ML19267A051

Final Safety Evaluation for Amendment 49 to Topical Report NEDE-24011-P-A-27 Gestar II

ML19267A051
Person / Time
Site:	99901376
Issue date:	09/25/2019
From:	Dennis Morey NRC/NRR/DLP/PLPB
To:	Michelle Catts GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas
Ngola Otto, NRR/DLPPLPB, 415-6695
References
EPID L-2018-TOP-0039, NEDE-24011-P-A-27
Download: ML19267A051 (5)

Text

September 25, 2019 Ms. Michelle P. Catts Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC P.O. Box 780, M/C A-10 Wilmington, NC 28401-0780

SUBJECT:

FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION FOR PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE AMENDMENT 49 TO NEDE-24011-P-A-27, GENERAL ELECTRIC STANDARD APPLICATION FOR REACTOR FUEL (GESTAR II) (EPID L-2018-TOP-0039)

Dear Ms. Catts:

By letter M180192 dated October 1, 2018 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML18274A195), Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC (GNF) submitted Proposed Administrative Amendment 49 to NEDE-24011-P-A-27, General Electric Standard Application for Reactor Fuel (GESTAR II) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff for review.

By letter dated September 18, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19253E303), an NRC draft safety evaluation (SE) regarding our approval of Amendment 49 to NEDE-24011-P-A-27 was provided for your review and comment. By letter dated September 23, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19266A635), you responded that no proprietary information, factual errors, or clarity concerns were identified in the draft SE.

The NRC staff has found that Amendment 49 to topical report (TR) NEDE-24011-P-A-27 is acceptable for referencing in licensing applications for nuclear power plants to the extent specified and under the limitations delineated in the TR and in the enclosed final SE. The final SE defines the basis for our acceptance of the TR.

Our acceptance applies only to material provided in the subject TR. We do not intend to repeat our review of the acceptable material described in the TR. When the TR appears as a reference in licensing applications, our review will ensure that the material presented applies to the specific plant involved. License amendment requests that deviate from this TR will be subject to a plant-specific review in accordance with applicable review standards.

In accordance with the guidance provided on the NRC website, we request that GEH publish approved non-proprietary versions of Amendment 49 to TR NEDE-24011-P-A-27, within three months of receipt of this letter. The approved versions shall incorporate this letter and the enclosed final SE after the title page. The approved versions shall include a "-A" (designating approved) following the TR identification symbol.

M. Catts If future changes to the NRCs regulatory requirements affect the acceptability of this TR, GEH will be expected to revise the TR appropriately or justify its continued applicability for subsequent referencing. Licensees referencing this TR would be expected to justify its continued applicability or evaluate their plant using the revised TR.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Dennis C. Morey, Chief Licensing Processes Branch Division of Licensing Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 99901376

Enclosure:

Final SE cc w/ encl.:

Mr. Kent E. Halac Senior Project Manager, Regulatory Affairs GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC P.O. Box 780, M/C A-70 Wilmington, NC 28401-0780 Kent.Halac@ge.com Dr. Brian R. Moore General Manager, Core & Fuel Engineering Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC P.O. Box 780, M/C A-75 Wilmington, NC 28401-0780 Brian.Moore@ge.com

ML19267A051 Final SE *concurrence via e-mail NRR-043 OFFICE NRR/DLPPLPB/PM NRR/DLPPLPB/LA* NRC/DSS/SNPB/BC NRR/DLPPLPB/BC NAME NOtto DHarrison JBorromeo DMorey DATE 9/25/2019 9/25/2019 9/25/2019 9/25/2019 OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION FOR AMENDMENT 49 TO GLOBAL NUCLEAR FUEL - AMERICAS TOPICAL REPORT NEDE-24011-P-A-27 GENERAL ELECTRIC STANDARD APPLICATION FOR REACTOR FUEL (GESTAR II)

(EPID: L-2018-TOP-0039)

1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

By letter dated October 1, 2018 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML18274A195), Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC (GNF) submitted Amendment 49 to the licensing topical report (LTR) NEDE-24011-P-A-27, General Electric Standard Application for Reactor Fuel (GESTAR II) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff for review. The proposed change will update GESTAR II by referencing the following supplements of NEDC-33173:

NEDC-33173, Supplement 5P-A, Revision 1, Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Supplement for GNF3 Fuel NEDC-33173, Supplement 6P-A, Revision 1, Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Removal of the Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR) Penalty

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

The NRC staff considered the following regulatory requirements in its review of this application: Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.36, Technical specifications [(TS)], which contains regulatory requirements related to the contents of the TS.

Specifically, 10 CFR 50.36(b) states that The technical specifications will be derived from the analyses and evaluation included in the safety analysis report, and amendments thereto, submitted pursuant to § 50.34.

3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

By General Electric-Hitachi (GEH) letter dated August 16, 2019 (Ref. 1), GEH submitted the updated version of NEDC-33173 P-A, Revision 5 after incorporating the NRCs final Safety Evaluations (SEs, Refs. 2 and 3) for the following GEH LTRs:

• NEDC-33173P, Supplement 5, Revision 0, Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Supplement for GNF3 Fuel Enclosure

• NEDC-33173P, Supplement 6, Revision 0, Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Removal of the Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR)

Penalty The proposed amendment would incorporate the above LTRs into GESTAR II. NEDC-33173, Supplement 5P-A provides the basis for the application of GEH computational methods to perform safety analyses relevant to extended power uprate and maximum extended load line limit analysis plus (MELLLA+) licensing for GNF fuel.

NEDC-33173, Supplement 6P-A provides the basis for a reasonable assurance that the imposition of a safety limit minimum critical power ratio penalty for MELLLA+ conditions is unnecessary within the range of power-to-flow ratios examined in the NRC safety evaluation report.

The NRC staff finds the proposed changes in the GESTAR II are administrative, and no technical evaluation is needed.

4.0 LIMITATION AND CONDITION The limitation and condition for Amendment 49 to GESTAR II incorporates those described in the final SEs for NEDC-33173P, Supplement 5 and 6, because Amendment 49 to GESTAR II implements Supplement 5 and 6.

5.0 CONCLUSION

Based on its review of the changes in GESTAR II, the NRC staff has concluded that the changes are administrative. The update of the GESTAR II to Amendment 49 will not change the methods used to generate the TS limits specified in the core operating limit report, ensuring that plant operation, in accordance with the specified limits, is in compliance with the safety analyses. Therefore, the NRC staff approves the requested update of GESTAR II as the requirements of 10 CFR 50.36 continue to be met.

6.0 REFERENCES

1. Letter, M190145 from Brian Moore (GEH) to the USNRC, Incorporation of Supplements 5 and 6 into NEDC-33173P-A, Revision 5, August 16, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19228A269)

2. Final Safety Evaluation for NEDC-33173P Supplement 5 - Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Supplement for GNF3 Fuel (EPID: L-2017-TOP-0033) (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML19064A229)

3. Final Safety Evaluation for NEDC-33173P Supplement 6 - Applicability of GE Methods to Expanded Operating Domains - Removal of the Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratio (SLMCPR) Penalty (EPID: L-2017-TOP-0040) (ADAMS Accession No. ML19199A182)

Principal Contributor: Ahsan Sallman NRR/DSS/SRXB Date: September 25, 2019