ML18026A312

Affidavit in Support of Summary Disposition of Contention 16 Re Cooling Tower Discharge.No Radioactive Water Will Be Vented from Facility Cooling Towers.Prof Qualifications Encl

ML18026A312
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	10/24/1980
From:	Rhoades W PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:
References
NUDOCS 8010300618
Download: ML18026A312 (19)

Text

October 24, 1980

'~L' C,P hh UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMZSSZON 'g h) "" ~a~,<gt'r BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARDh~ j In the Matter of )

~

)

PENNSYLVANIA POWER,G LIGHT COMPANY ) Docket Nos. 50-387 and ) 50-388 ALLEGHENY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE p INC., ) ~

)

(Susquehanna Steam Electric Station,

~~

)

Units 1 and 2) )

AFFIDAVIT OF WALTER J. RHOADES ZN SUPPORT OF

SUMMARY

DISPOSITION OF CONTENTION 16 (COOLING TOWER DISCHARGE)

County of Lehigh )

SS Commonwealth of Pennsylvania )

Walter J. Rhoades, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says as follows:

1. I am Nuclear Group Supervisor - Mechanical, Nuclear Plant Engineering Department, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, and give this affidavit in support of Applicants'otion for Summary Disposition of Contention 16 (Cooling Tower Discharge). I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth herein and believe them to be true and correct.

A summary of my professional qualifications and experience is attached as Exhibit "A".hereto.

2. Contention 16 in this proceeding asserts that seventy million gallons of radioactive evaporated water will be vented daily from the two cooling towers of the so8 W u(j

l 2

Susquehanna facility, posing an economic threat to the daixy industry in the Eastern - Central area of Pennsylvania.

The contention is exroneous. The water which will be evaporated from'he Susquehanna cooling towers on a daily basis will not contain radioactivity from the facility.

3. Water evaporated from the 'cooling towers comes from the three sources of water supplied to the towers.

These three sources are makeup water, the return flow of the Circulating Water System, and the return flow, of the Service Water System. None of these sources are radioactive.

Therefore, the water evaporated from the cooling towers is I

not radioactive.

4. The cooling towers are used to cool the Circulating Water and Service Water Systems.,Water to be cooled is I g supplied to the towers and is distributed above the fill inside the towers. Due to the heating of the air in the towers and the height, of the structure, air is drawn into the towers below the fill and flows upward, coming into contact 'with the water flowing downward. The air picks up heat from the water. Some of the water is evaporated and is carried out of the towers with the hearted air. The cooled water which is not carried out of the towers with the heated air is collected in the cooling tower basins (large reser-voirs at, the base of the towers) and xecirculated through the Circulating Water and Service Water Systems. To replace the water lost by evaporation, makeup water is supplied to the cooling tower basins from the Susquehanna River.

5. The makeup water supplied to the basins from the Susquehanna River is not N

mixed with any other plant water and thus cannot be the source of radioactive contamination.

6. The other two sources of water to the cooling towers, the Circulating Water and Service Water Systems, draw I

water from the cooling tower basins and circulate the water through various equipment in the plant for cooling before returning the water to the cooling towers. Both Systems are designed so that they are not radioactive. This is accom-plished with two independent methods. First, both Systems have physical barriers (i.e., tube walls in heat exchangezs)

I between the water which eventually flows to the cooling f

towers and any radioactive fluids. These barriers are to, 1

assure that there is no physical contact between water which I ~

may be evaporated 'i'n the cooling tower's and radioactive fluids. Second, the Systems are designed so that if there is a breach in these physical barriers, radioactiv'e contamina-I tion. will not. enter the Systems.', This is achieved by operating the Systems at. a higher pressure than the systems that contain radioactive fluids. Thus, if there should be a breach in any of the physical barriers, the flow will be from the Cizculating and Service Water Systems into the II systems containing radioactive fluids, zather than from the t

systems containing radioactive fluids i'nto the Circulating Water and Service Water Systems.

1

7. The only equipment cooled by the Circulating Water System is the main turbine condenser. Steam produced in the reactor passes through the turbine. The energy of the steam is used to spin the turbine which drives the plant's electrical I

generator. In the process of giving up the energy in the steam, its pressure is reduced. The reduced pressure steam is exhausted from the turbine into the plant's main turbine condenser at pressures lower than atmospheric pressure. The circulating water passes through stainless steel tubes inside the condenser. The reduced pressure steam is condensed into water outside the tubes and is pumped back to the reactor.

