ML25191A113
| ML25191A113 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000615 |
| Issue date: | 07/14/2025 |
| From: | Allen Fetter NRC/NRR/DNRL/NRLB |
| To: | Jardaneh M NRC/NRR/DNRL/NRLB |
| References | |
| Download: ML25191A113 (7) | |
Text
July 14, 2025 MEMORANDUM TO:
Mahmoud Jardaneh, Chief New Reactor Licensing Branch Division of New and Renewed Licenses Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
Allen H. Fetter, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Licensing and Regulatory Infrastructure Branch Division of New and Renewed Licenses Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
AUDIT PLAN FOR THE STAFF REVIEW OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY CLINCH RIVER NUCLEAR SITE, UNIT 1 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT APPLICATION By letter dated May 20, 2025, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) transmitted a preliminary safety analysis report, exemptions and variances in support of the Clinch River Nuclear Site (CRNS), Unit 1 Construction Permit (CP) Application. The submitted documents can be found at Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25140A062. The purpose of this audit is for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff to conduct the staffs safety review of the TVA CRNS, Unit 1 CP application in such a manner that identified issues can readily and easily be discussed and resolved in order to provide a more predictable review schedule. The audit also achieves a more effective and efficient review by allowing the staff to review and discuss supporting material with the objective of improving communication and eliminating unnecessary requests for additional information.
The staff plans to audit material which may be needed to make a reasonable assurance finding that the design protects public health and safety. If the NRC staff identifies information that is needed to support a finding, TVA will need to submit that information on the application docket.
The audit will start on July 14, 2025, with an Entrance meeting and end on March 23, 2026. The audit will be conducted primarily via the established TVA Electronic Reading Room, at TVAs offices in Knoxville, TN, or at NRC headquarters office in Rockville, MD. The contents of the audit plan are provided as an enclosure.
Docket No. 05000615
Enclosure:
Audit Plan cc w/enclosure: GovDelivery CONTACT: Allen Fetter, NRR/NLIB 301-415-8556
- via email NRR-106 OFFICE DNRL/NRLB: PM DNRL/NLIB: LA DNRL/NRLB: PM DNRL/NLIB: PM DNRL/NRLB: BC NAME RVivanco SGreen SJoseph AFetter MJardaneh DATE 07/10/2025 07/10/2025 07/11/2025 07/14/2025 07/14/2025
Enclosure UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUDIT PLAN FOR THE STAFF REVIEW OF THE TENNESEE VALLEY AUTHORITY CLINCH RIVER NUCLEAR SITE, UNIT 1 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT APPLICATION DOCKET NO. 05000615 AUDIT PLAN APPLICANT:
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
CONTACTS:
Licensing Manager: Ray Schiele, rjschiele@tva.gov Supervisor: Brian McDermott, bmcdermott@tva.gov DURATION:
July 14, 2025, through March 23, 2026 LOCATION:
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Headquarters (via TVA) Electronic Reading Room (eRR)) or in-person meetings One White Flint North 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738 TVA 400 West Summit Hill Drive Knoxville, TN 37902
2 AUDIT TEAM (Project Managers):
Allen Fetter (Project Co-Lead)
Stacy Joseph (Project Co-Lead)
Ricky Vivanco India Banks Jordan Glisan Getachew Tesfaye AUDIT TEAM (Core Team)*:
MJ Jardaneh Matt Mitchell Kevin Coyne Mihaela Biro Ryan Nolan Jason Thompson Sean Piela
- Subject matter experts and their branch chiefs will be consulted as needed to participate in audit meetings and reviews.
3 I.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES By letter dated May 20, 2025 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) transmitted a preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR), exemptions and variances in support of the Clinch River Nuclear Site (CRNS), Unit 1 Construction Permit (CP) Application. The submitted documents can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML25140A062. The purpose of this audit is for the NRC staff to conduct the staffs safety review of the TVA CRNS CP application in such a manner that identified issues can readily and easily be discussed and resolved in order to provide a more predictable review schedule. The audit also achieves a more effective and efficient review by allowing the staff to review and discuss supporting material with the objective of improving communication and eliminating unnecessary requests for additional information. The staff plans to audit material which may be needed to make a reasonable assurance finding that the design protects public health and safety. If the NRC staff identifies information that is needed to support a finding, TVA will need to submit that information on the application docket.
