ML20155G745

Forwards Ack Receipt of a Petition Filed by Ocre Under 10CFR2.206 Re thermal-hydraulic Instability of BWRs

ML20155G745
Person / Time
Site:	Perry
Issue date:	10/12/1988
From:	Colburn T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	Kaplan A CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING CO.
References
2.206, NUDOCS 8810170424
Download: ML20155G745 (2)

Text

,

October 12, 1988 Docket No. 50-440 s

. DISTRIBUTION

' pocket FilesI hRC & Local PDRs PDIII-3 r/f MVirgilio JHannon PKreutzer TColburn 0GC-WF1  ;

Mr. Alvin Kaplan, Vice President EJordan BGrimes i Nuclear Group ACRS(10) PDIII-3 Gray The Cleveland Electric Illuminating i

Company 10 Center Road  :

Perry, Oh.o 44081

Dear Mr. Kaplan:

Enclosed for your information is a copy of a letter dated August 26, 1988 from the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to the representative of the i Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy (OCRE). The letter (1) acknowledges ,

receipt of a Petition filed by OCRE under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Conmission's l regulations,(2)respondsinthenefativetothePetitioner'srequestfor inmediate action with respect to al BoilingWaterReactors(BWRs),end(3)  !

i states that the Petition is being treated under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Connission's regulations.

Please contact me if you have questions on this issue.

Sincerely,

/s/

l Timothy G. Colburn, Project Manager  !

Project Directorate III-3  !

Division of Reactor Projects - III, '

IV, Y and Special Projects i

i

Enclosure:

i As stated cc: See next page 1

Office: LA/PDI!!-3 PF/PD 3 PD/P  !

Surname: PXreutzer TColburn/tg JHannon Date: /o /f 488 /0 / / A/88 y / p's /88 l

1 i

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0010170424 001012

, PDR ADOCK 05000440 P PNV 8 g l

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Mr. Alvin Kaplan Perry Nuclear Power Plant The Cleveland Electric Unit 1 Illuminating Company cc:

Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge Mr. James W. Harris, Director 2300 N Street, N.W. Division of Power Generation Washington, D.C. 20037 Ohio Department of Industrial Relations David E. Burke P.O. Box 825 The Cleveland Electric Columbus, Ohio 43216 Illuminating Company P.O. Box 5000 The Honorable Lawrence Logan Cleveland, Ohio 44101 Mayor, Village of Perry 4203 Harper Street Resident Inspector's Office Perry, Ohio 44081 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Parmly at Center Re,40 The Honorable Robert V. Orosz Perry, Ohio 4408', Mayor, Village of North Perry North Perry Village Hall Regional Administrator, Region !!! 4778 Lockwood Road U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission North Perry Village, Ohio 44081 799 Roosevelt Road Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137 Attorney General Department of Attorney General Frank P. Veiss, Esq. 30 East Broad Street Assistant Pros 9cuting Attorney Columbus, Ohio 43216 105 Main Stre9t Lake County Administration Center Radiological Health Program Painesville, Ohio 44077 Ohio Department of Health 1224 Kinnear Road Ms. Sue Hiatt Columbus, Ohio 43212 OCRE Interim Representative 8275 Munson Ohio Environmental Protection Mentor, Ohio 44060 Agency 361 East Broad Street Terry J. Lodge, Esq. Columbus, Ohio 43266-0558 618 N. Michigan Street Suite 105 Mr. Phillin S. Haskell, Chairman Toledo, Ohio 43624 Perry Towr ship Board of Trustees Box 65 John G. Cardinal, Esq. 4171 Main Street Prosecuting Attorney Perry, Ohio 44081 Ashtabula County Courthouse Jefferson, Ohio 44047 State of Ohio Public Utilities Comission Robert A. Newkirk 180 East Broad Street Cleveland Electric Columbus, Ohio 43266-0573 Illuminating Company Perry Nuclear Power Plent Michael D. Lyster P. O. Box 97 E-210 Clevaland Electric Perry, Ohio 44081 Illuminating Company Perry Nuclear Power Plant P. O. Box 97 SB306 Perry, Ohio 44081

'o UNITED STATES g

8 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

, , S , WASHING TON,0. C. 20665

+4 August 26, 1988 Ms. Susan L. Hiatt Representative of Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy, Inc.

8275 Munson Road Mentor, OH 44060

Dear Ms. Hiatt:

This is in response to your Petition of July 22, 1988, requesting that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (Director), take imediate action with respect to Boiling Wat)r Reactors (SWRs) 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.

The specific relief requested is to order all BWR licensees to (1) place their reactors in cold shutdown, (2) develop and implement specified procedures relating to the thermal-hydraulic instability issues, (3) demonstrate tha' certain specified training has been provided relating to these procedures, (4) demonstrate the capability of instrumentation related to power oscil-lations (5) develop simulators capable of modeling power oscillations similar ,

to those occurring at LaSalle and out-of-phase power oscillations, (6) report to the NRC regarding all past incidents in which recirculation pumps have tripped off,)(7) submit to the NRC justification for <ontinued operation of BWRs and (8 submit a report to the NRC within one year demonstrating compliancewithGDC12. You also request that the Comission reopen Generic Issues B-19, B-59, the ATWS rulemaking and recons' .r tho use of End-of-Cycle 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 which pose an imediate safety concern for continued BWR operatien. The staff has determined that continued operation of BWRs is justified for the following reasons:

(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 low thermal-hydraulic stability is limited to infrequent, short-term transient conditions following anticipated operr; al occurrences.

(2) Neutron flux oscillations are detectable with p. t ro9itoring and can be easily suppressed b If large l oscillations should occur,yand inserting a manualcontrol scramrods.

is not initiated, it is expected that the high >ower level, Average Power Range Konitor (APRM) Scram protection, witch terminated the LaSalle event provide backup protJction as was the case during the LaSalle, would event. I 1

e ,, , a n , .>*m ,,i pp ( Q g'b W h i 9 s-

. Susan L. Hiatt (3) The magnitude of neutron flux oscillations induced by thermal-hydraulic instability is considerably higher than the oscillations in the average cladding heat flux because of inherent delay in the transfer cf heat through the fuel rods. The NRC Augmented Ins)ection 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, thermal limits for the fuel ware not exceeded.

(4) General Electric Company has provided BWR licensees with guidance on the proper methods to monitor for thermal-hydraulic instabilities and on the actions that should be taken to sup>ress such oscillations if they should occur. Most BWRs 1 ave 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-tions which ensure compliance with GDC 12 are enforced by plant technical specifications.

(5) Compliance with the recommendations in NRC Bulletin No. 88-07 will ensure that any licensed reactor oprator or shif t technical advisor performing shift duties at a BWR will have been thoroughly briefed regarding the LaSalle event; and that ali BWR licensees will have adecuate procedures and operator training programs in place to address power oscillations, regardless of the results of any previous thermal-hydraulic stability analysis. The NRC will perform inspectiMs and take any necessary follow-up action to ensure that procedures and training programs acceptable to the technical staff have been put in place.

Your petition is being treated under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Commission's "

regulations. Appropriate action will be taken within a reasonable tire. A copy of the notice that is being filed for publication with the Office of the Federal Register is eu.losed for your inforeation. Copies of this letter are being sent to those named on the service lists for facilities listed in Enclosure 2.

Sincerely, L . . .

Thomas E. Murley, Director '

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Enclosures:

3. Federal Register Notice

2. List of facilities for cc l

[7590-01]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[DOCKETNO.50-374]

COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY (LaSalle County Station, Unit 2)

RECEIPT OF PETITION FOR DICCTOR'S DECISION UNDER 10 CFR P.206 Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated July 22, 1988, Ohio Citizens for Responsible Ene"gy, Inc, requested the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to take imediate action with respect to Boiling Water

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

denied because the allegations which form the basis of the Petition did not reveal any new operational safety issues which pose an imediate safety concern for continued BWR operation.

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

A copy of the Petition is available for inspection in the Comission's Public Document Room, 1717 H Street, NW., hashington, D.C. 20555 and in the local poblic document room for LaSalle County Station Unit 2 at Jacobs Memorial Library.

Illinois Yalley Comunity College, Rural Route One. Oglesby, Illinois 61348.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMNIS$10N f

T ores E. Murley W-Office of Nuclear, Director Reactor Regu a l

Dated at Rockyf W, Maryland '

this 26 day of August, 1988

,5 5 f $$$ Si 'b - )rf ,

o Susab Lo Hiatt Enclosure 2

, . List of Facilities for cc BOSTON EDISON CO. (PilgrimNuclearPowerStation,DocketNo.50-293)

CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT CO. (Brunswick Station, Units 1 & 2 Docket Hos. 50-324&50-325)

CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING CO., ET AL. (Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1,DocketNo.50-440)

COMMONWEALTH EDISION CO. (Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, Units 2 & 3, Docket Nos. 50-237 & 50-249 ; (Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-254 & 50-265 ; (LaSalle County Station, Units 1 & 2 Docket Nos. 50-373,& 50-374 CONSUMERS POWER CO. (Big Rock Point. Docket No. 50-155)

DETROIT EDISON CO. (Fermi Unit 2, Docket No. 50-341)

GEORGIA POWER r0. (Hatch Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 & ?, Docket No. 50-321&50-366)

GULF STATES UTILITIES CO. (River Bend Station, Docket No. 50-458)

ILLINDIS POWFR CO. (Clinton Nuclear Plant, Docket No. 50-461)

IOWAELECTRICLIGHT&POWERCO.(DuaneArnoldNuclearPowerPlant, Docket 50-331)

GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES (Oyster Creek Station, Docket No. b0-219)

L0hG ISLAND LIGHTING CO. (Shoreharn Nuclear Power Plant, Docket No. 50-322)

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

NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT (Cooper Station, Docket No. 50-298)

N!AGARA M0 HAWK POWER CORP. (Nine Mile Point, Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-220 & 50-410) I l

NORTHEAST UTILITIES (Millstone, Unit 1 Docket No. 50-245) I s

NORTHERNSTATESPOWERCO.(MonticelloNuclearPowerPlant.DocketNo.50263)

PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LMHT CO. (Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 & 2, Docket No. 50-387&50-388).

PHILADELPHIAELECTRICCO.(PeachBottomNuclearStation, Units 2&3.DocketNo.

50-277 4 50-278); (Limerick Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1. Docket No. 50-352)

I POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (James A. Fitzpatrick Station, DocketNo.50-333)

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

l TENNESSEEVALLEYAUTHORITY(BrownsFerr Docket Nos 50 259, 50 260, and 50-296) y Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, & 3  !

VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORP. (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant, Docket No. 50 271)

) WASHINGTONPUBLICPOWERSUPPLYSYSTEM(WNPUnit2,DocketNo.50-397) l l