ML26022A213
| ML26022A213 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Columbia  (NPF-021) |
| Issue date: | 03/26/2026 |
| From: | Mahesh Chawla Plant Licensing Branch IV |
| To: | Schuetz R Energy Northwest |
| Chawla M | |
| Shared Package | |
| TSTF 599 | List: |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LLA-0148 TSTF 599 | |
| Download: ML26022A213 (0) | |
Text
March 26, 2026 Mr. Robert Schuetz Chief Executive Officer Energy Northwest MD 1023 76 North Power Plant Loop P.O. Box 968 Richland, WA 99352
SUBJECT:
COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT NO. 281 TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS TO ADOPT TSTF-599, ELIMINATE PERIODIC SURVEILLANCE TEST OF SIMULTANEOUS START OF REDUNDANT DIESEL GENERATORS (EPID L-2025-LLA-0141)
Dear Mr. Schuetz:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 281 to Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-21 for the Columbia Generating Station (Columbia). The amendment consists of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated September 2, 2025.
The amendment revises the Columbia TSs based on Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF) Traveler TSTF-599, Revision 1, Eliminate Periodic Surveillance Test of Simultaneous Start of Redundant Diesel Generators (TSTF-599). Specifically, the amendment deleted Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.20 in TS 3.8.1, AC [Alternating Current] Sources -
Operating, to verify that diesel generators (DGs) achieve a specific frequency and voltage within a specified time period when started simultaneously.
R. Schuetz A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions monthly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Mahesh L. Chawla, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-397
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 281 to NPF-21
- 2. Safety Evaluation
- 3. Notices and Environmental Findings cc: Listserv ENERGY NORTHWEST DOCKET NO. 50-397 COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 281 License No. NPF-21 1.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A.
The application for amendment by Energy Northwest (the licensee), dated September 2, 2025, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act) and the Commissions rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B.
The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C.
There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commissions regulations; D.
The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E.
The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commissions regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
2.
Accordingly, the license is amended by changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-21 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2)
Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 281 and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, are hereby incorporated in the renewed license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
3.
The license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 60 days from the date of issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Michael Mahoney, Acting Chief Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
Changes to Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-21 and the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: March 26, 2026 MICHAEL MAHONEY Digitally signed by MICHAEL MAHONEY Date: 2026.03.26 10:43:00 -04'00'
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 281 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-21 COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION DOCKET NO. 50-397 Replace the following pages of Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-21 and the Appendix A, Technical Specifications, with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain vertical lines indicating the areas of change.
Renewed Facility Operating License REMOVE INSERT Technical Specification REMOVE INSERT 3.8.1-15 3.8.1-15 3.8.1-16 3.8.1-16
Renewed License No. NPF-21 Amendment No. 281 (2)
Technical Specifications and Environmental Protection Plan The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised through Amendment No. 281 and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, are hereby incorporated in the renewed license. The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
a.
For Surveillance Requirements (SRs) not previously performed by existing SRs or other plant tests, the requirement will be considered met on the implementation date and the next required test will be at the interval specified in the Technical Specifications as revised in Amendment No. 149.
(3)
Deleted.
(4)
Deleted.
(5)
Deleted.
(6)
Deleted.
(7)
Deleted.
(8)
Deleted.
(9)
Deleted.
(10)
Deleted.
(11)
Deleted.
(12)
Deleted.
(13)
Deleted.
AC Sources - Operating 3.8.1 Columbia Generating Station 3.8.1-15 Amendment No. 203,204 225 238 281 SURVEILLANCE REQUIREMENTS SURVEILLANCE FREQUENCY SR 3.8.1.19
NOTES-----------------------------
1.
All DG starts may be preceded by an engine prelube period.
2.
This Surveillance shall not normally be performed in MODE 1, 2, or 3 (not applicable to DG-3). However, portions of the Surveillance may be performed to re-establish OPERABILITY provided an assessment determines the safety of the plant is maintained or enhanced. Credit may be taken for unplanned events that satisfy this SR.
Verify, on an actual or simulated loss of offsite power signal in conjunction with an actual or simulated ECCS initiation signal:
a.
De-energization of emergency buses; b.
