ML18283A845
| ML18283A845 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Browns Ferry  |
| Issue date: | 07/15/1977 |
| From: | Gilleland J Tennessee Valley Authority |
| To: | Stello V Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML18283A845 (9) | |
Text
'NRC FoRM 195 g-Vd)
UA. NUCLEAR AEQULATORYG MISSION DOCKET NUMBER 0- Z.S~
NRC DISTRISUTION FoR PART 60 DOCKET MATERIAL Victor Stello FROM:
Tennessee Valley Authority Chattanooga, Tenn J.
E. Gilleland DATE OF DOCUMENT 7/15/77 DATE RECEIVED 7/20/77 IQINAL COPY OESCAIPTION QNOTORIZED CCRC LASS I F IED PROP INPUT FOAM ENCLOSU AE NUMBER OF COPIES RECEIVED
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O~ yggO Trans of proposed temporary Changes to the environmental Tech Specs that would approve a temporary increase in the discharge water temperature limits.
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PLANT NANE!Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit No.
1, 2,
and 3
RBT 7/21/77 FOR ACTION/INFORMATION ENVIRHNMENTAL MANAGER!
CEN ING ASSISTANT!
INTERNALDIST ASSIGNED AD!
V~ MOORE LTR BRANCH CHIEF!
PROJECT MANAGER:
LICENSING ASSESTANT!
B~ HARLESS RIBUTION INEMAN PLANT SYSTEMS TEDESCO BENAROYA SITE SAFETY 5 ENVIRON ANALYSIS ENGINEERING EPPOLITO OPERA G REACTORS ENVERO TECH ERNST B
D BAER B
ER GAHMILL 2
SITE ANALYSES VOLLEYER BUNCH J0 COLLINS EXTERNALDISTRIBUTION CONTROL NUMBER TEC NSEC
~~ EV J
HANCHETT CYS ACRS SENT CA GO NRC FORM 195 I2 75)
830 Power Building TENNESSEE VALLEYAUTHORITY CHATTANOOGA. TENNESSEE 37aOt July 15, 1977 TVA BFNP TS 87 Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Attention:
Mr. Victor Stello, Jr., Director Division of Operating Reactors U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 ill cy
~o~
Dear Mr. Stello:
'In the Matter of the
)
Docket Nos. 50-259 Tennessee Valley Aut:hority
')
50-260 50-296 In accordance with the provisions of 10 CFR Part 50.90, we are enclosing proposed temporary changes to t:he environmental technical specifications for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant unit Nos.
1 and 2
(Appendix B to Facility Operating Licenses DPR-33 and DPR-52),
and the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant unit No.
3 (Appendix B to Facility Operating License DPR-68).
Enclosure 1 is a proposed change to Section 2.1 THECAL DISCHARGE LIMITS that would approve a temporary increase in the discharge water temperature limits.
Enclosure 2
provides justification for the requested temporary change.
This matter has been discussed with members of your staff..
We would appreciate immediate consideration since the plant has been severely derated in recent weeks as a result of our inability to meet the present technical specificat:ion limits.
Very truly yours, J. E. Gilleland Assistant Manager of Power Subscribed nd swo to before me this ay 977 otary Public My Commi'ssion Expires
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Appal~))~ 'o Enclosures cc:
See page 2
An Equal Opportunity Employer 772020305
~M
Mr. Victor Stello, Jr.
JUL 'L 5 19T7 cc:
Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (Enclosures)
Attention:
Mr. Tom Wambach Light Water Reactors Branch No. l Division of Operating Reactors U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555
Enclosure 1
2.0 LX..r~T,'!G CplSXTXQ (S FO OPEHATXOH 2 l.
~ 'i"BlGH DXSCHARG LL!XTS Ob.>ectiv'e purpose of this specification is to Limit the thermal stress on aquatic life in Vn el r R servoir by opera ing Brogans\\
Ferry E.'uclear PLant so as to meet the appl ic "bl water quality temperatux e standards of'h State of.JQ.abema.