Under normal operating conditions, there is no exchange be-tween circulating water and the steam. Even if a conden'ser tube were to develop a leak, circulating water would flow.

out of the tube'nto the condenser because the steam is,con-densing at a pressure much lower than the pressure in the Circulating Water System. As a further precaution, if the pressure of the condensing steam rises above 7.3 inches of mercury absolute (a pressure lower than that of the cir-I culating water), the turbine is automatically tripped and the~

flow of steam to the condenser stopped. Thus, even at the point at which the flow of steam to the condenser would be f

shut off, any flow would be from the Circulating Water. System into the condenser.

8. The Service Water System is similar to the Cir-culating Water System in that water drawn from the cooling

tower basin is pumped through plant equipment as a cooling medium and returned to the cooling tower. Nineteen groups of equipment are cooled by the Service Water System:

1) XSO-Phase Bus Cooler

2) Generator Stator Coolers

3) . Generator Alterrex Air Coolers

4) Generator Hydrogen Coolers

5) Turbine Lube Oil Coolers

6) Turbine Building Closed Cooling Water Heat Exchangers

7) Radwaste Building Chillers

8) Radwaste Evaporator Condensers

9) Control Structure Chiller

10) Reactor Feed Pump Turbine Lube Oil Coolers ll) Turbine Building Chillers Motor-Generator Set Hydraulic Fluid Coolers 12)

13) Reactor Building Closed Cooling Water Heat Exchangers

14) Reactor Building Chillers

15) Pipe Tunnel Coolers

16) Gaseous Radwaste Recombiner Closed Cooling Water Heat Exchanger

17) Fuel Pool Heat Exchangers

18) Radwaste Evaporator Condensate Tank

19) ,Emergency Switchgear & Load Center Air Handlin'g Unit Only grou ps 8, 13, 16 and 17 contain potentially radioactive fluids. The remaining fifteen groups do not contain radio-active fluids and do not come in contact with radioactive fluids.

9. As with the Circulating Water System, physical barriers (i.e., tube walls in heat exchangers) separate the service water from potentially radioactive fluids. And as with the 'Circulating Water System, the service water is main-tained at a pressure higher than the pressure of the fluids being cooled. Thus, in the event of a breach in the physical barriers in the various chillers, coolers and heat exchangers, I

service water would flow into the fluid being cooled and the lf

Service Water System would not,be contaminate'd. The fol-lowing is a description of the four instances where the Service Water System cools potentially radioactive fluids;

a. Radwaste Evaporator Condensers:. There are t

two radwaste evaporators.

C One, is used as a backup to the normally operating evaporator. One evaporator handles yl liquid radwaste from both units; however under heavy loads the backup evaporator may be used to augment the normally running system. The steam going to the radwaste evaporator condenser is eon-.radioactive or at most slightly radio-active; The operating pressure existing in the evaporator condenser is 1 psig. Service water is supplied to the t

evaporator condenser at a pressure of approximately 128 psig'.

Even 'if a tube should leak, the lower pressuie condenser would not leak into the higher pressure service water. I'aterI I

b. Reactor Building Closed Cooling Water Heat Exchangers: This system has two 100% capacity heat ex-changers. The water on the reactor building closed cooling water (RBCCW) side is circulated at, a pressure of approxi-1 mately 81 psig. The service water is supplied at a pressure of approximately 108 psig. Even if a heat exchanger tube should leak, the lower p'ressure'RBCCW would not leak into the higher pressure'service water. Under normal circumstances,

'the RBCCW is itself non'-radioactive, although i't could be-come radioactive if a tube leak were to occur in one of the I

heat exch'ahgers which it serves. However, the pressure I ~

differential between the RBCCW and. the Service Water System will prevent any RBCCW leakage into the service water.

c. Gaseous Radwaste Recombiner Closed Cooling Water Heat Exchanger: Three 100% capacity gaseous radwaste recombiner closed cooling water heat exchangers are provided.

I One heat exchanger is provided for Unit 1, the second heat I

exchanger is for Unit 2, and the remaining heat "exchanger acts as a common backup to both Units l,and 2. Closed cooling water (CCW) is supplied to the recombiner condenser, motive steam. jet condenser and the condensate cooler.

