Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License, Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination, and Opportunity for a Hearing, 8278-8281 [E9-3899]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 24, 2009 / Notices
documents through EIE. To be timely,
an electronic filing must be submitted to
the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time on the due date. Upon
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing
system time-stamps the document and
sends the submitter an e-mail notice
confirming receipt of the document. The
EIE system also distributes an e-mail
notice that provides access to the
document to the NRC Office of the
General Counsel and any others who
have advised the Office of the Secretary
that they wish to participate in the
proceeding, so that the filer need not
serve the documents on those
participants separately. Therefore,
applicants and other participants (or
their counsel or representative) must
apply for and receive a digital ID
certificate before a hearing request/
petition to intervene is filed so that they
can obtain access to the document via
the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may
seek assistance through the ‘‘Contact
Us’’ link located on the NRC Web site
at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html or by calling the NRC
electronic filing Help Desk, which is
available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
The electronic filing Help Desk can be
contacted by telephone at 1–866–672–
7640 or by e-mail at
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov.
Participants who believe that they
have a good cause for not submitting
documents electronically must file a
motion, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
requesting authorization to continue to
submit documents in paper format.
Such filings must be submitted by: (1)
First class mail addressed to the Office
of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or
(2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the
Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
Participants filing a document in this
manner are responsible for serving the
document on all other participants.
Filing is considered complete by firstclass mail as of the time of deposit in
the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon
depositing the document with the
provider of the service.
Non-timely requests and/or petitions
and contentions will not be entertained
absent a determination by the
Commission or the presiding officer of
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
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that the petition and/or request should
be granted and/or the contentions
should be admitted, based on a
balancing of the factors specified in 10
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)–(viii).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory
proceedings will appear in NRC’s
electronic hearing docket which is
available to the public at https://
www.ehd.nrc.gov/ehd_proceeding/
home.asp, unless excluded pursuant to
an order of the Commission, an Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board, or a
Presiding Officer. Participants are
requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social
security numbers, home addresses, or
home phone numbers in their filings.
With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve
the purpose of the adjudicatory filings
and would constitute a Fair Use
application, participants are requested
not to include copyrighted materials in
their submissions.
For further details with respect to this
license amendment application, see the
application for amendment dated June
23, 2008, which is available for public
inspection at the Commission’s PDR,
located at One White Flint North, File
Public Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Publicly available records will be
accessible electronically from the
Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System’s (ADAMS) Public
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet
at the NRC Web site, https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in
ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR
Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–
397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by e-mail
to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day
of February 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Stang,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch II–1, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9–3898 Filed 2–23–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–414; NRC–2009–0072]
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; Notice of
Consideration of Issuance of
Amendment to Facility Operating
License, Proposed No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination,
and Opportunity for a Hearing
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (the Commission) is
considering issuance of an amendment
to Facility Operating License No. NPF–
35 issued to Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
(the licensee), for operation of the
Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 2, located
in York County, South Carolina.
The proposed amendment proposes a
one-cycle revision to the Technical
Specifications (TSs) to incorporate an
interim alternate repair criterion for
steam generator tube repair criteria
during the End of Cycle 16 refueling
outage and subsequent cycle 17
operation.
Before issuance of the proposed
license amendment, the Commission
will have made findings required by the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), and the Commission’s
regulations.
The Commission has made a
proposed determination that the
amendment request involves no
significant hazards consideration. Under
the Commission’s regulations in Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR), Section 50.92, this means that
operation of the facility in accordance
with the proposed amendment would
not (1) involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an
accident previously evaluated; or (2)
create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any
accident previously evaluated; or (3)
involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR
50.91(a), the licensee has provided its
analysis of the issue of no significant
hazards consideration, which is
presented below:
Criterion 1:
Does the proposed amendment involve a
significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously
evaluated?
Response: No.
Of the various accidents previously
evaluated, the following are limiting with
respect to the proposed changes to TS 5.5.9,
TS 5.6.8, and the Facility Operating License:
• SG Tube Rupture (SGTR) evaluation
• Steam Line Break (SLB) evaluation
• Locked Rotor Accident (LRA) evaluation
• Rod Ejection Accident (REA) evaluation
Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA)
conditions cause a compressive axial load to
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act on the tube. Therefore, since the LOCA
tends to force the tube into the tubesheet
rather than pull it out, it is not a factor in
this amendment request. Another faulted
load consideration is a Safe Shutdown
Earthquake (SSE); however, the seismic
analysis of Model D5 SGs (the SGs at
Catawba) has shown that axial loading of the
tubes is negligible during a SSE.
