ML22061A217
| ML22061A217 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Waterford  |
| Issue date: | 03/15/2022 |
| From: | James Drake Plant Licensing Branch IV |
| To: | Entergy Operations |
| Drake, J. | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2021-LLL-0025 | |
| Download: ML22061A217 (5) | |
Text
March 15, 2022 Site Vice President Entergy Operations, Inc.
Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 17265 River Road Killona, LA 70057-3093
SUBJECT:
WATERFORD STEAM ELECTRIC STATION, UNIT 3 - REVISION TO THE REACTOR VESSEL MATERIAL SURVEILLANCE CAPSULE WITHDRAWAL SCHEDULE (EPID L-2021-LLL-0025)
Dear Sir or Madam:
By letter dated November 30, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML21335A085), Entergy Operations, Inc., (Entergy, the licensee) requested revision of the reactor vessel material surveillance capsule withdrawal schedule for the Waterford Steam Electric Station (Waterford), Unit 3, in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix H, Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program Requirements,Section III.B.3.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has completed its review of Entergys submittal, as documented in the enclosed safety evaluation. The NRC staff concludes that Entergy has provided the information required by the regulations and that no additional followup is required at this time. This completes the NRC staffs efforts for Enterprise Project Identifier (EPID) L-2021-LLL-0025.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-8378 or via e-mail at Jason.Drake@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Jason J. Drake, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-382
Enclosure:
Safety Evaluation cc: Listserv Jason J.
Drake Digitally signed by Jason J. Drake Date: 2022.03.15 16:44:13 -04'00'
Enclosure SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION REQUEST FOR REVISED REACTOR VESSEL SURVEILLANCE CAPSULE LOCATION AND WITHDRAWAL ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC WATERFORD STEAM ELECTRIC STATION, UNIT 3 DOCKET NO. 50-382
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By letter dated November 30, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML21335A085), Entergy Operations, Inc., (Entergy, the licensee) requested Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval of a revision of the reactor vessel material surveillance capsule withdrawal schedule for the Waterford Steam Electric Station (Waterford), Unit 3, in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
Part 50, Appendix H, Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program Requirements,Section III.B.3.
Specifically, the licensee proposed to relocate Capsules 3/W-104 and 6/W-284 to support demonstration of reactor vessel integrity through the potential subsequent license renewal(s) at Waterford, Unit 3.
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
The regulations and guidance pertinent to this request include:
Section I of Appendix H, Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program Requirements, to 10 CFR Part 50 states, in part:
The purpose of the [reactor vessel] material surveillance program required by this appendix is to monitor changes in the fracture toughness properties of ferritic materials in the reactor vessel beltline region of light water nuclear power reactors which result from exposure of these materials to neutron irradiation and the thermal environment. Under the program, fracture toughness test data are obtained from material specimens exposed in surveillance capsules, which are withdrawn periodically from the reactor vessel.
Section III(B)(1) of Appendix H to 10 CFR Part 50 states, in part:
The design of the surveillance program and the withdrawal schedule must meet the requirements of the edition of ASTM E 185 [an industry standard by ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials] that is current on the issue date of the ASME code to which the reactor vessel was purchased;... later editions of ASTM E 185 may be used, but including only those editions through 1982.
Section III(B)(3) of Appendix H to 10 CFR Part 50 states:
A proposed withdrawal schedule must be submitted with a technical justification as specified in [10 CFR 50.4]. The proposed schedule must be approved prior to implementation.
Administrative Letter 97-04, NRC Staff Approval for Changes to 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H, Reactor Vessel Surveillance Specimen Withdrawal Schedules, dated September 30, 1997, which states, in part:
The Commission found that while 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H, II.B.3 requires prior NRC approval for all withdrawal schedule changes, only certain changes require license amendments as the process to be followed for such approval.
Specifically, those changes that do not conform to the ASTM standard referenced in Appendix H (ASTM E-185, Standard Practice for Conducting Surveillance Tests for Light-Water Cooled Nuclear Power Reactor Vessels) will require approval by the license amendment process, whereas changes that conform to the ASTM standard require only staff verification of such conformance.
3.0 NRC STAFF EVALUATION 3.1 Licenses Proposal for Waterford, Unit 3 In its submittal for Waterford, Unit 3, the licensee proposes to relocate Capsules 104° and 284° to the locations at 97° and 263°, respectively, during the Waterford, Unit 3, Refueling Outage 24. This would have the effect of increasing the lead factor for these capsules from 0.83 to 1.02. Associated changes in the Waterford, Unit 3 Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) Table 5.3-10 are proposed as well.
3.2 NRC Staff Review The NRC staff reviewed the licensees information against 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H and ASTM E185-82, as described in Administrative Letter 97-04. The NRC staff noted that both subject capsules will continue to be standby capsules. These capsules are not scheduled for withdrawal as part of the surveillance program for the current license period at Waterford, Unit 3.
The relocation of these capsules will increase the lead factors in accordance with the recommendations of ASTM E185-82 as they pertain to capsule lead factors being above one and below three. The NRC staff verified that the proposed changes are consistent with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H and the recommendations of ASTM E185-82. In addition, the NRC staff finds the proposed changes acceptable because the changes do not amend the surveillance activities supporting implementation of ASTM E185-82 for the current license period.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Based on the above evaluation, the NRC staff concludes that the revised surveillance capsule withdrawal schedule (and associated capsule relocations) for Capsules 104° and 284° for Waterford, Unit 3 are acceptable. Therefore, the NRC staff approves this revised surveillance capsule withdrawal schedule.
The NRC does not make any conclusion regarding future use of the subject Capsules in potential future applications or license periods.
Principal Contributor: D. Widrevitz, NRR Date: March 15, 2022
ML22061A217 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL4/PM NRR/DORL/LPL4/LA NRR/DNRL/NVIB/BC NRR/DORL/LPL4/BC NAME JDrake PBlechman ABuford JDixon-Herrity DATE 03/02/2022 03/07/2022 03/15/2022 03/15/2022 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL4/PM NAME JDrake DATE 03/15/2022