ML20042E025

Informs Commission of Recent Activities Re Plant Decommissioning & of Related Actions of NRC Staff

ML20042E025
Person / Time
Issue date:	04/06/1990
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-90-131, NUDOCS 9004170214
Download: ML20042E025 (11)

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NS'MNNNNb g-easeeeveee.ewseseee....e RELEASED TO THE PDR l

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April 6, 1990 SECY-90-131 POLICY ISSUE (NEGATIVE CONSENT)

For:

The Comissioners From:

James M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations

Subject:

STATUS AND DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE FORT ST. VRAIN NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

Purpose:

To inform the Comission of recent activities concerning i

Fort St. Vrain decomissioning and of related actions of the NRC staff.

Background:

This memorandum provides updated information on the status of activities at Fort St. Vrain (FSV). A staff requirements memorandum (SRM) dated April 21, 1989, provided certain requirements concerning the decomissioning of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station and the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station. The staff used the same approach for FSV in ord.er to maintain consistency for plants in the same interim period between plant shutdown and the start of ective decomissioning.

Consistent with the SRM, the Public Seis ke Company of Colorado (PSC or the licensee) stateo thu it would continue to comply with applicable license conditions and regulatory requirements unless and until relief is requested and approved by the NRC (see letter from A.C. Crawford, PSC, to NRC, dated October 24,1989).

Discussion:

The status of recent licensee activities related to actions of the staffs of FSV and NRC follows.

Status of Activities at the Fort St. Vrain Site FSV was permanently shut down on August 18, 1989, because of failure of the control rod drives and degradation of the steam generator ring headers. This shutdown a ' subsequent decision to prepare for decommissioning was ec y, as the licensee had planned to operate the plant urdil 1990 with final shutdown scheduled by June 30, 1990.

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On June 30, 1989,- the licensee submitted a comprehen b c j

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- preliminary decommissioning plan..

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The'11censee's plan includes the removal of all of.the spent 1

e fuel.from:the recctor vessel with one-sixth.of.it being Q

stored in the fuel storage wells and five-sixths of it being-1

-sent to the U.S. Department of. Energy-(DOE). facility. located

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'in Idaho for reprocessing _under an existing contract..The-

,I licensee _ planned to either construct an. independent spent' H

fuel-storage installation (ISFSI) or arrange for DOE to re--

1 process the remaining one-sixth of the core. The maximum' storage. capacity of de fuel storage wells is one-third;of 1

the core.

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After submittal-of the preliminary decomissioning~ pla',.

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'the Governor of ldaho informed DOE that the State of. Idaho would not accept a.7y additional spent fuel from the FSV reactor. The licensee began defueling on November 27, 1989, and completed the removal of one-third of the core (the s

maximum capacity of tee fuel storage wells) on February 7, 1990.

Following the partial defueling, the licensee had intended under 10 CFR 50.59 to. remove. reactor helium circulators and-control rod drives from the reactor,and-ship these compo-

.nents for permanent disposal. Also in February, DOE.

requested the licensee provide ~a portion ~of the helium

. purification-system and a_ steam generator ring header for L

use in a study that is part of a gas-cooled tritium produc-h tion facility evaluation._ Both of.these proposals are under E

discussion between the licensee and the staff.

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During the past year, the staff'at FSV has been reduced from

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500'to 400 staff members. This number will:beEreduced;to k

350 staff members within'the next few months..A significant-p' number of the staff has accepted employment at= other PSC facilities. 'The present staffing level.is-adequate to support plant operations during the present shutdown status and during implementation of decommissioning activities.

Management There have been no significant changes in the management team. The present team is capable of handling the comple-tion of _ defueling, caretaking, and decomissioning actions.

Communications between NRC staff and site management are E

satisfactory. A resident inspector remains assigned to the site until at least June, 1991.

In addition, a weekly progress report is given by phone to NRR and frequent contact also occurs between the project' manager and FSV licensing representatives.

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Operations.

1 Although the number of operations staff members has'de L

creased slightly, the current. number.is adequate to. support J

l final defueling, caretaking,;and deconmissioning activities.

iStaffing requirements for the, shutdown, fueled status in the

,l technical specifications (TS) are being. maintained?.If the-D licensee were to elect to restart FSV, there would'be suffi-<

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cient timesto increase'the number of operations staff-

,d members to 'a level necessary to meet the requirements for power operations-during the period required for the repair v

of the~ steam generator.'

