ML20151T531
| ML20151T531 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 08/20/1998 |
| From: | Lochbaum D UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS |
| To: | Hunegs G NRC |
| References | |
| 50-333-98-02, 50-333-98-2, NUDOCS 9809100041 | |
| Download: ML20151T531 (2) | |
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l UNION OF r;
' CONCERNED "
' SCIENTISTS August 20,1998 Mr. Gordon Hunegs Senior Resident Inspector, James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission PO Box 41 Scriba, NY 13093 2
SUBJECT:
CONCERNS ABOUT MOVING SPENT FUEL WITH THE REACTOR HUILDING CRANE
Dear Mr. Hunegs:
Section E8.1 of NRC Integrated Inspection Report No. 50-333/98-02 dated July 2,1998 addresses New York Power Authority's (NYPA) plans to use the reactor building crane to move irradiated fuel
- assemblies within the spent fuel pool at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The inspection report describes various NRC concerns with the sarety evaluttion prepared by NYPA for this activity. In fact, the report states, "the quality of the original safety evaluation was poor.. " The report indicates that the safety evaluation had been revised to resolve the NRC's concerns.
UCS has not reviewed either the original or the revised safety evaluation prepared by NYPA because these documents are not publicly available. Therefore, we are not able to independently determine whether our concerns with moving irradiated fuel assemblies with the reactor building crane have been addressed. We submit the following questions / concerns to you and respectfully request a written response sent to our DC office:
- 1) The refueling platform is the method for moving irradiated fuel assemblies that is described in the FitzPatrick Updated Final Safety Analysis (UFS AR). The refueling platform features a telescoping rigid mast with a grapple to pick up and transport irradiated fuel assemblies. The reactor building crane features a sixty to eighty feet long cable. If the bottoni of an assembly were to become snagged on a storage rack, the maximum displacement of the assembly from the vertical plane is virtually limited to significantly less than the assembly's length by the rigid mast of the refueling platform.
The vertical displacement could be greater when an assembly is attached to a very long, flexible cable. If the bottom of the snagged fuel assembly is freed, the range of motion is again limited by the rigid mast to less than the motion permitted by the long, Ikxible cable. Did the safety evaluation address the probability / consequences of an irradiated fuel tssembly being subject to larger vertical displacement?
\\j 9809100041 980820 PDR ADOCK 05000333 I
C PDR f"0 Washington Office: 1616 P Street NW Suite 310. Washington DC 20036-1495 202 332-0900. FAX: 202-332 0905 Cambridge Headquarters: Two Brattle Square. Cambridge MA 02238-9105 617-547-5552. FAX: 617-864-9405 California Office: 2397 Shattuck Avenue Suite 203. Berkeley CA 94704-1567 510-843-1872. FAX: 510-C43-3785
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- 2) The refueling platform at most boiling water reactors (BWRs) like FitzPatrick contains a load cell to prevent the granple/ hoist from picking up a weight heavier than a single fuel assembly. This feature also protects a fuel assembly from being torn apart if its lower end gets stuck in the storage rack. Did the safety evaluation address the load cell protection afforded by the reactor building crane?
' 3) The NRC inspection report states that "Use of the overhead crane to move spent fuel assemblies creates the possibility of a different way ofinitiating a fuel handling accident but is bounded by the worst case accident and therefore has been evaluated previously in the UFSAR." This statement is ambiguous. If the risk of handling irradiated fuel assemblies with the reactor building crane is bounded by the UFSAR analysis, then I concur. If the consequences are bounded by the UFSAR analysis, then the statement is only correct if the probability of a fuel handling when using the crane is equal to or less than the probability of an accident when using the refueling platform. If using the crane to move irradiated fuel assemblies increases the probability of an accident, than this activity is
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an unreviewed safety question even if the consequences of that accident are bound by the current UFSAR accident. Is the probability of a fuel handling accident using the reactor building crane greater than the probability when using the refueling platform?
- 4) Has NYPA moved aay irradiated fuel assemblies using the reactor building crane? If not, when do they plan to conduct this activity?
i Please contact me at (202) 332-0900 if there are any questions regarding our concerns.
Sincerely, h
NGAI 0*
A David A. Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer cc:
Mr. Hubert J. Miller, Regional Administrator Mr. Edward Baker, Agency Allegation Advisor i