NRC Generic Letter 1991-01

NRC Generic Letter 1991-001: Removal of the Schedule for the Withdrawal of Reactor Vessel Material Specimens from Technical Specifications

ML031140127
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, Fort Saint Vrain, Washington Public Power Supply System, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Clinch River
Issue date:	01/04/1991
From:	Partlow J Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
GL-91-001, NUDOCS 9012310078
Download: ML031140127 (6)

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UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555

• 4E January 4, 1991 TO: ALL HOLDERS OF OPERATING LICENSES OR CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR

NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS

SUBJECT: REMOVAL OF THE SCHEDULE FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF REACTOR VESSEL MATERIAL

SPECIMENS FROM TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (Generic Letter 91-01)

Technical specifications (TS) include limiting conditions for operation that establish pressure and temperature limits for the reactor coolant system. The limits are defined by TS figures that provide an acceptable range of operating temperatures and pressures for heatup, cooldown, criticality, and inservice leak and hydrostatic testing. These limits are generally valid for a specified number of effective full-power years. A program for reactor vessel material surveillance ensures the availability of data to update the inservice operating temperature and pressure limits. This program will assist in fulfilling the requirements of Appendix H to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to prevent brittle fracture of the reactor vessel.

The surveillance requirements associated with these limits specify the with- drawal schedule for the reactor vessel material specimens. Recently, the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a request to remove this schedule from the TS for the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. This TS

change was requested because Section II.B.3 of Appendix H to 10 CFR Part 50

requires the submittal to, and approval by, the NRC of a proposed withdrawal schedule for material specimens before implementation. Hence, the placement of this schedule in the TS duplicates the controls on changes to this schedule that have been established by Appendix H. Therefore, the staff concluded that, because this duplication is unnecessary, the removal of this TS schedule as a line-item improvement is consistent with the Commission Policy Statement on TS Improvements.

The enclosed guidance addresses the preparation of a request for a license amendment for this TS change. Licensees and applicants that plan to adopt this line-item TS improvement are encouraged to propose changes to their TS

that are consistent with the guidance in the Enclosure. The NRC project manager for the facility will review these amendment requests. Please contact the project manager or the contact identified below if you have questions on this matter.

This letter does not require any licensee to propose changes to its plant TS. Action taken in response to the guidance provided in this generic letter

9012310078 4'

- 1 Generic Letter 91-01 - 2 - January 4, 1991 is voluntary and is not a backfit under 10 CFR

Management and Budget clearance is not required.50.109. Therefore, Office of Sincerely, ames G. Partlow Associate Director for Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Enclosure:

As stated Contact: Tom Dunning, OTSB/NRR

(301) 492-1189

Generic Letter 91-01 Enclosure GUIDANCE FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE WITHDRAWAL SCHEDULE FOR

- 'REACTOR VESSEL MATERIAL SPECIMENS FROM TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Introduction:

This enclosure provides guidance for the preparation of a request for a license amendment to remove from the technical specifications (TS) the schedule for the withdrawal of reactor vessel material surveillance specimens. The control of changes to this schedule by way of a license amendment to modify the TS dupli- cates the requirements of Section II.B.3 of Appendix H to Part 50 of Title 10

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). These requirements address the submittal of-a proposed withdrawal schedule, as specified *in10 CFR 50.4, and NRC approvalibefore its implementation.'

Discussion: - i The limiting conditions for operation (LCO) for the reactor coolant system include operating limits on pressure and temperature that are defined in figures that provide an acceptable region for operation during heatup, cool-

..

down, criticality, and iinservice leak and hydrostatic testing. "An associated surveillance requirement addresses the frequency of verifying that operation is within the specified-limits during these operating Conditions. In addition, a separate surveillance includes the requirement that reactor vessel material surveillance specimens be removed and examined to determine changes in material properties, as required by 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix H, and in accordance with the schedule in the referenced TS table. The reference to this table along with the TS table providing the schedule for the withdrawal of reactor vessel material surveillance specimens may be removed from this surveillance require- ment. This surveillance requirement may also specify that the results of these examinations shall be used to update the TS figures for the pressure and temperature operating limits. If this requirement exists, it shall be retained.

The Bases Section for this TS provides a detailed description of the bases for this LCO and the associated surveillance requirements. The standard technical specifications (STS) bases reference the TS table that provides the schedule for surveillance specimen withdrawal. The bases states that the heatup and cooldown curves are recalculated when data from the surveillance specimens indicate a change in material properties that exceeds the limiting value of those properties that were used to develop the existing pressure and tempera- ture limits. Finally, the STS Bases Section includes a table of the initial values of reactor vessel material properties and includes figures showing the effects of neutron fluence on the material characteristics and the predicted shifts in material characteristics.

