ML20206H231
| ML20206H231 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 05/04/1999 |
| From: | Zwolinski J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Brack H AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20206H235 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9905110099 | |
| Download: ML20206H231 (5) | |
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UNITED STATES g
.j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION e
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20666 4 001 f
May 4, 1999 Mr. H. G. Brack Center for Biological Monitoring, Inc.
P.O. Box 144 Hull Cove, ME 04644-0144
Dear Mr. Brack:
I am responding to your letter of March 30,1999, to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Shirley Jackson. In your letter, you equated "non-standard" fuel at the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station (MYAPS) with fuel cladding failure and indicated that this non-standard fuel was " evidence of periodic loss of radiological controls" at MYAPS.
Your characterization of non-standard fuel as being an indication of fuel cladding failure is not correct. Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (MYAPC), the licensee for MYAPS, is conducting discussions with NAC International regarding storage of its spent fuel in the NAC UMS storage cask. NAC is seeking an NRC certificate of compliance (COC) for its UMS design. To receive the COC, NAC must submit a safety analysis report to the NRC, which the NRC staff will evaluate to determine whether the design is suitable for storage of spent fuel.
When the NRC staff issues the COC, various conditions are imposed on the use of that cask, and any applicant who wishes to use that cask design must meet those conditions. Different criteria associated with the COC include the fuel cooling period, the weight per fuel assembly, the clad thickness, the maximum initial enrichment, and burnup. Any fuel that does not comply with the COC is considered non-standard. In the proposed UMS design, the maximum allowed burnup is 45,000 megawatt-days per metric ton uranium (mwd /MTU). Ninety of MYAPS's fuel assentlies have burnup greater than 45,000 mwd /MTU. Therefore, these assemblies are non-staridard. In addition, MYAPS has other assemblies that may not meet the conditions of the COC for various reasons and would be considered non-standard. MYAPC is currently in the process of inspecting every fuel assembly to determine its condition and its acceptability for storage in the proposed UMS cask. MYAPC is prohibited from storing fuel that does not meet the conditions of the COC in the UMS cask. Although I believe this discussion adequately addresses the issue of non-standard fuel, because you expressed this concern regarding fuel cladding failure, I am enclosing a copy of a recent staff response to a Petition submitted on j
behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists regarding fuel cladding at operational reactors.
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Mr. H. G. Brack May 4, 1999 With respect to your observation that this non-standard fuel was " evidence of periodic loss of radiological controls" at MYAPS, as the staff has previously discussed with you in letters dated September 7 and October 5,1998, and March 15 and April 7,1999, the radiological monitoring programs required by the NRC are sufficiently comprehensive to provide an adequate assessment of the radiologicalImpact of plant operation on the offsite environment.
Thank you for notifying us of your concerns. However, unless the NRC receives additional information that suggests its conclusions should be altered, I intend to take no further action on this matter.
Sincerely,
$kN.kwNikd[e*ctor Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Staff Response to Union of Concemed Scientists j
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With respect to your observation that this non-standard fuel was " evidence of periodic loss of radiological controls" at MYAPS, as the staff has previously discussed with you in letters dated September 7 and October 5,1998, and March 15 and April 7,1999, the radiological monitoring j
programs required by the NRC are sufficiently comprehensive to provide an adequate assessment of the radiologicalimpact of plant operation on the offsite environment.
Thank you for notifying us of your concerns. However, unless the NRC receives additional information that suggests its conclusions should be altered, I intend to take no further action on this matter.-
Sincerely, John. Zwolinski, Director Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Staff Response to Union of Concerned Scientists i
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