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'4aintenance and Surveillance 9

As required by the TS, normal maintenance activities con-tinued for.those systems needed during reactor shutdown while-fuel-remained in the core and defueling activities were being conducted._ Particular attention was given to i

modifications and maintenance of refueling floor equipment f

and fuel-handling machines.

The licensee has; removed the cryogenic' helium cleanupM

'l system to make room for additional defueling equipment..

This process was' accomplished under 10 CFR 50.59 require-

n ments ad was consistent with Regula. tory Guide 1.86'on decommissioning.

If the licensee elects to restart FSV, L

~there is sufficient time to replace this system during the L

period required for. repair of-the steam generator.

l' Engineering l;

Most modifit.ation: activities in progress before FSV was shut

down have been. discontinued. The Safety Parameter Display System, for example, is' partially complete and tests to make it fully operational have now been postponed. Also, work on the post-accident monitoring system has been stopped.

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Emergency preparedness The licensee's current program reets NRC requirements.

However, the licensee indicat d that it will propose a reduction in emergency plans commensurate with permanent L

shutdown status, g

Safety Assessment (Quality Assurance) l

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The quality assurance.(QA) department has been reduced by f

approximately 35 percent with 19. audit areas consolidated

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'into 5 areas. The NRC QA inspectors have determined, p,

-however, that the licensee's QA activities'are adequate and'

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h meet the objectives of the FSV QA program. The licensee's l.

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QA auditors have' concentrated on defueling and preparations-for fuel s'iipment. Auditors deter.nined:that:the FSV ship-r t.

ping casks were not.in accordance with the Certificate of Compliance; and a-corrective action report'was issued.. On--

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the basis _of the report,-the licensee performed corrective:

actions._-In their inspection during December 1989, NRC:

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inspectors determined that QA reviews were approgriate andL that the deficiencies in the shipping casks.had been

- corrected.

Security-t During. November and December 1989, NRC inspectors ~ verified that the number of armed security officers required by the' security. plan were present and that=a lead se:urity officer

- was on duty for each shift. One violation of NRC reguia-tions, inoperable fire doors, was identified and was subsequently-corrected.

Radiological Controls The.11censee's program'is consistent with the FSV shutdown,-

defueling, and fuel-handling conditions. The NRC_ inspectors observed health physics technicians performing surveys and checking air samples and area radiation: monitors.. Inspec 5 y~.

tors also reviewed the radiological. control procedures-and the posting of controlled areas. The-. inspectors identified; no deficiencies in the FSV radiological ~ control program..

Fitness for Duty By letter dated January 3,1990, the licensee certified that it had implemented a fitness-for-duty program that meets the requirements of 10 CFR Part 26..NRC inspectors attended the licensee's fitness-for-duty training session and' reviewed the' program. The' inspectors identified.no deficiencies.

Status of Licensing Activities By letter dated November 21, 1989, the licensee committe6 to

,y not take the FSV reactor to criticality and to not operate t,

it-at any power level.

In view of the--degraded condition of the control rod drives and steam generator. ring headers, the staff intends to issue a Confirmatory Order, effective immediately, that confirms this comitment by the licensee.

A copy of the order is enclosed (Enclosure 1).

The licensee submitted a proposed amendment to the Fire Protection program Plan that would reduce the number of a

trains for fire protection shutdown and cooldown from three trains to two. This modification is based on the relatively D

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'm, N Thel Commissioners-low levels of decay. heat generated from the spent fuel af tert more than 100 days of cooldown. The staff approved this t

change on Merch 28, 1990.

h The licensee also proposed to construct an independent'spentf

1 fuelstorageinstallation-(ISFSI)thatwouldbelicensed under 10'CFR Pert 72.. All spent fuel would be stored in the N

. ISFSI. -The licansee met'with HMSS to discuss the.ISFSI.

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Should restrictions on the shipment of" spent fuel to 00E not '

. be resolved satisfactorily by-the licensee, the ISFSI would; be constructed.,

The licensee has submitted-a request to change'the operating

=F license:to possession-only-status. As shown-in Enclosure 2,.

the staff expects to act on such amendment in the near-future.

