ML081350442

Request for Additional Information to Support the Review of the Relief Request PRR-16 for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (TAC No. MD8145)

ML081350442
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	05/21/2008
From:	Kim J S NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLI-1
To:	Entergy Nuclear Operations
tsw1
References
TAC MD8145
Download: ML081350442 (8)

Text

May 21, 2008

Vice President, Operations Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360-5508

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO SUPPORT THE REVIEW OF THE RELIEF REQUEST PRR-16 FOR PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION (TAC NO. MD8145)

Dear Sir or Madam:

By letter dated February 14, 2008, Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. (Entergy, the licensee), submitted Relief Request PRR-16 for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The licensee proposed to use Boiling Water Reactor Vessel Internal Program guidelines as an alternative to certain requirements of Section XI of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code for inservice inspection of reactor vessel internal components.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has been reviewing the submittal and has determined that additional information is needed to complete its review. The specific questions are found in the enclosed request for additional information (RAI). A response to this RAI is requested to be provided within 45 days.

Sincerely, /ra/ James Kim, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch I-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-293

Enclosure:

As stated cc w/encl: See next page

ML081350442 OFFICE LPLI-1/PM LPLI-1/LA LPLI-1/BC NAME JKim SLittle MKowal DATE 5/15/08 5/20/08 5/21/08

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION TO SUPPORT THE REVIEW OF THE PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION (PNPS) RELIEF REQUEST PRR-16 RAI No. 1:

In a letter dated October 1, 2003, the licensee submitted a similar relief request for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS), in which the licensee proposed to implement the Boiling Water Reactor Vessel Internal Program (BWRVIP) guidelines in lieu of American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code),Section XI requirements for the VYNPS's reactor vessel internal (RVI) components. In a supplemental letter dated January 22, 2004, (ADAMS Accession Number ML040690734), the licensee submitted details regarding the proposed alternative inspections for the RVI components that were consistent with the BWRVIP inspection guidelines. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, in its safety evaluation (SE) dated September 19, 2005, approved the VYNPS's relief request.

The NRC staff requests that the licensee provide inspection requirements and inspection frequencies for PNPS's current ISI interval similar to those addressed in Table 1 of Attachment 2 of the January 22, 2004, supplemental letter for VYNPS. This information will enable the staff to perform an effective review of the BWRVIP inspection criteria that will be implemented by the licensee.

RAI No. 2:

The NRC staff requests that the licensee confirm whether NUREG-0619, "BWR Feedwater Nozzle and Control Rod Drive Return Line Nozzle Cracking," will be used as part of the alternative for the inspection of feedwater sparger tee welds and feedwater sparger piping brackets.

RAI No. 3:

It should be noted that Electric Power Research Institute withdrew its request to have the NRC staff review the BWRVIP-41, Revision 1, "BWRVIP Jet Pump Assembly Inspection and Flaw Evaluation Guidelines," and BWRVIP-138, "BWRVIP Updated Jet Pump Beam Inspection and Flaw Evaluation Guidelines," reports so that it could update the documents to include additional guidance related to jet pump component inspections (letter dated July 18, 2007). Therefore, the NRC staff cannot authorize those parts of the licensee's request where the proposed alternative is based on the BWRVIP-41, Revision 1 and BWRVIP-138 reports. For the jet pump components where this alternative was proposed, the licensee must either continue to Enclosure

implement the ASME Code,Section XI ISI requirements or implement inspection guidelines specified in the staff-approved BWRVIP-41, Revision 0 report. Please confirm whether the inspection guidelines specified in the BWRVIP-41, Revision 0 report will be implemented for the jet pump assembly as an alternative to the ASME Code examinations.

RAI No. 4:

Top guide grid beams are prone to irradiation assisted stress-corrosion cracking (IASCC) when they are exposed to a neutron fluence value greater than 5 X 10 20 n/cm 2 (E > 1 MeV). Top guide grid beams could be exposed to a neutron fluence value greater than this threshold value where by the probability of multiple failures of top guide grid beams is enhanced. Therefore, the NRC staff requests that the licensee provide the method of inspection and inspection frequency for the PNPS top guide grid beams that may potentially be exposed to a neutron fluence value greater than the threshold value during the current ISI interval.

To ensure that cracking in top guide grid beams due to IASCC will be identified in a timely manner, the NRC staff recommends that the licensee should inspect certain locations of the top guide grid beams when their exposure exceeds the threshold limit during the current ISI interval.

