ML090650295
| ML090650295 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nuclear Energy Institute, Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group, PROJ0669, PROJ0700, PROJ0694 |
| Issue date: | 03/12/2009 |
| From: | Tanya Mensah NRC/NRR/DPR/PSPB |
| To: | Rosenberg S NRC/NRR/DPR/PSPB |
| Mensah, T M, NRR/DPR, 415-3610 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML090680284 | List: |
| References | |
| TAC MD4832 | |
| Download: ML090650295 (14) | |
Text
March 12, 2009 MEMORANDUM TO: Stacey L. Rosenberg, Chief Special Projects Branch Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
Tanya M. Mensah, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Special Project Branch Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE FEBRUARY 19, 2009, CATEGORY 2 PUBLIC MEETING BETWEEN THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AND INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES REGARDING THE NRCS TOPICAL REPORT PROCESS (TAC NO. MD4832)
On February 19, 2009, a Category 2 public meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and industry representatives at NRC headquarters to discuss issues regarding Topical Report (TR) process improvements. A list of meeting attendees is enclosed and the meeting agenda is contained in the February 19, 2009, public meeting notice available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) as Accession No. ML090220119.
In summary, the NRC staff and industry representatives provided updates and exchanged perspectives on the following:
A. Draft Topical Report Prioritization Scheme B. Technical Champion Flow Diagram C. Limitations and Conditions in TR Safety Evaluations (SE)
D. Publishing the Approved Version of a TR E. TR Pilot Plant Applications F. Industry Feedback on LIC-500, Draft Revision 4 G. Future Monthly TR Public Meetings Opening remarks were provided by Mr. Tom Blount, Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking (DPR), Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). Mr. Blount thanked the NRC staff and industry representatives for its continued support of the monthly TR meetings. He also emphasized the importance of these meetings as DPR moves forward to issue revised guidance on the TR process by May 2009.
CONTACT: Tanya M. Mensah, NRR/DPR 301-415-3610 Tanya.Mensah@nrc.gov
S. Rosenberg To open the meeting, Ms. Tanya Mensah, Senior Project Manager, provided an update to the industry representatives on the near-term priorities that were assigned to DPR. Specifically, Ms. Mensah provided a current status for each of the following near-term priorities:
- 1: DPR should continue its current progress on TR reviews, including its current assessment of LIC-500 by May 30, 2009.
o Current Status: On schedule. The NRC TR Team and industry representatives use the monthly TR meetings to assess and discuss recommended changes to LIC-500. The NRC TR Team anticipates that all internal and external comments received will be tracked and resolved by April 30, 2009, to support issuance of the revised LIC-500 by May 30, 2009.
- 2: DPR should develop a prioritization/valuation scheme for TRs, including consideration of internal and external views. A draft prioritization scheme developed with implementation plan and presented to the NRR Leadership Team (LT) by May 30, 2009.
o Current Status: On schedule. The NRC TR Team shared the draft prioritization scheme (ADAMS Accession No. ML090650242) with industry representatives during the February 2009 public meeting. As noted in the NEI meeting handout (ADAMS Accession No. ML090650275), there were a number of recommendations that were proposed by the industry representatives. The NRC TR Team will consider the industry recommendations.
- 3: DPR to reassess TR metrics for timeliness and resource expenditures, based on the new prioritization/valuation scheme. Provide results of metrics assessment to NRR LT for the first and second quarters following prioritization scheme implementation, but no later than January 30, 2010.
o Current Status: On hold. The NRC TR Team anticipates focusing on this recommendation once the draft prioritization scheme has been presented to the NRR LT in May 2009.
- 4: DPR should establish a process for the assignment of a Technical Champion for the more technically challenging TRs. Include attributes for decision to have a Technical Champion in LIC-500 procedure by May 30, 2009.
o Current Status: On schedule.
