NL-13-044, Update to Previous Plans Regarding Refueling Cavity Repairs

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Update to Previous Plans Regarding Refueling Cavity Repairs
ML13141A402
Person / Time
Site: Indian Point Entergy icon.png
Issue date: 05/14/2013
From: Dacimo F
Entergy Nuclear Northeast
To:
Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NL-13-044
Download: ML13141A402 (4)


Text

Enterav Nuclear Northeast Indian Point Energy Center 450 Broadway, GSB Entergy-- P.O. Box 249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249 Tel (914) 254-2055 Fred Dacimno Vice President Operations License Renewal NL-13-044 May 14, 2013 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001

SUBJECT:

Update to Previous Plans Regarding Unit 2 Refueling Cavity Repairs Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 2 Docket No. 50-247 License No. DPR-26

REFERENCE:

1. Entergy letter NL-08-169, dated November 6, 2008, "Additional Information Regarding License Renewal Application - Operating Experience Clarification"

Dear Sir or Madam:

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc is providing an update to the additional information provided by Reference 1 for the License Renewal Application (LRA) - Operating Experience Clarification. As a result of additional research with respect to methods available for detection of leaks in water-filled structures, the action plan identified in Reference 1 for the Unit 2 refueling cavity repair was changed and a new course of action formulated. The actions planned for the spring 2010 and 2012 refueling outages regarding refueling cavity repair were revised. Attachment 1 provides the revised plan.

If you have any questions, or require additional information, please contact Mr. Robert Walpole at 914-254-6710.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on Sincerely, FRD/cbr

Docket No. 50-247 NL-13-044 Page 2 of 2

Attachment:

1. Revised Plan - Unit 2 Refueling Cavity Repairs cc: Mr. William Dean, Regional Administrator, NRC Region I Mr. Sherwin E. Turk, NRC Office of General Counsel, Special Counsel Mr. Dave Wrona, NRC Branch Chief, Engineering Review Branch I Ms. Kimberly Green, NRC Sr. Project Manager, Division of License Renewal Mr. Doug Pickett, NRR Senior Project Manager Mrs. Bridget Frymire, New York State Public Service Commission NRC Resident Inspector's Office Mr. Francis J. Murray, Jr., President and CEO NYSERDA

Revised Plan - Unit 2 Refueling Cavity Repairs (NL-13-044)

ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC.

INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR GENERATING UNIT NO. 2 DOCKET NO. 50-247

Docket No. 50-247 NL-13-044 Attachment 1 Page 1 of 1 Revised Plan - Unit 2 Refueling Cavity Repairs Reference 1 provided an action plan for refueling cavity repair at Unit 2. That plan was changed and a new course of action formulated based on new acoustic monitoring capabilities that have been successful at other facilities. The change in plans does not affect the associated NRC commitment (#36), which is to perform one-time inspection and evaluation of the Unit 2 refueling cavity concrete by taking core bores, assessing reinforcing steel, and sampling leakage water prior to the period of extended operation (PEO). Also, additional core bores would be taken and samples of leakage water would be analyzed if leakage has not stopped prior to the end of the first ten years of the PEO.

Based on additional research performed with respect to methods available for detection of leaks in water-filled structures, the actions planned for the refueling outages in the spring of 2010 and 2012 regarding the refueling cavity leakage were changed. Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) determined that acoustic monitoring technology could provide IPEC with the necessary information to locate the areas of the liner where leakage is occurring and allow IPEC to develop a focused strategy to mitigate the leakage.

As a result of the change in plans for addressing the refueling cavity leakage, the InstaCote material was not applied to the refueling cavity liner walls and floors, nor was any repair work performed. This was done in order to allow for the following actions to identify the locations of leaks in the liner:

  • Performance of a controlled water monitoring plan while filling the refueling cavity to identify the elevations at which leakage is observed.
  • Performance of acoustic monitoring of accessible welds on the liner walls and floor to pin point areas of leakage.

The results of the controlled monitoring plan while filling the refueling cavity indicate that leakage is not occurring until the water level in the refueling cavity exceeds approximately 83 feet. The acoustic monitoring identified five areas of leakage; 1) three at plug welds on the refueling cavity liner wall, 2) one on a horizontal weld seam on the refueling cavity liner wall, 3) one at the base of the upper internals support stand. The detection of a leak path at the base of the upper internals support stand is consistent with observations that when the upper internals are placed on the stand, leakage increases.

As a result of acoustic monitoring performed in the spring 2012 refueling outage, the following revised actions were developed:

  • Non-Outage (2013): Prepare a modification package to repair the Unit 2 cavity liner by welding.
  • 2R21 (2014): Initiate weld repairs to the Unit 2 cavity liner (repairs may occur over multiple refueling outages).