ML053500434

NRC Response to Entergy Operations, Incorporated (Entergy) Letter of Intent to Adopt 10 CFR 50.48(c) (NFPA 805 Rule) for Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2

ML053500434
Person / Time
Site:	Arkansas Nuclear
Issue date:	01/31/2006
From:	Catherine Haney Plant Licensing Branch III-2
To:	Forbes J Entergy Operations
Holland D, NRR/DLPM, 415-1436
References
Download: ML053500434 (4)

Text

January 31, 2006Mr. Jeffrey S. ForbesSite Vice President Arkansas Nuclear One Entergy Operations, Inc.

1448 S.R. 333 Russellville, AR 72802

SUBJECT:

NRC RESPONSE TO ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INCORPORATED(ENTERGY) LETTER OF INTENT TO ADOPT 10 CFR 50.48(c) (NFPA 805 RULE) FOR ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNITS 1 AND 2

Dear Mr. Forbes:

This letter responds to your letter dated November 2, 2005, Agencywide Document Access andManagement System (ADAMS) accession no. ML053140128, in which you informed us that Entergy intends to adopt National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 805, "Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants," 2001 Edition (NFPA 805 Rule), in accordance with the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of FederalRegulations (10 CFR), Paragraph 50.48(c) for Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO), Units 1 and 2.Your letter requests enforcement discretion for existing identified noncompliances inaccordance with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) Interim EnforcementPolicy (69 FR 33684 and 70 FR 2662). Since you have met the deadline to receive discretion for existing identified noncompliances, NRC approves your request.In your letter, you informed us that your transition to the performance-based standard for fireprotection will commence during the first quarter of 2006. You indicated that your transitionleading to development of the license amendment requests (LARs) for both units is expected to take 36 months. You provided numerous reasons for requesting an enforcement discretion window of 3 years, as opposed to the 2-year window approved by the Commission. Some of the key reasons that you provided for requesting an extension are:

!Limited availability of experts within and outside of Entergy; and

!Dissimilarity between ANO Unit 1, which is a Babcock & Wilcox plant and ANOUnit 2, which is a Combustion Engineering plant and consequential differences in the analyses. Under the enforcement discretion policy currently in place, the discretion period for both ANOUnit 1 and ANO Unit 2 begins December 31, 2005, and will expire on December 31, 2007. However, issues similar to the ones that you have raised as the basis to request a 36-month enforcement discretion window have been raised by a number of other licensees that have sent us letters of intent to adopt NFPA 805. The NRC staff is considering your request and willcontact you when we have reached a decision.

J. Forbes Please note that in order to receive enforcement discretion, you must: (1) evaluate the risksignificance of all noncompliances to assure that they do not constitute "Red" findings, (2) enter them into your corrective action program, and (3) implement and maintain appropriate compensatory measures, until the NRC staff approves your LARs to transition to NFPA 805 andissues the safety evaluation report. Please refer to NRC Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS)2005-07, "Compensatory Measures to Satisfy the Fire Protection Program Requirements," to determine appropriate compensatory measures.Your letter states that the ANO units are dissimilar and that they will be the first two units totransition to NFPA 805 in NRC Region IV. As such, you have proposed that we consider ANOunits as pilot plants for the initial implementation of NFPA 805, and requested that we waive alllicensing and review fees for the LARs for both ANO units. NRC has already selected two pilotplants to enable us to develop and refine the regulatory structure supporting the NFPA 805 implementations. The Chief Financial Officer will respond to you separately on your request fora fee waiver per regulation 10 CFR 170.11.A number of utilities have requested meetings with the NRC staff to review their project planand discuss transition issues. We recognize the benefits of communication among transitioning licensees, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), and regional staff. Therefore, weplan to hold periodic workshops at the regional offices on NFPA 805 implementation issues.

We recognize that ANO Units 1 and 2 will be the first two Region IV plants to transition toNFPA 805 and lessons learned from your transition would be beneficial to the Region IV staff and other licensees who are transitioning. These workshops will allow you to communicateongoing transition issues and facilitate the development of final acceptable solutions. It will alsoafford you a chance to learn from other licensee's transition issues industry wide. In addition, the opportunity always exists for on-site visits to ANO with NRR and regional staff on an as-needed basis.If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Drew Holland at (301) 415-1436. Sincerely,/RA/Catherine Haney, DirectorDivision of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationDocket Nos. 50-313 and 50-368 cc: See next page

ML053500434 NRR-106OFFICEDRA/FPBDRA/FPBBC: DRA/FPBBC: DRIS/IRIBOE NAMENIqbalPLainSWeerakkodyRGibbsCNolanDATE12/ 16 /0512/ 21 /0501/ 04 /0601/ 06 /0601/ 12 /06OFFICEBC: R-IV/DRS/EB2CFO/DFMD: NRR/DRANAMELSmith (S.Weerakkody for)RSuriJLyonsDATE01/ 05 /06 (Email)01/ 17 /0601/ 17 /06OFFICELA:LPLIVPM:LPLIVBC:LPLIVD: NRR/DORLNAMEDJohnsonDHollandDTeraoCHaneyDATE01/ 23 /06 01/24/0601/ 24 /0601/31/06 September 2005Arkansas Nuclear Onecc:

Senior Vice President & Chief Operating OfficerEntergy Operations, Inc.P. O. Box 31995Jackson, MS 39286-1995Director, Division of Radiation Control and Emergency ManagementArkansas Department of Health4815 West Markham Street, Slot 30Little Rock, AR 72205-3867Winston & Strawn1700 K Street, N.W.Washington, DC 20006-3817Senior Resident InspectorU.S. Nuclear Regulatory CommissionP. O. Box 310London, AR 72847Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400Arlington, TX 76011-8064County Judge of Pope County Pope County Courthouse Russellville, AR 72801Vice President, Operations SupportEntergy Operations, Inc.P. O. Box 31995Jackson, MS 39286-1995Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway P. O. Box 651 Jackson, MS 39205