ML20154M250

Responds to Generic Ltr 88-05, Boric Acid Corrosion of Carbon Steel Reactor Pressure Boundary Components in PWR Plants. Appropriate Revs Will Be Made to Plant Procedures, Including Clarifying Engineering Evaluation,By 880930

ML20154M250
Person / Time
Site:	Trojan File:Portland General Electric icon.png
Issue date:	05/27/1988
From:	Cockfield D PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM)
References
GL-88-05, GL-88-5, IEB-82-02, IEB-82-2, TAC-68960, NUDOCS 8806010226
Download: ML20154M250 (2)

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Portland General Electric Company

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David W. Cockfield Vice President, Nuclear ;

May 27, 1988 Trojan Nuclear Plant Docket 50-344 License NPF-1 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington DC 20555 l

Dear Sir:

Response to Generic Letter 88-05:

Boric Acid Corrosion of Carbon Steel Reactor Pressure Boundary Components in PWR Plants Pursuant to Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 50 (10 CFR 50),

Section 54, Paragraph (f), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued Generic Letter 88-05 which requires licensees to have a program addressing boric acid corrosion of reactor coolant pressure boundary (RCPB) components in order to ensure compliance with General Design Criteria 14,30 and 31.

The generic 1ctter requested that licensees provide assurances that a program has been implemented consisting of systematic measures to ensure that boric acid corrosion does not lead to degradation of tha RCPB. The program should provide assurance that the RCFB will have an extremely low-probability of abnormal leakage, rapidly propagating failure or gross rupture. This letter provides Portland General Electric's (PGE's) response as required by Generic Letter 88-05.

As stated in the generic letter, numerous NRC Information Notices, Office of Information and Enforcement (IE) Bulletin 82-02, and an Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) report have been previously issued addressing the problem of boric acid corrosion due to leaking primary coolant. The various NRC notices and the INPO report were evaluated under PGE's Operating Experience Review Program (OERP) for applicability to the Trojan facility. As a result of these reviews and IE Bulletin 82-02, Plant procedures have been written and/or upgraded to address boric acid corrosion.

In addition, the essential program elements described in Generic Letter 88-05 have been reviewed and compared with our existing program. As a result of this review, recommendations to enhance our current program have been made. These include, clarifying the engineering evaluation, improving component location information, and ensuring that leakage surveillances, trends, findings, and related repairs are well documented. Revisions as appropriate will be made to Plant procedures by September 30, 1988.

8806010226 880527 PDR P

ADOCK 05000344 DCD 1 ,

1215 W Mnun Sneet Pccard. Onye 97204

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W Gerierd BedricCoriperiy Document Control Desk-May,27 1988 Page 2

- Plant procedures currently in place-include provisions for. visually inspecting Reactor Coolant System (RCS) components for leakage and the effects of boric acid corrosion. A visual inspection of the RCS is performed prior to a return-to-power from a refueling shutdown, modification, or repair where the system has been opened. The visual inspection is also performed during Modes 4, 5, or 6 following a shutdown from Mode 1, in which the time elapsed from the previous inspection is more than 30 days, and the shutdown duration is greater t.han 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. These procedures are consistent with recomendations in the generic letter and the statement in the attachment to the generic letter that visual examina-tion is the most reliable method of-identifying boric acid corrosion. The results from performance of the visual inspection procedure are evaluated and appropriate actions are taken to clean up boric acid deposits and resolve any leakage problems.

PGE performs RCS leakage monitoring and trending in accordance with Technical Specification requirements and Plant procedures. The use of ferritic steel components in RCS applications is controlled by material control and engineering procedures. PGE feels that these actions in conjunction with the visual inspections discussed above, provide an adequate program for addressing RCS leakage and boric acid corrosion of RCPB components. This program assures that Trojan continues to meet the requirements of. General Design Criteria 14,30 and 31 of Appendix A to 10 CFR 50.

l Sincerely, c: Mr. John B. Martin

, Regional Administrator, Region V l U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mr. Bill Dixon j- State of Oregon Department of Energy Mr. R. C. Barr l NRC Resident Inspector i Trojan Nuclear Plant subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of May 1 88.

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