PLA-6884, Withdrawal of Proposed Relief Request No. 3RR-19 to the Third 10-Year Inservice Inspection Program

Withdrawal of Proposed Relief Request No. 3RR-19 to the Third 10-Year Inservice Inspection Program

ML12216A095
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	08/03/2012
From:	Helsel J Susquehanna
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
PLA-6884
Download: ML12216A095 (2)

Text

Jeffrey M. Helsel PPL Susquehanna, LLC \ I I

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Nuclear Plant Manager 769 Salem Boulevard \ ' I I I

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Berwick, PA 18603 Tel. 570.542.3510 Fax 570.542.1504 Pp .l==:

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~, TM U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attn: Document Control Desk Mail Stop O-P1-17 Washington, DC 20555 SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSED RELIEF REQUEST NO. 3RR-19 TO THE THIRD 10-YEAR INSERVICE INSPECTION PROGRAM FOR SUSQUEHANNA UNITS 1AND2 Docket Nos. 50-387 PLA-6884 and 50-388

Reference:

Letter (PLA -6847)from J. M. Helsel (PPL) to USNRC (Document Control Desk)

Titled "Proposed Relief Request No. JRR -19 to the Third 10-Year lnservice Inspection Program for Susquehanna SES Units 1 and 2," dated April24, 2012.

In the above referenced letter, PPL Susquehanna, LLC (PPL) requested the approval of Relief Request No. 3RR-19 to the Third 10-Year Inservice Inspection Program for Susquehanna SES Units 1 and 2. This Relief Request proposed the approval of ASME Code Case N-702 for use at Susquehanna SES. BWRVIP-108 is the technical basis used to implement the Code Case. Recent operating experience pointed out that not all design assumptions required for the use of BWRVIP-108 have been taken into consideration by the industry. Most of these assumptions are called out under the Assumptions section of the BWRVIP document. One assumption, however, was found in a later section of the BWRVIP-108 document and was not validated prior to submittal of the Relief Request.

The assumption that was missed is that the number of thermal cycles (start-up and shut down) is assumed to be 40 or less over a 40-year plant life. This assumption is too conservative for most of the BWR fleet and Susquehanna exceeded this number well before its 40-year plant life.

The problem of over-conservatism regarding the number of thermal cycles has been discussed with EPRI. EPRI/BWRVIP is working to correct/revise the BWRVIP-108 document so that it reflects a more realistic plant thermal cycle. At this time, there is no timeframe established for revision and publication of a revised BWRVIP-108 document.

Since design assumption on the number of thermal cycles has been exceeded, PPL requests that proposed Relief Request No. 3RR-19 be withdrawn.

Document Control Desk PLA-6884 If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Mr. John L. Tripoli, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs Manager, at (570) 542-3100.

Copy: NRC Region I Mr. P. W. Finney, NRC Sr. Resident Inspector Ms. C. J. Sanders, RC Project Manager Mr. L. J. Winker, DEP/BRP