If the-staff identifles any potential unique safety consid-

.erations in an. exemption request, sit:will seek the. advice

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'of the ACRS before granting the exemption.- Based on the staff's preliminary review of the licensee's current submit-

.tals, no unique safety considerations appear to be involved.

A Nonetheless,.the staff has provided their preliminary thoughts to the ACRS for their information and will discuss any future questions with the~ACRS. sumInarizes the licensee.'s submittals.

.We do not expect any-hearing requests relating to NRC approval of'FSV decommissioning.

potential for Further Operations at Fort St. Vrain

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f The licensee initially planned to terminate FSV operations by. June 30, 1990, for economic reasons. However, T5V was permanently shut'down on August 18, 1989, because of failures of the control rods and steam generators. FSV could not be restarted until the control rod drives and the steam generator ring headers were repaired..The licensee estimates that the repair of the control rod drives and the redesign and. installation of new steam. generator ring headers would take up to five years. The licensee also estimates that if FSV were then restarted, it could be op-erated for a maximum of 230 effective full-power days with the current core.

Furthermore, since there are no longer any fuel fabrication facilities for FSV fuel in the U.S. or other countries, no additional fuel could be easily obtained for further operations. One new fuel segment that remair.s

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on site has been sold. This segment, if used, would allow 3

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no more than 290 effective full-power days of adoitional operation.

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.t The licensee is= evaluating plans'.for converting the Fort-4

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St. Vrain facility.into a-conventional',. gas-fueled power-F

. station. The high-pressure, superheated secondary side of -

0 the gas-cooled nuclear plant lends itself to conversion.

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..more -readily than the : team systems _ associated with the P:.

.more typical LU.S. nuclear facilities.-

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Recommendation:~

Unless the Commission directs otherwise, within 10 days from L

L the date cf this paper the staff will issue the enclosed Confirmatory Order.

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g xecutive Director for Operations'

Enclosures:

j 1._ Confirmatory Order 2.

Status of Licasee Licensing Actions

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.'SECY NOTE: ' In,the absence of instructions to the contrary, SECY

. will notify-the staff on~ Friday,. April 20, 1990,Jthat the Commission, by negative consent, assents to the j

action proposed in this paper.

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ENCLOSURE 1 i

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMI_SSION e

cin the Matter of'

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Docket No. 50-267:

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Generating. Station) u CONFIRMATORY ORDER MODIFYING LICENSE (EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY) t I.

1 Public Service Company of Colorado (the licensee) is the holder of Facility-Operating Licefise No. DPR-34 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the NRC) pursuant to 10'CFR Part 50 on December 21', 1973. The license authorizes

-t the operation of-the Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Statien (FSV) at a

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' steady-state power level not in excess of 842 megawatts thermal. -FSV is a high-temperaturegas-cooledreactor(HTGR)locatedat.thelicensee'ssitein Weld County, Colorado.

3 II.

-FSV was shutdown on August 18, 1989, because of control rod failures. The-shutdown was made permanent because of subsequent discovery of degradation of

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steam generator ring headers. By letter dated November 21, 1989, the licensee

--committed not to take the FSV reactor-to criticality and not to operate the reactor at any power level.

The licensee had initially planned to terminate FSV operations by June 30, 1990, for economic reasons. However, because of the problems encountered with 2

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.the control rods and steam generators and the time and financial resources required to correct these problems it was' decided to prepare for an early

- decomissioning. The licensee began defueling on November 27, 1989, and completed'the. removal of.one-third of the core (the maximum :apacity cf-its on-site fue1 storage wells) on February 7, 1990. Completion of defueling~is

' held up-pending resolution of final = disposition of the spent feel. The licensee plans-to either ship spent fuel to a DOE facility located in' Idaho for reprocessing or to construct an independent spent fuel storage installation.

By-letter dated October 24, 1989, the licensee comitted to comply with applicableTechnicalSpecifications,FinalSafetyAnalysisReport(FSAR)and Fire Pratection Program Plan requirements, Security Plan requirements, QA-Program requirements, and Emergency Preparedness requirements during' shutdown and defueling. The licensee assured the NRC that it~will request relief from E

the NRC prior to downgrading activities in any of these areas. Although there has been some reduction in operating and support staff, the NRC has concluded that the present staffing level is adequate to support plant' operations during the present shutdown status.

