ML20206B879
| ML20206B879 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Duane Arnold  |
| Issue date: | 04/08/1987 |
| From: | Houston R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | IES UTILITIES INC., (FORMERLY IOWA ELECTRIC LIGHT |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20205N261 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8704100071 | |
| Download: ML20206B879 (4) | |
Text
p; 7590-01 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY C0WIISSION In the Matter of IOWA ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, ET AL Docket No. 50-331 Duane Arnold Energy Center EXEMPTION 1,
I.
Iowa Electric Light and Power Company (IELP/the licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-49 which authorizes operation of the Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC/the facility). This license provides, among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations and orders of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
The facility is a boiling water reactor located at the licensee's site in l
Linn County, Iowa.
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II.
By letters dated October 29 and December 7,1984, as supplemented April 22 and July 12, 1985, IELP requested two exemptions from the requirements of 1
Appendix J, 10 CFR Part 50. The first wuuld exempt contalment spray isolation l
valves from Appendix J, 10 CFR Part 50, Section III.C.1 Type C testing and the secnnd would exempt the flanges connecting the torus to the torus drain line r
piping from Appendix J, 10 CFR Part 50, Section III.B Type B test requirements.
The staff has determined that the second exemption is not needed because the flanges are outside Appendix J requirements.
Pursuant to Final Rule 10 CFR 50.12 (50 FR 50764), published on December 12, 1985, the special circumstance for granting the one remaining exemption has been identified as follows:
8704100071 870400 PDR ADOCK 0500 1
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l The containment spray subsystem consists of two 10" diameter lines to the spray headers in the drywell and two 4" diameter lines to the spray headers on top of the torus. Each line has two isolation valves outside containment that are normally closed. The inboard valves are required by Appendix J to be Type C tested. However, since the packing and body-to-bonnet seals are the only potential sources of leakage, the testing may be limited to these areas. To do this test according to Type C Appendix J requirements would require installation of an additional inboard valve inside containment and a test l
l connection. Due to limited space in the drywell, such a modification would be difficult. The licensee, therefore, has proposed the following two-part alternative testing program:
(1) perform soap bubble testing on the valve body-to-bonnet seals during Type A Integrated Leak Rate testing and initiate corrective action if leakage is detected and (2) pressurize between the inboard and outboard valves at the same frequency required for Type C tests to indicate the general condition of the valves.
The staff has determined that the alternate proposal will test the valves to an equivalent level as that required by the strict interpretation of Appendix J.
Therefore, the strict application of the requirements is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the regulation. Thus, the j
special circumstance presented in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) is applicable.
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. 4 Accordingly, based on the above analysis, the staff concludes that, because the licensee's proposed alternate test method for the containment spray isolation valves Type C testing is equivalent to that required by Appendix J, the exemption from the requirements of Section III.C.1 of Appendix J to 10 CFR Part 50 is justified and should be granted.
III.
Accordingly, the Comission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the comon defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest; furthermore, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), a special circumstance, as discussed above, is present. The Commission hereby grants an exemption, as described above, from Section III.C.1 of Appendix J to the extent that the alternate Type C test method proposed by the licensee for the containment spray isolation valves is acceptable, i
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Fursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Comission has determined that the granting i
of this exemption will have no significant impact on the environment (52 FR 10833).
l A copy of the Comission's concurrently issued Safety Evaluation related to this action is available for public inspection at the Comission's Public I
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. Doctment Room, 1717 H. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., and at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, 500 First Street, S.E., Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401.
This Exemption is effective upon issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3
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s R. Wayne Houston, Acting Director Division of BWR Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Bethesda, Maryland this 8th day of April 1987
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