ML090960727

Northern States Power Company'S Motion to Dismiss PIIC Contention 8 as Moot

ML090960727
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	04/06/2009
From:	Doris Lewis Northern States Power Co, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Document Control Desk
SECY RAS
References
50-282-LR, 50-306-LR, ASLBP 08-871-01-LR, RAS 3249
Download: ML090960727 (9)

Text

April 6, 2009 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board In the Matter of )

) Docket Nos. 50-282-LR Northern States Power Co. ) 50-306-LR

)

(Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, ) ASLBP No. 08-871-01-LR Units 1 and 2) )

NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANYS MOTION TO DISMISS PIIC CONTENTION 8 AS MOOT I. INTRODUCTION Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(a), Northern States Power Company, a Minnesota corporation (NSPM), hereby moves this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (the Board) for dismissal of the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC)s Contention 8, which relates to the adequacy of the program for managing primary water stress corrosion cracking for nickel-alloy components at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (PINGP). NSPM moves this Board to dismiss PIIC Contention 8 because NSPM has amended the License Renewal Application (LRA) to include the information whose omission was the basis for the Contention, and thereby has rendered the Contention moot.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND NSPM, formerly Nuclear Management Company, LLC, submitted the LRA for Operating License Nos. DPR-42 and DPR-60 for the PINGP Units 1 and 2 to the NRC on April 11, 2008.

PIIC filed its Notice of Intent to Participate and Petition to Intervene (PIIC Petition), on August 18, 2008, alleging eleven separate contentions. The PIIC Petition included Contention 8, which claimed that the aging management program (AMP) for managing primary stress

corrosion cracking for nickel-alloy components fails to comply with 10 C.F.R. § 54.21(a)(3).

PIIC Petition at 30.

The Boards Memorandum and Order of December 5, 2008, treated PIIC Contention 8 as involving two separate issues: (1) the aging management Nickel-Alloy and Penetrations Program (in Section B2.1.27 of the LRA); and (2) the aging management Nickel-Alloy Penetration Nozzles Welded to the Upper Reactor Vessel Closure Heads of Pressurized Water Reactors Program (in Section B2.1.28 of the LRA). Northern States Power Co. (Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2), LBP-08-26, 68 N.R.C. __, (Dec. 5, 2008) (LBP-08-26), slip op. at 47. The Board admitted the first issue - concerning the Nickel-Alloy and Penetrations Program described in Section B2.1.27 of the LRA - in an amended form, and held the second issue to be inadmissible. Id. at 47-50. The modified form in which the Board admitted Contention 8 is: Section B2.1.27 of the LRA does not contain an adequate plan to monitor the effects of primary water stress corrosion cracking of nickel-alloy components. Id. at 51. In admitting Contention 8, the Board expressly noted that it is a contention of omission, which claims that NSPM failed to describe its AMP to the extent required by Section 54.21. Id. at 48.

NSPM filed a supplement to its LRA on March 27, 2009, providing further details on the aging management program for primary water stress corrosion cracking of nickel-alloy components contained in Section B2.1.27 of the LRA. This supplement is attached hereto as Exhibit A. The description contained in the LRA supplement moots PIIC Contention 8 as admitted by the Board, and the Contention should, therefore, be dismissed.

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III. WHEN AN APPLICANT CURES AN ALLEGED OMISSION IN THE APPLICATION WHICH SERVED AS THE BASIS FOR A CONTENTION, THE CONTENTION IS RENDERED MOOT Where a contention is superseded by the subsequent issuance of licensing-related documentsthe contention must be disposed of or modified. Duke Energy Corp. (McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2; Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2), CLI-02-28, 56 N.R.C.

373, 382 (2002) (footnote omitted). Where a contention alleges the omission of particular information or an issue from an application, and the information is later supplied by the applicant or considered by the Staff in a draft EIS, the contention is moot. Id. at 383 (footnote omitted).

As discussed below, the submission of NSPMs LRA supplement on March 27, 2009, rendered PIIC Contention 8 moot. This Board should, therefore, dismiss PIIC Contention 8.