The NRC staff granted the license renewal for the PNPS and the following commitment was made in the staff-approved license renewal SE, NUREG-1891, "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station."

Commitment # 3- At least 15 percent of the top guide locations during the first 18 years of the period of extended operation will be inspected using enhanced visual inspection technique, EVT-1, with at least one-third of the inspections to be completed within the first 6 years, and at least two-thirds within the first 12 years of the period of extended operation. Locations selected will be areas that have exceeded the neutron fluence threshold.

To maintain consistency regarding the top guide grid beam inspections, the NRC staff requests that the licensee confirm that it will inspect the top guide locations if their exposure to neutron fluence exceeds the threshold value during the current inservice inspection (ISI) interval.

RAI No. 5:

Discovery of integranular stress-corrosion cracking (IGSCC) on the upper support location of the tie rod repair at the Hatch, Unit 1 during the fall 2006 refueling outage suggests that the BWRVIP should consider inspection criteria for the tie rod repair hardware. The NRC staff requests that the licensee confirm that inspection criteria are established for the tie rod repairs at PNPS taking into consideration the presence of any region in the tie rod repair hardware that has a stress value greater than the threshold limit for IGSCC.

RAI No. 6:

Section 4.1 item 5 of the BWRVIP-100-A report, "Updated Assessment of the Fracture Toughness of Irradiated Stainless Steel for BWR Core Shrouds," states that fracture toughness values of stainless steel materials that are exposed to a neutron fluence value greater than 1 X 10 21 n/cm 2 (E > 1 MeV) are lower than those used in Appendix C of the BWRVIP-76 Report, "BWR Core Shroud Inspection and Flaw Evaluation Guidelines." Identify whether the core shroud welds and base materials in PNPS will be exposed to a neutron fluence value greater than 1 X 10 21 n/cm 2 (E > 1 MeV) during the current ISI interval. Since the inspection frequency in the BWRVIP-76 Report is based on fracture toughness values which are not consistent with the BWRVIP-100-A Report, the NRC staff requests that the licensee address the following issue. The inspection frequency and strategy that are specified in Section 3 of the BWRVIP-76 Report require further evaluation taking into account the lower fracture toughness values that are specified in the BWRVIP-100-A Report.

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station cc: Regional Administrator, Region I U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Senior Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Post Office Box 867 Plymouth, MA 02360 Chairman, Board of Selectmen 11 Lincoln Street Plymouth, MA 02360

Chairman Nuclear Matters Committee Town Hall 11 Lincoln Street Plymouth, MA 02360 Chairman, Duxbury Board of Selectmen Town Hall 878 Tremont Street Duxbury, MA 02332 Office of the Commissioner Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection One Winter Street Boston, MA 02108 Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place 20th Floor Boston, MA 02108 MA Department of Public Health Radiation Control Program Schrafft Center, Suite 1M2A 529 Main Street Charlestown, MA 02129

Director, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Attn: James Muckerheide 400 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702-5399

Mr. William D. Meinert Nuclear Engineer Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company P.O. Box 426 Ludlow, MA 01056-0426

Mr. Kevin H. Bronson Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360-5508 Mr. Robert G. Smith General Manager, Plant Operations Entergy Nuclear Operations Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360-5508

Mr. Stephen J. Bethay Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance Entergy Nuclear Operations Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360-5508 Mr. Bryan S. Ford Manager, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 600 Rocky Hill Road Plymouth, MA 02360-5508

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station cc: Mr. John T. Herron Sr. Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations 1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213

Mr. Oscar Limpias Vice President, Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John A. Ventosa GM, Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601

Mr. Joseph P. DeRoy VP, Operations Support Entergy Operations, Inc. 1340 Echelon parkway Jackson, MS 39213

Mr. Michael Kansler President & CEO/CNO Entergy Nuclear Operations 1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213 Mr. John F. McCann Director, Nuclear Safety & Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601

Ms. Charlene D. Faison Manager, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601

Mr. Ernest J. Harkness Director, Oversight Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213 Mr. William C. Dennis Assistant General Counsel Entergy Nuclear Operations 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601

Ms. Stacey Lousteau Treasury Department Entergy Services, Inc. 639 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, LA 70113

Mr. James Sniezek 5486 Nithsdale Drive Salisbury, MD 21801-2490

Mr. Michael D. Lyster 5931 Barclay Lane Naples, FL 34110-7306 Mr. Garrett D. Edwards 814 Waverly Road Kennett Square, PA 19348 Mr. John Doering P.O. Box 189 Parker Ford, PA 19457