ML080310822

Y020080024 - Response to Letter from David O'Brien Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Final Safety Evaluation Report

ML080310822
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	02/21/2008
From:	Kuo P NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR
To:	O'Brien D State of VT, Dept of Public Service
Rowley J, NRR/DLR/RLRB, 415-4053
Shared Package
ML080310774	List: ML080310822
References
TAC MD7992, Y020080024
Download: ML080310822 (7)

Text

February 21, 2008 David OBrien, Commissioner Vermont Department of Public Service 112 State Street Drawer 20 Montpelier, VT 05620-2601

Dear Mr. OBrien:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of December 17, 2007, regarding the final safety evaluation report (FSER) for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS). In your correspondence, you requested that I review the VYNPS FSER before it is issued to ensure that it addresses the issues discussed in the audit report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued on September 6, 2007 (OIG-07-A-15), regarding the NRCs license renewal program. With respect to this request, I can assure you that I and many other NRC staff and managers review all license renewal safety evaluation reports (SERs) before they are issued.

It is important to note that the OIG findings were specific to the documentation of the technical review, not the sufficiency of the technical review. OIG concluded that, overall, the NRC has developed a comprehensive license renewal process to evaluate applications for extended periods of operation. However, OIG identified areas where improvements would enhance program operations. Specifically, OIG determined that a consistent evaluation of operating experience would improve NRC reviews.

The NRC has already implemented some improvements to address the OIG findings, and more are forthcoming. The agency updated the SER style guide, and project managers and audit team members took mandatory SER input documentation training. The staff implemented these improvements during its review of the VYNPS license renewal application (LRA).

In your letter, you requested assurance that the NRC independently verified the operating experience for VYNPS. We reviewed operating experience in two ways. In developing NUREG-1800, Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report, a staff technical guidance document, the staff reviewed industry-wide operating experience as an attribute of acceptable aging management programs. An applicant describes plant-specific operating experience in its LRA. The staff reviews the information in the application to verify that the applicant adequately considered the operating experience documented in the GALL Report as well as that which is specific to its facility during onsite audits. The staff documented the results of the audits related to VYNPS in an audit report, dated March 29, 2007 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML070860005). The forthcoming FSER for VYNPS will include the results of the audit. In addition, the NRC region-based inspectors performed a 2-week onsite inspection of the applicants aging management programs, which included a thorough evaluation of the applicants operating experience through a review of the corrective action database. The June 4, 2007, regional inspection report documents the results of the onsite review (ADAMS Accession No. ML071550330).

D. OBrien With respect to the independence of the NRC staffs review, the NRC independently verifies claims made by an applicant in its LRA. In a typical LRA review, the NRC asks approximately 400 questions during the audits and submits approximately 100 requests for additional information (RAIs). In its FSER, the NRC documents a technical basis for determining that answers to the audit questions and responses to the RAIs are acceptable. Experienced and knowledgeable NRC staff make the determinations of acceptability based on staff review guidance, consistency with the GALL Report, and compliance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54), Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants. The staff conducted its review of VYNPS in accordance with this established practice.

At the site, a regional team inspects the program descriptions and/or implementing procedures for the aging management programs and verifies the accuracy of the information contained in the application, independent of the safety review being performed by staff in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). The regional team makes a separate recommendation to the Director of NRR with regard to the implementation of the applicants proposals on the basis of its inspections. In addition, the NRR staff and the regional team support each other by sharing issues identified during the review and inspections. This mutual support has resulted in additional technical reviews or inspections in the past.