At normal operating pressures, leakage
from Primary Water Stress Corrosion
Cracking (PWSCC) below 17 inches from the
TTS is limited by both the tube-to-tubesheet
crevice and the limited crack opening
permitted by the tubesheet constraint.
Consequently, negligible normal operating
leakage is expected from cracks within the
tubesheet region.
For the SGTR event, the required structural
margin of the SG tubes is maintained by
limiting the allowable ligament size for a
circumferential crack to remain in service to
203 degrees below 17 inches from the TTS
and above 1 inch from the bottom of the
tubesheet. Tube rupture is precluded for
cracks in the hydraulic expansion region due
to the constraint provided by the tubesheet.
The potential for tube pullout is mitigated by
limiting the allowable crack size to 203
degrees. This allowable crack size takes into
account eddy current uncertainty and crack
growth rate. It has been shown that a
circumferential crack with an azimuthal
extent of 203 degrees meets the performance
criteria of NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute) 97–
06, Rev. 2, ‘‘Steam Generator Program
Guidelines’’ and NRC draft Regulatory Guide
(RG) 1.121, ‘‘Bases for Plugging Degraded
PWR Steam Generator Tubes.’’ Therefore, the
margin against tube burst/pullout is
maintained during normal and postulated
accident conditions and the proposed change
does not result in a significant increase in the
probability or consequence of a SGTR.
The probability of a SLB, LRA, and REA
are not affected by the potential failure of a
SG tube, as the failure of a tube is not an
initiator for any of these events. SLB leakage
is limited by leakage flow restrictions
resulting from the leakage path above
potential cracks through the TTS crevice. The
leak rate during postulated accident
conditions has been shown to remain within
the accident analysis assumptions for all
axially or circumferentially oriented cracks
occurring 17 inches below the TTS. Since
normal operating leakage is limited to 60 gpd
through any one SG and 240 gpd through all
SGs, the attendant accident condition leak
rate, assuming all leakage to be from
indications below 17 inches from the TTS,
would be bounded by 150 gpd through any
one SG and 600 gpd through all SGs. This
value is within the accident analysis
assumptions for these design basis accidents
for Catawba Unit 2.
Based on the above, the performance
criteria of NEI 97–06, Rev. 2 and draft RG
1.121 continue to be met and the proposed
change does not involve a significant
increase in the probability or consequences
of an accident previously evaluated.
Criterion 2:
Does the proposed amendment create the
possibility of a new or different kind of
accident from any accident previously
evaluated?
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Response: No.
The proposed changes to TS 5.5.9, TS
5.6.8, and the Facility Operating License do
not introduce any changes or mechanisms
that create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident. Tube bundle
integrity is expected to be maintained for all
plant conditions upon implementation of the
IARC. The proposed change does not
introduce any new equipment or any change
to existing equipment. No new effects on
existing equipment are created nor are any
new malfunctions introduced.
Therefore, based on the above evaluation,
the proposed change does not create the
possibility of a new or different kind of
accident from any accident previously
evaluated.
Criterion 3:
Does the proposed amendment involve a
significant reduction in a margin of safety?
Response: No.
The proposed changes to TS 5.5.9, TS
5.6.8, and the Facility Operating License
maintain the required structural margins of
the SG tubes for both normal and accident
conditions. NEI 97–06, Rev. 2 and draft RG
1.121 are used as the basis in the
development of a methodology for
determining that SG tube integrity
considerations are maintained within
acceptable limits. Draft RG 1.121 describes a
method acceptable to the NRC staff for
meeting GDC 14, 15, 31, and 32 by reducing
the probability and consequences of a SGTR.
Draft RG 1.121 concludes that by determining
the limiting safe conditions of tube wall
degradation beyond which tubes with
unacceptable cracking, as established by
inservice inspection, should be removed
from service or repaired, the probability and
consequences of a SGTR are reduced. This
RG uses safety factors on loads for tube burst
that are consistent with the requirements of
Section III of the ASME Code.
For axially oriented cracking located
within the tubesheet, tube burst is precluded
due to the presence of the tubesheet. For
circumferentially oriented cracking in a tube
or the TTS weld, the supporting
Westinghouse analysis defines a length of
remaining tube ligament that provides the
necessary resistance to tube pullout due to
the pressure induced forces (with applicable
safety factors applied).
Based on the above, it is concluded that the
proposed change does not result in any
reduction of margin with respect to plant
safety as defined in the UFSAR or Bases of
the plant TS.
