ML083120542

2008/11/06-Oyster Creek - Letter to Aslb Submitting Notification of Information in the Matter of Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station License Renewal Application

ML083120542
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	11/06/2008
From:	Baty M NRC/OGC
To:	Abramson P, Anthony Baratta, Hawkens E Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
06-844-01-LR, 50-219-LR, FOIA/PA-2009-0070, RAS H-81
Download: ML083120542 (8)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON. D.C. 20555-0001 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL November 6,2008 E. Roy Hawkens, Chair Anthony J. Baratta Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: T-3F23 Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Paul B. Abramson Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 In the Matter of AMERGEN ENERGY COMPANY, LLC (License Renewal for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station)

Docket No. 50-2 19-LR

Dear Administrative Judges:

Enclosed for your information is a copy of the November 6, 2008 Notification of Information in the Matter of Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station License Renewal Application, which the Staff has provided to the Commission.

Sincerely, Mary C. Baty Counsel for the NRC Staff

Enclosure:

As Stated cc w/enclosure: Service List

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 Board Notification MEMORANDUM TO: Chairman Klein Corr~missionerJaczko Commissioner Lyons Commissioner Svinicki Atomic Safety and Licensing Board All Parties FROM: Brian E. Holian, Director  %,k Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

NOTIFICA-TION OF INFORMA-I-IONIN THE MATrER OF OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION An appeal of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's decision in LBP-07-17 is pending before the Commission. Therefore, in accordance with the Commission's policy on notification to the Commission, the staff is providing the following information.

During the late 198O9s,the sand bed region near the bottom of the drywell shell on the outside was discovered to be corroded at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant. In 1992, the sand was removed from the sand bed region, and a three layer epoxy coating was applied to the sand bed region. As part of the commitments for License Renewal, a 100 percent visual inspection of the coating in the sand bed region was conducted in 2006. The next 100 percent inspection was planned for the current refueling outage, and then future inspections are planned for every other refueling outage (i.e. every four years).

Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant staff are currently conducting a refueling outage and NRC Region I staff are on site performing a license renewal commitment inspection. On October 31, 2008, the lead inspector for the license renewal commitment inspection received information that a blister was observed in the epoxy coating in the sand bed region of the drywell in one bay. The blister is located in bay 11 very close to the ultrasonic test ("UT") location 11A. This was the only blister observed during visual inspection of the coating in all bays. On November 2, 2008, the inspector entered the affected bay and observed the blister. The blister is about one quarter of an inch in diameter with an approximately 6 inch brown stain, dry to the touch, trailing down from the blister. Three additional bumps, similar in size to the blister, were observed in the same area but without any evidence of a brown stain.

AmerGen briefed Region I, the State of New Jersey, and NRC Headquarters staff on November 3, 2008, on planned repairs, apparent cause, and extent of condition. During that call, the staff from AmerGen outlined plans for investigating the cause of the blister and repair of the affected area. These plans included:

Providing opportunities for the NRC to observe the excavation and examination of the defect; Performing chemical analysis to determine the composition of the surface stain, specifically for the presence of iron; Removal of the coating over the blister and the bumps to assist in the examination; Removing the blister to assist in the assessment of the cause (e.g., is there on-going corrosion of the drywell shell),

Conducting a UT scan from the inside of the drywell at the location of the blister; Repairing of the coating in the disturbed area.

These plans were initiated on the evening of November 5, 2008. The blister was removed and saved for further analysis. Additionally, scrapings of the stained coating were removed and retained for chemical analysis.

The staff continues to follow the licensee's investigation. Although this issue is considered to be of very low safety significance, a Board Notification was considered prudent due to interest in the drywell.

Docket No. 50-219 cc: See next page CONTACT: David Pelton, NRR 301-415-2307

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station cc:

Site Vice President - Oyster Creek Director - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Nuclear Generating Station AmerGen Energy Company, LLC AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Correspondence Control P.O. Box 388 P.O. Box 160 Forked River, NJ 08731 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Senior Vice President - Manager Licensing - Oyster Creek Operations Support Exelon Generation Company, LLC AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Correspondence Control 4300 Winfield Road P.O. Box 160 Warrenville, IL 60555 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Kathryn M. Sutton, Esq. Regulatory Assurance Manager Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP Oyster Creek 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Washington, DC 20004 P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Patrick Mulligan, Chief Bureau of Nuclear Engineering Assistant General Counsel New Jersey Department of AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Environmental Protection 200 Exelon Way 25 Arctic Parkway Kennett Square, PA 19348 Ewing, NJ 08638 Ron Bellamy, Region I Vice President - Licensing and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Affairs 475 Allendale Road AmerGen Energy Company, LLC King of Prussia, PA 19406-141 5 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Correspondence Control Desk AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Regional Administrator, Region I 200 Exelon Way, KSA 1-1 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Kennett Square, PA 19348 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Plant Manager Mayor of Lacey Township AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 818 West Lacey Road P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Forked River, NJ 08731 Senior Resident Inspector License Renewal Manager U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Exelon Generation Company, LLC P.O. Box 445 200 Exelon Way, Suite 230 Forked River, NJ 08731 Kennett Square, PA 19348