These three heat exchangers all contain radioactive fluids on the shell side. The shell side pressure for these ex-changers is less than 5 psig. The CCW circulates on the I

I tube side at a pressure .of about 76 psig. Therefore the N e ~ I lower pressure (shell side) radioactive water cannot be passed into the higher pressure CCW tube side even 'if a tube should leak in any of these exchangers. Service water is supplied to the gaseous radwaste recombiner CCW heat ex-changer at 128 psig. Since the CCW side pressure is about 1

76 psig, .leakage into the Service Water System is not I

I ~ t ~ ~

possible should a tube leak in this exchange occur. Further, the CCW should never be radioactive due to the pressure t

I

, d'ferences between the shell an'd tube side of the conden-I sate cooler, recombiner condenser and motive steam jet condenser and the gaseous radwaste recombiner'CW system.

I

~ ~

~ o

d. Fuel Pool Heat Exchangers: The system t

consists of three heat exchangers. Water to be cooled from t

1 the fuel pool flows by gravity through the fuel pool heat exchangers. I A maximum pressure of 30 psig is developed due to the .static head from the skimmer surge tank to the fuel pool heat exchanger. Service water'circulates through the 1

heat exchanger at a pressure of 84 psig. Leakage into the Service Water System is not possible due to the difference t

in pressure between the two systems.

10. Based on the above described system design, t

it is my opinion that, no radioactive water will be vented 'from the l

Susauehanna cooling towers. I t

I

}'

~

Wa ter . Rhoades Sworn to and subscribed before this,54 day

~,

me of 0Ll, 1980.

/ JOHNP MILLER iR Noh

~

~

/ M~ Co P

.~nissionExpiresgay2~

~Y >1981

WALTER J. RHOADES Nuclear Group Supervisor - Mechanical Nuclear Plant Engineering Pennsylvania Power 5 Light Company Education Formal Drexel University, B.S.M.E. (1970)

Graduate Course in Nuclear Engineering - Lehigh University (1979)

Continuin 'ducation Boil'ing Water Reactor Technology Light Water Reactor Safety Course Probability and Risk Assessment Single and multiphase Transients in Reactors and Nuclear Piping Systems Quality Assurance and In-Service Inspection ASi~fE, Code De s ASME Radwaste ign Cours e Systems Design Re istration Professional Engineer, o f Pennsylvania (PE-22519-E) (1974)

I'ommonwealth Work Ex erience June, 1974 - Present Nuclear Grou Su ervisor-Mechanical, Sus uehanna

~ro ect. Asstgne to manage an provt e tec teal supervision of the mechanical/nuclear group.

Responsible for directing technical reviews of the design work being done for PP5L by General Electric Company and,Bechtel Corp. in the area of mechanical/nuclear systems. The mechanical/nuclear group presently consists of twenty (20) engineers.

Its. responsibilities include reviewing system draw-ings and"equipment specifications for over eighty plant systems. This review includes- an evaluation of materials used, design specifications, interface requirements, and conformity with applicable in-dustry standards and, NRC requirements.

Current, position includes responsibility for the substantive, work of the engineers of the mechanical/

nuclear group and is the highest position in PP5L with'echnical responsibility for the design'nd safety of these eighty syst'ems. Among, these systems e

Page Two Resume 1Val ter 'J. Rhoad'es are the Service Water and Circulating Water Systems which are the only two systems con-nected to the cooling towers.

Generated a Service Water System Computer Analysis covering steady state operation of the service water system. The analysis verified pressure in the system to ensure that the correct pressure differences were maintained.

I December, 1971 'En ine'er OPro "ect Enine'er - Responsible for June, esxgn reviews an equipment specifications for Circulating <Vater, Feedwater, 'Condensate,, Extrac-tion, Air Removal and Sealing, Compressed Air, Reactor Feedback Pump Turbine, High Pressure Coolant Injection and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling systems. Provided reviews of codes and standards information for both PSAR and FSAR review.'o ensure that the proper codes were included. This 1'97'4'ther work required a working knowledge of both the ap-plicable codes and the systems involv'ed.

Performed initial work for in-service and pre-service inspection programs. Responsible for reviewing and approving specifications for the main condenser and other heat exchangers in the plant. Responsible for reviewing analysis of circulating water hydraulic transients in the plant work BALDWIN"LIi~fA-HAMILTONCORPORATION, Eddystone, Pa.

'En'neer: Responsible for the design and insta ation of large steam surface condensers.

Work consisted of processing design from concep-tual to final stages, Responsible for substantive technical discussions with customer, procurement of materials and supervision of the work through completion of the system. Also responsible for condenser design at Duke Power Company's Oconee Station and the engineering of supports for the vertical feedwater heaters.

