ML25356A092
| ML25356A092 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  (NPF-016) |
| Issue date: | 03/05/2026 |
| From: | Herrera-Torres M Plant Licensing Branch II |
| To: | Coffey R Florida Power & Light Co |
| Jordan N | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2024-LLA-0162 | |
| Download: ML25356A092 (0) | |
Text
March 5, 2026 Mr. Robert Coffey Executive Vice President, Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer Florida Power & Light Company 700 Universe Blvd.
Mail Stop: EX/JB Juno Beach, FL 33408
SUBJECT:
ST. LUCIE PLANT, UNIT NO. 2 - AUDIT
SUMMARY
FOR LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR LICENSING BASIS CHANGES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSITION TO 24-MONTH FUEL CYCLES (EPID L-2024-LLA-0162)
Dear Mr. Coffey:
By letter dated November 26, 2024 (Agencywide Documents and Access Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML24331A249), as supplemented by letters dated July 30, 2025, and December 15, 2025 (ML25211A136 and ML25349A027, respectively), Florida Power and Light (FPL, the licensee), submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for St. Lucie Plant (St.
Lucie), Unit No. 2, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Specifically, the proposed LAR would revise the St. Lucie, Unit 2, Technical Specification 5.5.16, Surveillance Frequency Control Program (SFCP), to increase certain Surveillance Requirement (SR)
Frequencies to support a St. Lucie, Unit No. 2, transition to 24-month fuel cycles. The proposed modification to the SFCP would permit affected SR Frequency increases in accordance with NRC Generic Letter 91-04, Changes in Technical Specification Surveillance Intervals to Accommodate a 24-Month Fuel Cycle. Changes to some Reactor Protective System, Engineered Safety Features Actuation System, and Diesel Generator - Loss of Voltage Start Allowable Values and Trip Setpoints are required to support the change to a 24-month fuel cycle. Additionally, this proposed change addresses an increase in the maximum boric acid concentration in the Refueling Water Tank and Safety Injection Tanks needed to support an increase in fuel cycle length. Lastly, a change to the reactor vessel surveillance capsule withdrawal schedule is requested to address the fluence changes associated with the 24-month operating cycle.
To support its review, on April 9, 2025 (ML25091A289), the NRC staff notified the licensee that they would conduct a regulatory audit through an online portal (also known as electronic portal, ePortal, electronic reading room) established by the licensee and provided the audit plan. The regulatory audit summary is enclosed with this letter.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-8208, or by e-mail at Maria.HerreraTorres@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
M. Elena Herrera Torres Plant Licensing Branch II-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-389
Enclosure:
Regulatory Audit Summary cc: Listserv
Enclosure REGULATORY AUDIT
SUMMARY
REGARDING LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST RELATED TO LICENSING BASIS CHANGES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSITION TO 24-MONTH FUEL CYCLES ST. LUCIE PLANT, UNIT NO. 2 DOCKET NO. 50-389 FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT
1.0 BACKGROUND
By application dated November 26, 2024 (Agencywide Documents and Access Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML24331A249), as supplemented by letters dated July 30, 2025, and December 15, 2025 (ML25211A136 and ML25349A027, respectively),
Florida Power and Light (FPL, the licensee), submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for St. Lucie Plant (St. Lucie), Unit No. 2, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Specifically, the proposed LAR would revise the St. Lucie, Unit 2, Technical Specification (TS) 5.5.16, Surveillance Frequency Control Program (SFCP), to increase certain Surveillance Requirement (SR) Frequencies.
The NRC staff performed a preliminary review of the LAR and determined that a regulatory audit would assist in the timely completion of the review. An audit plan was provided to the licensee on April 9, 2025 (ML25091A289), which provided details pertaining to the audit. The purpose of the audit was to gain an understanding of the information needed to support the NRC staffs licensing decision regarding the LAR and to develop requests for additional information (RAIs),
if necessary. The information submitted in support of the LAR is under final review, and any additional information needed to support the LAR review will be formally requested by the NRC staff using the RAI process in accordance with Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)
Office Instruction LIC-101, Revision 6, License Amendment Review Procedures (ML19248C539).