Mr. Ken Karwoski, the NRC TR Team lead for this recommendation, shared the framework for the Technical Champion during the January 2009 public meeting (ADAMS Accession No. ML090220069). The industry representatives provided some overall positive feedback on the conceptual framework; however, they had some questions regarding industry use of this process. Specifically, the industry representatives were seeking to clarify if they could raise TR issues to NRC senior management through this Technical Champion process. The NRC TR Team clarified that currently, this process is an internal initiative to help
S. Rosenberg the NRC staff identify and elevate TR issues or differing internal views to senior management when it involves complex, technical or policy issues that are being reviewed by multiple NRC organizations.
During the February 19, 2009, public meeting, the NRC staff provided a revised flow diagram (ADAMS Accession No. ML090650285) which incorporated minor editorial revisions. The industry representatives reiterated the need for this process to also provide an entry point to address differences of opinions between NRC technical staff and industry representatives during the TR reviews. Currently the flow diagram focuses on the resolution of issues which are raised internally between multiple NRC organizations.
The NRC TR Team will consider the comment provided by industry representatives and will discuss any revisions with the industry representatives.
After discussion of the near-term priorities, the NRC staff and the industry representatives discussed the following issues:
Limitations and Conditions: During the November 2008 public meeting, the industry representatives provided their statement of the problems that may lead to limitations and conditions being placed in the SE and identified probable causes ranging from review schedules not being extended to support the need for additional justification in the TR to technical disagreements between the TR author and NRC staff reviewers. One of the key recommendations discussed was that the revised version of LIC-500 should include language to increase the awareness of the potentially significant impact of limitations and conditions.
Specifically, the industry representatives recommended that LIC-500 include guidance to reviewers to identify and communicate limitations and conditions early-on as one of the objectives in LIC-500 and provided suggested words for NRC TR Team consideration. The NRC TR Team discussed the proposed language provided by the industry representatives on Page 3, Item C, of its February 19, 2009, meeting handout (ADAMS Accession No. ML090650275). The NRC staff are considering the industry-proposed language into DRAFT LIC-500, Revision 4, and will share a markup of the changes with the industry representatives.
Publishing of the -A (approved) version of the TR: During the November 2008 public meeting, the industry representatives clarified that the current process is for the vendor or owners group to attach the TR SE behind the title page of the approved TR, often without making changes to the TR. During the January 2009 public meeting, the NRC staff provided feedback that it may consider a change to audit the approved versions of some TRs (those that may involve significant changes from the originally submitted TR). During the February 2009 public meeting, the NRC TR Team stated that it planned to follow up with NRC legal counsel before making a final decision. The NRC TR Team plan to provide feedback to the industry representatives on any proposed changes to audit approved versions of TRs.
Pilot Plant Applications: During the January 2009, public meeting, the NRC TR Team discussed its draft flow chart (ADAMS Accession No. ML090220095) to demonstrate how this process may work. During the February 2009, public meeting, the industry representatives questioned the NRC TR Team regarding its next steps to support implementation of a pilot plant application in
S. Rosenberg parallel with a TR review. The NRC TR Team informed the industry representatives of its plan to discuss this with the NRR LT during May 2009. Since implementation of a pilot plant application in parallel with a TR review involves several processes, the NRC TR Team informed the industry representatives that guidance in LIC-500, Draft Revision 4, would not be provided. However, both the NRC TR Team and the industry representatives agreed that it would continue to track this initiative as a long-term goal through the monthly TR public meetings.
Industry Feedback on LIC-500, Draft Revision 4: The industry representatives provided additional NEI markups in its meeting handout dated February 19, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML090650275). With regard to the changes proposed in Section C of that handout, the industry representatives provided an editorial change to further clarify the difference between a TR and a technical report. In accordance with its February 19, 2009, meeting handout, industry representatives proposed a change to Section 4.2.11, Applicant Submits Revision(s) or Supplement(s) To The Approved Version of TR, of LIC-500, Draft Revision 4. The discussion during the meeting led the industry representatives to withdraw their proposed change for consideration. Additional changes to LIC-500, Draft Revision 4, were proposed in Section B of the February 19, 2009, meeting handout. The NRC TR Team will consider the proposed revisions as recommended by the industry representatives and provide a future update.
