ML17249A306

Summary of 791101 Meeting W/Util in Bethesda,Md Re Plans to Insert Mixed Oxide Fuel Assemblies Into Plant Core During Mar 1980 Refueling Outage

ML17249A306
Person / Time
Site:	Ginna
Issue date:	11/16/1979
From:	James Shea Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NUDOCS 7912040144
Download: ML17249A306 (23)

Text

Docket No. 50-244 j

pe 16 l~~

LICENSEE:

Rochester Gas

& Electric Company (RG&E)

FACILITY:

R. E. Ginna SUIIHARY OF MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 1 ~ 1979 NRC an4 RG&E representatives met at the NRC offices in Bethesda, Haryland on November 1, 1979.

Attachment 1 is a list of attendees.

The purpose of the meeting was for RG&E representatives to discuss theit plans to insert four mixed oxide (HO) fuel assemblies into the Ginna core during the March 1980 refueling outage.

RG&E plans to ship the HO fuel rods, fabricated and stored by Nestinghouse at the Chesutck.

Pennsylvania facility since 1974, along with the associated hardware to Richland, lfashington by December 31, 1979 where the rods will be assembled by Exxon into four fuel assemblies.

The four HO fuel assemblies would then be shipped to the R.

E.. Ginna site, stored temporarily in the spent fuel pool and inserted into the core during the March 1980 refueling in place of four low enriched fuel assemblies that would typically be inserted.

The four fuel assemblies have a value of approximately two million dollars. It was originally intended that the four HO assemblies would be loaded into the Ginna core in 1975 but hearings scheduled for the Sterling plant took priority on RG&E resources and loading of the HO fuel assemblies had to be delayed.

In June

1979, RG&E was notified by gestinghouse that the Chesvnck, Pennsylvania storage facility.wil'1 be closed and the MO fuel qssemblies must be shipped from ChCSKJCK by December 31, 1979.

Alternatives to loading the HO fuel.

assembTies in Ginna such as continued storage at some other facility or Ginna, or selling the fuel were examined but it was concluded by RG&E that the best (i.e., safest) way to finally dispose of the fl0 fuel,assemblies was to load the bundles in the Ginna core.

Transportation, receipt and storage of the HO fuel assemblies was discussed relative to safety and security.

RG&E'intends to submit a report that addresses:

fuel design

~ core design

~ reactor. safety with HO fuel assemblies

~ environmental aspects of HO fuel assemblies for R. E. Ginna

~ security 9>so E

~ spent fuel ool criticalit evat.uation OFFICE $

SURNAME DATEjI'

~ licensing equirements NRC FORM 318 <9 76) NRCM 02<0

• U.S, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE; 1979.289.369

I

~

~

g

'f Ilt-t I

fifa

~

~ S'II 4

~

- ~

I' IE I

1 f

a

'I 1

'4 E

'lt 4

IS I

1 ~

I fa 4

lt

~

~

a Lt "'I L ~

I a c 4

E P

a v P ag

~

f

\\

I I

~

4 ta

~

I

~ I I

L P

P a

~ ~a av 4.,

44a'

'a

~

4 I'

4

~

~

~

L I ~

It I

aa p

II a

I P

l IIJ ll ~ Ia

. 'I

~ >

pa

~

'4 I

• a

~

a

~

4 I

~

t I

I 4

I I

~

I

~ ~E ft C(

'= ~

I

~ r ~

If 1(

a I

4 4

1 Lf

~ a

~

It is anticipated that the report will be submitted by mid December 1979.

Visual aides used by the various RGGE representatives during the oral presentation are included as Attachment 2.

Enclosures:

1.

Attendance List 2.

Visual Aides cc w/enclosures:

See next page OnPII>~l

=Games J.

Shea, Project Manager Operating Reactors Branch 82 Division of Operating Reactors DISTR I BUTION

'RR Reading NRC PDR Local PDR ORB-2 Reading oFFICEy DOR:ORB susMaMs

. ilJShl:..SSp

~

DATEf ~.l.l /// K/79.

NRC FORM 318 {9.76) NRCM 0240 DQB;0 B 8 DLZiemann 11/j6/79 AV.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1979.289 369

l E

0

~ y II

~ i,~

I F ]

4 I

4 C

I f

cc w/enclosures:

Lex K. Larson, Esquire

LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae 1757 N Street, N.

W.

Washington, D. C.

20036 Mr. Michael Slade 12 Trailwood Circle Rochester, New York 14618 Rochester Committee for Scientific Information Robert E. Lee, Ph.D.

P. 0.

Box 5236 River Campus Station Rochester, New York 14627 Jeffrey Cohen

, New York State Energy Office Swan Street Building C'ore 1, Second floor Empire State Plaza Albany, New,York 12223 Director, Technical Development Programs State of Nevi York Energy Office Agency Building 2 Empire State Plaza

Albany, New York 12223 Herbert Grossman, Esq.,

Chairman Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C.

