ML032750033

Mixed Oxide Fuel Land Assembly License Amendment Request

ML032750033
Person / Time
Site:	Mcguire, Catawba, McGuire
Issue date:	09/23/2003
From:	Tuckman M Duke Power Co
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
TAC MB7863, TAC MB7864, TAC MB7865, TAC MB7866
Download: ML032750033 (3)

Text

D Duke MICHAEL S. TUCKMAN Ply'Powere Executive Vice President A Duke Energy Company Nuclear Generation Duke Power P.O. Box 1006 Charlotte, NC 28201-1006 Mailing Address:

526 South Church Street Charlotte, NC 28202 704 382 2200 September 23, 2003 704 382 4360 fax U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission_

Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001

Subject:

Catawba Nuclear Station Units I & 2, Docket Nos. 50-413, 50-414 McGuire Nuclear Station Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 50-369, 50-370 Mixed Oxide Fuel Lead Assembly License Amendment Request (TAC Nos. MB7863, MB7864, MB7865, and MB7866)

Re: M.S. Tuckman letter dated February 27, 2003 to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Proposed Amendments to the Facility Operating License and Technical Specifications to Allow Insertion of Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Lead Assemblies and Request for Exemption from Certain Regulations in 10 CFR Part 50 In the referenced letter, Duke Energy (Duke) requested a change to the licenses and Technical Specifications for McGuire Nuclear Station (McGuire) and Catawba Nuclear Station (Catawba) to allow the use of four mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies in a McGuire or Catawba reactor.

Duke has always intended to insert the four MOX fuel lead assemblies at only one of the four units, with the selection depending on unit operational schedules and the timing of availability of the lead assemblies. The request to amend all four licenses was made because of schedule uncertainty at the time the amendment requests were submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC):. Thisapproachlprovidedthe most-flexibility'in adaptinjt6ochinging circumstances with regard to fabrication of the MOX fuel lead assemblies.

Duke now intends to focus the MOX fuel lead assembly program solely on Catawba. The Department of Energy (DOE) and Duke Cogema Stone & Webster (DCS) recently made preliminary manufacturing arrangements for the MOX fuel lead assemblies. The fabrication schedule should support providing lead assemblies to Duke in the spring of 2005. Therefore, Duke has selected Catawba Unit 1 Cycle 16, with a late spring 2005 'startup date, for insertion of the four MOX fuel lead assemblies. Catawba Unit 2 will remain as an alternative should the schedule change. Concentrating the regulatory review of the MOX fuel lead assembly license amendment request on one station (Catawba) instead of two (McGuire'and Catawba) will enable Duke and the NRC to use the resources of both organizations in the most efficient manner.

Accordingly, Duke hereby amends the February 27, 2003 license and Technical Specification amendment request to apply only to the use of MOX fuel lead assemblies at the Catawba units, IA ()Dl www. duke-energy. corn

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission September 23, 2003 Page 2 and not the McGuire units. With this change, Attachment 1 to Duke's February 27, 2003 submittal (marked up copy of the current McGuire Tech Specs) is no longer applicable.

Attachment 2 (marked up copy of the current Catawba Tech Specs) is unaffected. Attachment 3 (technical justification), Attachment 4 (no significant hazards consideration analysis) and Attachment 5 (environmental consequences) are predominantly generic in nature and therefore are not affected in a substantive way by the limitation to Catawba. Attachment 6 (exemption requests) should now apply to Catawba only.

On September 15, 2003 Duke submitted proposed Security Plan changes and associated--

exemption requests to the NRC to address the possession and use of MOX fuel assemblies at both McGuire and Catawba. The proposed Security Plan changes would apply to both the MOX fuel lead assembly program (at Catawba) and eventual batch use of MOX fuel (at McGuire and Catawba). The proposed Security Plan changes therefore are equally applicable to both McGuire and Catawba and remain appropriate. The amendment of the MOX fuel lead assembly license amendment request to Catawba only does not affect the Security Plan submittal.

If there are any questions on this matter, please contact G. A. Copp at (704) 373-5620.

Very truly yours, t1.s fHd M. S. Tuckman

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission September 23, 2003 Page 3 cc:

L. A. Reyes U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regional Administrator, Region II Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth St., SW, Suite 23T85 Atlanta, GA 30303 R. E. Martin (addressee only)

NRC Project Manager U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop 0-8G9 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738 E. F. Guthrie Senior Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Catawba Nuclear Site J. B. Brady Senior Resident Inspector U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission McGuire Nuclear Site H. J. Porter Division of Radioactive Waste Management South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control 2600 Bull Street

-Columbia, SC 29207 Beverly 0. Hall, Section Chief Radiation Protection Section North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources 1645 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1645