ML20010E041
| ML20010E041 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Waterford  |
| Issue date: | 08/14/1981 |
| From: | Black S Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Maurin L LOUISIANA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8109020390 | |
| Download: ML20010E041 (2) | |
Text
V AUG 14 19 61
. m Docket tio.:
50-382
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.*.A Mr. L. V. 11 aurin Assistant Vice President - Nuclear Operations jf Louisit.na Power & Light Company p
142 Delaronde Street ibw Orleans, Louisiana 70174
Dear !!r. !! aurin:
SUBJECT:
Letter from Advisory Comittee on Reactor Safeguards - I!aterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 Enclosed for your infonnation is a copy of a letter, dated August 11, 1981, from the Advisory Comnittee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) providing an interin report on its review of your application for an operating license for the Waterford Stean Electric Station, Unit 3.
As stated in the letter, the ACRS expects to issue another report at a later date.
Sincerely,
_ Original signed byl
()v & lh./n Suzanne C. Black, Project !!anecer Licensing Branch flo. 3 Division of Licensing i
Enclosure:
l ACRS Interim Report, dtd. 3/11/81 cc: See next page.
l DISTRIBUTION:
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- -;<. ;. ';. :% r1 n A3;f;ts-t vice President - Nuclear Oce-ations Loui siar.a Pcwer -l, Light Company 142 Jei6rsadc Straat -
urleans, Louisiana 70174 new Attorney General W. Malcolm Steveeson, Esq.
Department of Justice Monr,e & Lemarn State Capitol 1424.Nhitney Building.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804 New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Nr. E. Blake Office of Environmental Affairs ~
ATTN: Administrator Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge
- Nuclear Energy Division 1800 M Street, N. W.
P. O. Box 14690
- ashington, D.C.
20036
)f Capitol Station Baton Rouge, Louisia'na 70098 Mr. D. L. Aswell Vice President, Power Production President, Police Jury Louisiana Power & Light Company St. Charles Parrish
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142 Delaronde Street Hahnville, Louisiana 70057 New Orleans, Louisiana 70174 Mr. F. J. Drumonu Project Manager - Nuclear Louisiana Power & Light Company 142 Delaronde Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70174 Regional Radiation Representative U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Mr. D. B. Lester Region VI office Production Engineer 1201 Elm i reet Louisiana Power & Light Company First International Building 142 Delaronde Street Dallas, Texas 75270 New Orleans, Louisiana 70174 Director, Eastern Environmental Radiation Lyman L,. Jones, J r., Esq.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Facility Gillespitbl.cnes P. O. Box 9216 P. O. Box 3009 Metai ri e, "L' oui si ana 70005 Montgomery, Alabama 36193 l
Luke Fontana, Esq.
Cha!rmanL uisiana Public Service Commis Gillespie & Jones One American Place, Suite 1630 824 Esplanade Ave.
70804
.New Orlear.s, Louisiana 70116 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Stephen M. Irving, Esq.
535 North 6th street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 Resident Inspector /Waterford NPS P. O. Box 822 Killona, Louisiana 70066 Dr. Krishna R. Iyengar Middle South Services, Inc.
i P. O. Box 61000 New Orleans, Louisiana 70161 4
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UNITED STATES
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...c ADVisCRY COMMITTEE ON REACTOR SAFEGUARDS f
W ASHINGTON,0. C. 20555 3,,
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August 11, 1981 The Honorable Hunzio J. Palladino Chairman
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555
SUBJECT:
INTERIM REPORT ON THE WATERFORD STEAM ELECTRIC STATION UNIT 3
Dear Dr. Palladino:
During its 256th meeting, August 6-8, 1981, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards reviewed the application of Louisiana Power & Light Company (Applicant) for a license to operate the Waterford Steam Electric Station Unit 3 (Wa terfo rd-3 ).
This project has been considered at Subcommittee meetings on June 18-19, 1981 in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, and on August 5, 1981 in Washington, D.C.
A tour of the facility was made by Subcommittee members on June 18, 1931.
During its review, the Committee had the benefit of discussions with representatives of the Applicant and the NRC Staff. The Committee also had the benefit of the documents listed.
The Committee commented on the construction pennit application for this unit in its report dated January 17, 1973.
Waterford-3 is located on the bank of the Mississippi River near Taf t, Louisiana in St. Charles Parish.
The city of New Orleans is approximately 25 miles east-southeast from the plant site and Baton Rouge is approximately 50 miles north-northwest. The largest town within 10 miles of the site is Reserve, Louisiana, which had a population of approximately 7000 in 1977.
Waterford-3 uses a Combustion Engineering nuclear steam supply system with a rated power level of 3410 MWt.
The architect-engineer is Ebasco Services, Inc.
