ML20058N150

Forwards Request for Addl Info Re Simplified BWR Design Certification.Response Requested within 90 Days of Ltr Date

ML20058N150
Person / Time
Site:	05200004
Issue date:	09/01/1993
From:	Malloy M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	Marriott P GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
References
NUDOCS 9310080120
Download: ML20058N150 (5)

Text

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gorov bMh fi t UNITED STATES

( [ X(Y j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ,

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, g.. g WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 September 1,1993

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Docket No.52-004 Mr. Patrick W. Marriott, Manager Licensing & Consulting Services GE Nuclear Energy 175 Curtner Avenue San Jose, California 95125

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (RAI) REGARDING THE SIMPLIFIED BOILING WATER REACTOR (SBWR) DESIGN The staff has determined that it needs additional information to support its review activities related to the SBWR design certification. Some additional information on the SBWR testing programs is needed (Q900.1)*. Please provide a written response to the enclosed question within 60 days of the .iate of this letter.

You have previously requested that portions of the information submitted in the August 1992, application for design certification of the SBWR plant, as supplemented in February 1993, be exempt from mandatory public disclosure.

The staff has not completed its review of your request in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.790; therefore, that portion of the submitted information is being withheld from public disclosure pending the staff's final determination. The staff concludes that this RAI information does not contain those portions of the information for which you are seeking exemption.

However, the staff will withhold this letter from public disclosure for 30 calendar days from the date of this letter to allow GE the opportunity to verify the staff's conclusions. If, after that time, you do not request that all or portions of the information in the enclosure be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790, this letter will be placed in the NRC's Public Document Room.

This RAI affects nine or fewer respondents, and therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under P.L.96-511.

i "The numbers in parentheses designate the tracking numbers assignea to the questions.

9310080120 930901 O l f' hDR ADOCK 05200004 PDR h DYOb m .

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Mr. Patrick W. Marriott- September 1,1993 l

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If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at (301)  !

504-1178 or Mr. Son Ninh at (301) 925-1125. {

Sincerely, l (Original signed by)-

' Melinda Malloy, Project Manager  :

Standardization Project Directorate Associate Directorate for Advanced Reactors and License Renewal  !

! Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation -l l

Enc 1osure: i

, RAI on the SBWR Design i L )

cc w/ enclosure:

See next page Distribution-(w/ enclosure):- l

• Central File PDST R/F l

! *PDR MMalloy SNinh 3 l DMcPherson, 8E2 RElliott, 8H2 JMonninger, SH2  ;

! MSnodderly, 8H2 Alevin, 8E21 RCaruso, 8El  !

! Shou, 7H15 SAli, 7H15 Slee, 7H15 .

TLee, NLN353 .JHan, NLN353 YChen, NLN344 1 CTinkler, NLN344 ANotafrancesco, NLN344 MFinkelstein,15B18 ATGody, Jr., 17G21 GSuh (2), 12E4 Distribution (w/o enclosure):

l DCrutchfield/WTravers RBorchardt JNWilson f PShea TMurley/FMiraglia,12G18 WRussell,12G18  ;

l AThadani/MVirgilio, 8E2 RBarrett, 8H2 RJones, 8E21  ;

GBagchi, 7H15 BSheron/TKing,NLS007 FEltawila, NLN344  !

JMoore, 15B18 ACRS (11) .

• To be held for 30 days O . oD OFC LA:PDST PM:PDST - PMyPDST SD M l

NAME PShea 9/A3 dM)lloy:tz SNN JNW[1-s'on i

DATE 09///h3 09/)/93 09///93 09/1/93 J

DOCUMENT NAME: SBWR9322.MM l

i - - - - -

p'

. Mr. Patrick W. Marriott September 1, 1993 ,

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at (301) 504-1178 or Mr. Son Ninh at (301) 925-1125.

