:
- 2. Audit Plan for BEACON LAR cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC LPL4-1 R/F RidsACRS_MailCTR Resource RidsNrrDssSrxb Resource RidsNrrDorllpl4-1 Resource RidsNrrLAJBurkhardt Resource RidsNrrPMDiabloCanyon Resource RidsRgn4MailCenter Resource MWatford, NRR/DORL/LPL4-1 MHardgrove, NRR/DSS/SRXB WMacFee, NRR/DSS/SRXB FForsaty, NRR/DSS/SRXB ADAMS A ccess1on N o.: ML15355A157
- by memorandum OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPLIV-1 /PM NRR/DORL/LPLIV-1/LA NRR/DSS/SRXB/BC*
NAME Slingam JBurkhardt CJackson DATE 12/21/2015 12/21/2015 12/15/2015 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPLIV-1 /BC NRR/DORL/LPLIV-1/PM NAME RPascarelli Slingam DATE 12/24/2015 12/24/2015 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY