ML20195F997
| ML20195F997 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 06/11/1999 |
| From: | Hood D NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Judson T NEW YORK, STATE OF |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9906150160 | |
| Download: ML20195F997 (5) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-0001 b,
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Jme 11,1999
' Mr. Tim Judson Syracuse Peace Council -
924 Bumet Avenue
. Syracuse, NY 13203
Dear Mr. Judson:
By letter and fax dated May 13,1999, you forwarded to me a copy of "An Open Letter to Central New York on the Nine Mile One Nuclear Reactor," dated April 9,1999, and a " Petition to US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the Nine Mile Point Unit One Core Shroud inspection,"
signed by 187 people. The open letter and petition present your proposals for the core shroud reinspection that began April 11,1999. You propose that the NRC:
(1) Augment Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's (NMPC's) inspection plan to include sca is of the plates in areas outside core shroud welds V-9 and V-10; and (2) Publicly disclose the results of the core shroud inspection at least 1 week before the scheduled restart date for Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (NMP1), so as to allow for public review and response before operation resumes.
Since the date of your letter, NMPC has completed the reinspection of the shroud and has repaired the two shroud vertical welds (V-9 and.V-10) that have significant cracks.' The repair used special clamps that the NRC staff approved by letter dated April 30,1999.. The repair clamps mechanically restore the vertical welds. NMPC has vert > ally informed the NRC staff that j
the reinspection of other vertical welds during the current refueling outage indicates,that repairs
-l are not needed.' The shroud horizontal welds were structurally replaced by four tie-rod assemblies that were installed in 1995 due to extensive cracking. NMPC has verbally informed
' the NRC staff that, based upon the inspections during the current outage, the tie rods are i
satisfactorily performing their intended function of maintaining a predetermined compressive
'i force ("preload") on the shroud during power operation. NMPC also completed a modification to the upper spring assembly of each tie rod assembly, adding new brackets to replace the function of 3/8-inch cap screws that attach the spring to brackets located at bott, ends'of the
. spring.' The upper spring assembly does not affect the tie rod's pre!aad function during power
- operation. The NRC staff authorized the upper spring assembly modification by letter dated -
,t June 7,1999.
o Regarding your proposal in item (1) above, NMPC has verbally informed us that ultrasonic 1
- examinations were performed in the accessible areas of base metal 12 to 18 inches along either side of ' shroud vertical welds V-9 and V-10. These inspections were performed Tvoluntarily by.NMPC as no NRC regulation or industry standard requires the inspection of the base metal.
. Regarding item (2) above; NRC inspectors have monitored NMPC's shroud reinspection and i repair activities during the current refueling outags. Their observations indicate NMPC and its contractor personnel have followed the reinspection plan that the NRC approved by letter dated a
9906150160 990611 PDR ADOCK 05000220 P
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T.Judson March 24,1999. An NRC inspection report on the outage activities will be issued in the near
. future-. NMPC's reinspection results and the NMPC's analysis to disposition these reinspection findings are required to be submitted to the NRC within 30 days of completing the reinspection and will be made publicly available. Therefore, the reinspection results will not be made available to you before that time. <
in response to your letter, and s' imilar letters from others, the NRC staff considered holding a meeting to hear the public's views on the reinspection results before restart. Our discussion with NMPC indicated that a meeting on reinspection results before restart would require significant NMPC participation and preparation. NMPC was concerned that, because this -
- would involve some of the same key employees and contractor personnel involved with outage activities, a meeting before restart would interrupt their current efforts, which would not be in the I
best interest of safety. NMPC also informed us that, since the NRC has held two previous meetings to hear the public's views on the NMP1 core shroud, and in view of their corrective l
actions, NMPC considert. a third meeting to be an unnecessary regulatory burden since their
. reinspection and repair activities have followed approved industry guidance. After considering both the public's expressed interest and NMPC's statements, the NRC concluded.that a l
meeting with the public before restart was not warranted.
In the open letter, you express concem that the NRC has not responded to Dr. Steven Penn's letters dated December 3,1998, and March 28,1999, regarding the NMP1 core shroud.
- Following telephone discussions with Dr. Penn, by letter dated May 28,1999, the NRC l
responded to both letters, as well as a third letter dated April 15,1999. By letter dated April 30, 1
1999, NMPC also responded to Dr. Penn's letter of March 28,1999. You also cite earlier concerns expressed by David Lochbaum of the Union of Concemed Scientists. Mr. Lochbaum previously provided severalletters to the NRC regarding the NMP1 core shroud which were subsequently addressed by the NRC. I believe the NRC has been responsive to the expressed concerns of both individuals.