'A's'si's'tant En i'ne'er: Duties included structual ca cu ate.ons of large steam surface con-, 'sxgn densers, land based desalting plants and feedwater heaters. Design of these pressure vessels in-volved use of ASME Section VIII, HEI and TEMA standards. Duties also included the preparation of technical literature, maintenance manuals, proposals and computer applications.

Page Three of Walter J.

'esume Rhoades February, 1967 to NATIONAL LICORICE COMPANY, 13th and Washington September, 1967 Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.

Plant Engineer: Supervisor of maintenance.

h*

and purchasing of maintenance supplies. Main-tenance Department consisted of five (5) mechanics, two (2) helpers and a foreman. Work with outside vendors included installation of a new office and facilities for freight manager, extensive in-plant revisions of facilities such as cafeteria and machinery which included:boiler 'feed system, pack-ing machines and process equipment.

January, 1964 to GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, 69th and Elmwood February, 1967 Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.

Tool and Die Trainee: Received training consist-ing o , snop ours and 2,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> in various assignments including tool design and manufacturing engineering'

THOMAS AND HAIR~

ATTORNEYS AT LAW SUITE 101 123 NORTH FIFTH STREET ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA 'I 8102 J OH N P. TH OMAS TELEPHONE CHARLES J. HAIR I215I 821 8100 (P EN N A.: N.Y.)

CHARLES W. ELLIOTT WILLIAMM. THOMAS October 23, 1980 Mr. Samuel Chilk, Secretary '

Ime r~p Docketing and Service Branch V4(1g US Nuclear Regulatory Commission OCt 2g tggg Washington, D.C. 20555 Office af ge g Re: Susquehanna Steam El Docket Nos. 50-387, 0-388 i Sta ions 1 G 2 D>."l bi'I g SeITtC~

Dear Mr. Chilk:

Pursuant to 10 CFR I 2.715 (a), I hereby request time to make a limited appearance statement at the licensing proceedings for the above captioneChfacility (Applicant: Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.).

Kindly advise me when and where the hearings will take place, and when my statement will be heard.

In order to ensure adequate public input, I would request that time be made available on weekends and/or evenings for these statements.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Very txuly yours, CHARLES W. ELLIOTT CWE:seh

~

, )ggdb) <

1~ ~

~~~~

UNITED STATES OF. AiKRICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY CO~ZIISSION In the Hatter of )

)

PENNSYLVANIA POWER AND LIGHT ) Docket No.(s) 50-387 COMPANY ) 50-388

)

(Susquehanna Steam Electric )

Station, Units 1 and 2) )

)

)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing document(s) upon each person designated on the official service list compiled by the Office of the Secretary of the Commission in this proceeding in accordance with the requirements of Section 2.712 of 10 CFR Part 2-Rules of Practice, of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Rules and Regulations.

Dated at Washington, D . this day of Office of tne Secretary of the Commission

UNITED STATES OF &fERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COK4fISSION In the 'Natter of )

)

PENNSYLVANIA POLAR AND LIGHT ) Docket No. (s) 50 387 COMPANY, ET AL. ) 50-388

)..

(Susquehanna Steam Electric )

Station, Units 1 and 2) )

SERVICE LIST Charles Bechhoefer,'sq., Chairman Dr. Judith H. Johnsrud Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Co." Director, Environmental U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Coalition on Nuclear Power Washington, D.C. 20555 433 Orlando Avenue

,State College, Pennsylvania 16801-Mr. Glenn 0. Bright Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Ms. Colleen Marsh U.S.Nuclear Regulatory Commission 558A Washington, D.C. 20555 R.D. P4

'r. Oscar H..Paris Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mount Top, Pennsylvania Mr. Thomas J. Halligan 18707 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Correspondent CAND Washington, D.C. 20555 P.O. Box 5 Sacranton, Pennsylvania 18501 Counsel for NRC Staff Office of the Executive Legal Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Gerald Schultz, Esq.

Washington, D.C. 20555 Susquehanna Environmental Advocates 174 Machell Avenue Jay E. Silberg, Esq. Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612 Shaw, Pittman, Poets & Trowbridge 1800 "M". Street, N.W. Mr. Thomas M. Gerusky, Director Washington, D.C. 20036 Bureau of Radiation Protection Department of Environmental 'Resources Pennsylvania Power and Light Company Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ATTN: Mr. Norman W. Curtis P.O. Box 2063 Vice President Engineering Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 and Construction 2 North Ninth Street Albert E. Vogel, Jr., Esq.

Allentown, Pennsylvania 18101 Assistant Attorney General Dept. of Environmental Resources P,O. Box 2357 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

0 Ce