ML17258A328
| ML17258A328 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Watts Bar  |
| Issue date: | 11/06/2017 |
| From: | Robert Schaaf Plant Licensing Branch II |
| To: | James Shea Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Schaaf R | |
| References | |
| CAC MF9574 | |
| Download: ML17258A328 (11) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 November 6, 2017 Mr. Joseph W. Shea Vice President, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs and Support Services Tennessee Valley Authority 1101 Market Street, LP 3R-C Chattanooga, TN 37 402-2801
SUBJECT:
WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT REGARDING THE ACTIONS TO RESOLVE ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN NRC BULLETIN 2012-01, "DESIGN VULNERABILITY IN ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM" (CAC NO. MF9574) (EPID L-2017-LLA-0208)
Dear Mr. Shea:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 17 to Facility Operating License No. NPF-96 for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar), Unit 2. This amendment consists of changes to the Watts Bar, Unit 2, Facility Operating License in response to your application dated March 28, 2017.
The amendment extends the completion date for Watts Bar, Unit 2 License Condition 2.C.(5) regarding completion of the actions to resolve the issues identified in NRC Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System," from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018, to align with the remainder of the Tennessee Valley Authority fleet and with the nuclear industry.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. Notice of issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.
Docket No. 50-391
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 17 to NPF-96
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc w/enclosures: Distribution via Listserv Sincerely, f-~/J ~oLJ. ;:;-.. ~
~ ~
ft;t" Robert G. Schaaf, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY DOCKET NO. 50-391 WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 17 License No. NPF-96
- 1.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A.
The application for amendment by the Tennessee Valley Authority (the licensee) dated March 28, 2017, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act}, and the Commission's rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B.
The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C.
There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations; D.
The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E.
The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
- 2.
Accordingly, Facility Operating License No. NPF-96 is amended by changes to paragraphs 2.C.(2) and 2.C.(5), as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment.
(2)
Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A as revised through Amendment No. 17 and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, both of which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this license. TVA shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
- 3.
This license amendment is effective as of the date of its issuance, and shall be implemented within 15 days of issuance.
Attachment:
Changes to the Facility Operating License Date of Issuance: November 6, 2017 FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ier:r Plant Licensing Branch 11-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 17 WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-96 DOCKET NO. 50-391 Replace page 3 of the Facility Operating License with the attached revised page 3. The revised page is identified by amendment number and contains marginal lines indicating the areas of change.
Unit 2 C.
The license shall be deemed to contain and is subject to the conditions specified in the Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I and is subject to all applicable provisions of the Act, and to the rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in effect, and is subject to the additional conditions specified or incorporated below.
(1)
Maximum Power Level TVA is authorized to operate the facility at reactor core power levels not in excess of 3411 megawatts thermal.
(2)
Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A as revised through Amendment No. 17 and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, both of which are attached hereto, are hereby incorporated into this license. TVA shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
(3)
TVA shall implement permanent modifications to prevent overtopping of the embankments of the Fort Loudon Dam due to the Probable Maximum Flood by June 30, 2018.
(4)
PAD4TCD may be used to establish core operating limits for Cycles 1 and 2 only. PAD4TCD may not be used to establish core operating limits for subsequent reload cycles.
(5)
By December 31, 2018, the licensee shall report to the NRC that the actions to resolve the issues identified in Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electrical Power System," have been implemented.
(6)
The licensee shall maintain in effect the provisions of the physical security plan, security personnel training and qualification plan, and safeguards contingency plan, and all amendments made pursuant to the authority of 10 CFR 50.90 and 50.54(p).
(7)
TVA shall fully implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the Commission approved cyber security plan (CSP), including changes made pursuant to the authority of 10 CFR 50.90 and 1 O CFR 50.54(p).
The TVA approved CSP was discussed in NUREG-0847, Supplement 28.
(8)
TVA shall implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the approved fire protection program as described in the Fire Protection Report for the facility, as described in NUREG-0847, Supplement 29, subject to the following provision:
Facility Operating License No. NPF-96 Amendment No. 17
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 17 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-96
1.0 INTRODUCTION
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 DOCKET NO. 50-391 By letter dated March 28, 2018 (Reference 1), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA or the licensee) requested changes to the Facility Operating License (FOL) for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar or WBN}, Unit 2. The amendment would revise the completion date for Watts Bar, Unit 2 License Condition 2.C.(5) regarding completion of the action to resolve the issues identified in NRC Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System, dated July 27, 2012 (Reference 2), from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018, to align with the remainder of the TVA fleet and with the nuclear industry.
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
Watts Bar Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR}, Section 3.1.1, states, in part:
The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant was designed to meet the intent of the "Proposed General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plant Construction Permits" published in July 1967. The Watts Bar construction permit was issued in January 1973.