The regulatory audit is a planned license or regulation-related activity that includes the examination and evaluation of primarily non-docketed information. The regulatory audit is conducted with the intent to gain understanding, to verify information, and/or to identify information, that will require docketing to support the basis of a licensing or regulatory decision.
Performing a regulatory audit of the licensees information is expected to assist the NRC staff in efficiently conducting its review or gaining insights into the licensees processes or procedures.
Information that the NRC staff relies upon to make the safety determination must be submitted on the docket. However, the NRC staff may review supporting information retained as records under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) section 50.71, Maintenance of records, making of reports, and/or 10 CFR 54.37, Additional records and recordkeeping requirements, which, although not required to be submitted as part of the licensing action, would help the NRC staff better understand the licensees submitted information.
2.0 SCOPE On April 9, 2025, the NRC staff issued an audit plan. To support discussions, the NRC staff provided audit questions with items for FPL to clarify. FPL posted answers to these questions to the online portal. The NRC staff held clarification discussions with the FPL staff via Microsoft Teams. All audit questions were discussed. Technical discussions were primarily focused on information provided by the licensee to support the methodology used in the licensees criticality analysis.
3.0 AUDIT TEAM The NRC audit team included the following:
Natreon Jordan, Plant Licensing Branch II-2 (LPL2-2)
David Nold, Containment and Plant Systems Branch (SCPB)
Nicholas Soliz, Containment and Plant Systems Branch (SCPB)
David Rahn, Long Term Ops and Modernization Branch and Instrumentation & Controls Branch (EICB)
Liliana Ramadan, Electrical Engineering Branch (EEEB)
Robert Beaton, Nuclear Systems Performance Branch (SNSB)
Gokul Vasudevamurthy, Nuclear Systems Performance Branch (SNSB) 4.0 DOCUMENT AND FILES REVIEWED The NRC staff requested that applicable surveillance test reports and equipment failure reports pertaining to the previous five cycles for systems and components be available for review on the electronic portal.
FPL provided the following documents for NRC staff review and discussion:
Evaluation PLL-ENG_SEMS-23-006 Rev. 0, Attachment 1-9 List of Work Orders Reviewed for Calibration SRs.
Additionally, the licensee responses to NRC staff audit questions were also included on the portal for NRC staff review.
The audit covered several areas where the NRC staff sought confirmation and clarification. Staff reviewed historical SR test data and associated maintenance records for both Non-Calibration and Calibration changes, licensing basis (UFSAR and commitments) for functions associated with the proposed SR intervals, and the impacts of instrument drift associated with the proposed calibration SRs interval changes.
5.0 RESULTS OF THE AUDIT As a result of the audit, the NRC staff gained a better understanding of the licensees analyses and calculations that provide the technical support for the LAR. Several RAIs were issued to the licensee on July 2, 2025 (ML25188A245). The licensee provided a response to the RAIs on July 30, 2025 (ML25211A136).
- via eConcurrence OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/LA NRR/DSS/SFNB/BC NAME NJordan ABaxter SKrepel DATE 12/16/2025 01/08/2026 01/02/2026 OFFICE NRR/DRNL/NVIB/BC NRR/DSS/STSB/BC NRR/DSS/SNSB/BC NAME ABuford SMehta NDifrancesco DATE 01/02/2026 01/02/2026 01/02/2026 OFFICE NRR/DEX/EEEB NRR/DORL/DEX/EICB(Acting) NRR/DSS/SCPB/BC NAME WMorton SDarbali MValentin DATE 01/02/2026 01/02/2026 01/02/2026 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/BC NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NAME DWrona EHerrera DATE 01/07/2026 03/05/2026