ML20236B334
| ML20236B334 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/10/1989 |
| From: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Bevill T HOUSE OF REP., APPROPRIATIONS |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8903210031 | |
| Download: ML20236B334 (16) | |
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UNITED STATES-e o NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3-
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-WASHINGTON D.C. 20666
%; ' * * * * /@ March 10, 1989 CHAIRMAN .
The Honorable Tom Bevill, Chairman Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Committee on Appropriations United States House-of Representatives 1 Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
In accordance with the direction provided by House Appropriations Committee Report 99-195, I am enclosing a report for Calendar Year j
1988 on all changes to systems, components, structures, procedures, organization, or design of operating plants where such changes ;
were imposed by the Commission or its staff.
l Sincerely, M W.2 Lando W. Ze ,J L .
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Enclosure:
As Stated cc: Rep. John Myers
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Report on Changes to Systems, Components, Structures, Precedures, Organization or Design of Operating Power Plants Imposed by NRC
- 1. Purpose The purpose of this report is to advise Congress of changes to operating power plants imposed by NRC during calendar year (CY) 1988.
- 2. Background Final rules, generic letters, bulletins, orders, policy statements, regulatory guides, and the plant specific backfit tracking system were reviewed in order to identify changes to systems, components, structures, procedures, organization, and design of operating reactors imposed by the It should be recognized that the term " imposed" as used l NRC in CY 1988. i' in this report is defined broadly to refer to those items which licensces are required to follow, as well as those items containing NRC recommenda- I tions (bulletins, regulatory guides, generic letters, and policy ]
staten.ents) which licensees generally follow, but which would require j further NRC action to constitute a legal requirement imposed on the licensee, l
- 3. Bulletins The staff issued 11 bulletins in CY 1988. Three of the eleven were supple-mented after initial issuance. -One of the eleven did not apply to operating reactors. Of the remaining 10, 3 applied to electrica? components and I l
requested licensees to perfona inspections or evaluations of circuit l
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breakers and relays for potential defects and inadequate traceability.
Hardware modifications are recommended if the results of the inspections l
or evaluations indicate that defects or inadequate traceability exist.
Five bulletins applied to mechanical components ar.d also requested licensees to perform inspections or evaluations. Changes to hardware and/or procedures are recommended if the results and evaluations are negative. One bulletin requested licensees to verify the adequacy of procedures, operator training programs, and instrumentation as it relates to the ability to detect and suppress reactor power oscillations in boiling water reactors (BWRs). Changes to hardware, training, or procedures are recommended if the results are negative. One bulletin requested licensees to confirm the integrity of reactor coolant pressure In boundary thimble tubes that house neutron monitoring instrumentation.
addition to the 11 bulletins issued in CY 88, supplements were issued for 2 bulletins issued in previous years. All of the bulletins and supplements were issued pursuant to 10 CFR 60.54(f), which implements the provisions of Section 182a of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
The 10 that applied to operating reactors and the supplements for bulletins issued in previous years are summarized below.
NRC Bulletin 88-01, " Defects in Westinghouse Circuit Breakers," provided infonnation on Westinghouse series DS circuit breakers and safety concerns associated with their use. It requested licensees using these circuit breakers in safety-related service to perform and document inspection of thz welds on the pole shaft and the alignment in the breaker closing rrechanism.
Corrective actions should be taken depending on the inspectiun results.
The staff estimated that the cost to the industry was $2 292 million.
3 NRC Bulletin 88-02, " Rapidly Propagating Fatigue Cracks in Steam Generator Tubas," requested licensees with Westinghouse-designed reactors using steam generators having carbon steel plates to implement actions to minimize the potential for a steam generator tube rupture caused by a rapidly l
propagating fatigue crack. The actions include near term inspections and implemention of an adequate long term inspection pr 'm. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry was $1.76 mil The staff estimated that the enhanced leak detection portion of t, lletin would be applicable to 10 plants. Upon completion of the inspect 'ns by the licensees, this portion of the bulletin was actually applicable to 28 plants.
NRC Bulletia 88-03, " Inadequate Latch Engagement in HFA Type Latching Relays Manufactured by General Electric Company," requested licensees to perform inspections to ensure that all GE latching-type HFA relays installed in safety-related applications have adequate latch engagement.
Those relays that feil to meet the specified acceptance criteria would be repaired or replaced. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry would be $1.5 million.