This UFSAR, however, addresses the NRC General Design Criteria (GDC) published as Appendix A to 10 CFR in July 1971, including Criterion 4 as amended October 27, 1987." The Watts Bar relevant GDC to this LAR is described below.
GDC 17 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix A, "General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants," establishes requirements for the electric design of power plants. Watts Bar UFSAR, Section 3.1, "Conformance with NRC General Design Criteria," Criterion 17, "Electric Power Systems," sets forth criteria similar to GDC 17.
Criterion 17, states:
An onsite electric power system and an offsite electric power system shall be provided to permit functioning of structures, systems, and components important to safety. The safety function for each system (assuming the other system is not functioning) shall be to provide sufficient capacity and capability to assure that (1) specified acceptable fuel design limits and design conditions of the reactor operational occurrences and (2) the core is cooled and containment integrity and other vital functions are maintained in the event of postulated accidents.
The onsite power supplies, including the batteries, and the onsite electric distribution system, shall have sufficient independence, redundancy, and testability to perform their safety functions assuming a single failure.
Electric power from the transmission network to the onsite electric distribution system shall be supplied by two physically independent circuits (not necessarily on separate rights of way) designed and located so as to minimize to the extent practical the likelihood of their simultaneous failure under operating and postulated accident and environmental conditions. A switchyard common to both circuits is acceptable. Each of these circuits shall be designed to be available in sufficient time following a loss of all onsite alternating current power supplies and the other offsite electric power circuit, to assure that specified acceptable fuel design limits and design conditions of the reactor coolant pressure boundary are not exceeded. One of these circuits shall be designed to be available within a few seconds following a loss-of-coolant accident to assure that core cooling, containment integrity, and other vital safety functions are maintained.
Provisions shall be included to minimize the probability of losing electric power from any of the remaining sources as a result of, or coincident with, the loss of power generated by the nuclear power unit, the loss of power from the transmission network, or the loss of power from the onsite electric power sources.
The licensee stated that there will be no changes to the Watts Bar, Unit 2 design such that compliance with any of the above regulatory requirements would come into question. As such, Watts Bar, Unit 2, will continue to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
3.1 Licensee's Proposed Changes By letter dated March 28, 2017, TVA requested a license amendment to revise the completion date for Watts Bar, Unit 2 License Condition 2.C.(5) regarding the completion of the action to resolve the issues identified in Bulletin 2012-01, as follows:
License Condition 2.C.(5) for Watts Bar, Unit 2, currently states:
By December 31, 2017, the licensee shall report to the NRC that the actions to resolve the issues identified in Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electrical Power System," have been implemented.
The proposed change will revise License Condition 2.C.(5) for Watts Bar, Unit 2, to state:
By December 31, 2018, the licensee shall report to the NRC that the actions to resolve the issues identified in Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electrical Power System," have been implemented.
3.2 Licensee's Justification for Proposed Changes On January 30, 2012, an operating event at the Byron Station, Unit No. 2, revealed a significant design vulnerability where an open phase condition (OPC) in the plant's offsite power supply caused a loss of certain safety functions powered by the site's alternating current electric power system. This event was documented in Bulletin 2012-01, which requires addressees to comprehensively verify compliance with the regulatory requirements of GDC 17, and the design criteria for protection systems under 10 CFR 50.55a(h)(2).
TVA provided its response to Bulletin 2012-01 for Watts Bar, Unit 2, in Enclosure 3 of its letter dated October 25, 2012 (Reference 3). Based on review of the response, the NRC staff determined that a design vulnerability exists for the Watts Bar, Unit 2, electric power system, and no design features have been provided to enable functioning of the electric power system with an OPC with offsite power circuits.
In its letter dated October 9, 2013 (Reference 4), the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) informed the NRC that the nuclear industry had formally approved an initiative to address the OPC in the offsite power circuits with a completion date of December 31, 2017.
Subsequently, the NRC issued, in its letter dated December 20, 2013 (Reference 5), a request for additional information (RAI) requesting licensees to provide a schedule for completion of plant design changes and modifications to resolve the open phase design vulnerability. In its letter dated February 3, 2014 (Reference 6), TVA provided its response to the RAI and endorsed the generic schedule provided in the industry OPC initiative.
In its letter dated September 3, 2014 (Reference 7), TVA proposed a license condition for Watts Bar, Unit 2, associated with actions for resolving Bulletin 2012-01 with a completion date of December 31, 2017. In Section 8.2.2 of NUREG-0847, Supplement 27 (Reference 8), the NRC concurred with this proposed license condition and stated:
Based on the above, the staff concludes that there is reasonable assurance that OPC design vulnerability with the WBN Unit 2 electric power system will be addressed by TVA when license conditions and regulatory commitments are met.
