ML20154M704

Forwards NRR to Ocre Ack Receipt of 10CFR2.206 Petition,Responding in Negative to Petitioner Request for Immediate Action Re All BWRs & Stating That Petition Being Treated Under 10CFR2.206 of Commission Regulations

ML20154M704
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	09/22/1988
From:	Black S NRC OFFICE OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
To:	White S TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
References
2.206, NUDOCS 8809290064
Download: ML20154M704 (3)

Text

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September 22, 1988 Do'cket Hos. 50-259 50-260 and 50-296 Mr. S. A. White Senior Vice President Nuclear Power Tennessee Valley Authority 6N 38A Lookout Place 1101 Harket Street Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801 Dear Mr. White Enclosed for your infomation is a copy of a letter dated August 26, 1988 from the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to the Representative of the Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy (0CRE). The letter (1) acknow.

ledges receipt of a Petition filed by OCRE under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Comission's regulations, (2) responds in the negative to the Petitioner's request for imediate action with respect to all Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and (3) states that the Petition is being treated under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Comission's regulations.

Please contact me if you have questions on this issue.

Sincerely.

Original Signed by Suzanne Black, Assistant Director for Projects TVA Projects Division Office of Special Projects

Enclosure:

DISTR!LUTION: ,

Letter dtd. 8/26/88 to 1 Socht file- '

BGrimes  !

Ms. Susan L. hiatt, OCRE NRC POR Edordan l Local POR ACRS(10) .

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Mr. S. A. White- Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant l

1 l cc w/ enclosure:

l General Counsel Regional Administrator, Region II Tennessee Valley Authority U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission l 400 West Sumit Hill Drive 101 Marietta Street, N.W.

E11 B33 Atlanta, Georgia 30323 l - Knoxville, Tennessee 37902 (

Resident Inspector / Browns Ferry NP l

Mr. R. L. Gridley U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission  :

Tennessee Valley Authority Route 12, Box 637 I SN 157B Lookout Place Athens, Alabama 35611 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801  ;

i Mr. C. Mason Dr. Henry Myers, Science Advisor i Tennessee Valley Authority Cosmittee on Interior '

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and Insular Affairs

• P.O. Boy. 2000 U. S. House of Representatives Decatur Alabama 35602 Washington. 0.C. 20515 Tennessee Valley Authority Mr. P. Carier Rockville Office Tennessee Valley Authority 11921 Rockville Pike Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Suite 402 P.O. Box 2000 Rockville, Maryland 20852 ,

Decatur, Alabama 35602 Nr. D. L. Williams Tennessee Valley Authority 400 West Sumit Hill Drive W10 885 Knoxville, Tennessee 37902 ,

Chairman, Limestone County Comission P.O. Box 188 Athens, Alabama 35611 '

Claude Earl Fox, M.0, State Health Officer State Department of Pubile Health  :

State Office Building ,

Montgorary, Alabama 36130 i

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1. % UNITED 8TATES 8 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

$ WASHlWOTON O. C. 30684

% . August 26, 1988 Ms. Susan L. Hiatt Representative of Ohio Citizens for

• Responsible Energy, Inc.  :

8275 Munson Road Mentor, OH 44060 l

Dear Ms. Hiatt:

This is in response to your Petition of July 22, 1988, requesting that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor R6gulatio.. (Director), take 'senediate ,

action with respect to Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) to relieve what you allege to be undue risks to the public health and safety posed by the thermal-hydraulic instability of boiling water reactors, as revealed by an .

event at LaSalle County Station Unit 2 on March 9, 1988. ,

l 1 The specific relief requested is to order all BWR licensees to (1) place their reactorsincoldshutdown,(2)developandimplementsp(ecifiedprocedures.

relating to the thermal-hydraulic instability issues, 3) demonstrate that '

certain specified training has been provided relating to these procedures, (4) demonstrate the capability of instrumentation related to power oscil-1 lations, (5) develop simulators capable of modeling power oscillations similar to those occurring at LaSalle and out-of-phase sower oscillations (6) report to the NRC regarding all past incidents in whici recirculation pumps have l

s trippedand BWRs off,)(7)

(8 submitsubmit to thetoNRC a report justification the NRC for year within one continued operation of demonstrating i

corpI1ancewithGDC12. You also request that the Comission reopen Generic

. Issues B-19, B-59, the ATWS rulemaking and reconsider the use of End-of-Cycle a

Recirculation Pump Trip on BWRs.

Your request for imediate relief is denied because the allegations which form

the basis for your Petition do not reveal any new operational safety issues i

which pose an irrediate safety concern for continued BWR operation. The staff has determined that continued operation of BWRs is justified for the following i reasons:

1 (1) Current BWR Technical Specifications place restrictions on power operation of the reactor under conditions of natural circulation or single recirculation loop cooling such that operation in regions of J

' low thermal-hydraulic stability is limited to infrequent, short-term transient conditions following anticipated operational occurrences.

(2) Neutron flux oscillations are detectable with proper monitoring and can be easily suppressed by inserting control rods. If large oscillations should occur, and a manual scram is not initiated, it

, is expected that the high power level Average Power Range Monitor (APRM) scram protection, which terminate 1 the LaSalle event, would i provide backup protection as was the case during the LaSalle event.

J TJ

Susan L. Hiatt ,

(3) The magnitude of neutron flux oscillations inhud by thermal-hydraulic instability is considerably higher thcc the oscillations in the average cladding heat flux because of inh = rent delay in the transfer of heat through the fuel rods. The NRC Augmented Ins pection Team (AIT) for the March 9, 1988 LaSalle event reported that tie

, amplitude of the heat flux oscillations during the event were estimated to be less than 10% of the value for the neutron flux ,

oscillations and that because of the smaller changes in heat flux,

• 1 thermal Ifmits for the fuel were not exceeded.