20555 Dr. Richard F. Cole Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.

C.

20555 Dr.

Emmeth A. Luebke Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.

C.

20555 Pochester Public Library 115 South Avenue Rochester, New York 14604 Mr. Leon D. White, Jr.

Vice President Electric and Steam Production Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation 89 East Avenue Rochester, New York 14649

ENCLOSURE NO.

1 ATTENDANCE'LIST MEETING'WITH ROCHESTER GAS 5'ELECTRIC NOVEMBER 1

1979 ROCHESTER GAS 5 ELECTRIC T. A. Meyer R. Mecredy A. A. Fuierer WESTINGHOUSE M. G. Arlotti D. Bevard J.

R. Guthridge W. J.

Leech LEBOEUFL'AMB:'L'EIBY'5'MACRAE H.

H. Voigt C. Landgraf EDLOW INTERNATIONAL B. Podhurst PICKARD LOWE 5 GARRICK M. Schwartz EXXON NUCLEAR F.

B. Skogen NRC - STAFF J. J.

Shea M.

D. Houston R.

Lobe1 D.

B. Matthews E.

Ketchen G.

W. Knighton W. F.

Pasedag D. L. Ziemann

4

~

ENCLOSURE NO.

2 Summar of Rod Oesi n

Characteristics of Pu02-U02 and U02 are similar Standard Methods will be use'd to analyze Pu02-U02 fuel' has previous experience with irradiation of.mixed oxide fuels in PMRs 8ased on fuel parameters Ginna fuel will perform as well or bette than previously irradiated mixed oxide fuel

Mechanical Design - Ginna Mixed Oxide Assemblies Fuel Assembly Design The fuel assembly design was completed in connection with the supply of Ginna Region 7 fuel (1974).

The a'ssembly design is identical to the standard uranium assembly supplied for Region 7 (also Region 9, the latest M supplied assemblies) with the exception of the fuel rod.

Fuel Rod Design Components of the fuel rod including the end plugs, tubing and hold-down spring are identical in design to the standard uranium assembly.

Fuel pellets are Pu02U02

• . Fuel rod pressure is 385 psig Fuel Assembly.Loading Pattern The assembly loading uses three mixed oxide enrichments to flatten

'ower peaking across the assembly Fuel assembly is designed to be equivalent to a 3.10 w/o U02 assembly; See figures USAEC Docket Number. 50-.244 "Final Facility Description and Safety Analy'sis Report" Robert Emmett Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1,

January, 1968.

SAR Desi n Bases Fuel Pellet Temperature Internal Gas Pressure Clad Stress Clad Strain Strain Fatigue Other Considerations Clad Flattening Stored Energy

CHARACTERISTICS OF Pu02-U02 COMPARED TO U02 Par ameter Val ue Pu02-U02 Melting Point 'lightlylower than,U02 PuO -U02 Thermal Conductivity Slightly lower than U02 Pu02-U02 Radial Power Depression e

Greater Than U02 u 2-U02 Specific Heat Equivalent to U02 Pu02-U02 Thermal Expansion Equivalent to U02 DNBR and Clad Failure Threshold Energy (With Pu02 Particle Size

< 400 microns)

Equivalent to U02 Pu02-U02 Fuel Densification Less than or equal to,U02 Pu02'-U02 Fuel Swelling Equivalent to U02 Pu02-U02 Fission Gas Release Equivalent to U02

NEUTRONIC ANALYSIS NETHODS FOR NO( ASSE%LIES o

USE STANDARD NETHODS DESCRIBED IN XN-75-27 AND SUPPLEMENTS XPOSE CROSS SECTIONS MITH EXTRA REGION SPECTRAL EFFECTS PDQ PIN BY PIN REPRESENTATION IN 2-D XTG RADIAL DESCRIPTION INCLUDES.Q NODES PER ASSENBLY e

PARVlETERS MITH UNCERTAINTY APPROXINTELY EQUAL TO THOSE IN U02 REACTIVITY CONTROL ROD NORTH TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENTS AND DEFECTS e

PARA%TER MITH UNCERTAINTY LARGER THAN IN UO2 POWER PEAKING

N02 NEUTRONICS PROPERTIES COMPARED TO UO2 PROPERTIES o

TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENTS AND POWER DEFECT %RE NEGATIVE e

CONTROL ROD WORTH LOWER IN M02 ASSEMBLIES o

SOLUBLE BORON WORTH LOWER o

SLOPE OF REACTIVITY VERSUS EXPOSURE LESS STEEP INCLUSION OF 0 %2 ASSE%LIES RESULTS IN iHO If/PACT Oti fORE AVERAGE PARAMETERS

~

~\\

25'l0 "5

~ ~

~

~

0

~ 0

~

.p,. gg~~

~ V %

h

~

l.

I I.

I I

I

<<+

<<<<+c 0

l I

t I

I l

I I

I

+

t I

I I

I

-+-+ -l

+++-

I I

I

.+ +

+'

I l

I I

I

+.

