ML26014A121
| ML26014A121 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Farley  |
| Issue date: | 01/23/2026 |
| From: | Geoffrey Miller NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL2-1 |
| To: | Coleman J Southern Nuclear Operating Co |
| Turner, Zachary | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LLA-0153 | |
| Download: ML26014A121 (0) | |
Text
January 23, 2026 Jamie M. Coleman Regulatory Affairs Director Southern Nuclear Operating Company 3535 Colonnade Parkway Birmingham, AL 35243
SUBJECT:
JOSEPH M. FARLEY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - REGULATORY AUDIT PLAN IN SUPPORT OF THE LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO REVISE DIESEL GENERATOR FREQUENCY AND VOLTAGE RANGES (EPID L-2025-LLA-0153)
Dear Ms. Coleman:
By letter dated September 25, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25268A279), Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the licensee) submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for the Joesph M. Farley, Units 1 and 2 (Farley). The proposed amendment requests to modify the diesel generator allowable frequency and voltage ranges in Technical Specification (TS) 3.8.1.
The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has identified the need to conduct a regulatory audit to examine SNCs analysis and non-docketed information with the intent to gain understanding, verify information, or identify information that will require docketing to support the basis of the NRCs licensing regulatory decision.
The NRC staff will conduct the audit virtually via Teams using a licensee-established electronic portal available to NRC staff until February 27, 2026, with formal audit meetings to be scheduled during this period, as needed. The NRC staff reserves the right to extend the audit, if necessary.
The detailed audit plan is enclosed with this letter.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-2481 or by email at ed.miller@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
G. Edward Miller, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-348 and 50-364
Enclosure:
Audit Plan cc: Listserv
Enclosure REGULATORY AUDIT PLAN BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION TO SUPPORT THE LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST REVIEW TO MODIFY DIESEL GENERATOR FREQUENCY AND VOLTAGE RANGES SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY JOSEPH M. FARLEY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-348 AND 50-364
1.0 BACKGROUND
By letter dated September 25, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25268A279), Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the licensee) submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for the Joesph M. Farley, Units 1 and 2 (Farley). The proposed amendment requests to modify the diesel generator allowable frequency and voltage ranges in Technical Specification (TS) 3.8.1.
The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has identified the need to conduct a regulatory audit to examine SNCs non-docketed information with the intent to gain understanding, verify information, or identify information that will require docketing to support the basis of the NRCs licensing regulatory decision.
The NRC staff from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) has initiated its review of the LAR in accordance with NRR Office Instruction LIC-101, Revision 6, License Amendment Review Procedures August 2020 (ML19248C539).
2.0 REGULATORY AUDIT BASIS A regulatory audit is a planned license or regulation-related activity that includes the examination and evaluation of primarily non-docketed information associated with the LAR. An audit is conducted to gain understanding, to verify information, and to identify information that will require docketing to support the basis of a licensing or regulatory decision. An audit will assist the NRC staff in efficiently conducting its review and gaining insights to the licensees processes and procedures. Information that the NRC staff relies upon to make the safety determination must be submitted on the docket. This audit will be conducted in accordance with NRR Office Instruction LIC-111, Revision 2, Regulatory Audits, December 2024 (ML24309A281), with exceptions noted within this audit plan.
The NRC staff will perform the audit to support its evaluation of whether SNCs LAR can be approved in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 50.90, Application for amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit. The NRC staffs review will be informed by NUREG-0800, Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR [Light-Water Reactor] Edition. The audit will assist the NRC staff with understanding the licensees LAR.
3.0 REGULATORY AUDIT SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY NRCs objectives for the audit include:
Gain a better understanding of the detailed analyses bases underlying the LAR and confirm the NRC staffs understanding of the proposed LAR design and licensing basis changes.
Gain a better understanding of potential plant operational issues and analytical methods being addressed by the proposed changes.
Identify any information needed to enable the NRC staffs evaluation of the technical basis used for this application.
Identify any information needed to enable the NRC staffs evaluation of whether the proposed changes challenge design-basis functions or adversely affect the capability or capacity of plant equipment to perform design-basis functions.
Identify questions and requests that may become formal requests for additional information (RAI) per NRR Office Instruction LIC-115, Revision 1, Processing Requests for Additional Information, August 2021 (ML21141A238).
The NRC staff will audit the technical information and analytical methods that the licensee used to determine the impact on the plant.
4.0 INFORMATION AND OTHER MATERIAL NECESSARY FOR THE AUDIT The NRC staff requests the licensee to have the following information readily available and accessible for the staffs review via an internet-based portal:
Relevant portions of Design Calculations used for deriving the revised values of emergency diesel generator (EDG) steady state voltage and frequency limits, proposed in the surveillance requirements.
Evaluation of DG Fuel Oil Consumption and Storage Capacity Evaluations for pumps with negative pump margin requiring analytical resolution Based on the review of the documents provided, the NRC staff will determine whether it needs to request any additional documents to be made available on the portal or additional information needs to be submitted on docket for the staff to complete the review of the requested change.
Additionally, audit questions for discussion are included at the end of this audit plan.
The NRC staff requests the licensee to collect and have the information identified above available and accessible for the NRC staffs review via a web-based e-room by the intended start date of the audit, or earlier. The NRC staff requests that any supplemental information requested be available and accessible for the NRC staffs review within approximately 1 week after the date of the NRCs notification to the licensee of the new requests. The NRC staff requests the licensee to notify the review team when the audit item is added to its e-room by sending an email to the NRC licensing project manager.