(4) General Electric Company has*provided BWR licensees with guidance on the proper methods to monitor for thermal-hydrsulic instabilities and on the actions that should be taken to supsress such oscillations if they should occur. Most BWRs iave implemented such

, methods in response to NRC Generic Letter 86-02 which provided for

the technical resolution of Generic Issue B-19. The operating limita--

4 tions which ensure compliance with GDC 12 are enforced by plant technical specifications.

(5) Compliance with the recorsnendations in NRC Bulletin No. 88-07 will ensure that any licensed reactor operator or shift technical advisor performing shif t duties at a BWR will have been thoroughly briefed .

regarding the LaSalle event; and that all BWR licensees vill h& w adequate procedures and operator training prograris in place to

, address power oscillations, regardless of the results of any previous thermal-hydraulic stability analysis. The NRC will perform inspections and take any necessary follow-up action to ensa.e that trocedures and training programs acceptable to the te

hnicti staff aave been put in place. -

Your Petition is being treated under 10 CFR 2.206 of the ComissioCs i regulations. Appropriate action will be taken within a reasonable time. ?

copy of the notice that is being filed for publication with th! Office of the l Federal Register is enclosed for your information. Copies of this letter are being sent to those named on the service lists for facil1*1es listed in

Enclosure 2.

i l Sincerely, J

~_ { /&-- - ..

Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reat. tor Regulation

Enclosures:

1. Federal Register No' ice l 2. List of facilities for cc l

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[7590-01) <

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[00CKETNO.50-374]

COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY (LaSalle County Station, Unit 2)

RECEIPT OF PETITION FOR DIRELTOR'S DECISION UNDER 10 CFR 2.206 Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated July 22, 1988, Ohio Citizens fo- Responsible Energy, Inc. requested the Director of Nuclear i

Reactor Regulation to take innediate action with respect to Boiling Water -

2 Reactors to relieve what Petitioner alleged to be undue risks to the public liealth and safety posed by an event at LaSalle County Station, Unit 2, in Illinois on March 9, 1988. Patitioner's request for innediate relief was .

denied because the allegations which form the basis of the Petition did not '

reveal any new operational safety issues which pose an innediate safety concern for continued BWR operation.  ;

The Petition is being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the Connission's regulations. As provided by i 2.206, appropriate action will be taken on the i Petition within a reasonable time.

A copy of the Petition is available for inspection in the Connission's Public Document Room, 1717 H Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20555 and in the local public l document room for LaSalle County Station Unit 2 at Jacobs Memorial Library, Illinois Valley Connunity College, Rural Route One, Oglesby, Illinois 61348. l FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION l

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- h T oras E. Murley, Director l

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Office of Nuclear Reactor Regu a 1 Dated at Rockville, Maryland I this 26 day of August, 1988 l n e, a n n i? c >>

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.. Susan L. Histt Enclosure 2 .

J.istofFacilitiesforcc BOSTON EDISON CO. (PilgrimNuclearPowerStation,DocketNo.50-293)

CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT CO. (Brunswick Station, Units 1 & 2 Docket Nos. 50-324 & 50-325) l CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING CO., ET AL. (Perry Nuclear Power Plant. l Unit 1,DocketNo.50-440) l COM)NWEALTH EDISION CO. (Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, Units 2 & 3

. Docket Nos. 50-237 & 50-249 ; Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 & 2, 4

Docket Nos. 50-254 1 50 265 ; LaSalle County Station, Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-373 4 50-374 d

CONSUMERS POWER CO (Big Rock Point, Docket No. 50-155)

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DETROITEDISONCO.(FermiUnit2,DocketNo.50-341)

GEOPGIA POWER CO. (Hatch Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 & 2, Docket No. 50-321&50-366)

GULF STATES UTILITIES CO. (River Bend Station, Docket No.60-458)

ILLINOIS POWEP CO. (Clinton Nuclear Plant. Docket No. 50-461) 10WAELECTRICLIGHT&POWERCO.(DuaneArnoldNuclearPowerPlant, Docket 50-331)

GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES (Oyster Creek Station, Docket No. 50-219)

LONG!$LANDLIGHTINGCO.(ShorehamNuclearPowerPlant,DocketNo.50-322) l

, MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT CO. (Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Docket No. 50-416) l I

NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT (Cooper Station, Docket No. 50-298) l NIAGARA PoHAWK POWER CORP. (Nine Mile Point, Units 1 & 2. Docket Nos. 50-220&50-410)

NORTHEASTUTILITIES(Millstone, Unit 1DocketNo.50-245)

I NORTHERNSTATESPOWERCO.(MonticelloNuclearPowerPlant,DocketNo.50-263)

PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT CO. (Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. Units 1 & 2 Docket No. 50-387 & 50-308)-

PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC CO. (Peach Bottom Nuclear Station, Units 2 & 3. Docket No. )

50-277 & 50-278); (Limerick Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1. Docket No. 50-352) l l

POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (James A. Fitzpatrick Station.

DocketNo.50-333) I 1

PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC & GAS CO. (Hope Creek Generating Station, Docket No. 50 354)

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (Browns Ferry Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, & 3 Docket Nos 50-259,50-260,and50-296) l VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORP. (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Docket No. 50-271)

WASHINGTONPUBLICPOWERSUPPLYSYSTEM(WNPUnit2.DocketNo.50-397) l

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