NRC Bulletin 88-04, " Potential Safety-Related Pump Loss," requested licensees to investigate and if necessary, correct: 1) the potential for failing to provide minimum flow for cooling in one or more pumps in safety-related systems that have a mini-flow line common to two or more pumps, or for other piping configurations that do not preclude adverse
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i interaction between cumps during required mini-flow operation, and
- 2) whether the installed mini-flow capacity is adequate for even single pump operation. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry would be $4.4 million. l I
NRC Bulletin 88-05, " Nonconforming Materials Supplied by Piping Supplies, Inc., at Folsom, New Jersey, and West Jersey Manufacturing {
Company at Williamstown, New Jersey," requested that licensees submit information regarding materials supplied by these two companies and that licensees either take actions to assure that these materials comply with ASME code and design specification requirements or are otherwise ,
suitable for their intended service, or replace such materials.
Supplement 1 to this bulletin provided additional information concerning material supplied by these companies, reduced the scope of review to include only flanges and fittings, delineated actions licensees are requested to take to identify these materials and to determine whether the !
materials comply with ASME and ASTM design and material specifications, i I
and clarified which actions licensees must take upon identifying noncon- .
forming material. Supplement 2 to this bulletin temporarily suspended l
actions requested in Bulletin 88-05 and Supplement 1 except for actions by license applicants, retention of inspection documentation and suspect l
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materials identified, and the reporting of inspection results to the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations. This was based on the information i
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-5 supplied by the industry concerning the inspection and testing results.
l The staff estimated that 4t would require approximately 550 person weeks l
l of industry resources to implement the review portion of the original bulletin. This estimate did not include costs associated with removal of any non-conforming material found.
l NRC Bulletin 88-07, " Power Oscillations in Boiling Water Reactors," f requested that BWR licensees ensure that adequate operating procedures and instrumentation are available and adequate operator training is {
provided to prevent the occurrence of uncontrolled reactor power oscillations during all modes of BWR operation. No cost estimate was performed. )
NRC Bulletin 88-08, " Thermal Stresses in Piping Connected to Reactor )
Coolant Systems," requested licensees to review their reactor coolant systems to identify any connected, unisolable piping that could be i
subjected to temperature distributions which would result in unacceptable thermal stresses, and to take action where such piping is identified to j ensure that the piping will not be subjected to unacceptable thermal f I
Supplement 1 to this bulletin provided additional information j stresses. I and emphasized the need for enhanced ultrasonic testing by experienced examination personnel. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry I
would be $10 million.
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l NRC Bulletin 88-09, " Thimble Tube Thinning in Westinghouse Reactors,"
requested licensees with Westinghouse reactors to establish and implement an inspection program to periodically confirm incore neutron monitoring system thimble tube integrity. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry would be $15.9 million.
NRC Bulletin 88-10 " Nonconforming Molded-Case Circuit Breakers," requested licensees to take actions to previde reasonable assurance that molded-case circuit breakers purchased for use in safety-related applications without verifiable traceability to the manufacturer will perform their safety functions. These actions include identification, verification of traceability to the manufacturer, and replacement or testing if traceability cannot be verified. The staff estin:ated that the cost to the industry would be in a range between $14.8 million - $74.4 million.
I NRC Bulletin 88-11, " Pressurizer Surge Line Thermal Stratification,"
requested licensees to establish and implement a program to confirm pressurizer surge line integrity in view of the occurrence of thermal stratification and to infonn the staff of the actions taken to resolve this issue. The staff estimated that it would require 3000 person hours per licensee to search and analyze the data. This estimate did not include implementation of physical changes.
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I NRC Bulletin 87-02, Supplement 1, " Fastener Testing to Determine Conformance with Applicable Material Specification," requested addressees to submit additional information on the source of fasteners purchased for use in nuclear power plants. Supplement 2 was issued to clarify tha type of information requested in Supplement 1. The staff estimated that it would !
I require one person-week per licensee to respond to this supplement. i NRC Bulletin 85-03, Supplement 1. " Motor-Operated Valve Common Mode Failures During Plant Transients Due to Improper Switch Settings,"
clarified which valves were included in the scope of the original bulletin l a
and what was meant by the phrase " inadvertent equipment operations". The i
supplement was a clarification of a previously issued bulletin, and there ]
was no additic;.al anticipated cost beyond that considered in the original I i
bulletin.
- 4. Generic Letters Y
The NRC issued 20 generic letters in CY 1988. Of these, two did not apply to operating power reactor licensees. Eight transmitted information 4 to the licensee, and two requested the licensee to submit information that ,
is readily available. Two encouraged licensees to submit changes to technical specifications involving reporting requirements. The remaining six generic letters recomended changes to hardware or procedures and are l summarized below.
