ML18039A811

Requests Permanent Relief from Inservice Insp Requirements of 10CFR50.55a(g) for Volumetric Exam of Bfn,Unit 3 Circumferential RPV Welds,Per GL 98-05

ML18039A811
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	06/25/1999
From:	Abney T TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
GL-98-05, GL-98-5, NUDOCS 9907070288
Download: ML18039A811 (8)

Text

CATEGORY 1 REGULA'i Y tINFORMATION DISTRZBUTIO ~ SYSTEM (RIDS)

ACCESSION NBR:9907070288 DOC.DATE: 99/06/25 NOTARIZED: NO DOCKET 4 FACIL:50-296 Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3, Tennessee 05000296.

AUTH. NAME AUTHOR AFFILIATION ABNEY,T.E. Tennessee Valley Authority RECIP.NAME RECIPIENT AFFILIATION @pp+S Records Management Branch (Document Control Desk)

SUBJECT:

Requests permanent relief from inservice insp requirements of 10CFR50.55a(g)'or volumetric exam of BFN,Unit 3 circumferential RPV welds.

D1STRIBUTION CODE:, A047D COPIES RECEIVED:LTR ENCL SIZE:

TITLE: OR Submittal: Inservice/Testing/Relief from ASME Code - GL-89-04 NOTES: E RECIPIENT COPIES RECIPIENT COPIES G ID CODE/NAME LTTR ENCL ID CODE/NAME LTTR ENCL LPD2-2 LA 1 1 LONG,'W 1 1 0 INTERNAL: ACRS FZL'D. CENTER 01 1 1 NUDOCS-ABSTRACT 1 0 RES/DET/EZB RES/DET/EMMEB 1 1 EXTERNAL: LITCO ANDERSON NOAC 1 1 NRC PDR D

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NOTE TO ALL "RIDS" RECIPIENTS:

PLEASE HELP US TO REDUCE WASTE.'TO HAVE YOUR NAME OR ORGANIZATION REMOVED FROM DISTRIBUTION LISTS OR REDUCE THE NUMBER OF COPIES RECEIVED BY YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION, CONTACT THE DOCUMENT CONTROL DESK (DCD) ON EXTENSION 415-2083 TOTAL NUMBER OF COPIES REQUIRED: LTTR 11 ENCL 10

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Tennessee Valley Authority, Post Office Box 2000, Decatur, Ahbama 35609-2000 June 25, 1999 10 CFR 50.55a (a) (3) (i)

U,.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington, D.C. 20555 Gentlemen:

In the Matter of ) Docket No. 50-296 Tennessee Valley Authority )

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT (BFN) UNIT 3 REQUEST FOR II RELIEF r 3 S 1 t REVIS ION 1 r RE~ ING REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL (RPV) SHELL WELDS r AUGMENTED AND AMERICAN SOC IE TY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (ASME) SECTION XI INSPECTIONS In accordance with 10 CFR 50.55a(a)(3)(i), TVA is requesting permanent relief (i.e., for the remaining term of operation under the existing license) fro'm inservice inspection requirements of 10 CFR 50.55a(g) for the volumetric examination of the BFN Unit 3 circumferential reactor pressure vessel welds. The proposed alternative in TVA's request for relief provides an acceptable level of quality and safety and is consistent with the guidance and criteria described in NRC Generic Letter (GL) 98-05, "Boiling Water Reactor Licensees Use of the BWRVIP-05 Report to Request Relief from Augmented Examination Requirements on Reactor Pressure Vessel Circumferential Shell Welds."

TVA has previously requested relief, for one operating cycle (Cycle 8), from performing successive examinations of the Unit 3 reactor. pressure vessel (RPV) circumferential shell 9907070288 990625 PDR ADQCK'-'OS000296

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 2 June 25, 1999 weld flaws and was granted relief by the NRC in a letter dated August 17, 1998. Subsequent to NRC's approval of TVA's request for relief, the staff completed its review of the BWRVIP-05 Report and issued its final Safety Evaluation Report (SER). This SER authorizes permanent relief from inservice inspection requirements for circumferential BWR reactor pressure vessel welds. The staff's SER also accepted the BWRVIP-05 Report recommendation to eliminate successive examinations for "non threatening" flaws (e.g., such as embedded flaws from material manufacturing or vessel fabrication which experience negligible or no growth during the life of the vessel) provided certain conditions are met.

In the enclosed request for relief (3-ISI-1, Revision 1),

TVA provides assurance it has met the required conditions to eliminate successive examinations for the .previously identified 15 circumferential weld flaws in the BFN Unit 3 RPV.

NRC issued GL 98-05 on November 10, 1998, which stated that licensees of BWRs may request permanent relief from the inservice inspection requirements of 10 CFR 50.55a(g) for the volumetric examination of circumferential reactor pressure welds by demonstrating that: (1) at the expiration of the operating license, the circumferential welds will continue to satisfy the limiting conditional failure probability for circumferential welds in the staff's BWRVIP-05 Report SER dated July 28, 1998, and (2) licensee has implemented operator training and established procedures that limit the frequency of cold over-pressure events to the amount specified in the staff's July 30, 1998 SER. The enclosed request for relief demonstrates that TVA meets the guidance in GL 98-'05 for permanent relief from the inservice inspection requirements of 10 CFR 50.55a(g) for the volumetric examination of the BFN Unit 3 RPV circumferential welds.

TVA requests approval of this relief request by December 31, 1999. This is to allow for resource planning for the Unit 3 Cycle 9 (Spring 2000) refueling outage to support scheduled ASNE Section XI outage activities.

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U,.S. 'Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 3 June 25, 1999 There are no new commitments contained in this letter. If you have any questions, please telephone me at (256) 729-2636.

Si cere T. E. Abney Manager of icensi g'.rs and In stry Aff Enclosure cc: (Enclosure,:

Mr. William 0. Long, Senior Project Manager U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One White Fli;nt, North 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, Maryland 20852 Mr. Paul E. Fredrickson, Branch Chief U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region II 61 Forsyth Street, S.W.

Suite 23T85 Atlanta, 'Georgia 30303 NRC Resident Inspector Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant 10833 .Shaw Road

,Athens, Alabama 35611

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