ML21194A245

SLRA - Acceptance and Opportunity for Hearing - Letter

ML21194A245
Person / Time
Site:	Oconee
Issue date:	07/22/2021
From:	Anna Bradford NRC/NRR/DNRL
To:	Snider S Duke Energy Carolinas
Wu A-NRR/DNRL 301-415-2995
Shared Package
ML21194A231	List: ML21194A236 ML21194A245
References
Download: ML21194A245 (6)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 22, 2021 Steven M. Snider Site Vice President, Oconee Nuclear Station Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC 7800 Rochester Highway Seneca, SC 29672-0752

SUBJECT:

OCONEE NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 - DETERMINATION OF ACCEPTABILITY AND SUFFICIENCY FOR DOCKETING, PROPOSED REVIEW SCHEDULE, AND OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEARING REGARDING DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS APPLICATION FOR SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL

Dear Mr. Snider,

By letter dated June 7, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Package Accession No. ML21158A193), Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke Energy) submitted an application for the subsequent license renewal of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55 for the Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS), Units 1, 2, and 3 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

By letter dated June 22, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21167A039) and Federal Register Notice (FRN) (86 FR 33784) dated June 25, 2021, the NRC noted the receipt and availability of this application.

The acceptance review is intended to identify whether the application is reasonably complete and conforms to the timing and information requirements in applicable regulations. The NRC staff reviewed your application following the guidance in NUREG-2192, Revision 0, Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants, and NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Revision 1, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants, to determine if the application is sufficient and acceptable for docketing in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.101, Filing of application, 51.45, Environmental report, 51.53(c),

Postconstruction environmental reports, 54.19, Contents of application--general information, 54.21, Contents of application--technical information, 54.22, Contents of application--technical specifications, and 54.23, Contents of application--environmental information.

The NRC staff conducted two pre-submittal meetings, one for the environmental review and one for the safety review, as documented in letters dated July 14, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21195A245) and February 8, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21034A553).

S. Snider Based on the results of the staffs sufficiency review, the NRC staff has concluded that the application will be accepted. Given the lesser scope and depth of the acceptance review as compared to a detailed technical review, the staffs determination does not preclude requests for additional information or topic specific audits. During the staffs detailed technical review, there may be instances identified in which issues that impact the NRC staffs ability to complete the detailed technical review are identified. You will be advised of any further information needed to support the NRC staffs detailed technical review by separate correspondence.

This letter also forwards the staffs projected review schedule for the ONS subsequent license renewal application (SLRA) (Enclosure 1). The NRC staff will follow established review procedures and the enclosed schedule to complete the reviews required by 10 CFR Parts 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, and 54, Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants. Based on the information provided in your submittal and discussions during the pre-application meetings, the NRC staff has estimated that review of this SLRA will take approximately 23,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> to complete. If there are emergent complexities or challenges in our review that would cause changes to the initial forecasted completion date or significant changes in the forecasted hours, the reasons for the changes, along with the new estimates, will be communicated via separate correspondence. Milestones for hearing activities that may be needed are not included in the enclosed schedule or the estimated hours because these dates, if needed, would be established by the Commission or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board and new resource considerations would need to be developed.

The plan also relies on your responses to the staff's requests for additional information, if needed, being of high quality and provided in a timely manner. A timely response is defined as 30 days from the date of the request, or within such other time as may be specified in the request in accordance with 10 CFR 2.108, Denial of application for failure to supply information. You should also be prepared to provide high quality support in a timely and organized manner during technical audits determined necessary by the staff. Delays in staffs receipt of necessary information could result in changes to the plan in evaluating and processing your application, up to and including the denial of your application in accordance with the regulations or a significant delay in the schedule based on the overall workload for the staff involved in the review. We request that you inform the NRC staff in writing as early as possible should potential delays arise in your support of the schedule. The staffs goal is to complete the review in 18 months provided that Duke Energy fully addresses the staffs information needs in a timely manner.

Finally, we have also enclosed a copy of the notice related to your application that is being sent to the Office of the Federal Register for publication (Enclosure 2). This notice announces the opportunity to request a hearing and to file a petition for leave to intervene.

S. Snider If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Ms. Angela Wu, Project Manager, for the safety review of the ONS SLRA at Angela.Wu@nrc.gov, or Mr. Lance Rakovan, Project Manager, for the environmental review at Lance.Rakovan@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, Signed by Bradford, Anna on 07/22/21 Anna Bradford, Director Division of New and Renewed Licenses Docket Nos. 50-269, 50-270, and 50-287

Enclosures:

1. Review Schedule

2. Copy of Federal Register Notice cc w/encls: Listserv

ML21194A231 (Package)

ML21194A245 (Letter)

ML21194A236 (FRN)

OFFICE PM:NLRP:DNRL LA:NLRP:DNRL PM:ERLRB:REFS OGC (NLO)

NAME AWu SGreen LRakovan KGamin DATE 7/13/2021 07/13/2021 07/14/2021 07/21/2021 OFFICE BC:NLRP:DNRL BC:ERLRB:REFS D:DNRL NAME LGibson RElliott ABradford DATE 07/21/2021 07/22/2021 07/22/2021 OCONEE NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW SCHEDULE Milestone Scheduled Actual Receive Subsequent License Renewal Application (SLRA) 6/2021 6/7/2021 Publish Federal Register Notice (FRN) - SLRA Availability 6/2021 6/25/2021 Publish FRN - Docketing Acceptance/Rejection and Opportunity 7/2021 for Hearing Publish FRN - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 8/2021 Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping hearing Public Meeting - Overview of Subsequent License Renewal 9/2021 Process and Environmental Scoping Environmental Scoping Period Ends 9/2021 Deadline for Filing Hearing Requests and Petitions for Intervention 9/2021 Issue Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 5/2022 (DSEIS)

Public Meeting - Draft SEIS Meeting, If Needed 6/2022 End of DSEIS Comment Period 6/2022 Issue Safety Evaluation Report 8/2022 Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Full Committee 10/2022 Meeting Issue Final SEIS 12/2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FRN 12/2022 Published - Availability of Final SEIS Decision - Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 1/2023 Enclosure 1

Copy of the Draft Federal Register Notice of Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, and 3 -

Determination of Acceptability and Sufficiency for Docketing, Proposed Review Schedule, and Opportunity for a Hearing Regarding the Duke Energy Carolinas Application for Subsequent License Renewal ADAMS Accession No. ML21194A236 Enclosure 2