I Suecification
'The plant-induced reservoir mter tempera-ture at the 5-foot depth. at. the downstrean control point shall not ez~eeQ. the vater texfn rature measured. at thei5-foot depth of the upstream contxol monitor by mre than the applic b1e mavinun temp rature rise (cuxrently 5~F) nor sha3~
the, xeser-v'oir water teuperature m asured at the 5-
~foot depth at the downstream. control poin~
exceed the app3.iceb1e xcmcimun water tem-po'rzture (currently 86nF ~<"t)due-to the discharge of the condenser cooling eater.
Xf this limiting condition is exceeded, the pl nt operator shall initiate control
, gaea uxes.
The control ueasuxes sha3.3. be (1) to reduce the vaste he t discharged to th xeservoir and/or (2) to request xmdifice-tions in Qp releases -from TVA'.8
. Go~ter viU.e and/or )wheeler 3)ams to increase the streanflov by the Brogans Ferry p1ant;
-During a special diffuser pexfozmance study during the summer of 1977 (anti-cipated completion in June 1977),
a meximum temperature rise of 10 F, and a maximum watex temperature of 90 F, both.
recorded at the 5-foot depth, vill be permitted for a time not to exceed a
cumulative total of 7 days.
tDuring the interim util.A>gust 3ly 1977, the maximum water temperature allowed shall be 90 F.
Vonitorin Peouirement The water tempexeture data collected by th" therral monitoring networ'. is tele-retereQ. to the Ho~ms Ferry meteoro-logical station.
Th meteorological station vi3.1 receive the Bat end. auto-matically xecord th readings eve~ 60 ninutes M3. te pe ature data are recordeR on paper tap and ~~ntaired.
for xecord:Re ping purposes.
The 5-foot, depth temneratu=e dat vhich are used to prevent exceeding the. 3.mting condition.
aCH. be trensno.~ted to the contro3. room and viU. be visua13;y dxsplayeQ, for roui-toxing purposes.
Tae eccu-acy of the system ancl the s nsitixxty of th thermistor sensors. a~e designed to b=
+ 0.3 F and. 0.01 r, respective~.
Three thermal r.onitoxs spaced across the
~ xeservoix in the vicinity of river mtle 292.5 shall serve as the.downstrean con-txo3..
Tvo monito s located. above the plant, on located. at about river nile 297.6, and a second. located. in this vicinity'U. provide tho upstream v"ter
~ temperature data-The system is designee'o th t the do~wstream contro3. suitors sexve's backup for one anothex and.
. similarly for the two upstream monitoxs.
The 3.ocations of existing temperature mnitors are displayed. in 'Figu're 2.1 Xn th event the system described. is out oX'ervice, an alternate method viH. 'b emp3oyed three times a dey (once each shiN) to ueasure th river temperature at,.the 5-foot denth in the vicinity of the upstrean and. downstream control monitors and thus detexnine the tem-perature xis= and. tho namzu river
, vater temperature belov the p3.ant Mxen such a method. vould. resu3.t. in an ~neat and substentia3.
endangerment to the safety of persome3., thi paragraph s?~U.
not ap~-.
A
2.1 Continued Bases TVA, as a Federal agency, is required by Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (P.L.92-500) and by Executive Order 11507, "Prevention, Control and Abatement of Air and Water Pollution at Federal Facilities," to meet applicable Federa1,
- state, and local water quality standards.
On July 17, 1972, the State of Alabama adopted and on September 19, 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency approved thermal criteria for surface waters in the State of Alabama.
The current applicable thermal:standards are to limit the maximum temperature rise above natural temperature before the addition of artificial heat to 5 F and. the maximum water temperature to'6 F.
In the application of this temperature criteria the temperature shall be measured.,
in the case of Ylheeler Reservoir, at a depth of 5 feet.
The higher temperature limits during the special diffuser performance study during the summer of 1977 will be for brief peri'ods and will not adversely affect the environment.
The Tennessee Valley Authority has taken action to comply with applicable thermal water quality standards of the State of Alabama in the operation of the 3-unit Browns Ferry facility by installing mechanical draft cooling towers.
