[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11880-11881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5871]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Availability of Model Application Concerning Technical 
Specification Improvement To Extend Accumulator Completion Times for 
Westinghouse Plants Using the Consolidated Line Item Improvement 
Process

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared a model application for 
changing the completion time from 1 hour to 24 hours for Condition B of 
Technical Specification (TS) 3.5.1,

[[Page 11881]]

``Accumulators,'' for Westinghouse nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) 
plants. The purpose of this model is to permit the NRC to efficiently 
process amendments that propose to modify TS to extend the completion 
time for accumulators. Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which the 
model applies may request amendments utilizing the model application.

DATES: The NRC staff issued a Federal Register notice (67 FR 46542, 
July 15, 2002) which provided a model safety evaluation (SE) and a 
model no significant hazards consideration (NSHC) determination 
relating to the extension of the completion time for TS actions related 
to accumulators. The NRC staff hereby announces that the model SE and 
NSHC determination may be referenced in plant-specific applications to 
extend the accumulator completion times from 1 hour to 24 hours. The 
staff has posted a model application on the NRC web site to assist 
licensees in using the consolidated line item improvement process 
(CLIIP) to request the subject TS change. The NRC staff can most 
efficiently consider applications based upon the model application if 
the application is submitted within a year of this Federal Register 
notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Reckley, Mail Stop: O-7D1, 
Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone 301-415-1323.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-06, ``Consolidated Line Item 
Improvement Process for Adopting Standard Technical Specifications 
Changes for Power Reactors,'' was issued on March 20, 2000. The CLIIP 
is intended to improve the efficiency of NRC licensing processes. This 
is accomplished by processing proposed changes to the standard 
technical specifications (STS) in a manner that supports subsequent 
license amendment applications. The CLIIP includes an opportunity for 
the public to comment on proposed changes to the STS following a 
preliminary assessment by the NRC staff and finding that the change 
will likely be offered for adoption by licensees. The CLIIP directs the 
NRC staff to evaluate any comments received for a proposed change to 
the STS and to either reconsider the change or to proceed with 
announcing the availability of the change for proposed adoption by 
licensees. Those licensees opting to apply for the subject change to TS 
are responsible for reviewing the staff's evaluation, referencing the 
applicable technical justifications, and providing any necessary plant-
specific information. Each amendment application made in response to 
the notice of availability will be processed and noticed in accordance 
with applicable rules and NRC procedures.
    This notice involves the extension from 1 hour to 24 hours of the 
completion time for Condition B of TS 3.5.1, which defines requirements 
for accumulators. Accumulators are part of the emergency core cooling 
system and consist of tanks partially filled with borated water and 
pressurized with nitrogen gas. The contents of the tank are discharged 
to the reactor coolant system if, as during a loss of coolant accident, 
the coolant pressure decreases to below the accumulator pressure. 
Condition B of TS 3.5.1 specifies a completion time to restore an 
accumulator to operable status when it has been declared inoperable for 
a reason other than the boron concentration of the water in the 
accumulator not being within the required range. This change was 
proposed for incorporation into the STS by the Westinghouse Owners 
Group participants in the Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) and 
is designated TSTF-370. TSTF-370 is supported by WCAP-15049-A, ``Risk-
Informed Evaluation of an Extension to Accumulator Completion Times,'' 
dated May 18, 1999. TSTF-370 can be viewed on the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).

Applicability

    This proposed TS change to revise the completion time from 1 hour 
to 24 hours for Condition B in TS 3.5.1 is applicable to all 
Westinghouse NSSS plants, regardless of plant vintage and number of 
loops.
    The CLIIP does not prevent licensees from requesting an alternative 
approach or proposing the changes without the attached model SE and the 
NSHC. Variations from the approach recommended in this notice may, 
however, require additional review by the NRC staff and may increase 
the time and resources needed for the review.

Public Notices

    In a notice in the Federal Register dated July 15, 2002 (67 FR 
46542), the NRC staff requested comment on the use of the CLIIP to 
process requests to extend the completion time from 1 hour to 24 hours 
for Condition B of TS 3.5.1, ``Accumulators.''
    TSTF-370, as well as the NRC staff's SE and model application, may 
be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document 
Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01 F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records are 
accessible electronically from the ADAMS Public Library component on 
the NRC Web site, (the Electronic Reading Room).
    The NRC staff did not receive comments following the notice 
soliciting comments about the use of the CLIIP for licensees to adopt 
TSTF-370. As described in the model application prepared by the staff, 
licensees may reference in their plant-specific applications to adopt 
this change to TS the SE, NSHC determination, and environmental 
assessment previously published in the Federal Register (67 FR 46452, 
July 15, 2002).

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of March, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Herbert N. Berkow,
Director, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project 
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-5871 Filed 3-11-03; 8:45 am]
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