ML24142A498
| ML24142A498 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Columbia  |
| Issue date: | 05/22/2024 |
| From: | Mahesh Chawla Plant Licensing Branch IV |
| To: | Schuetz R Energy Northwest |
| Chawla M | |
| References | |
| EPID L-2024-LRM-006 | |
| Download: ML24142A498 (1) | |
Text
May 22, 2024 LICENSEE:
Energy Northwest FACILITY:
Columbia Generating Station
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF APRIL 17, 2024, PARTIALLY CLOSED PRE-APPLICATION MEETING WITH ENERGY NORTHWEST REGARDING AN EXTENDED POWER UPRATE COMBINED WITH MAXIMUM LOAD LINE LIMIT ANALYSIS PLUS FOR COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION (EPID L-2024-LRM-0006)
On April 17, 2024, an Observation pre-application meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, representatives of Energy Northwest (the licensee), and General Electric Hitachi. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss, in advance, the licensee's intent to submit a license amendment request (LAR) for approval to implement an extended power uprate (EPU) combined with maximum load line limit analysis plus (MELLLA+) for Columbia Generating Station (Columbia).
The meeting notice and agenda, dated February 28, 2024, are available in the NRC Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML24059A098. The meeting consisted of an open and closed session. Enclosed is a list of attendees at the meeting.
During the open session of the meeting, the licensee presented public meeting slides, which can be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML24057A354.
The submittal of a combined EPU and MELLLA+ LAR for Columbia would be a first-of-a-kind request from an NRC licensing perspective. This combination of two historically distinct requests has not been submitted previously. The licensees planned LAR would result in a maximum operating reactor power equal to 120 percent of the original licensed thermal power, which is about 12.5 percent above the current authorized power level for Columbia. The licensee considers this planned LAR to be a natural evolution of the licensing of this type of power uprate for the boiling water reactor domestic fleet. The licensee stated that a MELLLA+ operating map is needed to achieve the proposed 120 percent EPU power level at Columbia.
Prior to this proposed power uprate, the Columbia licensee obtained authorization to implement a stretch power uprate of 4.90 percent in 1995 and a measurement uncertainty uprate (MUR) of 1.66 percent in 2017. The licensee is planning to submit the combined EPU and MELLLA+ LAR in 2028 to support its proposed implementation in 2031. The licensee also stated that the submittal of an MUR request is not planned as part of the EPU and MELLLA+ LAR. The licensee indicated that an EPU assessment would be performed upon startup in 2031, and an MUR request might be submitted as a separate licensing effort at that time.
During the open session, the NRC staff asked several questions regarding the submittal schedule for the combined EPU and MELLLA+ LAR for Columbia. For example, the NRC staff
asked the licensee to discuss the reason for submitting the EPU and MELLLA+ requests as a combined LAR, instead of separate licensing submittals. The licensee stated that they see synergy between these licensing actions, and it appears logical to combine the requests. The licensee asserted that the combined licensing action, if accepted, will provide greater flexibility for plant operation without challenging the reactor operators. The licensee considered the combined licensing action to be desirable from human factors engineering perspective. The licensee indicated that there is not a distinct precedent for submitting EPU and MELLLA+
requests in the same LAR, but that there have been similar approaches for power uprates at other nuclear power plants.
The NRC staff asked if the licensee is planning to implement a fuel transition at Columbia prior to submitting the EPU and MELLLA+ LAR. The licensee responded that they plan to implement a fuel transition in 2027 ahead of the expected EPU first operating cycle in 2031. The licensee intends to transition to a different type of fuel but will maintain the same vendor. The licensee plans to evaluate this fuel change under Section 50.59, Changes, tests, and experiments, of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and might determine that submittal of an LAR is not required for the fuel transition.
The licensee stated that preparation of the safety analysis report to support both the proposed EPU and the MELLLA+ operating map for Columbia is underway. The licensee will be using applicable NRC guidance documents in preparing its submittal, such as NRC RS-001, Review Standard for Extended Power Uprates. The licensee hopes to streamline the safety analysis report to avoid the need for NRC review of numerous identical sections of the report for the proposed EPU and MELLLA+ operating map.