The current STS bases provide extensive background information on the use of the data obtained from material specimens. This background information clearly defines the purpose and relationship of this information to the requirements included in the regulations and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code. Therefore, the removal of the schedule for specimen withdrawal from the TS will not result in any loss of clarity related to regulatory requirements of Appendix H to 10 CFR Part 50.

If the Bases Section of this TS includes a reference to the TS table that pro- vides the schedule for material specimen withdrawal that is being removed from

Generic Letter 91-01 - 2 - Enclosure the TS, this section should be updated to reflect the removal of this TS table.

However, to obtain a readily available copy of the NRC-approved version of the specimen withdrawal schedule, licensees should provide a commitment to include this schedule in the next revision of the updated safety analysis report (USAR).

Summary:

The removal from the TS of the schedule for the withdrawal of reactor vessel material surveillance specimens will not result in any loss of regulatory control because changes to this schedule are controlled by the requirements of Appendix H to 10 CFR Part 50. In addition, to ensure that the surveillance specimens are withdrawn at the proper time, the surveillance requirements in the TS on pressure and temperature limits must indicate that the specimens shall be removed and examined to determine changes in their material proper- ties, as required by Appendix H. A request for a license amendment to remove this table from the TS may be made based upon this guidance. Licensees should include an updated Bases Section for this TS with this proposal if changes to the Bases Section are necessary to remove references to the table being removed from the TS. Also, the licensee should commit to maintain the NRC-approved version of the specimen.withdrawal schedule in the USAR.

LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED GENERIC LETTERS

Generi c Date of Letter No. Subject Issuance Issued

-- -

To

_ -- -_,

90-09 ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR 12/11/90 ALL LIGHT-WATER

SNUBBER VISUAL INSPECTION REACTOR LICENSEES

INTERVALS AND CORRECTIVE AND APPLICANTS

ACTIONS

89-10 CONSIDERATION OF THE RESULTS 10/25/90 ALL LICENSEES OF

SUPP. 3 OF NRC-SPONSORED TESTS OF OPERATING NUCLEAR

MOTOR-OPERATED VALVES POWER PLANTS AND

HOLDERS OF CONSTRUC-

TION PERMITS FOR

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

90-08 SIMULATION FACILITY 08/10/90 ALL HOLDERS OF

EXEMPTIONS OPERATING LICENSES

OR CONSTRUCTION

PERMITS FOR NUCLEAR

POWER REACTORS

90-07 OPERATOR LICENSING NATIONAL 08/10/90 ALL POWER REACTOR

EXAMINATION SCHEDULE LICENSEES AND

APPLICANTS FOR AN

OPERATING LICENSE

89-10 AVAILABILITY OF PROGRAM 08/03/90 ALL LICENSEES OF

SUPP. 2 DESCRIPTIONS OPERATING NPPs AND

HOLDERS OF CPs FOR

NPPs

88-20 COMPLETION OF CONTAINMENT 07/06/90 ALL LICENSEES HOLD-

SUPP. 3 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT ING OLs AND CPs PROGRAM AND FORWARDING OF FOR NPP FACILITIES

INSIGHTS FOR USE IN THE EXCEPT LICENSEES

INDIVIDUAL PLANT EXAMINA- FOR BWRs WITH MARK I

TION FOR SEVERE ACCIDENT CONTAINMENTS

VULNERABILITIES

90-06 RESOLUTION OF GI 70, "POWER- 06/28/90 ALL PRESSURIZED

OPERATED RELIEF VALVE AND WATER REACTOR

BLOCK VALVE RELIABILITY," LICENSEES AND

AND GI 94, "ADDITIONAL LOW- CONSTRUCTION

TEMPERATURE OVERPRESSURE PERMIT HOLDERS

PROTECTION FOR LIGHT-WATER

REACTORS," PURSUANT TO

1OCFR50.54(f)

90-05 GUIDANCE FOR PERFORMING 06/15/90 ALL HOLDERS OF

TEMPORARY NON-CODE REPAIR OPERATING LICENSES

OF ASME CODE CLASS 1,2,&3 FOR NPPs PIPING

Generic Letter 91-01 -2 - January 4, 1991 is voluntary and is not a backfit under 10 CFR 50.109. Therefore, Office of Management and Budget clearance is not required.

Sincerely, O*8i3a1 signed by hmes G.Partlow James 6. Partlow Associate Director for Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Enclosure:

As stated Contact: Tom Dunning, OTSB/NRR

(301) 492-1189 Distribution:

NRC PDR

Central Files OTSB/RF

DOEA/RF

TDunning

/ NOTE: CRGR Members voted to approve this generic letter during the CRGR

I Meeting held on December 12, 1990.

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY *See prior concurrence

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