ML25323A295
| ML25323A295 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Prairie Island  |
| Issue date: | 11/18/2025 |
| From: | Wetzel B NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL3 |
| To: | Mark Miller Northern States Power Co, Nuclear Management Co |
| Ballard, Brent | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LLR-0041 | |
| Download: ML25323A295 (1) | |
Text
From:
Beth Wetzel To:
Miller, Michael A
Subject:
Final RCI - Prairie Island 1&2 Relief Request Associated with the Inservice Testing Program (EPID No. L-2025-LLR-0041)
Date:
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 2:42:00 PM
Dear Michael Miller,
By letter dated April 2, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML250093A006), Northern States Power Company, a Minnesota corporation, doing business as Xcel Energy, submitted Request 6-IST-RR-01 with respect to pump vibration monitoring requirements in the 2020 Edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants, Division 1, OM Code: Section IST (OM Code) as incorporated by reference in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.55a, Codes and standards, forthe motor-driven cooling water (MDCL) pump and two diesel driven cooling water (DDCL) pumps at Prairie Island, Units 1 and 2.
The NRC staff has reviewed the submittal and determined that confirmatory information is needed to complete its review. The specific question is found in the enclosed request for confirmatory information (RCI). Please respond within two weeks of the date of this e-mail to support the staffs timely review of your request.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 301-415-5223 or via e-mail at Beth.Wetzel@nrc.gov.
Beth Wetzel Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch III Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission O-8H10 301-415-5223
Docket Nos.: 50-282 and 50-306
Enclosure:
Request for Confirmatory Information
cc: Listserv
REQUEST FOR CONFIRMATORY INFORMATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION PRAIRIE ISLAND 1&2 RELIEF REQUESTS FOR THE CODE OF RECORD INTERVAL INSERVICE TESTING PROGRAM NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANY PRAIRIE ISLAND, UNITS 1, 2 DOCKET NOs. 05000282, 05000306 ISSUE DATE: 11/18/2025
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Background===
By letter dated April 2, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML250093A006), Northern States Power Company, a Minnesota corporation, doing business as Xcel Energy (NSPM or licensee), submitted Request 6-IST-RR-01 with respect to pump vibration monitoring requirements in the 2020 Edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants, Division 1, OM Code: Section IST (OM Code) as incorporated by reference in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.55a, Codes and standards, forthe motor-driven cooling water (MDCL) pump and two diesel driven cooling water (DDCL) pumps at Prairie Island, Units 1 and 2.
Regulatory Basis The NRC regulations in 10 CFR 50.55a(f)(4), Inservice testing standards requirement for operating plants, state in part:
Throughout the service life of a boiling or pressurized water-cooled nuclear power facility, pumps and valves that are within the scope of the ASME OM Code must meet the inservice test requirements (except design and access provisions) set forth in the ASME OM Code and addenda that become effective subsequent to editions and addenda specified in [10 CFR 50.55a(f)(2) and (3)] and that are incorporated by reference in [10 CFR 50.55a(a)(1)
(iv)], to the extent practical within the limitations of design, geometry, and materials of construction of the components.
The NRC regulations in 10 CFR 50.55a(f)(5), Requirements for updating IST programs, specify the following requirements in part:
(iii) IST program update: Notification of impractical IST Code requirements. If the licensee has determined that conformance with certain Code requirements is impractical for its facility, the licensee must notify the Commission and submit, as specified in § 50.4, information to support the determination.
(iv) IST program update: Schedule for completing impracticality determinations. Where a pump or valve test requirement by the Code or addenda is determined to be impractical by the licensee and is not included in the revised inservice test program (as permitted by paragraph (f)(4) of this section), the basis for this determination must be submitted for NRC review and approval not later than 12 months after the expiration of the initial inservice examination and test interval from the start of facility commercial operation and each subsequent inservice examination and test interval during which the test is determined to
be impractical.
The NRC regulations in 10 CFR 50.55a(f)(6), Actions by the Commission for evaluating impractical and augmented IST Code requirements, state:
(i) Impractical IST requirements: Granting of relief. The Commission will evaluate determinations under paragraph (f)(5) of this section that code requirements are impractical. The Commission may grant relief and may impose such alternative requirements as it determines are authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest, giving due consideration to the burden upon the licensee that could result if the requirements were imposed on the facility.
(ii) Augmented IST requirements. The Commission may require the licensee to follow an augmented inservice test program for pumps and valves for which the Commission deems that added assurance of operational readiness is necessary.
The NRC regulations in 10 CFR 50.55a(z), Alternatives to codes and standards requirements, state that:
Alternatives to the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (h) of [10 CFR 50.55a] or portions thereof may be used when authorized by the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. A proposed alternative must be submitted and authorized prior to implementation. The applicant or licensee must demonstrate that:
(1) Acceptable level of quality and safety. The proposed alternative would provide an acceptable level of quality and safety; or (2) Hardship without a compensating increase in quality and safety. Compliance with the specified requirements of this section would result in hardship or unusual difficulty without a compensating increase in the level of quality and safety.
Question 1 Request for Confirmatory Information (RCI)
The licensee submitted Request 6-IST-RR-01 for Prairie Island, Units 1 and 2, as an alternative request under 10 CFR 50.55a(z)(1) as providing an acceptable level of quality and safety. In the submittal, the licensee states that the pump bearings for the two Diesel Driven Cooling Water (DDCL) pumps are inaccessible for vibration measurements. The licensee also states that to remove the bearing housing cover for the Motor Driven Cooling Water (MDCL) pump is a potential personnel hazard while the pump is running and thus taking direct readings is not practical.
With these reasons specified in the request, the NRC staff considers that the request is more appropriate as a relief request than an alternative request.
The licensee is requested to confirm that the submittal can be evaluated as a relief request under 10 CFR 50.55a(f)(5) and (f)(6).