II.
REGULATORY AUDIT BASIS This regulatory audit is based on the submittal of the PSAR documents for its CP application of the TVA CRNS Unit 1 plant (ML25140A062). The bases for the submittal follow the regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities specific to the requirements of a construction permit application.
III.
REGULATORY AUDIT SCOPE The audit covers the PSAR, associated technical reports, exemptions and variances of the CP application submitted by TVA (ML25140A062).
IV.
INFORMATION AND OTHER MATERIAL NECESSARY FOR THE REGULATORY AUDIT TVA should be prepared to provide documents, reports, calculations, computer code verification, and other material, as applicable, supporting the analyses documented in the respective PSAR chapters and technical reports. The NRC staff may request that TVA make these additional materials available in the eRR and/or as a computer disc to be submitted on the docket.
V.
SPECIAL REQUESTS TVA and NRC have discussed and agreed upon the following audit logistics:
TVA creates Certrec eRR locations for document viewing.
o TVA to set up access for NRC participants once the staff emails are communicated.
Weekly schedule for audit activities o Monday - NRC Project Manager uploads audit issues (via secure SharePoint) o Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Fridays - standing audit meetings, as needed o Throughout the week - TVA posts responses to audit issues in eRR
4 During the standing audit meetings TVA and NRC staff will:
o Clarify audit issues o Discuss audit issue resolutions o Discuss additional document needs o Discuss and decide on timeframe for issue resolution Expectation is < 14 days for response to be posted to eRR.
Other timelines to be developed if necessary for a complete resolution.
o Determine if a docketed response is required.
NRC to track status of audit issues (internal spreadsheet).
o NRC to provide TVA a copy of the current tracker on Mondays.
o Ensure mutual alignment during weekly standing meetings.
TVA to develop responses to audit questions.
Written responses will be uploaded to Certrec eRR on Thursdays/Fridays.
o NRC PMs will be notified via email when responses are available.
o Associated TVA documents requested in the audit will be available in eRR for viewing.
NRC to review audit issue responses and documentation in eRR.
Feedback on audit issue responses and discussion to be held in weekly standing meetings.
NRC approval or rejection of audit issue responses communicated verbally or via email.
o If issue response is approved, the NRC staff determines if the response needs to be submitted on the docket. The NRC to send email request for docketing. Email requests will be captured in ADAMS.
o TVA to docket responses to batch audit issues on a monthly basis.
o If staff determines that the response does not address the issues raised, TVA returns to internal response development steps.
Responses will be posted twice before moving questions to formal RAI process.
o This is a guideline that can be adjusted if necessary to cycle minor changes.
o One original response and one revised response are posted, further cycles will be moved to RAI process.
The RAI process will be used when:
o Two rounds of audit issue responses have not resulted in resolution o completion of the response will extend past the audit close date o requested by TVA (via email) or NRC NRC will send formal RAI to TVA via email RAI clock starts on the day the question is sent
5 o < 20 days from receipt to response posted in eRR TVA will respond to RAI questions:
o Does the RAI contain proprietary, Export-Controlled Information (ECI), Security-Related Information (SRI) information?
o Is clarification needed?
o Is the 20-day timeline achievable?
TVA responses to RAIs will be submitted to NRC EIE formally VI DELIVERABLES The NRC audit team is expected to consist of the above listed project managers along with a core team of NRC technical reviewers with support from subject matter experts and contractors.
The NRC staff acknowledges the proprietary nature of the information requested and will handle it appropriately throughout the audit. While the NRC staff will take notes, the NRC staff will not remove hard copies or electronic files from the audit site(s).
The audit will start on July 14, 2025, and end om March 23, 2026. An audit report will be generated at the completion of the audit. If necessary, any circumstances related to the conductance of the audit will be communicated to Allen Fetter at Allen.Fetter@nrc.gov and Stacy Joesph at Stacy.Joesph@nrc.gov.