ML061080141

Seabrook Station - Staff'S Review of CLIIP Amendment to Delete Section 2.G of Facility Operating License

ML061080141
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	04/21/2006
From:	Kobetz T J NRC/NRR/ADRO/DIRS/ITSB
To:	Roberts D J Plant Licensing Branch III-2
THOMAS E M, NRR/DIRS, 301-415-6772
References
TAC MD0697
Download: ML061080141 (5)

Text

April 21, 2006MEMORANDUM TO:Darrell J. Roberts, ChiefPlant Licensing Branch I-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationFROM:Timothy J. Kobetz, Chief/RA/Technical Specifications Branch Division of Inspections and Regional Support Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

SEABROOK STATION- STAFF'S REVIEW OF CLIIPAMENDMENT TO DELETE SECTION 2.G OF FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE (TAC NO. MD0697)By letter dated March 23, 2006 (ML060870115), FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC (the licensee)submitted a license amendment request (LAR) regarding the Seabrook Station FacilityOperating License. The proposed amendment would delete Section 2.G of Facility OperatingLicense No. NPF-86, which requires reporting of violations of the requirements of Section 2.C of the license. This operating license improvement was made available by the U.S. NuclearRegulatory Commission on November 4, 2005, as part of the consolidated line item improvement process (CLIIP). The staff of the Technical Specifications Branch (ITSB) of the Division of Inspections andRegional Support (DIRS) has completed its review of the LAR. The staff's review is enclosed. Docket No.: 50-443

Enclosure:

As statedCONTACT: Eric M. Thomas, ITSB/DIRS 301-415-6772

ML061080141 OFFICEITSB:DIRSBC:ITSB:DIRSNAMEEMThomas TJKobetzDATE4/17/200604/21/2006 STAFF SAFETY EVALUATIONSEABROOK STATION AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSEDELETION OF SECTION 2.GTAC NO. MD0697DOCKET NO. 50-44

31.0 INTRODUCTION

By letter dated March 23, 2006, FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC (the licensee), proposed a licenseamendment to changethe Facility Operating License for Seabrook Station (ADAMS AccessionNo. ML060870115). The proposed amendment would delete Section 2.G of the FacilityOperating License, which requires reporting of violations of the requirements in Section 2.C ofthe Facility Operating License. A notice announcing the availability of this proposed changeusing the consolidated line item improvement process was published in the Federal Register onNovember 4, 2005 (70 FR 67202).

2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION

A section or condition was included in the facility operating licenses issued to somenuclear power plants requiring the licensee to make reports to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding violations of other sections of the operating license (typicallySection 2.C). In the case of Seabrook Station, Section 2.G of the Facility Operating Licensereads as follows:Except as otherwise provided in the Technical Specifications of EnvironmentalProtection Plan, FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC, shall report any violations of the requirements contained in Sections 2.C.(1) and 2.C.(2) of this license in the following manner: Initial notification shall be made within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> to the NRC Operations Centervia the Emergency Notification System, with written followup within 30 days in accordance with the procedures described in 10 CFR Part 50.73(b), (c) and (e).In addition to the information provided to support licensing decisions, the NRC obtainsinformation about plant operation, licensee programs, and other matters using a combination of inspections and reporting requirements. Routine or scheduled reports that are required to be submitted to the NRC are defined in the related regulations, specific license condition, technicalspecification, or an NRC-approved program document. The reporting of emergencies,unplanned events or conditions, and other special cases may also be addressed within such documents by the inclusion of reporting thresholds and are also the focus of the reporting requirements in 10 CFR 50.72, "Immediate notification requirements for operating nuclearpower reactors," and 10 CFR 50.73, "Licensee event report system." Changes to the reportingregulations in 10 CFR 50.72 and 50.73 became effective in January 2001 (see Federal Registernotice on October 25, 2000 (65 FR 63769) and included extending the allowable reporting times for licensee event reports (LERs) from 30 days to 60 days.The Administrative Section of the Technical Specifications (TS) for Seabrook Station alsoincludes TS 6.5, "Reportable Event Action," which has a duplicative reporting requirement pursuant to 10 CFR 50.73, but which does not reflect subsequent changes in the regulationsuch as requiring LERs within 60 days instead of 30 days

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3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION

Section 2.G of the Seabrook Station Facility Operating License requires the licensee to reportany violations of the requirements of Sections 2.C(1) and 2.C(2) of the Facility OperatingLicense and defines the method and allowable time periods for such reports. The reporting threshold (i.e., a violation) for the conditions included in Sections 2.C(1) and 2.C(2) of the Facility Operating License duplicate those defined in 10 CFR 50.72 and 10 CFR 50.73.However, the requirements in the Facility Operating License have different deadlines than thosedefined in the regulations following a rule change in 2001. This difference in reporting requirements has led to variations in reporting since many facility operating licenses do notcontain the subject condition. For those licensees with a 30-day reporting requirement in the Facility Operating License, the condition has decreased the benefits of the rulemaking. Forthose cases where the current Facility Operating License requirement to report violations is alsoreportable in accordance with the regulations defined in 10 CFR 50.72 and 10 CFR 50.73, theNRC staff finds that the regulations adequately address this issue and the elimination of theduplicative requirement in the Facility Operating License is acceptable.Some of the conditions addressed in Section 2.[C] of a Facility Operating License mayaddress the maintenance of particular programs, administrative requirements, or other matters where a violation of the requirement would not result in a report to the NRC in accordance with10 CFR 50.72 or 10 CFR 50.73. In most cases, there are requirements for reports to the NRC related to these conditions in other regulations, the specific license condition or technical specification, or an NRC-approved program document. In other cases, there are reports toother agencies or news releases that would prompt a report to the NRC (in accordance with10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(xi)). The NRC staff also assessed violations of administrative requirementsthat could be reportable under the current License Condition but that may not have a duplicativerequirement in a regulation or other regulatory requirement. The NRC staff finds that therequirements to report such problems within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> with written reports to follow using the LER process is not needed. The NRC staff is confident that the information related to suchviolations that is actually important to the NRC's regulatory functions would come to light in atime frame comparable to the 60-day LER requirements. The information would become available to the appropriate NRC staff through the inspection program, updates to programdocuments, resultant licensing actions, public announcements, or some other reliable mechanism.The NRC staff finds that the elimination of Section 2.G in the Seabrook Station FacilityOperating License will not result in a loss of information to the NRC that would adversely affect either its goal to protect public health and safety or its ability to carry out its various otherregulatory responsibilities. Therefore, the elimination of Section 2.G of the Facility OperatingLicense is acceptable.TS 6.5, "Reportable Event Action," for Seabrook Station requires that the NRC be notifiedpursuant to the requirements of 10 CFR 50.73 for any "REPORTABLE EVENTS," but does not reflect subsequent changes in the regulation such as requiring LERs within 60 days instead of 30 days. The NRC staff finds the elimination of TS 6.5 acceptable since the required report isdefined in an established NRC regulation that is also applicable to this licensee.

4.0 STATE CONSULTATION

In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the New Hampshire State official was notifiedof the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.

5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION

The amendment changes recordkeeping, reporting, or administrative procedures orrequirements. Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusionset forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendment.

6.0 CONCLUSION

The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that (1) there isreasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered byoperation in the proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with theCommission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to thecommon defense and security or to the health and safety of the public. 7.0 REFERENCE1. NRC's model SE published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2005 (70 FR 51098).Principal Contributor: E. ThomasDate: April 17, 2006Enclosure