ML20099B194
| ML20099B194 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Grand Gulf  |
| Issue date: | 02/26/1985 |
| From: | Thompson H Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20099B195 | List: |
| References | |
| TAC-56595, NUDOCS 8503070380 | |
| Download: ML20099B194 (5) | |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NilCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of
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MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
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MIDDLE SOUTH ENERGY, INC., AND
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Docket No. 50-416 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI ELECTRIC POWER
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ASSOCIATION
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(Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1)
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EXEMPIION I.
Mississippi Power & Light Company, Middle South Energy., Inc., and South Mississippi Electric Power Association (the licensees) are the holders of Facility Operating License No. NPF-29, issued November 1, 1984, which authorizes full power operation of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (the facility).
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A superseded license, NPF-13, issued June 16, 1982, authorized licensees to operate the facility at steady-state reactor power levels not in excess of 191 megawatts thermal. These licenses provide, among other things, that they are subject to all rules, regulations and Orders of the Comission.
II.
Section 50.71(e)(3)(i) of 10 CFR Part 50 requires the licensees of nuclear power reactors to submit an Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) within 24 months of either July 22, 1980, or the date of issuance of the operating license, whichever is later. The a*uove regulation would have required submittal of the UFSAR for Grand Gulf Unit 1 by June 16, 1984.
By letter dated February 6,1984, licensees requested an exemption to 10 CFR 50.71(e) which would have deferred submittal of the UFSAR until 12 months after Unit 2 was licensed on'the-basis that-the FSAR is written,for both Unit 1 8503070300 850226 PDR ADOCK 05000416 P
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. ~and Unit 2 of GGNS.- By ' letter dated June'26,1984, the NRC staff denied that request because Unit 2 is scheduled to be completed after 1990; and the staff requested the licensees to provide a modified exemption request.
By letter dated December 31,'1984, the licensees requested an exemption to defer submittal of the UFSAR for Unit 1 of GGNS until December 1,1985, on the basis that licensees'engineeringpersonnel,whowi(1beinvolvedintheengineering review of the UFSAR, are needed to support startup testing of Grand Gulf Unit 1 now in progress.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensees' request for an extension of the Grand Gulf Unit 1 UFSAR submittal date to December 1,1985. The extension is needed for Grand Gulf Unit 1 because of the long interval between issuance of the low power license and authorization of full power operation.
For most plants, ample time is available after completion of startup testing for updating the FSAR within the 24 month interval allowed in 10 CFR 50.71(e). However, for Grand Gulf, power ascension testing started September 1,1984, about 26 months after issuance of the low power license. Startup testing is expected to be completed in April 1985.
It is desirable to complete low power and power ascension testing before updating the FSAR so that design modifications.found necessary by testing can be incorporated and so that licensees' engineering personnel who are heavily involved in the support of startup testing and resultant plant modifications can be used in preparing and reviewing the updated FSAR. Thus, for Grand Gulf Unit 1, good cause has been shown for the requested extension of the date for submittal of the updated Final Safety Analysis Report.
.The requested extension to December 1, 1985 (8 months after startup testing is ed
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scheduled to be completed) will allow the licensees' engineering personnel necessary and sufficient time to complete startup testing and resultant design changes before conducting the engineering review associated with the preparation of the UFSAR.
The NRC staff considered safety aspects of the requested extension to the UFSAR submittal date. During the long in.terval of low power and power ascension testing to date, Mississippi Power & Light Company (MP&L) has submitted four FSAR amendments and other licensing documents providing information regarding changes in plant design, plant procedures, and safety analyses. MP&L will con-tinue to provide information and analyses needed for accurate and timely evalua -
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tion of matters of safety s1gnificance, pending submittal'of the UFSAR. MP&L has also implemented a system to make controlled copies of principal design drawings available to reactor control room operators and emergency response facility staff. Thus, the granting of the requested extension will have no significant impact on plant safety.
i The public interest will be served by granting the exemption since licensees can continue to use engineering personnel to support startup testing, thus, assuring corrpletion of startup testing and start of commercial operation sooner than would be the case if engineering per onnel were diverted to update i
i the FSAR.
l' Based on its review, the staff concludes that issuance of this exemption will have no significant effect on plant safety.
Further, this action is in the public interest and good cause has been shown to support the exemption.
Therefore, an 18 month exemption from the date of compliance is acceptable.
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1 1-1 r l Pursuantto10CFR51.3$,theCommiss'ionhasdeterminedthattheissuance of this exemption will have no significant impact on the environment (50 FR j
5830),
III.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 550.12, an exemption is authorized by law and wil'l not endanger life or property or the common defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission'h'ereby approves the following temporary exemptio'n from compliance with the ilune 16, 1984, date for submitting an UFSAR:
An updated FSAR (UFSAR) containing those original pages of the FSAR that are still applicable plus new replacement pages shall be, filed by December 1,1985. This UFSAR shall bring the FSAR up to date as of a
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revision of the UFSAR shall be filed no later than December 1, 1986, with subsequent revisions no less frequently than annually thereafter.
Dated at Bethesda, Maryland, this 26*h day of February 1985.
I FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ud Hugh. Thompson, D Divi ' n of Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation p
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.-a....._u-s Grand Gulf - EXEMPTION February 26, 1985 ket No.
50-416 NRC'PDR Local PDR PRC System NSIC LB#4 Reading M. Duncan L. Kintuer E. Adensam T. Novak j
Attorney, OELD C.. Miles, OPA W. Miller, LFMB E. Jordan L. Harmon T. Barnhart (4)
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