However, inadequate c'ooling tower performance has resulted in drastic curtailment of power generation during summer periods when peak load demands are critical on the TVA system to meet thermal standards.
The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Environmental Statement analyzed the environmental effects of operating the plant with a 10 F rise and 93 F maximum temperature limitation..
This evaluation concluded. that the 10 F and, 93 F limitations would. be adequate to protect aquatic life.
Hydrologic
~
studies recently conducted confirm that a 90 F limitation would not result in excessive temperature conditions in the cool water fisheries habitat'ownstream from the plant.
TVA has requested from EPA and the State of Alabama that the maximum temperature limitation be increased, to 90 F.
The EPA is considering an adgudicatory hearing on the matter and. agrees that the plant should be allowed to operate at this higher limitation for an interim period. until August 31, 1977.
In, discussions with the Alabama Water Improvement Commis-sion, State water quality officials also indicated concurrence with the 90 F limit.
All systems described for therma1 discharge limits will be operational I
prior to any significant discharge of waste heat.
The placement of the temperature monitoring instruments shall be such that compliance with water quality criteria will be demonstrated.
The placement of the temperature
. sensors at the 5-foot depth in the waters of Wheeler Reservoir is in accordance with the requirements of the water quality criteria of the State of Alabama.
The temperature data is converted to digital data at the station on the reservoir.
The transmission, computer storage, and monitoring system is being used at other facilities and has performed accurately a'nd reliably.
A Enclosure 2
Justification for Pro osed ETS Chan e
The Tennessee Valley Authority has taken action to comply with applicable thermal water quality,standards of the State of Alabama in the operation of the 3-unit Browns Ferry facility by installing mechanical draft cooling towers.
However, inadequate cooling tower performance has resulted in drastic curtailment of power generation to meet thermal standards during summer'periods when peak load demands are critical on the TVA system.
Recent operating experience has demonstrated that the capability of the mechanical draft cooling towers is reduced by approximately 20 percent when meteorological conditions result in a recirculation of the cooling tower discharge plurne.
This reduction'n cooling tower capability results in an increase in the tower discharge ~ater temperature of around 3.5'F.
The reduced tower capability coupled with extremely high ambient wet bulb temperatures has required reduction in plant generation of 50 percent or more during periods of peak system demands.
Xn addition to these inherent operating problems, TVA recently experienced the partial collapse of the No.
5 tower at Browns Ferry making it unavailable for an indefinite period of time.
A similar failure of an Ecodyne tower U
at another power plant in Texas makes the continued structural integrity of the remaining cooling towers at Browns Ferry questionable without substantial modifications.
Structural repairs of the type needed cannot be made to a tower without removing it from service.
- Thus, we will experience additional constraints on our ability to operate the plant within the present temperature limit of 86'F and at any reasonable generation
level until these problems are corrected.
- Thus, a temporary relaxation of the maximum temperature limit of 86'F to the proposed 90'F value is warranted and is urgently needed.
The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Environmental Statement analyzed the environmental effects of operating the plant with a 10'F rise and 93'F maximum temperature limintation.
This evaluation concluded that the 10'F and 93'F limitations would be adequate to protect aquatic life.
Hydrologic studies recently conducted confirm that a 90'F limitation would not result in excessive temperature conditons in the cool water fisheries habitat downstream from the plant.
This habitat is located below Browns Ferry in the area b tween the Elk River and Wheeler Dam.
The mouth of the Elk River is at about Tennessee River 3Kle 284 or about, 10 miles below Browns Ferry Ferry site.
The expected maximum temperature at this location was calculated to be 89'F.
Based upon evaluations of aquatic impacts in the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Final Environmental Statement and recent hydrologic analyses TVA concludes that operation of the plant using the 90'F maximum limitation will not result in significant biological effects.
TVA has requested from EPA and the State of Alabama that the maximum temperature lied.tation be increased to 90'F.
The EPA is considering an adjudicatory hearing on the matter and agrees that the plant should be allowed to operate at this higher limitation for an interim period until August 31, 1977.
In discussions with the Alabama Water Improvement Commission, State water quality officials also indicated concurrence with the 90'F limit.