IV. PIIC CONTENTION 8 SHOULD BE DISMISSED AS MOOT A. PIIC Contention 8 Alleged the Omission of Information from the LRA PIIC Contention 8, as admitted, raises a dispute that Section B2.1.27 of the LRA does not describe the aging management program for primary water stress corrosion cracking of nickel-alloy components to the extent required by Section 54.21. LBP-08-26 at 48. The Board properly characterized the admitted PIIC Contention 8 as a contention of omission. Id.

B. The LRA Supplement Provides the Description of the Nickel-Alloy Components Aging Management Program Whose Omission Was the Basis for Contention 8 The LRA supplement filed by NSPM includes, in Section B2.1.27, a thorough description of the aging management program for monitoring the effects of primary water stress corrosion cracking of nickel-alloy components and, therefore, renders PIIC Contention 8 moot. The program is an existing plant-specific program, which consists of the ten elements of an 3

acceptable AMP as described in NUREG-1800 1 Appendix A.1, Section A.1.2.3 and Table A.1-

1. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 3. The LRA supplement further describes each element of the program and provides the results of an evaluation of each element against NUREG-1800.

Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 4. These evaluations demonstrate that each element of the program is consistent with the recommendations of NUREG-1800. See Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 4-5, 7-10.

The program implements the inspection of the Alloy 600/82/182 materials through the ASME Section XI Inservice Inspection, Subsections IWB, IWC, and IWD Program. Exhibit A, at 3. As the LRA supplement indicates, the program is also based upon the industry guidance provided in EPRI MRP-126, Generic Guidance for Alloy 600 Management (Nov.

2004) and NEI 03-08, Guideline for the Management of Materials Issues (May 2003). Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 4.

Among the preventive actions taken under the program are the installation of a full structural weld overlay (FSWOL) on the pressurizer surge nozzle-to-safe end dissimilar metal and safe end-to-reducer stainless steel butt welds in October 2008, and the use of the PINGP Water Chemistry Program which manages aging effects by controlling concentrations of known detrimental chemical species such as chlorides, fluorides, sulfates and dissolved oxygen below the levels known to cause degradation. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 5. In addition to such preventative actions, the program provides for monitoring and inspection activities, including condition monitoring examinations of the lower reactor vessel head surface and each bottom-mounted instrumentation tube penetration, and monitoring for evidence of reactor coolant 1

Standard Review Plan for Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants, NUREG-1800, Rev. 1 (Sept. 2005).

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leakage which may manifest itself in the form of boric acid residues or corrosion products.

Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 5.

The program uses both visual and volumetric examination techniques to detect for cracking in alloy materials and complies with the requirements of 10 C.F.R. § 50.55a to maintain an Inservice Inspection Program in accordance with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code,Section XI. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 5. Bare metal visual examinations are performed of the reactor pressure vessel bottom head. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 6. Under the program, bare metal visual inspections are performed by certified examiners of the lower reactor pressure vessel dome up to and including each bottom mounted instrumentation (BMI) penetration to RPV junction every other refueling outage. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 6.

These inspections are in compliance with ASME Code Case N-722, Additional Examinations for PWR Pressure Retaining Welds in Class 1 Components Fabricated With Alloy 600/82/182 Materials, as required by and modified by 10 CFR 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(E), which requires non-visual inspection for items where leakage is identified to determine whether circumferential cracking is present in the flawed material and if multiple circumferential flaws have initiated. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 6. The program also incorporates inspection schedules and frequencies for nickel-alloy components in accordance with ASME Code Case N-722, subject to the conditions specified in 10 CFR 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(E). Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 7.

In October 2008, ASME Code Case N-722 was approved by the NRC in amendments to 10 C.F.R. § 50.55a 2 ; therefore, any challenge to its adequacy is barred because it would constitute an impermissible challenge to an NRC rule. The program inspections ensure timely detection 2

See 10 C.F.R. § 50.55a(b).

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of cracking due to PWSCC prior to a loss of component intended function. Exhibit A, at 6.

