ML073170088
| ML073170088 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hatch  |
| Issue date: | 11/26/2007 |
| From: | Martin R NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLII-1 |
| To: | Madison D Southern Nuclear Operating Co |
| Martin R, NRR/DORL, 415-1493 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML073170098 | List: |
| References | |
| TAC MD5722, TAC MD5723 | |
| Download: ML073170088 (12) | |
Text
November 26, 2007 Mr. Dennis R. Madison Vice President - Hatch Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant 11028 Hatch Parkway North Baxley, GA 31513
SUBJECT:
EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2, ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS REGARDING CONTROL ROD SCRAM TIME TESTING FREQUENCY, TSTF-460 (TAC NOS. MD5722 AND MD5723)
Dear Mr. Madison:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 254 to Renewed Facility Operating License DPR-57 and Amendment No. 198 to Renewed Facility Operating License NPF-5 for the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, respectively. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated June 5, 2007, as supplemented on June 11, 2007.
The amendments revise the TSs testing frequency for the surveillance requirement in TS 3.1.4, Control Rod Scram Times, from 120 days cumulative operation in MODE 1 to 200 days cumulative operation in MODE 1.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Robert E. Martin, Sr. Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 254 to DPR-57
- 2. Amendment No. 198 to NPF-5
- 3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page
,
Mr. Dennis R. Madison Vice President - Hatch Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant 11028 Hatch Parkway North Baxley, GA 31513
SUBJECT:
EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2, ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENTS REGARDING CONTROL ROD SCRAM TIME TESTING FREQUENCY, TSTF-460 (TAC NOS. MD5722 AND MD5723)
Dear Mr. Madison:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the enclosed Amendment No. to Renewed Facility Operating License DPR-57 and Amendment No. to Renewed Facility Operating License NPF-5 for the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, respectively. The amendments consist of changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) in response to your application dated June 5, 2007, as supplemented on June 11, 2007.
The amendments revise the TSs testing frequency for the surveillance requirement in TS 3.1.4, Control Rod Scram Times, from 120 days cumulative operation in MODE 1 to 200 days cumulative operation in MODE 1.
A copy of the related Safety Evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commission's biweekly Federal Register notice.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Robert E. Martin, Sr. Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 254 to DPR-57
- 2. Amendment No. 198 to NPF-5
- 3. Safety Evaluation cc w/encls: See next page DISTRIBUTION: Public RidsAcrsAcnwMailCenter LPL2-1 R/F GHill (4 hard copies)
RidsNrrDorlLpl2-1 (EMarinos) RidsNrrDirsItsb (TKobetz)
RidsNrrPMRMartin (hard copy) RidsRgn2Mail Center(SShaeffer)
RidsNrrLAMO=Brien (hard copy) RidsNrrDorlDpr RidsOgcRp RidsNrrItsb (A. Lising)
Package No. ML073170098 Amendment No. ML073170088 Tech Spec No. ML *SE transmitted by memo dated OFFICE NRR/LPL2-1/PM NRR/LPL2-1/LA DIRS/ITSB/BC NRR/LPL2-1/BC NAME RMartin:nc MO=Brien TKobetz EMarinos DATE 11/15 /07 11 /13/07 10/12/2007* 11 /20/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA DOCKET NO. 50-321 EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT NO.1 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 254 Renewed License No. DPR-57
- 1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A. The application for amendment to the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (the facility) Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-57 filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated June 5, 2007, as supplemented June 11, 2007, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C. There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; D. The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E. The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
- 2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-57 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, as revised through Amendment No. 254, are hereby incorporated in the license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
- 3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 45 days from the date of issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/
Evangelos C. Marinos, Chief Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
Changes to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-57 and the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: November 26, 2007
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 254 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-57 DOCKET NO. 50-321 Replace the following pages of the License and the Appendix A Technical Specifications (TSs) with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.