Load shedding from emergency buses for DG-1 and DG-2; and c.
DG auto-starts from standby condition and:
1.
energizes permanently connected loads in d 15 seconds, 2.
energizes auto-connected emergency
- loads, 3.
maintains steady state voltage t 3910 V and d 4400 V, 4.
maintains steady state frequency t 58.8 Hz and d 61.2 Hz, and 5.
supplies permanently connected and auto-connected emergency loads for t 5 minutes.
In accordance with the Surveillance Frequency Control Program
AC Sources - Operating 3.8.1 Columbia Generating Station 3.8.1-16 Amendment No. 204 225 238 281 This page intentionally left blank SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 281 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-21 ENERGY NORTHWEST COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION DOCKET NO. 50-397 Application (i.e., initial and supplements)
Safety Evaluation Date September 2, 2025, ML25245A260 March 26, 2026 Principal Contributor to Safety Evaluation Khadijah West
1.0 PROPOSED CHANGE
S Energy Northwest (the licensee) requested changes to the technical specifications (TSs) for Columbia Generating Station (Columbia) by license amendment request (LAR, application). The proposed changes would revise the TSs based on Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF)
Traveler TSTF-599, Revision 1, Eliminate Periodic Surveillance Test of Simultaneous Start of Redundant Diesel Generators (TSTF-599) (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25093A204), and the associated U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) staff final safety evaluation (SE) of Traveler TSTF-599 (ML25119A288).
Specifically, the proposed change would delete Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.8.1.20 in TS 3.8.1, AC [Alternating Current] Sources - Operating, to verify that diesel generators (DGs) achieve a specific frequency and voltage within a specified time period when started simultaneously.
1.1
System Description
The Class 1E AC electrical power distribution systems onsite standby power sources provide independence and redundancy to ensure an available source of power to the engineered safety feature (ESF) systems when the offsite or preferred power sources are unavailable. Specifically, the onsite standby power source consists of emergency DGs to power ESF buses. A safety injection (SI) signal or a loss of offsite power (i.e., an ESF bus degraded voltage or undervoltage) signal will automatically start the DGs. If DGs start due to a loss of offsite power signal (independent of or coincident with an SI signal), the DGs will automatically tie to their respective ESF buses. If the DGs receive an SI signal alone, they will start and operate in standby mode (i.e., without tying to the ESF buses). Following the trip of offsite power, non-permanent loads are stripped from the ESF buses. When the DGs are tied to the ESF buses, emergency loads are then sequentially connected to their respective ESF buses by the automatic load sequencer. The sequencing logic controls the permissive and starting signals to motor breakers to prevent overloading the DGs by automatic load application.
In the event of a loss of preferred (offsite) power, the ESF electrical loads are automatically connected to the DGs in sufficient time to provide for safe reactor shutdown and to mitigate the consequences of a design-basis accident, such as a loss-of-coolant accident.
1.2 Proposed TS Changes
The licensee proposed to revise TS 3.8.1 by deleting SR 3.8.1.20, in its entirety, which requires simultaneous starting of the DGs.
The current SR 3.8.1.20for Columbia states:
SR 3.8.1.20
NOTE---------------------------------
All DG starts may be preceded by an engine prelube period.
Verify, when started simultaneously from standby condition, DG-1 and DG-2 achieves, in 15 seconds, voltage 3910 V and frequency 58.8 Hz, and DG-3 achieves, in 15 seconds, voltage 3910 V and frequency 58.8 Hz.
The licensee stated in the LAR that SR 3.8.1.20 is not referenced in other TSs, so no other changes were proposed. The NRC staff notes that the absence of references to the SR is not considered a variation as it is consistent with the TSTF-599 standard TS (STS) markups for NUREG-14341 (for boiling water reactor (BWR) type 6 plants).
1.3 Proposed Changes to Technical Specification Bases Consistent with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.36(a)(1), the licensee submitted corresponding changes to the TS Bases, for information only, that provide the reasons for the proposed TS changes. The regulation at 10 CFR 50.36(a)(1) states, in part, that a summary statement of the bases or reasons for such specifications, other than those covering administrative controls, shall also be included in the application, but shall not become part of the technical specifications. The licensee shall make changes to the plant TS Bases in accordance with the Technical Specifications (TS) Bases Control Program, found at TS 5.5.10 for Columbia.
