[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35968-35970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17028]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-272]


Public Service Electric and Gas Co., (Salem Nuclear Generating 
Station, Unit 1; Exemption)

I

    The Public Service Electric and Gas Company (the licensee) is the 
holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-70, which authorizes 
operation of the Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1 (the 
facility). The license provides, among 

[[Page 35969]]
other things, that Salem, Unit 1 is subject to all rules, regulations, 
and Orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission or 
NRC) now or thereafter in effect.
    The facility is a pressurized water reactor, located at the 
licensee's site in Salem, New Jersey.

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 
(CILRTs), at approximately equal intervals during each 10-year service 
period. The third test of each set shall be conducted when the plant is 
shutdown for the 10-year plant inservice inspection.

III

    By letter dated April 4, 1995, the licensee requested relief from 
the requirement to perform a set of three Type A tests at approximately 
equal intervals during each 10-year service period. The requested 
exemption would permit an interval extension for the second Type A test 
and defer this test from the twelfth refueling outage, scheduled to 
begin September 1995, to the thirteenth refueling outage, scheduled to 
begin February 1997 and end no later than June 1997.
    The licensee's request cites the special circumstances of 10 CFR 
50.12, paragraph (a)(2)(ii), as the basis for the exemption. The 
underlying purpose of the requirement to perform three Type A CILRTs, 
at approximately equal intervals during each 10-year service period, is 
to assure that any potential leakage pathways through the primary 
reactor containment are identified within a time span that prevents 
significant degradation from continuing or becoming unknown. The 
licensee has stated that the existing Type B and C local leak rate test 
(LLRT) programs are not being modified by this request, and will 
continue to effectively detect containment leakage caused by the 
degradation of active containment isolation components as well as 
containment penetrations. It has been the consistent and uniform 
experience at Salem during the four Type A tests conducted from 1979 to 
date that any significant containment leakage paths are detected by the 
Type B and C testing. The Type A test results have only been 
confirmatory of the results of the Type B and C test results. 
Therefore, consistent with 10 CFR 50.12, paragraph (a)(2)(ii), 
application of the regulation in this particular circumstance is not 
necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.
IV

    Section III.D.1.(a) of Appendix J to 10 CFR Part 50 states that a 
set of three Type A leakage rate tests shall be performed at 
approximately equal intervals during each 10-year service period.
    The licensee proposes an exemption to this section which would 
provide an interval extension for the next Type A test. 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 
in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present justifying the exemption; 
namely, that application of the regulation in the particular 
circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the 
rule.
    The NRC staff has reviewed the basis and supporting information 
provided by the licensee in the exemption request. The NRC staff has 
noted that the licensee has a good record of ensuring a leak-tight 
containment. All Type A tests were within the acceptance limits. The 
only penetrations with a history of unacceptable, as found, leakage 
have been the containment air lock shaft seals, and during the eleventh 
refueling outage a new type shaft seal was installed. The licensee has 
noted that the results of the Type A testing have been confirmatory of 
the Type B and C tests, which will continue to be performed. The 
licensee has stated to the NRC Project Manager that they will perform 
the general containment inspection although it is only required by 
Appendix J (Section V.A) to be performed in conjunction with Type A 
tests. The NRC staff considers that these inspections and system 
enhancements, though limited in scope, provide an important added level 
of confidence in the continued integrity of the containment boundary.
    The NRC staff has also made use of the information in a draft staff 
report, NUREG-1493, which provides the technical justification for the 
present Appendix J rulemaking effort which also includes a 10-year test 
interval for Type A tests. The integrated leakage rate test, or Type A 
test, measures overall containment leakage. However, operating 
experience with all types of containments used in this country 
demonstrates that essentially all containment leakage can be detected 
by local leakage rate tests (Type B and C). According to results given 
in NUREG-1493, out of 180 ILRT reports covering 110 individual reactors 
and approximately 770 years of operating history, only about 3% of 
leakage that exceeds current requirements is detectable only by CILRTs, 
and those few failures were only marginally above prescribed limits. 
This study agrees well with previous NRC staff studies which show that 
Type B and C testing can detect a very large percentage of containment 
leaks. The Salem experience has also been consistent with these 
results.
    The Nuclear Management and Resources Council (NUMARC), now the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), collected and provided the NRC staff 
with summaries of data to assist in the Appendix J rulemaking effort. 
NUMARC collected results of 144 ILRTs from 33 units; 23 ILRTs exceeded 
1.0La. Of these, only nine were not due to Type B or C leakage 
penalties. The NEI data also added another perspective. The NEI data 
show that in about one-third of the cases exceeding allowable leakage, 
the as-found leakage was less than 2La; in one case the as-found 
leakage was less than 3La; one case approached 10La; and in 
one case the leakage was found to be approximately 21La. For about 
half of the failed ILRTs the as-found leakage was not quantified. These 
data show that, for those ILRTs for which the leakage was quantified, 
the leakage values are small in comparison to the leakage value at 
which the risk to the public starts to increase over the value of risk 
corresponding to La (approximately 200La, as discussed in 
NUREG-1493). Therefore, based on these considerations, it is unlikely 
that an extension of one cycle for the performance of the Appendix J, 
Type A test at Salem would result in a significant degradation of the 
overall containment integrity. As a result, the application of the 
regulation in these particular circumstances is not necessary to 
achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.
    Based on generic and plant specific data, the NRC staff finds the 
basis for the licensee's proposed exemption to allow a one-time 
exemption to permit a schedular extension of one cycle for the 
performance of the Appendix J Type A test, provided that the general 
containment inspection is performed, to be acceptable.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that 
granting this Exemption will not have a significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment (60 FR 34560).
    This Exemption is effective upon issuance and shall expire at the 
completion of the thirteenth refueling outage.


[[Page 35970]]

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 5th day of July 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-17028 Filed 7-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M