ML23068A153
| ML23068A153 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Watts Bar  |
| Issue date: | 03/16/2023 |
| From: | Kimberly Green Plant Licensing Branch II |
| To: | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Green K | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2023-LRM-0010 | |
| Download: ML23068A153 (6) | |
Text
March 16, 2023 LICENSEE:
Tennessee Valley Authority FACILITY:
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF FEBRUARY 22, 2023, MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY REGARDING PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO INCREASE ALLOWABLE NUMBER OF TRITIUM PRODUCING BURNABLE ABSORBER RODS AT WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 (EPID L-2023-LRM-0010)
On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff conducted a hybrid public meeting with representatives of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The purpose of the meeting was for TVA to discuss its proposed license amendment request (LAR) that would seek to increase the number of tritium producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs) at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar), Units 1 and 2.
The meeting notice and agenda, dated February 10, 2023, are available at Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23044A101. TVAs presentation slides for the meeting are available at ADAMS Accession No. ML23052A036. A list of participants is enclosed.
TVA stated that at the request of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) it is developing an LAR to increase the licensed limit of TPBARs from the current number of 1,792 to 2,496 for each unit at Watts Bar.
TVA recalled the history of the tritium production program, which began in October 2003 for Watts Bar, Unit 1, and in October 2020 for Watts Bar, Unit 2. The most recent license amendments that authorized up to 1,792 TPBARs in each unit were issued in 2016 and 2018 for Unit 1 and Unit 2, respectively.
The proposed LAR will be based on the previous Watts Bar TPBAR LARs, and will address the 17 plant-specific interface items from NUREG-1672, Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Department of Energys Topical Report on the Tritium Production Core, and will address the key differences from the past TPBAR precedent LARs. TVA will also update information for the increase in tritium production for two-unit production that will be needed for the NRC staffs environmental assessment. TVA noted that there are no substantive changes to plant-specific interface Issue 2, Procurement and Fabrication Issues, Issue 6, Specific Assessment of Hydrogen Source and Timing or Recombiner Operation, and Issue 10, New and Spent Fuel Storage, as described in the previous Watts Bar, Unit 2 TPBAR LAR, and that these issues remain applicable. Therefore, the issues will not be discussed in detail in the proposed LAR.
TVA briefly described the remaining 14 plant-specific interface issues and noted any exceptions (see TVA slides). The NRC asked clarification questions during the presentation regarding whether the derived air concentrations would be provided to the staff so that it could perform independent verification, and about the permeation rate that is being used. TVA stated that it could makes its calculations and the derived air concentration (DAC) information available to the NRC staff via an electronic reading room for audit.
TVA pointed out that the LAR will also include a request to revise the Watts Bar Updated Final Safety Analysis Report that it determined requires prior NRC approval. The proposed change would modify the source term for design basis accident analyses to allow the core fission product inventory to be calculated using an updated version of the ORIGEN code. TVA also stated that it will request NRC approval of a revision to the reactor vessel surveillance capsule removal schedule for Watts Bar, Units 1 and 2, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H, Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program Requirements, Paragraph III.B.3. TVA noted that the proposed request for the surveillance capsule change does not require a license amendment; however, it will include the request as part of the TPBAR LAR.
TVA plans to submit the LAR to the NRC by March 31, 2023, and will request approval 1 year after submittal. TVAs proposed schedule for submittal and approval of the LAR takes into account the planned refueling outages for each unit when the additional TPBARs would be inserted into the reactors, i.e., fall 2024 for Unit 1 and spring 2025 for Unit 2. TVA noted that, in the past, TPBAR LARs took 18 months to approve and asked the NRC staff to consider if the NRC could review and approve the LAR within 12 months based on the limited scope of the LAR and efficiencies the NRC has gained from the review of the previous Watts Bar TPBAR LARs.
During the public comment period, two members of the public provided comments and asked questions. Mr. Tom Clements of Savannah River Site Watch requested that the NRC publish any environmental review documents for public comment. Mr. Clements asked if 2,496 TPBARs would be the maximum number that the NRC would allow to be placed in the Watts Bar reactors. The NRC staff replied that the maximum number would be determined by what TVA requests and what its analyses could support. He also questioned how long the TPBARs are in the reactor and in the spent fuel pool, and that these items should be addressed in the NRC staffs environmental assessment (EA). Additionally, he suggested that the EA also expand on the environmental aspects of tritium. Mr. Clements asked who is responsible for the oversight and inspection of the TPBARs and if the NRC licenses the TPBARs. The NRC staff did not have the information available during the meeting to respond to these questions but stated that it would respond to Mr. Clements after the meeting. Lastly, he expressed concern about non-proliferation aspects of creating tritium in a commercial nuclear reactor. Ms. Grace Gifford stated that she thought there would be more detailed questions from the NRC staff during the meeting. She also commented that there should be a focus on environmental justice in the NRC staffs EA. Ms. Gifford asked if the U.S. is allowing Russian scientists to inspect its stockpiles.
The NRC staff noted that this question is not within the purview of the NRC.
The NRC received two public meeting feedback responses concerning the hybrid meeting format.
No regulatory decisions were made at this meeting.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-1627 or by e-mail to 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
Enclosure LIST OF PARTICIPANTS FEBRUARY 22, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY REGARDING WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO INCREASE NUMBER OF ALLOWABLE TRITIUM PRODUCING BURNABLE ABSORBER RODS Name Affiliation Alexander Sapountzis NRC Ben Parks NRC Bill Rautzen NRC Dave Gasperson NRC Dave McIntyre NRC David Garmon NRC David Wrona NRC Demetrius Murray NRC Devonte Hinton NRC Emma Haywood NRC Hanry Wagage NRC Jeff Rikhoff NRC John Parillo NRC Keion Henry NRC Kevin Hsueh NRC Kim Green NRC Lance Day NRC Niry Simonian NRC On Yee NRC Perry Buckberg NRC Ted Smith NRC Tony Sierra NRC Wes Deschaine NRC Carla Borelli TVA Charles Menke TVA Dan Coffey TVA Dave LaFever TVA David Brown TVA Doug Pollock TVA Eddie Woods TVA James Ragonese TVA Jessica Dufner TVA Jim Hopson TVA Jon Johnson TVA Kimberly Moncus TVA Name Affiliation Kirk Peterman TVA Korrie Yetzer TVA Malinda Hunter TVA Mark Burzynski TVA Russ Wells TVA Steven Woods TVA Stuart Rymer TVA Yvette Buckner TVA Dan Rokusek S&L Robert Young Sargent and Lundy (S&L)
Robert Montgomery Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
David Springfels PNNL Dean Paxton PNNL Ed Love PNNL Robert Oelrich PNNL Kyle Wilhelm Department of Energy (DOE)
Nanette Founds DOE Roger Lewis DOE Eric Husser Westinghouse Brett Lynch Westinghouse James Laird Westinghouse James Smith Westinghouse Jianwei Chen Westinghouse Kyle Shelton Westinghouse Matt Hanson Westinghouse Matthew Hanson Westinghouse Thomas Joseph Westinghouse Tom Clements Savannah River Site Watch Grace Gifford Quarry Friends Meeting Quakers
ML23068A153 OFFICE DORL/LPL2-2/PM DORL/LPL2-2/LA*
DORL/LPL2-2/BC*
DORL/LPL2-2/PM NAME KGreen RButler DWrona KGreen DATE 03/09/23 03/16/23 03/16/23 03/16/23