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Generic Letter 88-01, "NRC Position on IGSCC in BWR Austenitic Stainless-Steel Piping," transmitted NUREG-0313, Revision 2, which contained final staff positions on intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) and requested information from licensees regarding their implementation of the staff positions. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f), licensees were requested to submit their plans relating to piping replacement, inspection, repair, and i
leakage detection and.t.o indicate whether the staff positions in this letter will be followed or whether alternative measures will be put in place. The staff positions contained in the generic letter provided a wider spectrum of alternatives than previous staff positions. Costs will. <
vary among plants depending on the amount of cracking discovered; however, this generic letter represents a cost savings to licensees over previous staff positions. !
Generic Letter 88-03, " Resolution of Generic Issue 93, ' Steam Binding of Auxiliary Feedwater Pumps,'" recommended pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f) that the monitoring actions identified in NRC Bulletin 85-01 be continued In particular, this generic as the final resolution to Generic issue 93.
letter recommended that licensees maintain procedures to monitor fluid conditions within the auxiliary feedwater system during each shift when this system is required to operate and that licensees maintain procedures i for recognizing steam binding and for restoring system operability should l
binding occur. Since the procedures should have been implemented by l j
licensees in accordance with the 1985 Bulletin 85-01, the costs associated with this final resolution are expected to be small.
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9 Generic Letter 88-05, " Boric Acid Corrosion of Carbon Steel Reactor Pressure Boundary Components in PWR Plants " requested information in aCCordance With 10 CFR 50.54(f) concerning a program to be implemented to ensure that boric acid corrosion would not increase the nonnally low' i
probability of abnormal leakage and would not lead to' rapidly propagating I failure or gross rupture of the reactor coolant pressure boundary. This request to assure that a program has been implemented to address the i
corrosive. effects of reactor coolant system leakage at less than technical specification limits constituted a new and more stringent staff position.
j A quantitative cost was not estimated by the staff but is expected to be modest.
Generic Letter 88-14, " Instrument Air Supply System Problems Affecting Safety-Related Equipment," requested licensees to review NURE(-1275, Volume 2, and perform a design and operations verification of the instrument air system. Additionally, each licensee was requested to l l
provide a discussion of their program for snaintaining proper instrument air quality. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f), licensees were requested to respond indicating that the actions have been completed or provide the schedule for completion. Corrective actions were to be taken as necessary.
The staff estimated that the cost to the industry wocid be $4.08 million.
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1 Generic Letter 88-17. " Loss of Decay Heat Removal," requested PWR licensees, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f), to submit their plans with respect i to staff recommendations regarding operation following placement of the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) on shutdown cooling or following attainment of NSSS conditions under which shutdown cooling would normally be initiated. The staff recommendations included expeditious actions to ,
be implemented before operating in a reduced reactor coolant system inventory condition, and programmed or long term enhancements to replace, supplement, or add to the expeditious actions. The staff concluded that these actions were necessary, due to deficiencies that existed in procedures, hardware, and training, to prevent accident initiation, to mitigate accidents before they progress to core damage, and to control radioactive material if a core damage accident should occur. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry would be $280 million - $407 million. This was based on an average remaining life of 31 years for 78 PWRs and a discounted cash flow based on a 5 percent or 10 percent discount rate.
Generic Letter 88-20, " Individual Plant Examination for Severe Accident Vulnerabilities," requested licensees to perform, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f), an " Individual Plant Examination" for severe accident vulnerabilities and to report the results to the NRC. Upon completion of their plant examination, the staff expects each licensee to correct expeditiously any identified design vulnerability. Staff guidance concerning this study is provided in the generic letter. The staff estimated that the cost to the industry would be $55 million.
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- 5. Rules Nine amendments to Title 10 of the Code. of Federal Regulations Part 50 were t- published in final form in CY.1988. Three of these imposed changes to j
. operating power plant systems, components, structures, procedures, organization, or design as described below.
1 A final rule, " Station Blackout" (53' FR 23203),. required that light-water-cooled nuclear power plants be' capable of withstanding a total 4 lo'ss of alternating current electric power for a specified duration and maintaining reactor core cooling during that period. The. staff estimated that the cost to the industry to~ implement the rule would be $60 million )
.a with a range of $44.5 million - $93.5 million.
Amendments-to 10 CFR 4,-11, 25, 30, 31, 32, 34, 40, 50, 60, 61, 70,-71,.
