ML22271A018
| ML22271A018 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle  |
| Issue date: | 10/04/2022 |
| From: | Cayetano Santos NRC/NRR/VPOB |
| To: | |
| Santos C | |
| References | |
| Download: ML22271A018 (4) | |
Text
October 4, 2022 LICENSEE: SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY FACILITY: VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 3 AND 4
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF SEPTEMBER 27, 2022, MEETING WITH SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY On September 27, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a virtual public meeting with representatives of Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC). The purpose of the meeting was to gather insights from SNC on lessons learned from construction oversight of Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4. The meeting notice and agenda are available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML22244A039. A list of attendees is enclosed.
In August 2021, the NRC staff announced the start of this lessons learned initiative (ML21239A156). The NRC staffs presentation during the September 27, 2022, meeting described the purpose of this initiative, outlined the schedule of milestones, and presented the framework for soliciting lessons learned (ML22265A098). This public meeting was the first in a short series for the purpose of collecting stakeholder experiences and lessons learned during the construction under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 52, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants. The NRC staff looks to collect feedback in three general areas and posed specific questions in the meeting agenda: (1) inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria (ITAAC); (2) licensing; and (3) inspection. The NRC staffs presentation also discussed specific items of interest in each of these general areas, such as historical license amendment review times, average ITAAC closure notification review times, and historical summaries of direct inspection hours.
The SNC presentation provided an overview of VEGP Units 3 and 4 construction projects, observations in the three general areas requested, and SNCs top three recommendations (ML22265A097). The SNC staff concluded their presentation by summarizing their responses to the specific questions posed by the NRC staff in the meeting agenda. The last question under the inspection category asked, If future designs rely on increased vendor and manufacturer fabrication of reactor plant structures, systems, and components, how could the current inspection process be optimized to meet those needs? Although not specifically addressed in the presentation, SNC staff provided the following response to this question. For established nuclear suppliers no changes are needed for the vendor inspection program and process. For new suppliers new to the nuclear industry, SNC recommended that the NRC take a lifecycle inspection approach, particularly for circumstances where most of the plant will be built offsite.
This would begin with inspections of programs at a facility before fabrication even begins. After fabrication starts, additional inspections should be performed, and follow-up inspections would be based on vendor performance. Last, inspections performed after delivery at the site should not duplicate inspections performed at the manufacturing facility.
Below is a summary of the general comments and discussions:
Slide # 5 of SNCs presentation noted that an average of 1.8 supplements were submitted per licensing action between 2012 and 2014 and that average dropped to 1.1 supplements per licensing action between 2015-2017 and dropped again to 0.62 supplements per licensing action between 2018 and 2021. The NRC staff asked how those averages compared to the operating fleet. SNC did not have that information but would provide it to the NRC at a later date.
Slide #9 of SNCs presentation provided observations regarding ITAAC. The NRC staff noted that these observations are the kind of input the staff is soliciting for this lessons learned effort, and that the NRC staff has made similar observations for a few of the discussion points.
The staff thanked SNC for the input and feedback provided during the meeting.
The NRC staff announced that if any member of the public would like to provide input to the staffs lessons learned initiative, please reach out to James Gaslevic (James.Gaslevic@nrc.gov) or Cayetano Santos (Cayetano.Santos@nrc.gov).
Members of the public were in attendance. A member of the public asked if the NRCs inspections during the initial phase of construction were done by contractors. The NRC staff responded that the NRCs initial construction inspections were focused on items such as engineered foundation installation and structural concrete placement, and these inspections were done by NRC staff (not contractors). The NRCs inspectors performed oversight of the licensees construction activities such as the implementation of the quality assurance program.
The NRCs construction inspectors are primarily based out of the Region II Office in the Division of Construction Oversight.
The staff did not receive any Public Meeting Feedback forms.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301415-7270 or Cayetano.Santos@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Signed by Santos, Cayetano on 10/04/22 Cayetano Santos Jr., Senior Project Manager Vogtle Project Office Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 52026 and 52026
Enclosure:
List of Attendees cc: Listserv
LIST OF ATTENDEES SEPTEMBER 27, 2022, MEETING WITH SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY Name Organization Cayetano (Tanny) Santos James Gaslevic Victor Hall William (Billy) Gleaves Christopher Welch NRC/Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Phil OBryan Garry Armstrong Joseph Sebrosky Christopher Chwasz Scott Egli Guillermo Crespo Anthony Ponko Jose Vasquez NRC/Region II Raju Patel Denise Terry-Ward Jonathan Lizardi-Barreto Frederick Sock Noah Parquette NRC/Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Jose Pires Jinsuo Nie Lynnea Wilkins NRC/Office of Congressional Affairs Eric Bowman NRC/Commission Office Michael Spencer NRC/Office of General Counsel Amy Chamberlain Peter LeJeune Kelli Roberts Southern Nuclear Operating Company Steve Leighty Jamie Coleman Enclosure
Name Organization Jonathan Dong Tom Kozak Nicole Simon Rob Burg Leigh Lloveras Stephanie Weir Ed Everett Cedric Androuet Benjamin Hotzman Jana Berman Richard Stadtlander Shematha Jones Mary Miller Members of the Public Shakir Haider Nathaniel Bolds Chris Gaertner Amar Persaud Jeffry Sharkey Christy Williams Samuel Lenhardt David Calhoubn Levi Smith Matthew Marzano Vineet Khanna Steven Thomas Nick Shykinov