Remove Pages Insert Pages License License Page 4 Page 4 TSs TSs 3.1-10 3.1-10 B 3.1-22 B 3.1-22
SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY OGLETHORPE POWER CORPORATION MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA CITY OF DALTON, GEORGIA DOCKET NO. 50-366 EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT NO. 2 AMENDMENT TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 198 Renewed License No. NPF-5
- 1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A. The application for amendment to the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 (the facility) Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-5 filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (the licensee), acting for itself, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton, Georgia (the owners), dated June 5, 2007, as supplemented June 11, 2007, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations as set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B. The facility will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C. There is reasonable assurance (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; D. The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E. The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
- 2. Accordingly, the license is hereby amended by page changes to the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment, and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-5 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2) Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A and the Environmental Protection Plan contained in Appendix B, as revised through Amendment No. 198, are hereby incorporated in the license. Southern Nuclear shall operate the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications and the Environmental Protection Plan.
- 3. This license amendment is effective as of its date of issuance and shall be implemented within 45 days from the date of issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/
Evangelos C. Marinos, Chief Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
Changes to Renewed Facililty Operating License No. NPF-5 and the Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: November 26, 2007
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 198 RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-5 DOCKET NO. 50-366 Replace the following pages of the License and the Appendix A Technical Specifications (TSs) with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.
Remove Pages Insert Pages License License Page 4 Page 4 TSs TSs 3.1-10 3.1-10 B 3.1-22 B 3.1-22
SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 254 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-57 AND AMENDMENT NO. 198 TO RENEWED FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-5 SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY, INC.
EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-321 AND 50-366
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By application dated June 5, 2007 (Agencywide Documents and Management System (ADAMS)
No. ML071560598), and supplemented June 11, 2007 (ADAMS No. ML071620283), Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee), requested changes to the Technical Specifications (TSs) for the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (Hatch 1 and 2).
The proposed changes would revise the TSs testing frequency for the surveillance requirement (SR) in TS 3.1.4, Control Rod Scram Times. Specifically, the proposed change would revise the frequency for SR 3.1.4.2, control rod scram time testing, from 120 days cumulative operation in MODE 1 to 200 days cumulative operation in MODE 1.
These changes are based on TS Task Force (TSTF) change traveler TSTF-460 (Revision 0) that has been approved generically for the boiling-water reactor (BWR) Standard TS, NUREG 1433 (BWR/4) and NUREG-1434 (BWR/6) by revising the frequency of SR 3.1.4.2, control rod scram time testing, from 120 days cumulative operation in MODE 1 to 200 days cumulative operation in MODE 1. A notice announcing the availability of this proposed TS change using the consolidated line item improvement process was published in the Federal Register on August 23, 2004 (69 FR 51864).
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
The TS requirement governing the control rod scram time surveillance is intended to assure proper function of control rod insertion. Following each refueling outage, all control rod scram times are verified. In addition, periodically during power operation, a representative sample of control rods is selected to be inserted to verify the insertion speed. A representative sample is defined as a sample containing at least 10 percent of the total number of control rods. The current
TS stipulates that no more than 20 percent of the control rods in this representative sample can be slow during the post-outage testing. With more than 20 percent of the sample declared to be slow per the criteria in Table 3.1.4-1, additional control rods are tested until this 20-percent criterion (e.g., 20 percent of the entire sample size) is satisfied, or until the total number of slow control rods (throughout the core, from all surveillances) exceeds the Limiting Condition for Operation limit. For planned testing, the control rods selected for the sample should be different for each test. This acceptance criterion for at-power surveillance testing will be redefined from 20 percent to 7.5 percent and will be incorporated into the TS Bases in accordance with its Bases Control Program. This tightened acceptance criterion for at-power surveillance aligns with the TS 3.1.4 requirement for the total control rods allowed to have scram times exceeding the specified limit.
The proposed change does not affect any current operability requirements and the test frequency being revised is not specified in regulations. As a result, no regulatory requirements or criteria are affected.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
3.1 Statement of Proposed Changes Hatch 1 and 2 TS SR 3.1.4.2 states verify, for a representative sample, each tested control rod scram time is within the limits of Table 3.1.4-1 with reactor steam dome pressure >800 psig. SR 3.1.4.2 has a frequency of 120 days cumulative operation in MODE 1. The proposed change revises the frequency to 200 days cumulative operation in MODE 1. The TS Basis for SR 3.1.4.2 will be revised to reference the new frequency and to reduce the percentage of the tested rods which can be slow from 20 percent to 7.5 percent.