Lin your letter of May 13,1999, you request certain information regarding NMPC's repair of vertical welds V-9 and V 10. Specifically, you request that i fax to you information on the
' dimensions of the holes and the thickness of the pins being placed through them to attach the i
bracing plates to the core shroud; information on the estimated gamma ray and, neutron flux j
- through the holes being drilled through the core shroud on either side of these welds; and information on the intergranular stress-corrosion cracking (IGSCC) susceptibility of the steel of
' which the plates and pins are made. The dimensions of the holes and pin thicknesses involve proprietary aspects of the design and are not publicly available. The dimensions (including i
l thickness) and attenuation properties of the newly added components of the repair (i.e.,
L bayonet eccentric, threaded pin, and plate) are sufficient to ensure that gamma or neutron flux l
penetrating the shroud will not be increased, even though a slight crevice exists between the pin and some edges of the hole machined in the shroud. Any water in the crevice would provide additional attenuation of the neutron flux. The repair clamps for NMP1 vertical welds V-9 and V-10 are fabricated from solution annealed Type XM-19 austenitic stainless steel, and XM 19 material is used for all parts of the repair clamp assembly. The IGSCC susceptibility of l
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i T.Judson !
L XM-19 material is established in the Boiling Water Reactor Vessel'and Internals Project's document BWRVIP-02, " Core Shroud Repair Design Criteria," which was approved by the NRC -
staff in a safety evaluation (SE) dated September 29,1994. As stated in that SE, the BWRVIP-l 02 report allows use of Type XM-19 austenitic stainless steels provided (1) the material is solution annealed and water quenched, (2) the material's stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance is verified by Practice A or Practice E of American Society for Testing and Materials A262, " Standard Practices for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Austenitic Stainless Steels", and (3) materials in the hot-rolled or cold-reduced condition are demonstrated to be SCC resistant by slow-strain-rate testing under BWR environmental conditions. The NMP1 clamp materials satisfy these conditions. The BWRVlP-02 report is proprietary in its entirety, and I cannot provide a copy to you.
You requested that your letter of May 13,1999, with its attached open letter and petition, be placed in the Public Document Room (PDR) and on the NRC's web site. We have placed the documents in the PDR as you requested, but have not placed them on the NRC's web site.
The NRC's web site is currently reserved for NRC documents. The NRC's system for routinely making publicly available documents available on the web (a.k.a., the Agency Wide Documents l
Access and Management System or " ADAMS") is not yet in place, but is scheduled for l
- implementation early in the year 2000.
Thank you for you efforts in this matter and for sharing your concerns with the NRC.
1 Sincerely, DaDid Darl S. Hood, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I i
Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-220 l
cc: See next page 1
1 4
b T.Judson e 7 m j1, 1999 j;
XM-19 m;tirill is established in ths Boiling Wat:r Reactor Vessel and Internals Project's
~ document BWRVIP-02," Core Shroud Repair Design Criteria," which was approved by the NRC staff in a safety evaluation (SE) dated September 29,1994. As stated in that SE, the BWRVIP-02 report allows use of Type XM-19 austenitic stainless steels provided (1) tne material is solution annealed and water quenched, (2) the material's stress corrosion cracking (SCC)'
resistance is verified by Practice A or Practice E of American Society for Testing and Materials L A262, " Standard Practices for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Austenitic
~ Stainless Steels", and (3) materials in the hot-rolled or cold-reduced condition are demonstrated to be SCC resistant by slow-strain-rate testing under BWR environmental conditions. The NMP1 clamp materials satisfy these conditions. The BWRVIP-02 report is proprietary in its entirety, and I cannot provide a copy to you.
You requested that your letter of May 13,1999, with its attached open letter and petition, be placed in the Public Document Room (PDR) and on the NRC's web site. We have placed the documents in the PDR as you requested, but have not placed them on the NRC's web site.
The NRC's web site is currently reserved for NRC documents. The NRC's system for routinely making publicly available documents available on the web (a.k.a., the Agency Wide Documents Access and Management System or " ADAMS") is not yet in place, but is scheduled for implementation early in the year 2000.
Thank you for you efforts in this matter and for sharing your concerns with the NRC.
Sincerely, Original signed by:
Darl S. Hood, Sr. Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate l Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-220 cc: See next page g
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- PUBLIC (w\\ incoming letter)
OPA J. Zwolinski/S. Black -
ACRS E. Adensam A. Blough, Region 1 S. Bajwa D. Screnci, Region 1
- S. Little W. Bateman D. Hood E. Imbro
- See previous concurrence
' DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\PDI-1\\NMP1\\JUDSON2.WPD To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment / enclosure "E" = Copy
- with ettachment/ enclosure "N" = No copy
= see previous 0FFICE:
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06/ 11 /99 06/ 1 0 /99 "5 jug 1 Official Record Copy
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1 Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station
' Unit No.1 h.
Regional Administrator, Region i U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road '
- King of Prussia, PA 19406
~ Resident inspector --
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 126 Lycoming, NY 13093 Charies Donaldson, Esquire-
~ Assistant Attomey General -
New York Depaitment of Law
~ 120 Broadway New York, NY 10271 Mr. Paul D. Erbfy -
State of New York Department of Public Service
' Power Division, System Operations 3 Empire State Plaza Albany, NY l12223 Mr. F. William Valentino, President.
New York State Energy, Research, and Development Authority Corporate Plaza West 286 Washington Avenue Extension Albany, NY 12203-6399 Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esquire Winston & Strawn -
1400 L Street, NW Washington, DC '20005-3502 1
- Gary D. Wilson, Esquire L
- Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 300 Erie Boulevard West Syracuse, NY - 13202 Supervisor Town of Scriba Route 8, Box 382 -
Oswego, NY' 13126 l
,