If you have any additional questions regarding the license renewal process, please have your staff contact Mr. Jonathan Rowley of my staff at 301-415-4053.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Pao-Tsin Kuo, Director Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

(Package) ML080310774; (Incoming) ML080320105; (Response) ML080310822 OFFICE LA:NRR:DLR PM:RPB2:DLR BC:RPB2:DLR TECH EDITOR* Region I* D:DLR NAME IKing JRowley RFranovich HChang MModes PTKuo w/edits DATE 02/07/08 02/05/08 02/11/08 02/06/08 02/20/08 02/21/08 OFFICE OGC NAME MBaty DATE 02/08/08

Letter to D. OBrien from P.T. Kuo, dated February 21, 2008 DISTRIBUTION:

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Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:

Regional Administrator, Region I Mr. David Mannai U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Manager, Licensing 475 Allendale Road Entergy Nuclear Operations King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 500 Mr. David R. Lewis 185 Old Ferry Road Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 2300 N Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20037-1128 Resident Inspector Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Mr. David OBrien, Commissioner U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Vermont Department of Public Service P.O. Box 176 112 State Street Vernon, VT 05354 Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 Director, Massachusetts Emergency Mr. James Volz, Chairman Management Agency Public Service Board ATTN: James Muckerheide State of Vermont 400 Worcester Road 112 State Street Framingham, MA 01702-5399 Montpelier, VT 05620-2701 Jonathan M. Block, Esq.

Chairman, Board of Selectmen Main Street Town of Vernon P.O. Box 566 P.O. Box 116 Putney, VT 05346-0566 Vernon, VT 05354-0116 Mr. John F. McCann Operating Experience Coordinator Director, Licensing Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

320 Governor Hunt Road 440 Hamilton Avenue Vernon, VT 05354 White Plains, NY 10601 G. Dana Bisbee, Esq. Mr. John T. Herron Deputy Attorney General Sr. Vice President 33 Capitol Street Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Concord, NH 03301-6937 1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213 Chief, Safety Unit Office of the Attorney General Mr. Oscar Limpias One Ashburton Place, 19th Floor Vice President, Engineering Boston, MA 02108 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

1340 Echelon Parkway Ms. Carla A. White, RRPT, CHP Jackson, MS 39213 Radiological Health Vermont Department of Health P.O. Box 70, Drawer #43 108 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05402-0070

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:

Mr. Raymond Shadis Mr. Christopher Schwartz New England Coalition Vice President, Operations Support Post Office Box 98 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Edgecomb, ME 04556 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. James P. Matteau Mr. Michael J. Colomb Executive Director Director of Oversight Windham Regional Commission Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 139 Main Street, Suite 505 440 Hamilton Avenue Brattleboro, VT 05301 White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. William K. Sherman Mr. William C. Dennis Vermont Department of Public Service Assistant General Counsel 112 State Street Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Drawer 20 440 Hamilton Avenue Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Michael D. Lyster Mr. Theodore Sullivan 5931 Barclay Lane Site Vice President Naples, FL 34110-7306 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Diane Curran, Esq.

P.O. Box 500 Harmon, Curran, Spielberg &

185 Old Ferry Road Eisenberg, L.L.P Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 1726 M Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Mr. James H. Sniezek 5486 Nithsdale Drive Ronald A. Shems, Esq.

Salisbury, MD 21801 Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel & Saunders, PLLC 91 College Street Mr. Garrett D. Edwards Burlington, VT 05401 814 Waverly Road Kennett Square, PA 19348 Karen Tyler, Esq.

Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel & Saunders, PLLC Ms. Stacey M. Lousteau 91 College Street Treasury Department Burlington, VT 05401 Entergy Services, Inc.

639 Loyola Avenue Sarah Hofmann, Esq.

New Orleans, LA 70113 Director of Public Advocacy Department of Public Service Mr. Norman L. Rademacher 112 State Street - Drawer 20 Director, NSA Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 PO Box 0500 Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:

Jennifer J. Patterson, Esq.

Office of the New Hampshire Attorney General 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301 Matias F. Travieso-Diaz, Esq.

Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP 2300 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20037-1128 Matthew Brock, Esq.

Assistant Attorney General Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General Environmental Protection Division One Ashburton Place, Room 1813 Boston, MA 02108-1598 Anthony Z. Roisman, Esq.

National Legal Scholars Law Firm 84 East Thetford Road Lyme, NH 03768 John Sipos, Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General The Capitol State Street Albany, NY 12224