+

<<+

I

<<+

I I

I

+

+

I I

I I

I

+ ~

e-+-

I I

I I

l

-+-+-

I I

I l

t t

I I

~ +

I I

t

~~+

I

'l I

+

+

+

I I

I+

-+

l t

+.

I I

I'1 r

l I

I I

p4'i v'v"

'l

~

~

~

(.'@,

v/

gs 4

~ 0

~

~

RCC GUIDE TUBES LEG EHO:

~

~

I

~

high - c.'r r'ic4~c.nQ IHSTRUMEHTATIOH TUBE

~

~

v c-4'v

- e.~~,c3 ~c.nt.

low ~ 4'hf a 4 4m'~}

~

~

Enrichment Pottetn for the 4-Pu Asse'mblies (Finol) g,4 '

ECCS Performance of the Ginna Mixed Oxide Fuel Assemblies

- Fuel assembly design is identical to the uranium oxide assembly design; therefore, the thermal/hydraulic transients for uranium fuel app1y to plutonium fuel.

- Fuel performance parameters such as:

pellet temperatures fuel dimensions gap fill pressure core peaking are similar to the all-uranium assemblies; therefore, stored energy present during a

LOCA wil,l be basically the same as the all-uranium assembly.

- Decay heat of plutonium oxide in the first 200 seconds after shutdown 1

is 8 to 20K'ower than the corresponding uranium oxide value.

(Re ference

. proposed ANS Standard 5.1. )

- From the above points, we conclude that the mixed oxide assemblies are not limiting and the previous ECCS analysis bounds this case.

FUEL NNAGPlENT DESIGN MITH 802 ASSE%L! ES e

0!EELY '4 MO2 ASSEMBLIES MILL BE LOADED e

INITIALCYCLE - N02 ASSEMBLIES IN PERIPHERAL LOCATION -ALONG MAJOR AXIS o

SECOND CYCLE EFFECTIVE 180 ROTATION IN SNE LOCATION e

SUBSEQUENT CYCLES NORE FLEXIBILITY AVAILABLE o

N02 ASSEMBLIES MILL NOT BE LIMITING ASSENBI IES

e WQ'~r ~

R, E,

GIf<NA QUARTER CORE NAP PRELINIi{ARYN02 ASSENBLY LOCATIONS G

N02 A

D S

II t'102

- NO2 ASSEMBLY LOCATION CONTROL ROD BANK LOCATION

Com arison of Parameters of Ginna, Saxton, and San Onofre Fuel Reactor Identification Fuel Initial Geometric Density X T.D.

Sinter ing Time Hour Mean Sintering Temperature oC Saxton U02-6.6%

Pu02 94+ 2 1700 San Onofre U02-3X PuO I

91. 0 1625 Ginna U02-3.1%

Pu02 94-95 greater greater

WESTINGHOUSE MIXED OXIDE IRRADIATION EXPERIENCE IN PWRs Reactor Core/C cle Number of Rods Power (kw/ft)

Burnu MWD/MTU)

Dates Of 0 eration Saxton Saxton San Onofre San Onofre Beznau Core II Core III Cycle 2

Cycle 3 Cycle 8 Cycle 9

638 250 720 716 716 716 18.7(

7.3(1)

(4)

'4) z8,aoo(')

51,000(

)

12,600(

)

z5,zoo(')

11,200 20,900(

) at EOC 9

Dec.

1965 to Oct.

1968 Dec.

1969 to May 1972 Nov. 1970 to Dec.

1971 March 1972 to June 1973 June 1978-June 1979 Presently operating (1)

Peak pellet power achieved during the cycle.

(2)

Peak pellet burnup at the end of life.

(3)

Two mixed oxide fuel rods achieved 18.7 kw/ft during a special overpower test.

However, the peak power for the remainder of rods was 13.7 kw/ft.

(4)

Assembly average power.

(5)

Assembly average burnup.

EXXON NUCLEAR COMPANY MIXED OXIDE FUEL PERFORMANCE REACTOR NU%ER OF ASSEMBLIES MATRIX EXPOSURE (5(D/MT)

AVERAGE MAXIMUM BIG ROCK POINT llxll l.lxll llxll llxll llxll 6x6 30,400 25,000 24,300 17,100 15,700 11,600 30,400 25,400 30,800 17,800 17,900 12,200

'ISCHARGED

E

MEETING

SUMMARY

DISTRIBUTION Docket NRC PDR Local PDR ORB ¹2 Reading NRR Reading, H.

R.

Denton E.

G.

Case D. Eisenhut R. Vollmer D. Crutchfield D. Ziemann L. Shao V. Noonan M. Gammill A. Schwencer T. Ippolito R. Reid B. Grimes P.

Check G. Lainas J. Miller R. Clark F.

Pagano G. Knighton J.

Shea OELD OI8E (3)

H. Smith ACRS (16)

NRC Participants NSIC TERA