ML22013A643

TVA Slides - Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) Schedule for the Development of a License Amendment Request (LAR) for Increased Tritium Production at WBN

ML22013A643
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	01/19/2022
From:	Jim Barstow Tennessee Valley Authority
To:	Kimberly Green Plant Licensing Branch II
Green K
References
Download: ML22013A643 (13)

Text

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant January 19, 2022 Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN)

Schedule for the Development of a License Amendment Request (LAR) for Increased Tritium Production at WBN

Agenda

• Opening Remarks

• Purpose of the Meeting

• Background

• Key Stakeholders

• Project Schedule

• Key Milestones

• Areas for Improvement

• Future Meetings

• Closing Remarks 2

Opening Remarks

• WBN Units 1 and 2 are currently licensed to allow up to 1,792 tritium producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs).

• At the recent request of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), TVA is developing a license amendment request (LAR) to increase the licensed limit to 2,496 TPARs for each unit.

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Purpose of the Meeting

• Inform Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for planning and scheduling purposes of the schedule for development of a LAR to increase tritium production at WBN Units 1 and 2.

• Introduce the key stakeholders responsible for development of the LAR.

• Identify key schedule milestones to support DOE NNSA production requirements.

• Discuss areas for potential improvement in the LAR schedule.

• Discuss future meetings.

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=

Background===

• Tritium Production Program

Watts Bar Unit 1 tritium production began in October 2003

Watts Bar Unit 2 tritium production began in October 2020

• WBN Unit 1 License Amendment 107 (ML16159A057) and WBN Unit 2 License Amendment 27 (ML18347B330) authorized up to 1792 TPBARs.

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Key Stakeholders

• General Manager Reactor Engineering & Fuels - David Brown

• General Manager for Nuclear Projects - Kevin Dutton

• Project Manager - Charlie Davis

• Senior Tritium Program Manager - Carla Borrelli

• Tritium Program Manager - Korrie Yetzer

• Bryan Mack - Manager Site Reactor Engineering

• TVA Licensing Project Manager - Russ Wells

• LAR Principal Development - Mark Burzynski

• Nanette Founds, Deputy Director, NNSA

• Kyle Wilhelm, Program Manager, NNSA

• Contract Support being provided by Sargent and Lundy, Westinghouse, and PNNL l 6

Project Schedule l 7

Key Milestones l 8

• 2/24/2023 - Submit LAR to NRC requesting approval to increase the licensed limit for TPBARs to 2,496 TPARs for each unit.

• 8/27/2024 - NRC approval of the LAR (assuming an NRC 18-month review based on past precedents).

• LAR would be implemented during the WBN Unit 1 Cycle 19 refueling outage (U1R19) scheduled for fall 2024 and WBN U2R6 scheduled for spring 2025.

Preliminary Project Scope l 9

• No plant physical modifications to support radioactive effluent source term changes Radioactive effluent concentration and dose assessment calculation updates similar to recent TPBAR LARs

• Fluence-related calculations Similar to recent TPBAR LARs

• No control room operator actions associated with radioactive effluent management No human factors evaluations required

• Environmental assessment information based on updated radioactive effluence calculations Similar to recent TPBAR LARs

Areas for Improvement l 10

• TVA is constantly evaluating the LAR development schedule for areas of improvement. Any changes to the LAR submittal date will be communicated to the NRC Project Manager.

• TVA would like NRC to evaluate whether approval of the LAR can be accomplished within a 12-month review period from NRC acceptance of the LAR based on limited scope and efficiencies gained through review of the previous WBN Units 1 and 2 TPBAR LARs.

Provides greater margin in the LAR approval and implementation schedule.

Provides TVA and DOE benefits with shorter period where core development contingency work is funded and worked.

Future Meetings l 11

• May/June 2022 - LAR status meeting to review project scope, LAR outline, and key issues

• Mid-January 2023 (tentative) - LAR Pre-submittal meeting

Closing Remarks

• TVA appreciates the opportunity to meet with NRC regarding the schedule for development of the increased tritium production LAR.

• TVA welcomes NRC feedback on the NRC review schedule of the LAR and future opportunities to discuss the status of the LAR.

• Proposed LAR is needed to support the DOE NNSA production requirements.

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