In response to an NRC staff question on power level monitoring, the licensee discussed its plans regarding the neutron monitoring equipment to support the EPU and MELLLA+ operation at Columbia. The licensee stated that there are adjustments planned to support the proposed operation of Columbia.
In response to an NRC staff question on risk assessments, the licensee stated that no major changes to the probabilistic risk assessment for Columbia is anticipated for the proposed EPU and MELLLA+ operation. The licensee will review operational procedures and reactor operator response times for any necessary changes regarding operator actions and timing.
In response to NRC staff questions on equipment changes and qualification, the licensee stated that hardware modifications are being evaluated without specific decisions made at this time.
With respect to updating of equipment qualification files, the licensee indicated that equipment qualification will undergo significant review in planning the EPU but did not have specific information on this activity. The licensee will provide additional information in these areas during future interactions with the NRC staff.
Based on EPU experience with other nuclear power plants, the NRC staff provided feedback for consideration by the licensee in planning the EPU request for Columbia. For example, the NRC staff indicated the need to address suppression pool swell analysis from the effects of subcooling. In addition, the NRC staff suggested that the licensee review the experience from EPU implementation at the LaSalle County Station nuclear power plant to assist in planning the EPU and MELLLA+ LAR for Columbia. The licensee responded that its engineering group will include this information as part of the operating experience review of prior power uprates.
The NRC staff noted that the scope of the review of the combined EPU and MELLLA+ LAR will need to be addressed when the review of the LAR is initiated. For example, the NRC staff review will need to specify whether the proposed EPU is applying to the current authorized power operation at Columbia or is applying to the proposed MELLLA+ operating map for Columbia.
A portion of the meeting was closed to public participation because proprietary information needed to be discussed. During the closed session of the meeting, the licensee discussed and provided further details on the proposed changes regarding the planned replacement of the steam dryer in support of the planned EPU and MELLLA+ LAR for Columbia.
No regulatory decisions were made during this meeting. No members of the public identified themselves on the teleconference. Public Meeting Feedback forms were not received.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-8371, or via e-mail at Mahesh.Chawla@nrc.gov.
/RA/
Mahesh L. Chawla, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-397 Enclosure List of Attendees cc: Listserv
Enclosure COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION LIST OF ATTENDEES APRIL 17, 2024, PARTIALLY CLOSED PREAPPLICATION TELECONFERENCE WITH ENERGY NORTHWEST TO DISCUSS A LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR IMPLEMENTING AN EXTENDED POWER UPRATE WITH MAXIMUM LOAD LINE LIMIT ANALYSIS PLUS FOR COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Name Organization Name Organization Adrienne Brown NRR/DRA/APLA John Tsao NRR/DNRL/NVIB Ahsan Sallman NRR/DSS/SNSB John Bozga NRR/DEX/EMIB Andy Johnson NRR/DNRL/NCSG Joseph Messina NRR/DSS/SFNB Angelo Stubbs NRR/DSS/SCPB Kamol Manoly NRR/DEX Angie