ML23198A310

July 10, 2023, Summary of Public Meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority Regarding Proposed License Amendment Request for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

ML23198A310
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	07/20/2023
From:	Kimberly Green NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL2-2
To:
References
EPID L-2023-LRM-0044
Download: ML23198A310 (1)

Text

July 20, 2023

LICENSEE: Tennessee Valley Authority

FACILITY: Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

SUMMARY

OF JULY 10, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING WITH TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY REGARDING PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 (EPID L-2023-LRM-0044)

On July 10, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulator y 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 license amendment request (LAR) for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar), Units 1 and 2. The meeting notice and agenda, dated June 30, 2023, are available at Agencywide Documents Access and M anagement System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23181A024. 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 stated its intent to submit a license amendm ent request to permanently revise footnotes (b) and (c) of Technical Specification Table 1.1-1, MODES, to allow continued operation of the units with at least 53 of 54 reactor pressure vessel head closure bolts fully tensioned. The proposed request is supported by the technical evaluation in WCAP-18774-P, Revision 3, Addendum to the Rotterdam Dockyard Company Final Stress Report for 173 P.W.R. Vessels TVA III & IV (Report No. 30749-B-030, Rev. 3) - Evaluation of One Closure Stud Out of Service for 40 Years for Watts Bar Units 1 and 2, which was recently submitted to the NRC.

TVA referred to its recent one-time emergency amendment that revised TS Table 1.1-1, footnotes (b) and (c), to allow completion of the Watts Bar, Unit 1, Cycle 18 refueling outage and transition to Cycle 19 operation and the subsequent Unit 1 Cycle 19 refueling outage. The Unit 1 TS was revised to specify that the required number of head closure bolts is at least 53 of 54 bolts and that Unit 1 stud 34 has been removed from service. In the proposed LAR, footnote (b) for Watts Bar, Units 1 and 2, would be revised to state, (b) All required reactor vessel head closure bolts fully tensioned. The required number of head closure bolts is at least 53 and 54 bolts, and footnote (c) would be revised to state, One or more required reactor vessel head closure bolts less than fully tensioned. The NRC staff questioned if TVA planned to put stud 34 back in service. TVA stated that it will continue to try to repair stud 34 and could not commit to putting the stud back in service. The NRC staff questioned what is meant by the term required in footnote (c). TVA clarified that footnote (c) only applies to refueling, which is when one or more of the required number of bolts is less than fully tensioned. The NRC staff also asked why an amendment would be requested for Unit 2 when, currently, there are no issues with any of the reactor pressure vessel head closure bolts. TVA replied that this will prevent it from having to request an emergency amendment should it not be able to reinstall a bolt during a refueling outage.

The NRC staff asked further questions regarding stud 34 and what TVA would do if there was another issue with a stud at Watts Bar, Unit 1whether the unit could proceed to the next operating mode and if TVA would reanalyze its technical evaluation. TVA confirmed that if more than one stud could not be fully tensioned, then it could not proceed to the next operating mode.

With regard to any reanalysis, TVA would not speculate. The NRC staff also asked if TVA planned to put anything in place to prevent leaving studs out of service for any reason other than physical or functional. TVA stated that it would have to have a reason (e.g., physical) to not install a stud and that its current maintenance procedure requires TVA to install all studs.

TVA noted the two previous amendments the NRC issued to Braidwood and Byron Stations, and to Callaway, which are similar to the LAR that TVA plans to submit.

TVA plans to submit the LAR in August 2023 and will request approval within one year.

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

JULY 10, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

REGARDING PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST

WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2

Name Organization

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

John Tsao NRC David Dijamco NRC Ravi Grover NRC Tom Scarbrough NRC Pani Basavaraju NRC Stewart Bailey NRC Lou McKown NRC Robert Wehrmann NRC John Lamb NRC Mike Markley NRC Dawnmathews Kalathiveettil NRC Vic Cusumano NRC Angie Buford NRC Carol Moyer NRC Robert Hsu NRC

Russell Wells Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Stuart Rymer TVA Jay Fitzsimmons TVA Michael Bruchey TVA Kevin Lovell TVA Chris Kerlin TVA John Johnson TVA

Jim Smith Westinghouse Gary Whiteman Westinghouse George Demetri Westinghouse Ronald Cowman Westinghouse

Enclosure

ML23198A310 *via email NRC-001 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 07/14/2023 07/18/2023 07/19/2023 07/20/2023