The NRC staff acknowledges and will observe appropriate handling and protection of proprietary information made available for the audit. Any information accessed through the licensees portal will not be held or retained in any way by NRC staff.
5.0 TEAM ASSIGNMENTS The audit team will consist of the following NRC staff from NRR:
Ed Miller, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing (DORL)/Plant Licensing Branch 2-1 (LPL2-1), and will be the audit team leader, Nadim Khan, Division of Engineering and External Hazards (DEX), Electrical Engineering Branch (EEEB)
Sheila Ray, DEX/EEEB Nicholas Hansing, DEX, Mechanical Engineering & Inservice Testing Branch (EMIB)
Jo Ambrosini, Division of Safety Systems (DSS), Nuclear Systems Performance Branch (SNSB)
Angelo Stubbs, DSS, Containment & Plant Systems Branch (SCPB)
Andrea Russell, DSS, Technical Specifications Branch (STSB)
Youssef Rokes, DEX, Instrumentation & Control Branch (EICB)
The NRC PM for the audit team will provide email lists to the license point of contact to support the reading room setup and access.
6.0 LOGISTICS To support the review schedule communicated to SNC when the NRC staff accepted the LAR for technical review, audit activities will be conducted remotely and virtually using Microsoft Teams, teleconference, and an e-room or other virtual meeting space created by the licensee.
The NRC staff information requests and communications with licensee staff will be coordinated through the NRCs licensing project manager.
A desktop audit will take place between the date of this letter and February 27, 2026. The NRCs licensing project manager will inform the licensee of the entrance and exit meeting dates when they are established. The NRC intends to establish virtual audit meeting via Microsoft Teams on mutually agreeable dates and times, to discuss information needs and questions arising from the NRCs review of the audited items. The NRC staff may change and/or add audit dates and times, or extend the audit, if necessary. Updates to, or additional, audit meeting agenda and questions will be sent in advance of the audit meeting.
The NRC staff requests the licensee to have the information referenced in Section 4.0 of this audit plan available and accessible for the NRC staffs review via an internet-based portal.
Additionally, the NRC staff requests that SNC staff be prepared to discuss the audit questions listed in Section 9.0 of this audit plan. The NRC staff requests that any supplemental information requested be available and accessible for the NRC staffs review within 5 business days of the date of the NRCs notification to the licensee of the new requests. The NRCs licensing project manager will inform the licensee via routine communications when the NRC staff no longer need access to the portal. The NRC staff requests the licensee to notify the NRCs licensing project manager when an audit item is added to its portal by sending an email to the NRC licensing project manager.
7.0 SPECIAL REQUESTS The NRC requests access to requested documents and information through a web-based portal that allows the NRC staff and contractors to access documents over the Internet. The following conditions, associated with the online portal, must be maintained while the NRC staff and contractors have access to the online portal:
The online portal will be password-protected. A separate password will be assigned to each member of the NRC staff and NRC contractors participating in the audit.
The online portal will prevent the NRC participants from printing, saving, downloading, or collecting any information directly from the online portal.
Conditions of use of the online portal will be displayed on the login screen and will require acknowledgment by each user.
Username and password and/or other web-based portal access information should be provided directly to members of the NRC staff and contractors as needed. The NRC licensing project manager will provide the licensee with names and contact information of the NRC staff and contractors participating in the audit. All other communications should be coordinated through the NRC project manager.
8.0 DELIVERABLES The NRC staff will develop any RAI, as needed, via NRR Office Instruction LIC-115 and issue such RAI separately from audit-related correspondence. The NRC staff will issue an audit summary report prior to completing its review of the LARs.
9.0 AUDIT QUESTIONS
- 1. Charging pump evaluations noted negative margin based on ASME OM Code instrument accuracy. More accurate pressure instruments were noted as a solution. Will these more accurate pressure instruments be identified and documented within the Inservice Testing (IST) Program for consistency in implementation?
- 2. LAR enclosure, Section 1.0, Summary Description, states, in part, that the changes to the steady state DG operating voltage and frequency ranges are consistent with the methodology provided in WCAP-17308-NP-A.
Provide the assessment demonstrating consistency with WCAP-17308-NP-A, including the method for calculating operational voltage and frequency uncertainties.
- 3. Provide an evaluation of the effects of EDG voltage and frequency variations.
Specifically, calculations that show evaluated components could perform their safety functions with the EDG voltage and frequency variations.
- 4. LAR enclosure, Subsection of 3.0, DG Fuel Oil Consumption and Storage Capacity, states, in part, that the evaluation determined that the DG Fuel Storage has been designed with sufficient capacity to provide the required power to the minimum required diesel generators.
Provide the evaluation mentioned above.
- 5. LAR enclosure, Section 3.0, Technical Evaluation, states, in part, that the DG voltage regulator is capable of maintaining steady state voltage within the proposed tolerance and the DG governor is capable of maintaining DG speed within the narrower tolerance as demonstrated by design analyses and supported by a review of past surveillance test data.
Please provide the design analyses and data of the past performances to justify that the steady state voltage and frequency tolerances are within the selected values of +/-4% for steady state voltage and +/-0.95% for steady state frequency.
ML26014A121 NRR-106 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPLII-1/PM NRR/DORL/LPLII-1/LA NRR/DEX/EEEB/BC NAME GEMiller KZeleznock WMorton DATE 1/14/2026 01/15/2026 1/21/2026 OFFICE NRR/DEX/EMIB/BC NRR/DEX/EICB/BC(A)
NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/BC NAME SBailey SDarbali MMarkley DATE 1/15/2026 1/23/2026 1/23/2026