ML18009A638
| ML18009A638 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Electric Power Research Institute, 99902028 |
| Issue date: | 04/09/2018 |
| From: | Joseph Holonich NRC/NRR/DLP/PLPB |
| To: | Dennis Morey NRC/NRR/DLP/PLPB |
| Holonich J | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML1733A029 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML18009A638 (4) | |
Text
April 9, 2018 MEMORANDUM TO: Dennis C. Morey, Chief Licensing Processes Branch Division of Licensing Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM: Joseph J. Holonich, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Licensing Processes Branch Division of Licensing Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF BIWEEKLY CONFERENCE CALLS TO DISCUSS FLEET-WIDE RESPONSE TO DRAFT REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO GENERIC LETTER 2016-01 On January 9, 2018, February 8 and 22, 2018 and March 8, 2018, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff participated in a series of conference calls with the industry, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). These organizations will be referred to collectively as the industry in this summary. The purpose of the calls was to continue discussions on the requests for additional information (RAIs) related to Generic Letter (GL) 2016-01, Monitoring Of Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent Fuel Pools. Information for all these interactions, including GL 2016-01, can be found in Agencywide Document Access and Management System Package Accession No. ML17333A029.
January 9, 2018, Call On the January 9, 2018, call, the NRC staff provided background information for the edification of participants. The NRC staff explained the basis for the RAIs and the GL. Industry explained that it was working on developing needed information and that the January 9, 2018, call should be focused on planning for the future calls. Based on that position, it was recommended that the January 23, 2018, call be cancelled. In addition, industry said that it would have information related to the database such as suggested data to be collected and populated in the spent fuel pool (SFP) water chemistry and coupon databases for the program available by February 1, 2018, a week before the February 8, 2018, call. This was an action from the call. In addition, industry stated that it would have additional information available before the March 8, 2018, call.
CONTACT: Joseph J. Holonich, NRR/DLP/PLPB 301-415-7297
D. Morey February 8, 2018, Call EPRI made a presentation, on behalf of the industry, on the recently initiated water chemistry and neutron absorber material coupon database projects. A copy of the presentation can be found in the meeting package referenced earlier. During the presentation the NRC staff asked questions related to the status of data collection and analysis.
As a result of the questions, EPRI committed to being prepared to discuss, during the February 22, 2018, call, how plants using data from other units would be able to demonstrate that the data was applicable to their plant. This includes considerations such as: how to define sibling plants, how plants would use data from different units, whether plants would be able to demonstrate that the database bounded their SFP, and the overall philosophy for how the program would deal with plants without coupon data. The NRC staff commented that by not including any in-situ panel data, a potentially valuable source of information may be neglected.
This omission also raised questions about the long-term viability of an industry-wide monitoring program with limited remaining coupons.
A concern raised by the NRC staff was related to how many environmental conditions were considered when using data from one plant at another. An example offered was the fact that SFP temperatures and accumulated radiation doses were not included in the proposed data set for collection. In response to the NRC staff concern, EPRI committed to do more work on establishing appropriate parameters for the definition of a sibling plant.
EPRI included information in its presentation related to the ongoing research efforts, such as the analysis of material from the decommissioned SFP at Zion and the accelerated-corrosion test program. The NRC staff questioned how easy it would be to apply this data to current operating SFPs using Boral that has been in use for much longer than the material at Zion, and has been exposed to a significantly different radiation environment than the material in the accelerated corrosion program. After some discussion, the NRC staff recommended that EPRI focus on the database of operating experience, as it is the most relevant source of useful information.
The NRC staff discussed its expectations for the input that the staff expects to receive in order to support responses to the generic RAIs. The expectation for the NRC staff to review details of the analyses was first discussed at the October 18, 2017, public meeting (ADAMS Accession No. ML17279A626). Based on this previous discussion, NRC staff stated that it was expecting to see some formal documentation which could be used as a reference by licensees when responding to the generic RAIs which would address the use of the proposed database. It was agreed that an action from the February 8, 2018, call would be to develop an agreement on what the formal documentation provided to the NRC staff would constitute.
Towards the end of the February 8, 2018, conference call, the NRC staff discussed its concern that the project may be behind schedule which may jeopardize timely closure of the GL.
February 22, 2018 Call In the February 22, 2018, call EPRI made a presentation on activities in the program and data collection. In discussions held during the presentation, the NRC staff asked about details concerning how the data supporting the program was obtained. Example questions dealt with how representative samples of coupons were being collected and how data from shutdown
D. Morey plants would be obtained. EPRI explained that it needed to provide a document that describes the program in sufficient detail to give the NRC staff confidence the program is doing what is needed.
As a result of the presentation an action for NEI was to develop a template for plants to provide a consistent format and level of data.
March 8, 2018 Meeting At the March 8, 2018, meeting, EPRI presented information on impact of pitting and blisters on reactivity. During the presentation there was an exchange of numerous questions and answers.
As a result of the presentation and interactions, it was agreed that industry was making progress developing a response to the generic RAIs and closing the Generic Letter. The topic for the next interaction, a March 29, 2018, meeting would be an EPRI-prepared white paper and potentially the detailed outline of the final report for this effort.
Actions from the calls
- 1) On the January 9, 2018, call, the NRC staff asked NEI to provide information one week in advance of the future public meetings.
- 2) For the February 22, 2018, call, EPRI would provide a definition of sibling plants, discuss how plants could use data from the water chemistry and coupon databases, describe how the program would deal with plants without data, and show whether plants using data from other units would be able to show that they are within the bounds of the data for water chemistry and Boral coupon parameters. EPRI would also provide details on how the analyses are performed using specific examples pertaining to this effort.
- 3) NRC staff and EPRI will develop an agreement on what the final documentation of the analysis will be, and how it can be adopted by licensees.
- 4) NEI will develop a standard template for answering the RAI.
Docket Nos. 99902028, 99902021
Package (ML17333A029); Summary (ML18009A638) NRC-001 OFFICE NRR/DLP/PLPB NRR/DSS/SNBP NRR/DMLR/MCCB* NRR/DLP/PLPB NRR/DLP/PLPB NAME JHolonich SAnderson SBloom DMorey JHolonich DATE 03/22/2018 03/28/2018 03/22/2018 04/02/2018 04/09/2018