The NRC staff has reviewed the
licensee’s analysis and, based on this
review, it appears that the three
standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff
proposes to determine that the
amendment request involves no
significant hazards consideration.
The Commission is seeking public
comments on this proposed
determination. Any comments received
within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice will be
considered in making any final
determination.
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Normally, the Commission will not
issue the amendment until the
expiration of 60 days after the date of
publication of this notice. The
Commission may issue the license
amendment before expiration of the 60day period provided that its final
determination is that the amendment
involves no significant hazards
consideration. In addition, the
Commission may issue the amendment
prior to the expiration of the 30-day
comment period should circumstances
change during the 30-day comment
period such that failure to act in a
timely way would result, for example,
in derating or shutdown of the facility.
Should the Commission take action
prior to the expiration of either the
comment period or the notice period, it
will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of issuance. Should the
Commission make a final No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination,
any hearing will take place after
issuance. The Commission expects that
the need to take this action will occur
very infrequently.
Written comments may be submitted
by mail to the Chief, Rulemaking,
Directives and Editing Branch, TWB–
05–B01M, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, and
should cite the publication date and
page number of this Federal Register
notice. Documents may be examined,
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC’s
Public Document Room (PDR), located
at One White Flint North, Public File
Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first
floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Within 60 days after the date of
publication of this notice, any person(s)
whose interest may be affected by this
action may file a request for a hearing
and a petition to intervene with respect
to issuance of the amendment to the
subject facility operating license.
Requests for a hearing and a petition for
leave to intervene shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission’s
‘‘Rules of Practice for Domestic
Licensing Proceedings’’ in 10 CFR Part
2. Interested person(s) should consult a
current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is
available at the Commission’s PDR,
located at One White Flint North, Public
File Area O1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Publicly available records will be
accessible from the Agencywide
Documents Access and Management
System’s (ADAMS) Public Electronic
Reading Room on the Internet at the
NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a
request for a hearing or petition for
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leave to intervene is filed by the above
date, the Commission or a presiding
officer designated by the Commission or
by the Chief Administrative Judge of the
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel, will rule on the request and/or
petition; and the Secretary or the Chief
Administrative Judge of the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board will issue a
notice of a hearing or an appropriate
order.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a
petition for leave to intervene shall set
forth with particularity the interest of
the petitioner in the proceeding, and
how that interest may be affected by the
results of the proceeding. The petition
should specifically explain the reasons
why intervention should be permitted
with particular reference to the
following general requirements: (1) The
name, address and telephone number of
the requestor or petitioner; (2) the
nature of the requestor’s/petitioner’s
right under the Act to be made a party
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and
extent of the requestor’s/petitioner’s
property, financial, or other interest in
the proceeding; and (4) the possible
effect of any decision or order which
may be entered in the proceeding on the
requestor’s/petitioner’s interest. The
petition must also identify the specific
contentions which the petitioner/
requestor seeks to have litigated at the
proceeding.
Each contention must consist of a
specific statement of the issue of law or
fact to be raised or controverted. In
addition, the petitioner/requestor shall
provide a brief explanation of the bases
for the contention and a concise
statement of the alleged facts or expert
opinion which support the contention
and on which the petitioner intends to
rely in proving the contention at the
hearing. The petitioner/requestor must
also provide references to those specific
sources and documents of which the
petitioner is aware and on which the
petitioner intends to rely to establish
those facts or expert opinion. The
petition must include sufficient
information to show that a genuine
dispute exists with the applicant on a
material issue of law or fact.
Contentions shall be limited to matters
within the scope of the amendment
under consideration. The contention
must be one which, if proven, would
entitle the petitioner to relief. A
petitioner/requestor who fails to satisfy
these requirements with respect to at
least one contention will not be
permitted to participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become
parties to the proceeding, subject to any
limitations in the order granting leave to
intervene, and have the opportunity to
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participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing.
If a hearing is requested, the
Commission will make a final
determination on the issue of no
significant hazards consideration. The
final determination will serve to decide
when the hearing is held. If the final
determination is that the amendment
request involves no significant hazards
consideration, the Commission may
issue the amendment and make it
immediately effective, notwithstanding
the request for a hearing. Any hearing
held would take place after issuance of
the amendment. If the final
determination is that the amendment
request involves a significant hazards
consideration, any hearing held would
take place before the issuance of any
amendment.
