ML25227A052
| ML25227A052 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Oconee, Mcguire, Catawba, Harris, Robinson, McGuire  (NPF-035, NPF-052, DPR-038, DPR-047, DPR-055, NPF-009, NPF-017, DPR-023, NPF-063) |
| Issue date: | 09/02/2025 |
| From: | Klos L NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL2-1 |
| To: | Duke Energy Carolinas |
| Shared Package | |
| ML25227A034 | List: |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LRM-0098 | |
| Download: ML25227A052 (1) | |
Text
September 2, 2025 LICENSEE:
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC FACILITIES: MCGUIRE, UNITS 1 AND 2; CATAWBA, UNITS 1 AND 2; ROBINSON UNIT 2; HARRIS, UNIT 1; AND OCONEE, UNITS 1, 2 AND 3
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF AUGUST 12, 2025, PARTIALLY CLOSED PUBLIC MEETING WITH DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS, LLC REGARDING FUTURE LICENSE AMENDMENT FOR MCGUIRE, UNITS 1 AND 2; CATAWBA, UNITS 1 AND 2; ROBINSON UNIT 2; HARRIS, UNIT 1; AND OCONEE, UNITS 1, 2 AND 3 OF THERMAL HYDRAULIC CORE DESIGN METHODOLOGIES AND ROD EJECTION ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY (EPID L-2025-LRM-0098)
On August 12, 2025, a partially closed public meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and representatives of Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke Energy or the licensee). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a future license amendment request (LAR) which proposes for thermal hydraulic core design methodologies to apply an updated, larger and more consistent VIPRE-01 model to the McGuire Nuclear Station (McGuire), Catawba Nuclear Station (Catawba), and the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant (Harris).
The meeting was also held to discuss a future LAR which proposes to update the rod ejection accident (REA) methodology to be compliant with Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.236, Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents, June 2020, available at Agencywide Documents and Access Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML20055F490.
The meeting notice and agenda, dated July 28, 2025, is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML25209A439. The licensee presented slides that are available at ADAMS Accession No. ML25217A013 and ML25217A015, and the Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.390 withholding letter for the business portion of the meeting, dated August 4, 2025, is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML25211A176. A list of attendees is provided in the Enclosure.
The NRC staff raised the following questions and/or discussed the following issues with the licensee concerning the future thermal hydraulic core design methodologies LAR;
- 1. The NRC staff asked what the anticipated power increase for the future power uprates (McGuire and Catawba) would be? Duke Energy stated that the power uprate would be around 6 to 7% of the current rated power (see ML25126A228).
The NRC staff raised the following questions and/or discussed the following issues concerning the future REA methodology;
- 1. NRC staff acknowledged that the licensee plans to follow RG 1.236 and asked that the licensee address adherence to the NRC-approved methods and to identify and justify any deviations. The NRC staff noted that RG 1.236 is limited to a maximum enrichment of 5 weight-percent U-235 and a maximum rod average burnup of 68 GWd/MTU and suggested that, if these limits are exceeded, appropriate justification would be needed.
In addition, the NRC staff suggested that the limiting case be consistent with the applicable acceptance criteria in SRP 15.4.8 and RG 1.236.
- 2. NRC staff asked the licensee to provide detailed discussion on how VIPRE-01 code would be replaced with SIMULATE-3K/VIPRE-01. Duke Energy stated that it plans to use SIMULATE-3K/VIPRE-01 based method to evaluate margin to fuel enthalpy and centerline temperature limits, rather than using the existing VIPRE-01 based approach.
The NRC staff suggested that the licensee provide justification to ensure that SIMULATE-3K will produce results as VIPRE-01 had done previously.
- 3. NRC staff asked for clarification about the functionality of the SIMULATE-3K code for analyzing fuel performance, such as fuel rod internal pressure and cladding failure threshold. NRC staff also questioned if a code benchmark would be necessary to assure that the code could produce reliable results.
- 4. Based on the licensees discussion about total cladding hydrogen concentrations being calculated as a function of burnup in connection with pellet cladding mechanical interaction calculations. The NRC staff asked if the hydrogen content in the fuel is considered appropriately and to clarify which edition of the ASTM Standard C-776, Standard Specification for Sintered Uranium Dioxide Pellets for Light Water Reactors, is being applied to this LAR. The licensee acknowledged the NRC concern but did not provide an answer. The NRC staff suggested that this may be an item for further review during an audit.
The NRC staff then opened the meeting for public comments and questions. There were no public comments or questions so the public portion of the meeting was closed.
The NRC staff then opened the business portion of the meeting where the licensee presented, technical discussion were held followed by meeting closure.
There were no members of the public in attendance. The NRC staff did not make any regulatory decisions during the meeting.
Please direct any inquiries to John.Klos@nrc.gov.
/RA/
John Klos, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-413, 50-414, 50-269, 50-270, 50-287, 50-369, 50-370, 50-261, and 50-400
Enclosure:
List of Attendees cc: Listserv
Enclosure LIST OF ATTENDEES AUGUST 12, 2025, PUBLIC MEETING WITH DUKE ENERGY FOR PLANNED THERMAL HYDRAULIC CORE DESIGN METHODOLOGIES AND ROD EJECTION ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY LICENSE AMENDMENT Name Organization John Klos U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Antonio Barrett NRC Zhian Li NRC Clint Ashley NRC John Lehning NRC Summer Sun NRC Rosie Sugrue NRC Dennis Earp Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke Energy)
Richard Skowron Duke Energy Geoff Phil Duke Energy James Reed Duke Energy Joshua Brian Duc Duke Energy Tara Elizabeth Matheny Duke Energy Ryan Treadway Duke Energy Jeff Abbott Duke Energy Damon V Bryson Duke Energy Michael A. Blom Duke Energy Roger L. Thomas Jr.
Duke Energy
ADAMS Package: ML25227A034 Meeting Notice: ML25209A439 Meeting Summary: ML25227A052
- via eConcurrence NRC-001 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/PM NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/LA NRR/DSS/SNRB/(A)BC NAME JKlos KZeleznock RPatton (ABarrett for)
DATE 08/14/2025 08/18/2025 08/19/2025 OFFICE NRR/DSS/SFNB/BC NRR/DSS/SNSB/BC NRR/DSS/STSB/BC NAME SKrepel NDiFrancesco SMehta DATE 8/26/2025 08/25/2025 08/28/2025 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/BC NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/PM NAME MMarkley JKlos DATE 09/02/2025 09/02/2025