ML080310822

Y020080024 - Response to Letter from David Obrien 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 w/edits HChang MModes PTKuo 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 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Mr. David R. Lewis Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP 2300 N Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20037-1128 Mr. David OBrien, Commissioner Vermont Department of Public Service 112 State Street Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 Mr. James Volz, Chairman Public Service Board State of Vermont 112 State Street Montpelier, VT 05620-2701 Chairman, Board of Selectmen Town of Vernon P.O. Box 116 Vernon, VT 05354-0116 Operating Experience Coordinator Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station 320 Governor Hunt Road Vernon, VT 05354 G. Dana Bisbee, Esq.

Deputy Attorney General 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301-6937 Chief, Safety Unit Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place, 19th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Ms. Carla A. White, RRPT, CHP Radiological Health Vermont Department of Health P.O. Box 70, Drawer #43 108 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05402-0070 Mr. David Mannai Manager, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 500 185 Old Ferry Road Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 Resident Inspector Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 176 Vernon, VT 05354 Director, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency ATTN: James Muckerheide 400 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702-5399 Jonathan M. Block, Esq.

Main Street P.O. Box 566 Putney, VT 05346-0566 Mr. John F. McCann Director, Licensing Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John T. Herron Sr. Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213 Mr. Oscar Limpias Vice President, Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:

Mr. Christopher Schwartz Vice President, Operations Support Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Michael J. Colomb Director of Oversight Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. William C. Dennis Assistant General Counsel Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Theodore Sullivan Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 500 185 Old Ferry Road Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 Mr. James H. Sniezek 5486 Nithsdale Drive Salisbury, MD 21801 Mr. Garrett D. Edwards 814 Waverly Road Kennett Square, PA 19348 Ms. Stacey M. Lousteau Treasury Department Entergy Services, Inc.

639 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, LA 70113 Mr. Norman L. Rademacher Director, NSA Mr. Raymond Shadis New England Coalition Post Office Box 98 Edgecomb, ME 04556 Mr. James P. Matteau Executive Director Windham Regional Commission 139 Main Street, Suite 505 Brattleboro, VT 05301 Mr. William K. Sherman Vermont Department of Public Service 112 State Street Drawer 20 Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 Mr. Michael D. Lyster 5931 Barclay Lane Naples, FL 34110-7306 Diane Curran, Esq.

Harmon, Curran, Spielberg &

Eisenberg, L.L.P 1726 M Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Ronald A. Shems, Esq.

Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel & Saunders, PLLC 91 College Street Burlington, VT 05401 Karen Tyler, Esq.

Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel & Saunders, PLLC 91 College Street Burlington, VT 05401 Sarah Hofmann, Esq.

Director of Public Advocacy Department of Public Service 112 State Street - Drawer 20 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