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Mr. Michael P. Gallagher Emily Krause Vice President License Renewal Law Clerk Exelon Generation Company, LLC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 200 Exelon Way, Suite 230 Mail Stop: T-3F23 Kennett Square, PA 19348 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Mr. Christopher M. Crane President and Chief Nuclear Officer Suzanne Leta Liou AmerGen Energy Company, LLC New Jersey Public Interest Research Group 4300 Winfield Road 11 N. Willow Street Warrenville, IL 60555 Trenton, NJ 08608 E. Roy Hawkens, Chair Donald Silverman, Esq.

Administrative Judge Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20004 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Alex S. Polonsky, Esq.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Anthony J. Baratta 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., 1V.W.

Administrative Judge Washington, DC 20004 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: T-3F23 Raphael P. Kuyler, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Washington, DC 20555-0001 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Washington, DC 20004 Paul B. Abramson Administrative Judge Paul Gunter, Director Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Reactor Watchdog Project Mail Stop: T-3F23 Nuclear Information and Resource Service U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Office of the Secretary Kevin Kamps ATTN: Docketing and Service Reactor Watchdog Project Mail Stop: 0-16G4 Nuclear Information and Resource Service U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Office of Commission Appellate J. Bradley Fewell, Esq.

Adjudication Exelon Corporation Mail Stop: 0-16G4 4300 Warrenville Road U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Warrenville, IL 60555 Washington, DC 20555-0001

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Richard Webster, Esq.

Eastern Environmental Law Center 744 Broad Street, Suite 1525 Newark, NJ 07102 Julia LeMense, Esq.

Eastern Environmental Law Center 744 Broad Street, Suite 1525 Newark, NJ 07102 Manager Regulatory Assurance Oyster Creek Generating Station AmerGen Energy Company, LLC P.O. Box 388 Forked River, NJ 08731 Associate General Counsel Exelon Gernation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Chief Operating Officer (COO)

AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Senior Vice President - Mid-Atlantic Operations AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-N Kennett Square, PA 19348

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE COMMISSION In the Matter of 1

)

AMERGEN ENERGY COMPANY, LLC 1 Docket No. 50-219-LR 1

(Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station) )

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the "NRC Staff Letter Enclosing the November 6, 2008 Notification of Information" have been served on the following by electronic mail with copies by deposit in the NRC's internal mail system or, as indicated by an asterisk, by electronic mail, with copies by U.S.

mail, first class, this 6thday of November 2008.

E. Roy Hawkens, Chair Office of the Secretary Administrative Judge ATTN: Docketing and Service Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop: 0 - 16G4 Mail Stop: T-3F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: HEARINGDOCKET@nrc.sov E-mail: ERH@nrc.gov Office of Commission Appellate Anthony J. Baratta Adjudication Administrative Judge Mail Stop: 0-16G4 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission E-mail: OCAAMail@nrc.qov Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: AJB5@nrc.qov Emily Krause Law Clerk Paul 6. Abramson Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Administrative Judge Mail Stop: T-3F23 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. IVuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission E-mail: EIKI @nrc.qov Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: PBA@nrc.gov

Suzanne Leta Liou* J. Bradley Fewell, Esq.*

New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Exelon Corporation 11 N. Willow St. 4300 Warrenville Road Trenton, NJ 08608 Warrenville, IL 60555 E-mail: sliou@environmentnewiersev.org E-mail: bradlev.fewell@exeloncorp.com Donald Silverman, Esq.* Richard Webster, Esq.*

Alex S. Polonsky, Esq. Julia LeMense, Esq.*

Ka,thryn M. Sutton, Esq. Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic Raphael P. Kuyler, Esq. 123 Washington Street Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Newark, NJ 07102-5695 1II 1 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Email: rwebster@easternenvironmental.orq Washington, DC 20004 jlemense@easternenvironmental.orq E-mail: dsilverman~mor~anlewis.com apolonskv@morqanlewis.com ksutton@mor~anlewis.com rkuyler@morqanlewis.com Paul Gunter, Director*

Kevin Kamps Reactor Watchdog Project Nuclear Information And Resource Service 6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340 Takoma Park, 'MD 20912 E-mail: paul@bevondnuclear.orq kevin@beyondnuclear.orq