ML23055A456

Summary of February 15, 2023, Public Meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority Regarding Proposed Expedited License Amendment Request for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

ML23055A456
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	03/09/2023
From:	Kimberly Green Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	Jim Barstow Tennessee Valley Authority
Green K
References
EPID L 2022 LRM 0098
Download: ML23055A456 (1)

Text

March 9, 2023

LICENSEE: Tennessee Valley Authority

FACILITY: Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

SUMMARY

OF FEBRUARY 15, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY REGARDING PROPOSED EXPEDITED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 (EPID L-2022-LRM-0098)

On February 15, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a public meeting with representatives of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a proposed expedited lic ense amendment request (LAR) for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar), Units 1 and 2. The LAR would seek to revise the dates in the footnote for Actions A.1 and E.1 of Watts Bar Technical Specification (TS) 3.7.11, Control Room Emergency Air Temperature Control System (CREATCS), to support replacement of the CREATCS chillers (i.e., main control room (MCR) chillers) at both units.

The meeting notice and agenda, dated December 20, 2022, are available at Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (A DAMS) Accession No. ML23011A301. TVAs slides for the meeting are available in ADAMS (ML23044A518). A list of participants is provided as an enclosure to this summary. No regulatory decisions were made at this meeting.

TVA began its presentation by providing background information on the recent history related to the amendments that were issued in May 2021 (ML21078A484) regarding the replacement of the MCR chillers. TVA requires amendments to change the implementation date for installation of the MCR chillers due to issues with the supply chain; therefore, TVA will not be able to meet the current date range for installation in existing footnotes for Required Actions A.1 and E.1.

TVA anticipates receiving and testing the new chillers in spring 2023 and beginning replacement of the chillers in summer 2023. In response to an NRC staff question, TVA confirmed that the new chillers will be safety-related and seismically qualified.

TVA will request to revise the current dates in the footnotes from May 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, and May 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024. TVA noted that the proposed date range exceeds 1 year and stated that this reflects the current replacement schedule and allows margin for any potential further schedule delays.

TVA stated that there are no technical changes to the planned replacement CREATCS chillers as previously described and approved; however, there are differences between the currently planned MCR temporary chiller equipment description and the MCR temporary chiller equipment description in Section 3.1 of t he previous LAR (ML20140A342) and the NRC Regulatory Audit Summary (ML21012A084). These are described in Tables 2 and 3, respectively, of TVAs slides. TVA noted that there are no technical changes to the previously approved compensatory measures.

One of the noted changes to the MCR temporary chilled water equipment is that the inlet and outlet piping will no longer be removed. Instead, permanent branch connections with isolation valves will be added to the inlet and outlet piping to the air handling units to allow connection of the temporary chiller without removal of piping. The NRC staff asked if TVA plans to install a blind flange when the connections are no longer being used for the chiller replacement. TVA confirmed that it plans to install a blind flange when the connections are not being used. The NRC staff asked if flooding from the new connection has been considered. TVA indicated they will look into any flooding concern. The NRC staff requested that information regarding the new permanent connections be included in the LAR.

TVA plans to submit the LAR by the end of February 2023 and will request approval by June 13, 2023, to support replacement activities beginning July 1, 2023.

No comments or public meeting feedback were received.

Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-1627, or Kimberly.Green@nrc.gov.

/RA/

Kimberly J. Green, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket Nos. 50-390 and 50-391

Enclosure:

List of Participants

cc: Listserv

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

FEBRUAR 15, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

REGARDING PROPOSED EXPEDITED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST

WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2

Name Organization

Kim Green U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Gordan Curran NRC Josh Wilson NRC Nachiketh Chandran NRC Lou McKown NRC Tony Sierra NRC

Russell Wells Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Stuart Rymer TVA Dean Baker TVA Shawna Hughes TVA Tom Carter TVA Chris Kerlin TVA Jeff Swanson TVA John Johnson TVA Chad Monroe TVA Paul Schoepf TVA

Aram Kayserian EPM, Inc

Enclosure

ML23055A456 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/LA* NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/BC* NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NAME KGreen RButler DWrona KGreen DATE 02/24/23 03/09/23 03/09/23 03/09/23