3.2 Evaluation of Proposed Change The control rod insertion (scram) time test results at Hatch 1 and 2 have shown the control rod scram rates to be highly reliable. In its submittal dated June 5, 2007, and amended June 11, 2007, the licensee stated that it has performed a review of the control rod drive system scram time test results for Hatch 1 and 2. This review determined the following:
For Hatch 1, from 2002 to the beginning of cycle in 2006, Hatch 1 conducted a total of 1005 individual control rod scram tests. Out of those tests no control rods were identified as 'slow.'
For Hatch 2, from 2003 to the beginning of cycle in 2007, Hatch 2 conducted a total of 915 individual control rod scram tests. Out of those tests only two (2) control rods were identified as slow.
The extensive historical database substantiates the claim of high reliability of the Hatch 1 and 2 control rod drive systems. The current TS, with TS Bases in SR 3.1.4.2, requires that 10 percent of the 137 control rods (or at least 15 rods) be tested via sampling every 120 cumulative days of operation in Mode 1. It also states that the sample remains representative if 20 percent or fewer of the control rods in the sample tested are found to be slow, per the criterion in TS Table 3.1.4-1.
This acceptance criterion will be re-defined for at-power surveillance testing from 20 percent to 7.5 percent when the surveillance period is extended to 200 cumulative days of operation in Mode 1.
This tightened acceptance criterion for at-power surveillance aligns with the TS 3.1.4 requirement for the total control rods allowed to have scram times exceeding the specified limit. The revised bases submitted with the licensees application shows that it has incorporated the revised acceptance criterion value of 7.5 percent into the TS Bases in accordance with its Bases Control Program.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff considers the extended surveillance interval to be justified by the demonstrated reliability of the control rod insertion system, based on historical control rod scram time test data, and by the more restrictive acceptance criterion for determining whether the sample of control rods tested remains representative. Therefore, the NRC staff finds the proposed TS change acceptable.
4.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the Georgia State official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendment. The State official had no comments.
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendments change surveillance requirements. The NRC staff has determined that the amendments involve no significant increase in the amounts and no significant change in the types of any effluents that may be released offsite and that there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure. The Commission has previously issued a proposed finding that the amendments involve no significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment on such finding (July 17, 2007, 72 FR 39084). Accordingly, the amendments meet the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9).
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendments.
6.0 CONCLUSION
The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendments will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
Principal Contributor: A. Jason Lising Date: November 26, 2007
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 & 2 cc:
Mr. Dennis R. Madison Atlanta, GA 30328-4684 Vice President - Hatch Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Mr. Reece McAlister 11028 Hatch Parkway North Executive Secretary Baxley, GA 31513 Georgia Public Service Commission 244 Washington St., SW Laurence Bergen Atlanta, GA 30334 Oglethorpe Power Corporation 2100 E. Exchange Place Arthur H. Domby, Esq.
P.O. Box 1349 Troutman Sanders Tucker, GA 30085-1349 Nations Bank Plaza 600 Peachtree St, NE, Suite 5200 Mr. R. D. Baker Atlanta, GA 30308-2216 Manager - Licensing Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Chairman P.O. Box 1295 Appling County Commissioners Birmingham, AL 35201-1295 County Courthouse Baxley, GA 31513 Resident Inspector Plant Hatch Mr. Jeffrey T. Gasser 11030 Hatch Parkway N. Executive Vice President Baxley, GA 31531 Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 1295 Harold Reheis, Director Birmingham, AL 35201-1295 Department of Natural Resources 205 Butler Street, SE., Suite 1252 Mr. K. Rosanski Atlanta, GA 30334 Resident Manager Oglethorpe Power Corporation Steven M. Jackson Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Senior Engineer - Power Supply P.O. Box 2010 Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia Baxley, GA 31515 1470 Riveredge Parkway, NW