The acceptance criteria and standards, against which the need for corrective actions are evaluated, ensure that the component intended functions are maintained under all current licensing basis design conditions during the period of extended operation. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 7-8. These acceptance standards are also in accordance with ASME Code Case N-722, subject to the conditions specified in 10 C.F.R. § 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(E). Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at

8. Corrective actions are specified consistent with 10 C.F.R. § 50.55a, ASME Section 11, and NRC approved Code Cases. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 8-9.

A review of the programs operating experience demonstrates that the program has been effective in monitoring the nickel-alloy components and no adverse trends or significant conditions related to these components have been identified. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 10.

Therefore, [i]mplementation of the Nickel-Alloy Nozzles and Penetrations Program [contained in Section B2.1.27] provides reasonable assurance that aging effects will be managed such that structures, systems, and components within the scope of this program will continue to perform their intended function(s) during the period of extended operation. Exhibit A, Enclosure 1 at 10.

C. PIIC Contention 8 Has Been Rendered Moot by the LRA Supplement As admitted by the Board, PIIC Contention 8 alleged that Section B2.1.27 of the LRA omitted an adequately described plan to monitor the effects of primary water stress corrosion cracking of nickel-alloy components. In the LRA supplement filed March 27, 2009, NSPM has included a thorough description of its Nickel-Alloy Nozzles and Penetrations Program, 6

specifically addressing the omission alleged by Contention 8. Thus, the contention of omission, as originally proffered, [has] indeed [been] rendered moot by NSPMs submission of its LRA supplement. AmerGen Energy Co., LLC (License Renewal for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station), CLI-08-28, 68 N.R.C. ___, slip op. at 25 n.72 (Nov. 6, 2008); see also McGuire, CLI-02-28, 56 N.R.C. at 382-83. This Board should dismiss PIIC Contention 8, because NSPMs LRA supplement has rendered moot the dispute raised by the Contention.

V. CONCLUSION For the reasons stated above, the Board should grant NSPMs Motion to Dismiss PIIC Contention 8 as Moot.

CERTIFICATION As required by 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(b), counsel for NSPM certifies that he has consulted with the other parties in a sincere effort to resolve the issues raised in this motion. The NRC Staff has informed NSPM that it supports this motion. The PIIC is still considering its position.

Respectfully Submitted,

/Signed electronically by David R. Lewis/

David R. Lewis Matias F. Travieso-Diaz PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP 2300 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20037-1122 Tel. (202) 663-8474 Counsel for Northern States Power Co.

Dated: April 6, 2009 7

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board In the Matter of )

) Docket Nos. 50-282-LR Northern States Power Co. ) 50-306-LR

)

(Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, ) ASLBP No. 08-871-01-LR Units 1 and 2) )

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of Northern States Power Companys Motion to Dismiss PIIC Contention 8 as Moot, dated April 6, 2009, was provided to the Electronic Information Exchange for service on the individuals listed below, this 6th day of April 2009.

Administrative Judge Administrative Judge William J. Froehlich, Esq., Chair Dr. Gary S. Arnold Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop T-3 F23 Mail Stop T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Email: wjf1@nrc.gov Email: gxa1@nrc.gov Administrative Judge Secretary Dr. Thomas J. Hirons Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop O-16 C1 Mail Stop T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 secy@nrc.gov; hearingdocket@nrc.gov Email: thomas.hirons@nrc.gov Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Philip R. Mahowald, Esq.

Mail Stop O-16 C1 General Counsel, Prairie Island Indian U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Community Washington, DC 20555-0001 5636 Sturgeon Lake Road E-mail: ocaamail@nrc.gov Welch, MN 55089 pmahowald@piic.org

Beth N. Mizuno, Esq.

David E. Roth, Esq.

Peter G. Harris, Esq.

Maxwell C. Smith, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop O-15 D21 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: beth.mizuno@nrc.gov; david.roth@nrc.gov; peter.harris@nrc.gov; maxwell.smith@nrc.gov

/Signed electronically by David R. Lewis/

David R. Lewis