Future Public Meetings: During the February 19, 2009, public meeting, the NRC TR Team proposed that the March 26, 2009, public meeting be cancelled to permit the NRC staff time to support other key NRC and industry activities. The industry representatives agreed, but proposed that a one-hour telephone call be held instead so that the NRC TR Team could provide a status updated to the industry representatives prior to the April 23, 2009, public meeting. The NRC TR Team agreed and a call will occur on March 26, 2009, from 10-11 am (EST). All attendees at the February 19, 2009, public meeting will be invited to listen in on the call between the NRC TR Team and the industry representatives. Ms. Mensah will arrange a bridgeline and provide the dial in number to the meeting attendees.
In addition, the NRC TR Team proposed that a public meeting should not be planned for the month of May 2009, since that time will be needed to support management briefings in support of the issuance of LIC-500, Draft Rev. 4.
S. Rosenberg The industry handout is available in ADAMS as Accession No. ML090650275.
The NRC handouts are available in ADAMS as Accession Nos. ML090650242 and ML090650285.
A TR status call is planned for March 26, 2009, and the next TR public meeting is currently scheduled for April 23, 2009. A meeting notice will be issued with additional detail.
No members of the public were present. No public meeting feedback forms were provided.
Project Nos.: 669, 689, 691, 694, and 700
Enclosure:
List of Attendees cc w/encl: See next pages
ML090680284 (Package); ML090220119 (Notice); ML090650242, ML090650285, ML090650275 (Handouts); ML090650295 (Summary) NRC-001 OFFICE PSPB/PM PSPB/LA PSPB/BC PSPB/PM NAME TMensah DBaxley (GLappert for)
SRosenberg TMensah DATE 3/9/09 3/10/09 3/12/09 03/12/09 List of Meeting Attendees for February 19, 2009 Tim Abney GE Hitachi Rossnyev Alvarado MPR Associates Tony Attard NRC Tom Blount NRC Sheri Bone NrC Charles Brinkman Westinghouse Dennis Buschbaum PWROG/Luminant Douglas Coleman BWROG/Energy Northwest Jaclyn Dorn NRC Adel El-Bassioni NRC Galye Elliott AREVA NP Tanya Ford NRC Chris Gratton NRC Chad Holderbaum Westinghouse/PWROG Ken Karwoski NRC Tanya Mensah NRC Naotaka Oda Toshiba Jeannie Rinckel NEI Stacey Rosenberg NRC Mike Schoppman NEI Sean Smith Lockheed Martin ENCLOSURE
Nuclear Energy Institute Project No.: 689 Electric Power Research Institute Project No.: 669 cc:
Mr. Anthony Pietrangelo, Vice President Regulatory Affairs Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 arp@nei.org Mr. Jack Roe, Director Security Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 jwr@nei.org Mr. Charles B. Brinkman Washington Operations ABB-Combustion Engineering, Inc.
12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 330 Rockville, MD 20852 brinkmcb@westinghouse.com Mr. James Gresham, Manager Regulatory Compliance and Plant Licensing Westinghouse Electric Company P.O. Box 355 Pittsburgh, PA 15230-0355 greshaja@westinghouse.com Ms. Barbara Lewis Assistant Editor Platts, Principal Editorial Office 1200 G St., N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005 Barbara_lewis@platts.com Mr. Alexander Marion Vice President (Acting)
Nuclear Operations & Engineering Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 am@nei.org Mr. John Butler, Director Operations Support Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 jcb@nei.org Mr. James H. Riley, Director Engineering Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW Washington, DC 20006-3708 jhr@nei.org Mike Melton, Senior Project Manager 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 man@nei.org Mr. Chris Larsen Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer EPRI 3412 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304-1338 dblarsen@epri.com Mr. David J. Modeen Director, External Affairs EPRI 1300 W. T. Harris Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28262-8550 dmodeen@epri.com Dr. Sean Bushart EPRI 3412 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304-1338 sbushart@epri.com Mr. Kurt Edsinger EPRI 3412 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304-1338 kedsinge@epri.com
