ML18060A054

Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action Amendment to Revise Technical Specification 4.2.1, Fuel Assemblies, and Technical Specifications Related to Fuel Storage

ML18060A054
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	03/01/2018
From:	Robert Schaaf Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	James Shea, Skaggs M Tennessee Valley Authority
Schaaf R, NRR/DORL/LPL2-2, 415-6020
References
EPID L-2017-LLA-0427
Download: ML18060A054 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 March 1, 2018 Mr. Joseph W. Shea Vice President, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs and Support Services Tennessee Valley Authority 1101 Market Street, LP 4A Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT:

WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 -ACCEPTANCE OF REQUESTED LICENSING ACTION RE: AMENDMENT TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION 4.2.1, FUEL ASSEMBLIES, AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS RELATED TO FUEL STORAGE (EPID L-2017-LLA-0427)

Dear Mr. Shea:

By letter dated December 20, 2017 (Agency Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML173548282), as supplemented by letter dated February 15, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18047A181 ), the Tennessee Valley Authority submitted a license amendment request for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. The proposed amendment would revise Watts Bar Unit 2 Technical Specification (TS) 4.2.1, "Fuel Assemblies," to add a limit on the number of Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods that can be placed in the Unit 2 reactor. The amendment also proposed TS changes for Units 1 and 2 related to new criticality analyses performed for the spent fuel storage racks. The purpose of this letter is to provide the results of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's acceptance review of this amendment request. The acceptance review was performed to determine if there is sufficient technical information in scope and depth to allow the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review. The acceptance review is also intended to identify whether the application has any readily apparent information insufficiencies in its characterization of the regulatory requirements or the licensing basis of the plant.

Consistent with Section 50.90 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), an amendment to the license (including the TSs) must fully describe the changes requested, and following as far as applicable, the form prescribed for original applications. Section 50.34 of 10 CFR addresses the content of technical information required. This section stipulates that the submittal address the design and operating characteristics, unusual or novel design features, and principal safety considerations.

The NRC staff has reviewed your application and concluded that it does provide technical information in sufficient detail to enable the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review and make an independent assessment regarding the acceptability of the proposed amendment in terms of regulatory requirements and the protection of public health and safety and the environment. Given the lesser scope and depth of the acceptance review as compared to the detailed technical review, there may be instances in which issues that impact the NRC staff's ability to complete the detailed technical review are identified despite completion of an adequate

J. Shea acceptance review. If additional information is needed, you will be advised by separate correspondence.

Based on the information provided in your submittal, the NRC staff has estimated that this licensing request will take approximately 2000 hours83.333 days <br />11.905 weeks <br />2.74 months <br /> to complete. The NRC staff expects to complete this review in approximately 14 months, which is May 2019. If there are emergent complexities or challenges in our review that would cause changes to the initial forecasted completion date or significant changes in the forecasted hours, the reasons for the changes, along with the new estimates, will be communicated during routine interactions with the assigned project manager.

These estimates are based on the NRC staff's initial review of the application and they could change, due to several factors including requests for additional information, unanticipated addition of scope to the review, and review by NRC advisory committees or hearing-related activities.

If you have any questions, please contact the Watts Bar Project Manager, Robert Schaaf at (301) 415-6020.

Sincerely,

a~* de h E. ~ b~

Robert G. Schaaf, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-390 and 50-391 cc: Listserv

ML18060A054 OFFICE NRR/DORULPL2-2/PM NRR/DORULPL2-2/LA NRR/DORULPL2-2/BC (A) NRR/DORULPL2-2/PM NAME RSchaaf BClayton BVenkataraman RSchaaf (FSaba for)

DATE 03/01/2018 03/01/2018 03/01/2018 03/01/2018