ML25078A217
| ML25078A217 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Salem  |
| Issue date: | 03/31/2025 |
| From: | Blake Purnell Plant Licensing Branch 1 |
| To: | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LRM-0012 | |
| Download: ML25078A217 (1) | |
Text
March 31, 2025 LICENSEE:
PSEG NUCLEAR LLC FACILITIES: SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF MARCH 5, 2025, PUBLIC MEETING WITH PSEG NUCLEAR LLC ON THE STATUS OF PLANNED ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT A POWER UPRATE AT SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 On March 5, 2025, a public preapplication meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and representatives of PSEG Nuclear LLC (the licensee).
The purpose of the meeting was for the licensee to discuss the status of activities to support a planned stretch power uprate (SPU) at Salem Nuclear Generating Stations (Salem), Unit Nos. 1 and 2. The meeting notice and agenda are available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML25044A143. A list of attendees is enclosed.
The licensee provided an update regarding the status of SPU-related activities discussed during an August 20, 2024, meeting with the NRC staff (summary at ML24239A840). The licensees presentation slides (ML25056A067) provide the details of the information discussed. The licensee plans to implement an SPU with the spring 2029 refueling outage for Salem, Unit No. 2, and the fall 2029 refueling outage for Salem, Unit No. 1. The licensee discussed several license amendment requests that will support the planned power uprate.
The NRC staff is currently reviewing a license amendment request and an associated exemption request to allow the Salem units to use fuel rods with Optimized ZIRLO' cladding.
For desirable fuel economics, the licensee will begin loading fuel with Optimized ZIRLO' cladding prior to the planned SPU.
The licensee plans to submit a license amendment request in the second quarter of 2025 to revise the nuclear criticality safety analysis for fresh and spent fuel storage at Salem. A separate closed preapplication meeting with the licensee was held on March 6, 2025, to discuss the proprietary aspects of the request. This revised analysis is needed, in part, to accommodate the higher power levels anticipated with the SPU.
The licensee also discussed a planned license amendment request to allow for the replacement of the rod cluster control assemblies. Although not required for the SPU, the replacement assemblies would provide improved shutdown margin and core design flexibility at the higher power level.
In 2001, the NRC staff issued amendments for Salem, Unit Nos. 1 and 2, that increased the power levels through measurement uncertainty recapture (MUR). The MUR was based on the installation of the Crossflow ultrasonic flow measurement system at the Salem units to increase the accuracy in measuring steam generator feedwater flow. However, the licensee noted during the meeting that the Crossflow system cannot be credited for the planned SPU. Therefore, the licensee is planning to submit a license amendment request to replace the current MUR methodology at Salem with a data validation and reconciliation (DVR) methodology, and the Crossflow system would be abandoned in place. The DVR methodology would be a first-of-a-kind submittal as a pilot for the industry.
The DVR methodology will be based on the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Topical Report 3002018337, Revision 0-A, Use of Data Validation and Reconciliation Methods for Measurement Uncertainty Recapture, dated September 2023 (public version at ML23285A311). The EPRI topical report has been approved by the NRC staff with conditions and limitations. The associated NRC staff safety evaluation is included in the EPRI topical report. During the public meeting, the NRC staff provided the licensee with a copy of section 4.9 of the staffs safety evaluation with the last two paragraphs highlighted. Specifically, the NRC staffs safety evaluation acknowledges that treatment of the DVR model as a data-driven model (as opposed to a physics-based model) was an alternative approach. The staff noted during the meeting that such an approach may be simpler and more efficient for licensing if adequate data for validation is available.
For the SPU license amendment request, the licensee stated that its approach will largely align with the precent established for Millstone Power Station, Unit No. 3. The anticipated final power level would be 3708 megawatts-thermal for each unit, but this could be reduced slightly depending on the validation of the DVR methodology.
The license stated that it will request additional preapplication meetings to have more detailed technical discussions for the specific submittals. The NRC staff noted that its power uprate working group is identifying process improvements to increase the efficiency of power uprate licensing reviews.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-1380 or Blake.Purnell@nrc.gov.
/RA/
Blake Purnell, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-272 and 50-311
Enclosures:
List of Attendees cc: Listserv
ML25078A217 NRC-001 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NRR/DORL/LPL1/LA NRR/DORL/LPL1/BC NAME BPurnell KEntz HGonzález DATE 3/20/2025 3/24/2025 3/31/2025 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NAME BPurnell DATE 3/31/2025
Enclosure LIST OF ATTENDEES MARCH 5, 2025, MEETING WITH PSEG NUCLEAR LLC Name Affiliation Blake Purnell U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Mike Mahoney NRC Josh Kaiser NRC Tony Nakanishi NRC Mitchell Hoskins NRC Milton Valentin NRC Jorge Cintron-Rivera NRC David Rahn NRC Gokul Vasudevamurthy NRC Audrey Klett NRC Hipo Gonzalez NRC Tony Sierra NRC Darrell Murdock NRC David Nold NRC Angelo Stubbs NRC John Bozga NRC Kamal Manoly NRC Matthew McConnell NRC Thomas Buffone NRC Robert Beaton NRC Kevin Hsueh NRC Peter Ghodes PSEG Nuclear LLC (PSEG)
Shane Jurek PSEG Jason Jennings PSEG Jim Stavely PSEG Sam Markos PSEG Charlotte Geiger PSEG Mike Wiwel PSEG Charles Higgins PSEG Joe Dascanio PSEG Duane Avery II Constellation Nuclear Patrick Simpson Constellation Nuclear Lisa Simpson Constellation Nuclear Michael DeBonis Federal Emergency Management Agency Karl Hantho Jerry Humphreys State of New Jersey Jacob Fakory State of New Jersey Veena Gubbi State of New Jersey Bruce McAllister David Sharbaugh Nadia Issa Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse)
Robert Becse Westinghouse Michael Watson Westinghouse Name Affiliation Madelyn OFarrell Westinghouse James Smith Westinghouse Lucas Burkett Westinghouse Rick Thompson Monica Block Joseph Edgar U.S. House of Representatives Michael McAuliffe Samuel Lafountain Southern Company Ernest Bates Southern Company