[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9057-9059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3873]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-325]


Carolina Power & Light Co.; Facility Operating License

Exemption

    In the Matter of Carolina Power & Light Co.; (Brunswick Steam 
Electric Plant, Unit 1).

I

    The Carolina Power & Light Company (the licensee), is the holder of 
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-71 and DPR-62 which authorizes 
operation of the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant (BSEP or the facility), 
Units 1 and 2, respectively, at steady state power levels not in excess 
of 2436 megawatts thermal. The facility consists of two boiling water 
reactors located at the licensee's site in Brunswick County, North 
Carolina. The license provides, among other things, that BSEP is 
subject to all rules, regulations and Orders of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (the Commission) now and hereafter in effect.

II

    Section III.D.1.(a) of appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 requires the 
performance of three Type A containment integrated leakage rate tests 
at approximately equal intervals during each 10-year service period of 
the primary containment. The third test of each set shall be conducted 
when the plant is shutdown for the 10-year inservice inspection of the 
primary containment.

III

    By letter dated November 22, 1994, CP&L requested a one-time 
exemption from the requirement to perform a set of three Type A tests 
at approximately equal intervals during each 10-year service period of 
the primary containment for the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 1 
(BSEP-1). the requested exemption would permit a one-time extension of 
the second 10-year service period by approximately 18 months (from the 
April 1995 refueling outage to the September 1996 refueling outage). 
The requested temporary relief would permit the third test of the 
second 10-year service period to correspond with the end of the current 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel 
Code (ASME Code) inservice inspection interval.

IV

    Section III.D.1.(a) of appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 states that a 
set of three Type A leakage tests shall be performed at approximately 
equal intervals during each 10-year service period.
    The requirement to perform a set of three Type A leakage rate tests 
at approximately equal intervals during each 10-year containment 
service period provides assurance that containment leakage will not 
exceed allowable values. Type A leakage rate tests were performed as 
required by appendix J during the first 10-year containment service 
period that ended in 1986.
    Since the first 10-year service period for BSEP-1 was not aligned 
with the service period for BSEP-2, CP&L moved the end date for the 
BSEP-1 back to coincide with the BSEP-2 end date. Therefore, the second 
10-year service period for BSEP-1 began on July 10, 1986. This caused 
the first BSEP-1 Type A test for the second period to be performed in 
May 1987, only 11 months into the interval. The second Type A test on 
BSEP-1 was performed within the 40-month plus or minus 10-month 
interval required by the Technical Specifications. [[Page 9058]] 
    However, BSEP, Unit 1, experienced an extended shutdown during the 
period between April 1992 and February 1994, and the licensee notified 
the NRC in a letter dated August 5, 1994, that the second 10-year 
period end date was being extended by one year due to this outage. 
Because of this shutdown, the licensee also rescheduled the remaining 
two BSEP-1 refueling outages (reloads 9 and 10) during the second 10-
year service period. The reload 9 outage was rescheduled to begin in 
April 1995, and the reload 10 outage was rescheduled to begin in 
September 1996.
    Unlike Section XI, IWA-2400(c), of the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code), 
appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 does not contain any provisions for 
adjusting the 10-year service period due to extended outages. The 
licensee has already performed two of the Type A tests at BSEP-1 
required during the second 10-year service period. If a Type A test is 
conducted during the next refueling outage, Appendix J could be 
interpreted to require a fourth test to satisfy the requirement that 
the final test of the set be conducted when the plant is shutdown for 
the 10-year plant inservice inspections. Due to the extension of the 
inservice inspection period, the final refueling outage of the current 
inservice inspection period is scheduled for September 1996. This 
action would eliminate the need to perform an extra Type A test, which 
could otherwise be required (one test in 1995 and another in 1996) 
while recoupling the Type A test period with the inservice inspection 
interval.

V

    The Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1), 
this Exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to 
the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defense 
and security. The Commission further determines that special 
circumstances, as provided for in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present 
and justify the exemption; namely, that application of the regulation 
in the particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule. The underlying purpose of Section 
III.D.1.(a) of appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 is to provide an interval 
short enough to prevent serious deterioration from occurring between 
tests and long enough to permit testing to be performed during regular 
plant outages.
    The last two Type A tests at BSEP-1 for the second 10-year period 
were performed in May 1987 and in February 1991. Delaying the third 
Type A test until the 1996 refueling outage would result in a test 
interval of approximately 68 months rather than the stipulated 40 
months plus or minus 10 months interval. The licensee has presented the 
following information which gives a high degree of confidence that the 
containment will not degrade to an unacceptable extent while this 
exemption is in effect:
    1. The most recent Type A test data show that the ``as left'' 
leakage rates (0.2150 weight percent per day and 0.3408 weight percent 
per day, respectively) were well within the acceptance limit of 0.75 
La (0.375 weight percent per day).
    2. A review of the potential primary containment degradation 
mechanisms, including both activity-based and time-based causes, 
concluded that there has not been any alteration or challenge to the 
primary containment since the last Type A test.
    3. No modifications are scheduled that have the potential to 
adversely affect the integrity of the primary containment boundary.
    4. Modification and maintenance activities that will affect the 
containment leakage rates during the next refueling outage will include 
administrative controls requiring the performance of local leak rate 
testing, Type B or Type C tests, as appropriate.
    5. The licensee has committed to perform an inspection of the 
containment barrier during the reload 9 outage.
    6. The Type B and Type C local leak rate testing programs will 
effectively determine containment leakage caused by degradation of 
containment penetrations.
    The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's request and basis and 
finds that there is adequate assurance that there will not be any 
significant undetected degradation in primary containment leakage 
during the extended Type A test interval in that the primary 
contributors to potentially excessive leakage paths will be measured 
during the required Type B and Type C tests. These latter tests will be 
conducted at least during each 18-month refueling outage, but in no 
case at intervals greater than 2 years (Sections III.D.2 and III.D.3 of 
appendix J to 10 CFR part 50).
    The NRC staff agrees that the subject exemption request does not 
pose any undue risk to the public health and safety in that (1) the 
last as-left Type A test leakage rate was below 0.75 La, (2) no 
modifications are scheduled that have the potential to adversely affect 
the primary containment integrity, and (3) there will not be any future 
maintenance activity during the proposed interval extension that would 
adversely affect the primary containment leakage rate without 
administrative control requiring the performance of local leak rate 
testing. The licensee will continue to demonstrate that the test 
results from the Type B and C local leak rate tests will be no greater 
than their specified values in the BSEP Technical Specifications prior 
to restart after a refueling outage. Any potentially excessive leakage 
paths will continue to be repaired and/or adjusted prior to restart and 
at intervals of 18 months, thereby continuing to ensure the integrity 
of the containment. Based on these considerations, the NRC staff 
concludes that the licensee's request for a one-time exemption to 
Section III.D.1.(a) of appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 should be granted.

VI

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12, this exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common 
defense and security. The Commission further determines that special 
circumstances, as provided in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present 
justifying the exemption; namely that the application of this 
regulation is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the 
rule. Further, the NRC staff also finds that the protection provided by 
the licensee against potentially excessive containment leakage will not 
present an undue risk to the public health and safety. The application 
of the regulation is not necessary to assure the integrity of the 
containment in the event of a postulated design basis loss-of-coolant 
accident.
    The Commission hereby grants the one-time Exemption with respect to 
the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, appendix J, Section III.D.1.(a), to 
extend the interval between the second and third Type A test for BSEP-1 
until the September 1996 refueling outage.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of the subject Exemption will not have a significant effect on 
the quality of the human environment (60 FR 6567).
    This Exemption is effective upon issuance and shall expire at the 
completion of the 1996 refueling outage (B111R1).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 9th day of February.

    [[Page 9059]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-3873 Filed 2-15-95; 8:45 am]
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