ML20236V818

Safety Evaluation Accepting Request for Relief from Implementation of Requirements of 10CFR50.55a Related to Containment Repair & Replacement Activities for James a FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant

ML20236V818
Person / Time
Site:	FitzPatrick
Issue date:	07/29/1998
From:	NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:
Shared Package
ML20236V803	List: ML20236V802 ML20236V818
References
NUDOCS 9808040223
Download: ML20236V818 (2)

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SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION REQUEST FOR REllEF FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF REQUIREMENTS OF 10 CFR 50.55a RELATED TO CONTAINMENT REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT ACTIVITIES POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DOCKET NO. 50-333

1.0 INTRODUCTION

On August 8,1996, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) amended its regulations to incorporate by reference the 1992 Edition of Subsection IWE and IWL of Section XI of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code) into Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.55a, " Codes and Standards."

These subsections provide the requirements for inservice inspection (ISI) of Class CC (concrete) and Class MC (metallic) contair.ments of light-water reactors. The effective date of the amended rule was September 9,1996, and has accelerated implementation provisions such that licensees are to incorporate the requirements into their ISI program and complete the first containment inspection within 5 years of the effective date. In addition, any repair or replacement activity to be performed after the effective date must be in accordance with the respective requirements of Subsection IWE or IWL. However, a licensee may submit a request for relief from the implementation date of the amended rule. The provision for authorizing relief is incorporated in the regulation.

On November 26,1996, the New York Power Authority (the licensee, also known as the Power Authority of the State of New York), requested relief from the requirements discussed above for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (JAF).

2.0 EVALUATION in its letter of November 26,1996, the licensee requested deferral of the implementation of the amended rule for the containment repair and replacement activities for 1 year, (i.e., from September 9,1996 to September 9,1997). The licensee stated that relief was requested to accommodate procedural and possible personnel qualification changes needed to implement the repair and replacement provisions of the rule. The licensee emphasized the hardships associated with the immediate implementation of the rule for the repair and replacement activities. However, the licensee did not describe its existing procedures for the repair and

' replacement activities that would ensure an acceptable level of quality and safety. On June 25,1997, the NRC staff requested a description of these procedures, which the licensee provided on July 15,1997.

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The requested relief is based on the impracticality of updating the plant repair and replacement programs that could fully comply with the requirements of the rule. The licensee cites a number of items, such as coordinating containment repair and replacement activities with existing repair and replacement procedures for Class 1,2, and 3 components, ! identification of inservice inspection boundaries, and contractual agreements to provide an authorized nuclear inspector for third party inspection, that made it impractical to comply with the rule immediately. The licensee explains that JAF entered a refueling outage in October 1996, so diverting its resources for immediate compliance with the rule for containment repair and replacement activities would negatively impact the outage schedule. I In the interim, the licensee used existing procedures for containment repair and replacement activities. Its " Modification Control Manual Procedures" controlled the engineering and design process for plant modifications, including containment repair and replacement activities. " Station Administrative Procedures

• controlled planning, work control, quality assurance, and implementation of work packages associated with containment repair and replacement activities.

These activities were all implemented with the quality group classification of Regulatory Guide 1.26, and the quality assurance criteria of 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix B.

The NRC staff accepts the licensee's contention that the immediate imposition of the rule for containment repair and replacement activities would cause an undue hardship without a compensating increase in quality and safety. The use of existing procedures for the period from September 9,1996, through September 9,1997, should have provided the necessary quality and safety.

3.0 CONCLUSION

Based on review of information provided in the relief request of November 26,1996, and the licensee's July 15,1997, response to the NRC staff request for additionalinformation, the NRC staff finds that the temporary use of existing procedures for containment repair and replacement activities provided a reasonable and acceptable allemative to the amended 10 CFR 50.55a rule.

Also, the staff concludes that compliance with the requirements of the amended rule for amended for containment repair and replacement activities for the period September 9,1996, through September 9,1997, would have resulted in hardship or unusual difficulty without a compensating increase in the level of quality and safety. Accordingly, the request for relief dated November 26,1996, to delay implementation of the rule for containment repair and replacement activities until September 9,1997, is authorized pursuant to 10 CFR 50.55a(a)(3)(ii).

Principal Contributor: H. Ashar Date: July 29, 1998