The containment is a free standing steel pressure vessel enclosed wi thin a reinforced concrete shield building.
The containment buildf r.g, auxiliary building, fuel handling building, and ultimate heat sink are located on a cominon base mat, forming a self-contained nuclear island.
Louisiana Power & Light (LP&L) is a part of Middle South Utilities (MSU).
Although Waterford-3 is the first nuclear plant to be operated by the Appif-cant, the MSU system has two operating nuclear plants, Arkansas Nuclear One
'Jnits 1 and 2, which are being operated by Arkansas Power and Light Company.
Two additional plants in the MSU system, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Uaits 1 and ?, are under construction by Mississippi Power and Light.
MSU provides some technical services to support the nuclear units in its system.
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t Honorable Munzio J. Palladino August 11, 1981 The Applicant described the management, the operating organization, and the status of staffing.
The NRC Staff has not completed its review of these matters, but reported its conclusion that the management and staffing at Waterford-3 is less weli established than at other nuclear plants at a similar time during their construction and startup schedule.
The LP&L management has not yet been successful in putting together the team of experienced and qualified personnel which we believe will be necessary to successfully operate the plant. Of particular concern is the. lack of nuclear experience tnroughout the organization and the apparent lack of appreciation by high-level management of the magnitude of tne project it is undertaking.
We believe that an extraordinary effort will be required to prepare the LP&L management and staff for operation of the Waterford-3 plant. We also believe that a more concerted effort is needed to build an integrated organization of LP&L and contractor personnel for startup and operation of Waterford-3.
We recommend that the adequacy of management and staffing be established prior to fuel loading.
We will continue to review this matter with the Applicant and the NRC Staff.
The Applicant described the three safety review committees which will be a permanent part of the Waterford-3 organization.
We believe that better use could be made of experts from sources other than the Applicant's organization and i ts contractors to provide professional experience in areas such as training, human factors engineering, and reactor safety.
We recommend that the Applicant make a greater effort to include recognized experts, especially on its Safety Review Committee.
Although a sincere effort has been made to establish a comprehensive training program at Waterford-3, it has suffered from a lack of professional direction.
We believe the Applicant should move as soon as possible to employ & highly qualified professional for the key position of training director and provide him with the resources needed to build an effective program.
Waterford-3 is located in a highly industrialized area with an unusually large concentration of sources of hazardous substances from nearby industries and transportation routes.
We believe the Applicant has done a commendable job in analyzing these hazards and providing for protection of the p1 ant by The NRC Staff has not both equipment design and administrative procedures.
completed its review of this matter, but we believe it can be resolved sati sf actorily.
The Waterford-3 control room makes extensive use of a computer system for monitoring and control of the plant, and for evaluating plant perfarnance.
We commend the initiative the Applicant has shown in this area and tne conti nuing effort to integrate the control rocm equipment wi th operating procedures and human factors considerations, i
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Honorable Nunzio J. Palladino August 11, 1981 Waterford-3 has a unique ultimate heat sink design.
It is contained within the nuclear island and is protected from extreme environmental effects.
It consists of two trains of wet and dry cooling towers.
Sufficient water is stored on the nuclea.r island to meet the needs for shutdown decay heat removal. We believe the design is acceptable.
The Applicant has performed an analysis of total loss of AC power.
The DC power supply is capable of supplying essential loads for at least two hours and the condensate supply is sufficient for a longer period.
We recommend that the Applicant expand th's analysis to consider the effect of loss of space cooling on essential electrical equipnent and to also censider the effect of coolant leakage from the primary system.
Evaluation of tnese matters is a generic issue.
Studies for this plant need not be ccmpleted prior to startup.
We note that a number of iten have been identified as Outstanding Issues in the NRC Staff Safety Evaluation Report dated July 1981.
These include some TMI-2 Action Plan requirements. We believe these issues can be resolved in a manner satisfactory to the NRC Staff, subject to the concerns on instrumenta-tion for detection of inadequate core cooling expressed in the ACRS letter to the Executive Director for Operations dated June 9,1981.
The Committee believes that, contingent on the Apolicant's attainment of an adequate level of management and staffing, if due consideration is given to the recommendations above, and subject to satisfactory compl etion of construction and preoperational testing, there is reasonable assurance that Waterford Steam Electric Station Unit 3 can be operated at power levels up to 3410 MWt without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
l We expect to report further on the adequacy of the staffing and management as progress is made toward improvement.
Sincerely, OkM J. Carson Mark Chai rman
References:
Louisiana Power & Light Company, "Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 1.
3 Final Safety Analysis Report," with Amendments 1 through 20.
2.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, " Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Operation of Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3," Docket No.
50-382, USNRC Report MUREG-0787, July 1981.
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