ML24267A217

(E-Mail) Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Units 1, 2, and 3 License Amendment Request to Revise the Technical Specifications 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 Safety Injection Tank Pressure Bands, and to Use GOTHIC Code

ML24267A217
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	09/23/2024
From:	William Orders Plant Licensing Branch IV
To:	Dilorenzo M Arizona Public Service Co
Orders, William
References
Download: ML24267A217 (1)

Text

From: William Orders Sent: September 23, 2024 To: Michael.Dilorenzo@aps.com Cc: Jennie Rankin, Shivani Mehta, Phillip Sahd, Ahsan Sallman, Jo Ambrosini, Matthew Hamm

Subject:

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Units 1, 2, and 3 License Amendment Request to Revise the Technical Specifications 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 Safety Injection Tank Pressure Bands, and to Use GOTHIC Code

By letter dated August 28, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML24241A278), Arizona Public Service Company (the licensee) requested Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff approval of proposed changes which would revise TS Section 3.5.1, Safety Injection Tanks (SITs) Operating and TS Section 3.5.2, Safety Injection Tanks (SITs) - Shutdown and their bases. The proposed changes would also include use of the GOTHIC code as part of the methodology to perform calculations of the containment pres sure and temperature response to various postulated pipe breaks.

The purpose of this email is to provide the results of the NRC staffs acceptance review of the subject license amendment request. The acceptance review was performed to determine if there is sufficient technical information in scope and depth to allow the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review. The acceptance review is also intended to identify whether the application has any readily apparent information insufficiencies in its characterization of the regulatory requirements or the licensing basis of the plant.

Pursuant to Sections 50.55a(z)(1) and 50.55a(z)(2) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), the licensee shall demonstrate that the proposed license amendment request would provide an acceptable level of quality and safety, or that compliance with the specified requirements of Section 50.55a would result in hardship or unusual difficulty without a compensating increase in the level of quality or safety.

The NRC staff has reviewed your application and concluded that it provides technical information in sufficient detail to enable the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review and make an independent assessment regarding the acceptability of the proposed license amendment request in terms of regulatory requirements and the protection of public health and safety and the environment. Given the lesser scope and depth of the acceptance review as compared to the detailed technical review, there may be instances in which issues that impact the NRC staffs ability to complete the detailed technical review are identified despite completion of an adequate acceptance review. You will be advised of any further information needed to support the NRC staffs detailed technical review by separate correspondence.

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Based on the information provided in your submittal, the NRC staff has estimated that this review will take approximately 390 hours0.00451 days <br />0.108 hours <br />6.448413e-4 weeks <br />1.48395e-4 months <br /> to complete. The NRC staff expects to complete the review of this license amendment by June 1, 2025, or earlier. If there are emergent complexities or challenges in our review that would cause changes to the initial forecasted completion date or significant changes in the forecasted hours, the reasons for the changes, along with the new estimates, will be communicated during the routine interactions with the assigned project manager. These estimates are based on the NRC staffs initial review of the application, and they could change, due to several factors including requests for additional information, or unanticipated addition of scope to the review. Additional delay may occur if the submittal is provided to the NRC in advance or in parallel with industry program initiatives or pilot applications.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-3329 or by email to William.Orders@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

William T. Orders, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch LPL4 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation