ML20247M702

Forwards Staff Review of General Electric Panthers - IC Test Rept (Siet 00458RP95).Informs That Sbwr Was Terminated in 1996

ML20247M702
Person / Time
Site:	05200004
Issue date:	05/18/1998
From:	Quay T NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	Sawyer C GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
References
FACA, NUDOCS 9805260344
Download: ML20247M702 (3)

Text

-* ' .( a .

May.;18,f1998

' gi

' Dr._Craig D. Sawyer, Manager .

Advanced Reactor Programs GE Nuclear Energy .

i

.175 Curtner Avenue, M/C 754 ^

San Jose, CA 95125 'l

SUBJECT:

STAFF REVIEW OF GENERAL ELECTRIC'S PANTHERS '

- IC TEST REPORT  !

(SIET 00458RP95) )

l

Dear Dr. Sawyer:

. 1 When the design certification review of the Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (SBWR) was terminated in 1996, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation agreed to provide General Electric Nuclear Energy (GE) with a preliminary review of SBWR testing and analysis program reports.

The enclosure documents the staff's preliminary review of the PANTHERS IC test report. The subject report was issued by SIET Laboratories and was reviewed by GE before submittal to the -

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The staff agrees in general with the conclusions reported by SIET (for GE) regarding the thermal-hydraulic testing phase of the PANTHERS-IC program. The staff has a few comments on this phase of testing as shown in the enclosure.  ;

Additionally, the staff has comments regarding the structural phase of testing, which was not

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completed when testing was suspended in November 1995. The staff would require that this test ,

program be completed in the event that the SBWR design certification review is restarted at l' some future time.

This letter closes the staff's review of the PANTHERS-lC test program. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Dino Scaletti at 301-415-1104.

Sincerely,- j

.TheoO r"e k.b$yhNdtor

- Standardization Project Directorate g5TM QQ4 Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation i

A- PDR . i Docket No.52-004

Enclosure:

As stated g!jg g Tcc w/ encl: See next page -

DISTRIBUTION: .)

Dockot File PDST R/F TQuay PUBLIC TKenyon - WHuffman ,

JSebrosky DScaletti - JNWilson  !

ACRS (11) . - JMoore,0-15 B18 j

' DOCUMENT NAME: ~ A:\ PANTHERS.DCS

< To receive a copy of this document, indica 4 in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment / enclosure "E" = Copy j with cttachment/ enclosure "N" = No copy -  ;

OFFICE - PM:PDST:DEtPIM l D:PDST:DRPM l l- l f

,I i NAME DCScaletti (I - TRQuay TV  %!

DATE 05/17/98 J ) 05/ 6/98 q0/ l h '

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v{ -a OFFICIAL RECORD COPY j

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Dr. Craig D. Sawyer Docket No.52-004 GE Nuclear Energy cc: Mr. Rob Wallace Mr. Brian McIntyre GE Nuclear Energy Westinghouse Electric Corporation 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Energy Systems Business Unit Suite 1100 Box 355 Washington, DC 20004 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 li Director, Criteria & Standards Division l Office of Radiation Programs U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 401 M Street, S.W.

Washington, DC 20460 Mr. Sterling Franks U.S. Department of Energy NE-42 Washington, DC 20585 Mr. Robert H. Buchholz GE Nuclear Energy 175 Curtner Avenue, MC-781 San Jose, CA 95125 Mr. Steven A. Hucik GE Nuclear Energy 175 Curtner Avenue, MC-780 San Jose, CA 95125 Mr. Tom J. Mulford, Manager SBWR Design Certification Electric Power Research Institute 3412 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304-1395 f

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1 STAFF REVIEW OF GE PANTHERS-IC TEST REPORT (SIET 00458RP95)

The staff agrees in general with the conclusions reported by SIET (for GE) regarding the thermal- ,

hydraulic testing phase of the PANTHERS-lC program. However, the staff has a few comments I on this phase of testing, and has additional comments regarding the structural phase of testing, I which was not completed when testing was suspended in November 1995.

The staff agrees that substantial data was ccquired on the the: mal-hydraulic performance of the l prototype IC heat exchanger, and fudher, that the data support a conclusion that the component, l as tested, is capable of meeting its design performance requirements. The quality of the datra appears to be adequate for use as a validation database for the TRACG computer code. The data cover a range of conditions for normal IC operation that appears to be sufficient to bound this mode of IC performance. The staff believes that the non-condensible gas injection / purge tests and the testing with varying water level serve to add breadth to the database, and further confirm the operational capabilities of the prototype heat exchanger. While considerable testing was accomplished over a range of accident conditions, the staff is unable to draw conclusions about the component performance or the adequacy of the database due to the failure to complete the full test matrix. l The staff does not fully agree with the conclusion that there is no water hammer in the tested IC operational modes. As the report states, initial tests did indicate water hammer, which was subsequently eliminated by modifying facility operation. It is not clear that the range of conditions that could occur in an SBWR can be anticipated at this time, and the possibility of water hammer '

cannot be ruled out. The staff agrees with the apparent conclusion that the suspension of the testing program makes it premature to attempt to infer information about water hammer during accident conditions. The staff expects that, if this program were resumed in the future, the test matrix would be completed, and a more extensive evaluation of the likelihood of potential water hammer loads would be made. The final design of the IC system components should take these i potentialloads into account.  !

Although the structural testing performed in the PANTHERS-IC does not bear directly on the j results of the thermal-hydraulic testing that was performed prior to the suspension of the test  ;

program, the staff is, nevertheless, concemed about the occurrence of leakage during this I program. Originally, both the PANTHERS-PCCS and PANTHERS-IC programs were to include '

substantial structural performance (thermal cycling) testing. In both cases, leaks occurred in the  !

heat exchanger headers relatively early in the testing. Since the SBWR design places the heat I exchanger pools outside the containment, any leakage of primary effluent from these heat exchangers represents a potential containment bypass. GE recognized this fact in establishing a "zero leakage" performance requirement for the heat exchangers, which has yet to be

' demonstrated. The staff encourages GE to continue to evaluate the heat exchangers to l determine the reason for the leakage in both the PCCS and IC tests. If significant modifications  ;

to the heat exchanger designs are necessary to eliminate the problem, it may be necessary for the staff to evaluate the need for further testing of new prototype components. In any event, the  ;

staff would require that the original IC test program be completed.

Enclosure o_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - _ _ _-.---------------._j

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