1 NUREG-1434, Standard Technical Specifications, General Electric BWR/6 Plants, Volume 1, Specifications, and Volume 2, Bases, Revision 5, September 2021 (ML21271A582 and ML21271A596, respectively.
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
2.1 Applicable Regulatory Requirements and Guidance The regulations in 10 CFR 50.36, Technical specifications, provide the regulatory requirements for the content of the TSs. It requires, in part, that a summary statement of the bases for such specifications shall be included by applicants for a license authorizing operation of a production or utilization facility. Specifically, the regulation in 10 CFR 50.36(c)(3),
Surveillance requirements, states that [s]urveillance requirements are requirements relating to test, calibration, or inspection to assure that the necessary quality of systems and components is maintained, that facility operation will be within safety limits, and that the limiting conditions for operation will be met.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
3.1 Proposed TS Changes to Adopt TSTF-599 The NRC staff compared the licensees proposed TS changes in section 1.2 of this SE against the changes approved in TSTF-599. The NRC staff finds that the licensees proposed change to the Columbia TS in section 1.2 of this SE is consistent with the one found acceptable in TSTF-599.
In the NRC SE of TSTF-599, the NRC staff considered common-cause failure a very low likelihood event, and therefore concluded that the performance of STS SR 3.8.1.20 does not enhance safety over the increased risk of equipment inoperability. Additionally, in recent decades, industry operating experience during loss of offsite power events has demonstrated consistent performance of the DG simultaneous start function. Therefore, as discussed in section 4.0 of the NRC staffs SE of TSTF-599, the NRC staff found the proposed deletion of STS SR 3.8.1.20 was acceptable because the TS would continue to meet 10 CFR 50.36(c)(3) since the remaining STS 3.8.1 DG SRs provide assurance that the necessary quality of systems and components are maintained. For these same reasons, the NRC staff concludes that the corresponding proposed change to Columbia TS SR 3.8.1.20 in section 1.2 of this SE continues to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.36(c)(3).
4.0 CONCLUSION
The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) there is reasonable assurance that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commissions regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
NOTICES AND ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 281 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-21 ENERGY NORTHWEST COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION DOCKET NO. 50-397 Application (i.e., initial and supplements)
Safety Evaluation Date September 2, 2025, ML25245A260 March 26, 2026
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Energy Northwest (the licensee) requested changes to the technical specifications (TSs) for Columbia Generating Station (Columbia) by license amendment request. The proposed changes would revise the TSs based on Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF) Traveler TSTF-599, Revision 1, Eliminate Periodic Surveillance Test of Simultaneous Start of Redundant Diesel Generators (TSTF-599) (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25093A204), and the associated U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) staff final safety evaluation of Traveler TSTF-599 (ML25119A288).
2.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commissions regulations, the Washington State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment on January 20, 2026. The State official had no comments.
3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendment changes a requirement with respect to installation or use of a facility component located within the restricted area as defined in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 20 and changes surveillance requirements. The NRC staff has determined that the amendment involves no significant increase in the amounts, and no significant change in the types of any effluents that may be released offsite, and that there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure. The Commission has previously issued a proposed finding that the amendment involves NSHC, which was published in the Federal Register on January 20, 2026 (91 FR 2375),
and there has been no public comment on such finding. Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) and 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendment.
R. Schuetz
SUBJECT:
COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT NO. 281 TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS TO ADOPT TSTF-599, ELIMINATE PERIODIC SURVEILLANCE TEST OF SIMULTANEOUS START OF REDUNDANT DIESEL GENERATORS (EPID L-2025-LLA-0141) DATED MARCH 26, 2026 DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC RidsACRS_MailCTR Resource RidsNrrDorlLpl4 Resource RidsNrrDssStsb Resource RidsNrrLAPBlechman Resource RidsNrrPMColumbia Resource RidsRgn4MailCenter Resource KWest, NRR ADAMS Accession Nos.:
PKG: ML26084A500 Document: ML26022A213 e-Concurrence case: 20260122-10037