The staff will close Bulletin 2012-01 for WBN Unit 2 when TVA notifies the NRC with a close-out letter when full compliance is achieved.
Subsequently, the NRC issued the Watts Bar, Unit 2 Operating License (OL) on October 22, 2015 (Reference 9), which contained OL Condition 2.C(5), with the Bulletin 2012-01 completion date of December 31, 2017. In its letter dated March 16, 2015 (Reference 10), NEI informed the NRC that the original schedule to complete actions to resolve the OPC design vulnerability under this initiative was being revised from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018.
Therefore, TVA proposed to revise the completion date for Watts Bar, Unit 2, OL Condition 2.C(5), from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018, to align with the remainder of the TVA fleet and with the nuclear industry.
TVA concluded that the change in the completion date does not affect the basis of the NRC approval in NUREG-0847, Supplement 27 (Reference 8).
3.3 NRC Staff's Evaluation of Proposed Changes The NRC staff reviewed the information provided in TVA's application dated March 28, 2017, which proposed to revise the completion date for Watts Bar, Unit 2, OL Condition 2.C(5), from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018. Based on the NRC staff's review and evaluation of the proposed changes, the NRC staff finds the request acceptable because: (1) the proposed change is to align the Watts Bar, Unit 2, response to Bulletin 2012-01 with the TVA fleet and NEI revised schedule to complete actions to resolve the OPC design vulnerability under industry initiative on OPC from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018, and (2) there will be no changes to the Watts Bar, Unit 2 design such that would impact compliance with any of the applicable regulatory requirements. As such, Watts Bar, Unit 2, will continue to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements.
4.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the Tennessee State official was notified on September 27, 2017, of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendment changes a requirement with respect to installation or use of a facility component located within the restricted area as defined in 10 CFR Part 20. The NRC staff has determined that the amendment involves no significant increase in the amounts, and no significant change in the types, of any effluents that may be released offsite, and that there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure. The Commission has previously issued (82 FR 31103; July 5, 2017), a proposed finding that the amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding. Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendment.
6.0 CONCLUSION
The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) there is reasonable assurance that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
7.0 REFERENCES
- 1.
Letter from J. W. Shea, TVA, to NRC Document Control Desk, "Application to Modify Operating License Condition for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 Regarding the Actions to Resolve Issues Identified in NRC Bulletin 2012-01, 'Design Vulnerability in Electrical Power System' (391-WBN-TS-17-06)," dated March 28, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17093A608).
- 2.
NRC Bulletin 2012-01, "Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System," dated July 27, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12074A115).
- 3.
TVA letter to NRC Document Control Desk, "90-Day Response to NRC Bulletin 2012-01,
'Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System'," dated October 25, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12312A167).
- 4.
Letter from NEI to NRC, "Industry Initiative on Open Phase Condition," dated October 9, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13333A147).
- 5.
NRC letter to various licensees, "Request for Additional Information Regarding Response to Bulletin 2012-01, 'Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System'," dated December 20, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13351A314).
- 6.
TVA letter to NRC Document Control Desk, "Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Response to Bulletin 2012-01, 'Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System'," dated February 3, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14038A075).
- 7.
TVA letter to NRC Document Control Desk, "Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 - Response to NRC Requests Related to Granting an Operating License," dated September 3, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14247A231).
- 8.
NUREG-0847, Supplement 27, "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2," issued January 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15033A041 ).
- 9.
NRC letter to TVA, "Issuance of Facility Operating License No. NPF-96, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2," dated October 22, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15251A587).
- 10.
Letter from NEI to NRC, "Industry Initiative on Open Phase Condition, Revision 1," dated March 16, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15075A455).
Principal Contributors: F. Saba S. Morris R. Mathew Date: November 6, 2017
SUBJECT:
WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT REGARDING THE ACTIONS TO RESOLVE ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN NRC BULLETIN 2012-01, "DESIGN VULNERABILITY TO ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM" (CAC NO. MF9574) (EPID L-2017-LLA-0208) DATED NOVEMBER 6, 2017 DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC LPL 2-2 R/F RidsNrrDorlLpl2-2 Resource RidsN rrLABClayton Resource RidsACRS_MailCTR Resource RidsRgn2MailCenter Resource RidsNrrPMWattsBar Resource RMathew, NRR SMorris, NRR RidsNrrDeEeob Resource FSaba, NRR ADAMS A ccess1on N ML17258A328 o.:
OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/LA NAME FSaba BClayton (LRonewicz for)
DATE 09/25/2017 09/20/2017 OFFICE OGC-NLO NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/BC NAME AGhosh UShoop (PBuckberg for)
DATE 10/02/2017 11/06/2017 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
- b
- 1 1y e-ma1 NRR/DE/EEOB/BC*
JQuichocho (RMathew for) 09/26/2017 N RR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM RSchaaf (FSaba for) 11/06/2017