Buford NRR/DNRL/NVIB Kimberly Green NRR/DORL/LPL2-2 Bob Pascarelli NRR/DRA/APLA Matthew Hamm NRR/DSS/STSB Brian Wittick NRR/DSS/SCPB Matthew McConnell NRR/DEX/ELTB Carol Moyer NRR/DNRL/NVIB Naeem Igbal NRR/DRA/APLB Carolyn Fairbanks NRR/DNRL/NVIB Robert Beaton NRR/DSS/SNSB Christopher Highley R-IV/DORS/PBA/CGS Santosh Bhatt NRR/DSS/SNSB DaBin Ki NRR/DRO/IOLB Shiattin Makor NRR/DRA/APLB David Garman-Candelaria NRR/DRA/ARCB Steve Wyman NRR/DEX/EEEB David Rahn NRR/DEX/ELTB Steven Bloom NRR/DNRL/NCSG Ekaterina Lenning NRR/DORL/LLPB Stewart Bailey NRR/DEX/EMIB Gerond George NRR/DORL/LLPB Thomas Scarbrough NRR/DEX/EMIB Gilberto Blas Rodriguez NRR/DEX/ELTB Todd Hilsmeier NRR/DRA/APLA Gurjendra Bedi NRR/DEX/EMIB Weidong Wang ACRS/TSB Jay Collins NRR/DNRL/NPHP Wendell Morton NRR/DEX/EEEB Jennie Rankin NRR/DORL/LPL4 William Orders NRR/DORL/LPL4 Jo Ambrosini NRR/DSS/SNSB Yuken Wong NRR/DEX/EMIB
- Table of Abbreviations NRR Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation APLA Probabilistic Risk Assessment Licensing Branch A DEX Division of Engineering and External Hazards APLB Probabilistic Risk Assessment Licensing Branch B DNRL Division of New and Renewed Licenses ARCB Radiation Protection and Consequences Branch DORL Division of Operating Reactor Licensing EEEB Electrical Engineering Branch DRA Division of Risk Assessment ELTB Long-Term Operations and Modernization Branch DRO Division of Reactor Oversight EMIB Mechanical Engineering and Inservice Testing Branch DSS Division of Safety Systems IOLB Operator Licensing and Human Factors Branch LLPB Licensing Projects Branch R-IV Region IV LPL Plant Licensing Branch DORS Division of Operating Reactor Safety NCSG Corrosion and Steam Generator Branch PBA DORS - Branch A NPHP Piping and Head Penetrations Branch CGS Columbia Generating Station NVIB Vessels and Internals Branch SCPB Containment and Plant Systems Branch ACRS Office of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards SFNB Nuclear Methods and Fuel Analysis Branch TSB Technical Support Branch SNSB Nuclear Systems Performance Branch STSB Technical Specifications Branch
Energy Northwest A. Javorik - Vice President Engineering Projects E. Sims - License Renewal and Projects Manager J. Brownell - Project Manager M. Armenta - Design Engineering Manager R. Garcia - Licensing Supervisor R. Long - Oversight Project Manager S. Richter - Engineering Expert T. Collis - Principle Licensing Engineer Z. Dunham - Regulatory Affairs Manager J. Fisher - Engineering Group Lead T. Oldham - Project Manager Supervisor D. Clymer - Reactor/Fuels Engineering Manager General Electric Hitachi A. Selmane D. Spaulding D. Sampson J. Carneal L. King L. Schichlein MPR E. Federline Members of the Public None Introduced
- concurrence via email OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL4/PM NRR/DORL/LPL4/LA*
NRR/DRA/APLA/BC*
NRR/DRA/APLB/BC*
NAME MChawla PBlechman RPascarelli SMakor DATE 5/20/2024 5/22/2024 5/8/2024 5/10/2024 OFFICE NRR/DRA/ARCB/BC*
NRR/DEX/EEEB/BC*
NRR/DEX/EICB/BC*
NRR/DEX/ELTB/BC*
NAME KHsueh WMorton FSacko JPaige DATE 5/14/2024 5/10/2024 5/1/2024 5/1/2024 OFFICE NRR/DEX/EMIB/BC*
NRR/DRO/IOLB/BC*
NRR/DNRL/NCSG*
NRRDNRLNVIB/BC*
NAME LNist ABuford SBloom ABuford DATE 5/20/2024 5/7/2024 5/21/2024 5/7/2024 OFFICE NRR/DSS/SCPB/BC*
NRR/DSS/SFNB/BC*
NRR/DSS/SNSB/BC*
NRR/DSS/STSB/BC*
NAME MValentin SKrepel PSahd SMehta DATE 5/14/2024 5/7/2024 5/3/2024 5/3/2024 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL4/BC*
NRR/DORL/LPL4/PM*
NAME JRankin MChawla DATE 5/22/2024 5/22/2024