L III.

E The NRC has determined that the public health and safety require that the licensee not operate for the following reasons:

(1) the failure of the

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control rod drives and degradation of the steam pr.arator ring headers, and (2)theabsenceofNRC-approvedproceduresforretaningtoanoperational 1

L status, systems and equipment that the licensee would need to repair or that

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the licensee has deactivated rather than maintain in an operationally ready

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y 3-1 condition. Such systems and equipment include control rod drives, steam gener-ators, the cryogenic helium cleanup system, most of the plant's safety-related a

l' systems, and most of the plant's auxiliary support systems. The NRC believes c

'that further operation of FSV would be unsafe in its current state without determining the. root cause-of its-failures and without taking appropriate cor-j rective. actions.

On November 21, 1989,- the licensee submitted a letter in which it stated j

r that it would not take the FSV reactor critical or operate it at;any power V

. level. 'I find -the : licensee's comitment as set forth in its letter of November 21, 1989, acceptable and necessary, and I conclude that witn this j

comitment,' the plant's safety is reasonably assured.

In view of~the foregoing, I have determined that the public health and safety require that the licensee's 1

- comitmr,t in its November 21, 1989, letter not to take the FSV reactor critical

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and not to operate the reactor at any power level be confirmed by this Order.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.204, I have also determined that the public health and safoty require that this Order be effective imediately. This Confirmatory Order in no way relieves the licensee of the terms and conditions'of its opera-o ting license.

IV.

Accordin9)y, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, and 1611 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Comission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.204 and 10 CFR Part 50, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, that Facility Operating License No. DPR-34 is modified as follows:

The licensee is prohibited from taking the Fort St. Vrain reactor to L

criticality and the facility shall not be operated at any power level.

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Ary person whose interest may be adversely affected by this order me E

request a hearing on this order within 20 days of the date of issuance. Any

. request for a hearing ~ should be addressed to the' Secretary, U.S; Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington, D.C.

20555, Attention: Chief, Docketing and Services Branch, Office of the. Secretary. Copies shall also be sent to the Director. Office of Enforcement, U.S.' Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington, D.C.

20555;.to the Assistant General Counsel for Hearingt c.d Enforcement, Office:of-the General Counsel, at the same address; and to.Ne Regional Adminis-trator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Region IV, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 1000, Arlington, Texas. 76011.

If any such person requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by this order and should address the criteria-set forth

-in10CFRT.714(a). A-REQUEST FOR HEARING SHALL NOT STAY THE IMMEDIATE EFFEC-TIVENESS OF THIS CONFIRMATORY ORDER.

If a hearing is requested by any person who is adversely affected, the Comission will issue an order desigrating.the thie and place of any hearing.

If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be sustained.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this.

day of 1990 C

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iENCLOSURE;2.-

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-M STATUS OF' LICENSEE s

m LICEh5IsfG ACTIONS CONCERNING FORT ST. VRAIN

-SCHEDULED DATE~

ACTION ISSUE 1.

Change to. authorize use of drumy Complete 12/1/89.

Completed defueling elements to allow defueling to proceed.

2.

Change to upgrade TS for fuel Complete 12/14/89.

Completed handling and storage.

3.

Change to.emove fire protection.

Complete 1/11/90.

Completed requirements from TS and add Fire

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Protection Program Plan..

4.

Financial Plan and Preliminary -

Responses to request for July 1990

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Decommissioning Plan approval.

additional information are now under review.

5.

Confirm plant will remain Issue Confirmatory Order.

10 days after.-

Cosmiission receipt permanently shutdown of status paper-Issue Federal Register Notice.

-May 1,:1990 6.

Application to amend license to remove authority to operate. the Issue SER, EA, and Amendment.

June 20, 1990 reactor at any power level.

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Amendment to revise administrative Federal Register Notice 4/4/90.

Completed controls. Change in organizational Issue SER and Amendment.

June 15, 1990 titles and addition to_ Safety Review Consnittee. Routine administ,ative changes.

8 Amendment to Fire Protection Program Approved 3/28/90.

Completed

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Plan for shutdown /cooldown trains.

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