.72, 73,'74, 75, 95 and 110 (53 FR 19240), establish a definite retention period and condition for records that a'n NRC applicant or licensee is required to maintain. The staff estimated that this rule'would result in
- a cost savings of $27.9 million annually for the industry.
Amendments to 10 CFR 30, 40, 50, 51, 70 and 72 (53 FR 24679) contain The staff )
general requirements for decommissioning nuclear facilities.
estimated that the cost of this rule would be $495,000 for the industry on l a one time basis plus $38,000 per year during the operational life of the facilities. 4 l
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- 6. -Regulatory Guides The NRC issued 11 final regulatory guides in CY 1988. Six of the eleven guides applied to commercial nuclear power plants. Four of the six applicable to commercial plants endorsed, with limitations, industry standards. Of the two remaining guides that required changes to operating plants, one provided guidance for compliance with the station blackout rule discussed previously, and one regulatory guide dealt with changes to operating plants. These two are summarized below.
Regulatory Guide 1.99, Revision 2, " Radiation Embrittlement of Reactor Vessel Materials," describes general procedures acceptable to the NRC staff for calculating the effects of neutron radiation embrittlement on the low alloy steels currently used for light water cooled reactor vessels. This revised calculational method leads to longer heatup and cooldown times or hardware modifications. Additional cost is then incurred by the necessity to purchase replacement power for longer periods of time or by purchasing or modifying equipment. The staff estimated that it would cost some pressurized water reactor licensees $20,000 to $40,000 per plant for each cooldown/heatup cycle. The cost to boiling water ,
reactor licensees varied widely depending on the plant specific details.
The cost estimates range from $500,000 per plant if only modifications to existing hardware are needed to $4 million per plant to purchase and install hardware if the necessary hardware does not exist. This cost would be offset by a cost savings that is estimated to vary between i
$500,000 and $4 million per plant over the remaining life of the plant.
The savings would result from reduced heatup times due to the hardware 1
modifications, which result in purchasing less replacement power.
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l l l 13 Regulatory Guide 1.155, " Station Blackout," describes a method acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the Commission regulation that requires nuclear power plants to be capable of coping with a station blackout for a specified duration.
- 7. Policy Statements The Commission issued three final policy statements, one proposed policy statement, and one amended policy statement during CY 1988. Two of the statements encouraged licensees to make changes to procedures or hardware. These two are sunnarized below.
The " Final Commission Policy Statement on Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants" (53 FR 9340) provided guidance to the industry on improving the effectiveness of maintenance programs while rulemaking proceeds. The policy statement encouraged each licensee to develop and implement a maintenance program that provides for the periodic evaluation and prompt repair of plant components, systems, and structures to ensure their availability.
The policy statement enumerated activities that form the basis of an acceptable maintenance program.
The " Proposed Policy Statement on Nuclear Power Plant Access Authorization Program" (53 FR 46603) encouraged licensees to establish an access author- .
ization program to ensure that individuals who require unescorted access to protected areas or vital areas are trustworthy, reliable, emotionally
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14 stable, and do not pose a threat of radiological sabotage. The proposed policy statement replaced a proposal for rulemaking and endorsed a program developed by the Nuclear Utility Management and Resources Committee (NUMARC) regarding access authorization. The proposed policy statement 1 encourages utilities to submit proposed amendments to their physical l security plans to implement and maintain access authorization programs consistent with the NUMARC program.
- 8. Plant Specific Backfit Tracking System There were no plant specific backfits in CY 1988. Plant specific backfits are defined as the NRC required modification of or addition to systems, structures, components, or design of a facility, or the procedures or organization required to design, construct, or operate a facility that is applied to a particular plant.
- 9. Orders In 1988, two orders were issued which imposed specific additional requirements on licensees and applicants as described below.
In November 1988, the NRC issued an order to the Toledo Edison Company modifying the license to operate Davis-Besse. The NRC required that the licensee provide written notice to the NRC if a particular individual becomes reinvolved in safety-related activities. Additionally, should this individual become reinvolved in safety-related activities, a state-ment will be required from the licensee that provides the basis for
i 15 concluding that this individual will properly carry out licensed activities. The order resulted from this particular individual's dis-criminatory layoff of a cuality control inspector who had raised safety concerns regarding deficiencies in the installation of an electrical wire splice, in December 1988, the Commission issued an order (CLI-88-10) in the Seabrook proceeding to Public Service Company of New Hampshire that required the applicant to provide reasonable assurance that $72.1 million in funds are available for decommissioning before licensing for low power.
testing.
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