Mr. Ken Canavan EPRI 1300 W.T. Harris Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28262-8550 kcanavan@epri.com Mr. Greg Selby EPRI 1300 W. T. Harris Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28262-8550 gselby@epri.com Mr. David Steininger EPRI 3412 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304-1338 dstenin@epri.com Mr. Neil Wilmshurst EPRI 1300 W. T. Harris Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28262-8550 nwilmshu@epri.com
BWR Owners= Group Project No.: 691 Mr. Doug Coleman Chairman, BWR Owners= Group Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station Mail Drop PE20 P.O. Box 968 Richland, WA 99352-0968 DWCOLEMAN@energy-northwest.com Mr. Richard Libra Executive Vice Chair, BWR Owners= Group Exelon Generation Co, LLC 200 Exelon Way Mail Code KSA 2-N Kennett Square, PA 19348 Rick.libra@exeloncorp.com Mr. Richard Anderson BWROG, Executive Chair FPL Energy (DAEC)
Duane Arnold Energy Center 3277 DAEC Road Palo, IA 52324 richard_l_anderson@fpl.com Mr. James F. Klapproth GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy M/C A50 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 james.klapproth@ge.com Mr. Joseph E. Conen Regulatory Response Group Chair BWR Owners= Group DTE Energy-Fermi 2 200 TAC 6400 N. Dixie Highway Newport, MI 48166 conenj@dteenergy.com Frederick Emerson BWROG, Project Manager Frederick.emerson@ge.com Mr. J. A. Gray, Jr.
Regulatory Response Group Vice-Chair BWR Owners= Group Entergy Nuclear Northeast 440 Hamilton Avenue Mail Stop 12C White Plains, NY 10601-5029 JGray4@entergy.com Mr. Ken A. McCall, Program Manager GE Energy M/C F12 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 kenneth.mccall@ge.com Mr. Tim E. Abney GE Energy M/C A-16 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 tim.abney@ge.com Oscar Limpias Entergy Nuclear Northeast 1340 Echelon Parkway.
Jackson, MS 39213-8202 olimpia@entergy.com Joe Donahue Progress Energy Inc.
410 S. Wilmington St.
PEB 6A Raleigh, NC 27601-1849 joe.w.donahue@pgnmail.com Paul J. Davison Hope Creek Generating Station P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 paul.davison@pseg.com Dennis Madison, Hatch Vice President Southern Nuclear Operating Co.
11028 Hatch Parkway North Baxley, GA 31515-2010 drmadiso@southernco.com
PWR Owners Group Project No.: 694 Westinghouse Electric Project No.: 700 cc:
Mr. James A. Gresham, Manager Regulatory Compliance and Plant Licensing Westinghouse Electric Company P.O. Box 355 Pittsburgh, PA 15230-0355 greshaja@westinghouse.com
GHNE Project No.: 710 cc:
Mr. George B. Stramback GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 1989 Little Orchard Street M/C HME San Jose, CA 95125-1030 george.stramback@ge.com Mr. James F. Harrison GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC Project Manager - Fuel Licensing P.O. Box 780 M/C A45 Wilmington, NC 28401 james.harrison@ge.com Ms. Patricia L. Campbell Washington Regulatory Affairs Director GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 9th Floor Washington, DC 20004 patricia.campbell@ge.com Mr. Andrew A. Lingenfelter Manager, GNF Fuel Engineering P.O. Box 780 M/C F12 Wilmington, NC 28401 andy.lingenfelter@gnf.com Rick Kingston GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC Project Manager, Methods Licensing 3901 Castle Hayne Road PO Box 780 Wilmington, NC 28401-0780 rick.kingston@ge.com
Public Meeting Handout Meeting Summary of the 2/19/2009 Meeting Between NRC/Industry Representatives Dated March 12, 2009
NEI Meeting Handout (Public Topical Report Monthly)
Meeting Summary of the 2/19/2009 Meeting Between NRC/Industry Representatives Dated March 12, 2009
Public Meeting Handout (Tech Champion Flow Diagram)
Meeting Summary of the 2/19/2009 Meeting Between NRC/Industry Representatives Dated March 12, 2009