ML18107A160

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Safety Evaluation Accepting Request for Exemption from Update Requirements of 10CFR50.71(e)(4)
ML18107A160
Person / Time
Site: Salem  PSEG icon.png
Issue date: 04/07/1999
From:
NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:
Shared Package
ML18106B164 List:
References
NUDOCS 9904160254
Download: ML18107A160 (2)


Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION EXEMPTION FROM UPDATED FINAL SAFETY ANALYSIS REPORT UPDATE REQUIREMENTS OF 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4)

PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC AND GAS COMPANY SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION. UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-272 AND 50-311

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated December 2, 1998, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company (the licensee) submitted a request for an exemption from the requirements of Section 50.71(e)(4),

"Maintenance of records, making reports." of Title 10 to the Code of Federal Regulations*

(10 CFR). Specifically, the licensee requested an exemption from 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) that states, in part, that "Subsequent revisions [to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR)] must be filed annually or 6 months after each refueling outage provided the interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months." The Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2, share a common updated FSAR (UFSAR); therefore, this rule requires the licensee to update the Salem UFSAR annually or within 6 months after each unit's refueling outage.

2.0 EVALUATION The requirement of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) ensures that all licensees update their FSARs annually or at least every refueling outage and no less frequently than every 2 years. When two units share a common FSAR, the rule has the effect of requiring the licensee to update the FSAR about every 9 months. Since the Salem units are on an 18-month fuel cycle and have staggered Spring/Fall refueling outages, the FSAR updates must be submitted more frequently than every 12 months (about every 9 months). The current rule, as revised August 31, 1992 (57 FR 39355), was intended to provide some reduction in regulatory burden by limiting the frequency of required updates. The underlying purpose of the rule was to relieve licensees of the burden of filing annual FSAR revisions while assuring that such revisions are made at least every 24 months. The Commission reduced the burden, in part, by permitting a licensee to submit its FSAR revisions 6 months after refueling outages for its facility, but did not provide in the rule for multiple unit facilities sharing a common FSAR. Rather, the Commission stated that "With respect to [the] concern about multiple facilities sharing a common FSAR, licensees will have maximum flexibility for scheduling updates on a case-by-case basis." The burden reduction, however, can only be realized by single-unit facilities or multiple-unit facilities that maintain separate FSARs for each unit.

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The licensee's requested exemption would permit periodic UFSAR updates within 6 months of each Salem Unit 1 refueling outage, but not to exceed 24 months from the last revision. Thus, the requirement that an update be submitted annually or within 6 months of an outage of each unit would no longer be retained. With the exemption, the Salem UFSAR would be updated and maintained current within 24 months of the last revision. Revising the UFSAR annually or 6 months after refueling outages for each unit is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.

3.0 CONCLUSION

The staff finds that the alternative proposed by the licensee is acceptable in that revising the UFSAR annually or 6 months after refueling outages for each unit is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule (10 CFR 50.71(e)(4)), which is to require the FSAR of each station be revised at least once per 24 months.

Principal Contributor: P. Milano Date: April 7, 1999