Sincerely, (Original signed by) I Melinda Malloy, Project Manager Standardization Project Directorate Associate Directorate for Advanced Reactors and License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Enclosure:

RAI on the SBWR Design cc w/ enclosure:

See next page Distribution (w/ enclosure):

• Central File PDST R/F

• PDR MMal1oy SNinh DMcPherson, 8E2 RElliott, 8H2 JMonninger, 8H2 MSnodderly, 8H2 Alevin, 8E21 RCaruso, 8El Shou, 7H15 SAli, 7H15 Slee, 7H15 Tlee, NLN353 JHan, NLN353 YChen, NLN344 CTinkler, NLN344 ANotafrancesco, NLN344 HFinkelstein, 15818 ATGody, Jr., 17G21 GSuh (2), 12E4 Distribution (w/o enclosure):

DCrutchfield/Wiravers RBorchardt JNWilson PShea TMurley/FMiraglia,12G18 WRussell,12G18 AThadani/MVirgilio, 8E2 RBarrett, BH2 RJones, 8E21  !

GBagchi, 7H15 BSheron/TKing,NLS007 FEltawila, NLN344 l JMoore, 15B18 ACRS (11) l

• To be held for 30 days J

mb 0FC LA:PDST PM:PDST - PMrPOST SC:PDh NAME PShea 9/A3 -hMlloy:tz SNN JNWIdon DATE 09/f/h3 09/1/93 09///93 09/)/93 i

)

DOCUMENT NAME: SBWR9322.MM

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- Mr. Pa' trick W. Marriott Docket No.52-004  ;

General Electric Company l cc: Mr. Laurence S. Gifford GE Nuclear Energy ,

12300 Twinbrook Parkway ,

Suite 315 ,

Rockville, Maryland. 20852 .

Director, Criteria & Standards Division  !

Office of Radiation Programs- <

U.S. Environmental Frotection Agency '

401 M Street, S.W. i Washington, D.C. 20460 -

i Mr. Sterling Franks  !

U.S. Department of Energy  ;

NE-42 J Washington, D.C. 20585 j Mr. Jeffrey C. Baechler  !

GE Nuclear Energy l 175 Curtner Avenue, MC-782 -

San Jose, California 95125 i Mr. Frank A. Ross '

Program Manager, ALWR i Office of LWR Safety & Technology U.S. Department of Energy ,

NE-42 '

19901 Germantown Road Germantown, Maryland 20574 ,

i

.- 1 l

is* -

i

' l REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (RAI) ON THE l 4 SIMPLIFIED BOILING WATER REACTOR (SBWR) DESIGN l J

Fuel Performance Testing

! 900.1 The staff has learned that GE Nuclear Energy (GE) is planning to perform tests in the " ATLAS" facility on the SBWR fuel design.

There is no specific mention of this testing in any documentation on the SBWR design certification testing program, although a view graph from a July 1991 meeting between the staff and GE refers to a

" confirmatory test schedule established at time of plant order." We infer that the tests would be for the purpose of verifying the applicability of thermal-hydraulic correlations, e.g., critical power, form loss coefficients, etc., in analysis codes to the.SBWR  ;

fuel design, and for providing the data for extending or modifying  ;

such correlations, if necessary.

Despite GE's assertion that this test program is " confirmatory," the staff views the testing as a part of the required' design certifica- ,

tion test program for the SBWR, due to the differences between the '

SBWR fuel design and that used in current-generation BWRs. The staff also views the testing as a safety-related activity under GE's SBWR QA requirements. The validity of relevant thermal-hydraulic correlations for SBWR fuel must.be demonstrated, since these corre-lations play a direct role in safety evaluations of the SBWR, such as in Chapters 4, 6, and 15 transient and accident analyses appear-ing in the SSAR. A reference fuel design was employed in the SSAR analyses as submitted to the NRC, without specific documentation demonstrating that the correlations used for the analyses were -

appropriate for that fuel design.

The staff is aware that a natural circulation BWR (Dodewaard) is currently operating. However, the fuel design of.the Dodewaard plant differs in a number of important aspects (length, diameter, pitch, average power, and power shape) from the reference SBWR design. The staff therefore requests that the following information regarding planned SBWR fuel performance testing:

1. Details of the planned testing, including test specification, ,

test matrix, and test schedule. <

2. Details of the analyses planned in conjunction with the fuel  !

performance' test program, including documentation for tha ther- I mal-hydraulic correlations to be validated for use in SBWR  !

safety analyses.

3. Verification that the ATLAS facility is able to match approximately the appropriate thermal-hydraulic conditions for l SBWR fuel. In particular, how will ATLAS. simulate the natural circulation flow behavior that will exist in the SBWR?

Enclosure

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