All documents filed in NRC
adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing, a petition for leave
to intervene, any motion or other
document filed in the proceeding prior
to the submission of a request for
hearing or petition to intervene, and
documents filed by interested
governmental entities participating
under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in
accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule,
which the NRC promulgated on August
28, 2007 (72 FR 49139). The E-Filing
process requires participants to submit
and serve all adjudicatory documents
over the Internet, or in some cases to
mail copies on electronic storage media.
Participants may not submit paper
copies of their filings unless they seek
a waiver in accordance with the
procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural
requirements of E-Filing, at least ten
(10) days prior to the filing deadline, the
petitioner/requestor must contact the
Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by calling
(301) 415–1677, to request (1) a digital
ID certificate, which allows the
participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign
documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any proceeding in which it is
participating; and/or (2) creation of an
electronic docket for the proceeding
(even in instances in which the
petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or
representative) already holds an NRCissued digital ID certificate). Each
petitioner/requestor will need to
download the Workplace Forms
ViewerTM to access the Electronic
Information Exchange (EIE), a
component of the E-Filing system. The
Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and
is available at https://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals/install-viewer.html.
Information about applying for a digital
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ID certificate is available on NRC’s
public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/e-submittals/applycertificates.html.
Once a petitioner/requestor has
obtained a digital ID certificate, had a
docket created, and downloaded the EIE
viewer, it can then submit a request for
hearing or petition for leave to
intervene. Submissions should be in
Portable Document Format (PDF) in
accordance with NRC guidance
available on the NRC public Web site at
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. A filing is considered
complete at the time the filer submits its
documents through EIE. To be timely,
an electronic filing must be submitted to
the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time on the due date. Upon
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing
system time-stamps the document and
sends the submitter an e-mail notice
confirming receipt of the document. The
EIE system also distributes an e-mail
notice that provides access to the
document to the NRC Office of the
General Counsel and any others who
have advised the Office of the Secretary
that they wish to participate in the
proceeding, so that the filer need not
serve the documents on those
participants separately. Therefore,
applicants and other participants (or
their counsel or representative) must
apply for and receive a digital ID
certificate before a hearing request/
petition to intervene is filed so that they
can obtain access to the document via
the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may
seek assistance through the ‘‘Contact
Us’’ link located on the NRC Web site
at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html or by calling the NRC
electronic filing Help Desk, which is
available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
The electronic filing Help Desk can be
contacted by telephone at 1–866–672–
7640 or by e-mail at
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov.
Participants who believe that they
have a good cause for not submitting
documents electronically must file a
motion, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
requesting authorization to continue to
submit documents in paper format.
Such filings must be submitted by: (1)
first class mail addressed to the Office
of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or
(2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the
Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
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Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
Participants filing a document in this
manner are responsible for serving the
document on all other participants.
Filing is considered complete by firstclass mail as of the time of deposit in
the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon
depositing the document with the
provider of the service.
Non-timely requests and/or petitions
and contentions will not be entertained
absent a determination by the
Commission or the presiding officer of
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
that the petition and/or request should
be granted and/or the contentions
should be admitted, based on a
balancing of the factors specified in 10
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)–(viii).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory
proceedings will appear in NRC’s
electronic hearing docket which is
available to the public at https://
www.ehd.nrc.gov/ehd_proceeding/
home.asp, unless excluded pursuant to
an order of the Commission, an Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board, or a
Presiding Officer. Participants are
requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social
security numbers, home addresses, or
home phone numbers in their filings.
With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve
the purpose of the adjudicatory filings
and would constitute a Fair Use
application, Participants are requested
not to include copyrighted materials in
their submissions.
For further details with respect to this
license amendment application, see the
application for amendment dated
November 13, 2008, which is available
for public inspection at the
Commission’s PDR, located at One
White Flint North, File Public Area O1
F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
records will be accessible electronically
from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System’s
(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading
Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, should contact the
NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone
at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or
by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day
of February 2009.
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For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Stang,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch II–1, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9–3899 Filed 2–23–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2009–0062]
Biweekly Notice; Applications and
Amendments to Facility Operating
Licenses Involving No Significant
Hazards Considerations
I. Background
Pursuant to section 189a.(2) of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (the Commission or NRC
staff) is publishing this regular biweekly
notice. The Act requires the
Commission publish notice of any
amendments issued, or proposed to be
issued and grants the Commission the
authority to issue and make
immediately effective any amendment
to an operating license upon a
determination by the Commission that
such amendment involves no significant
hazards consideration, notwithstanding
the pendency before the Commission of
a request for a hearing from any person.
This biweekly notice includes all
notices of amendments issued, or
proposed to be issued from January 29,
2009, to February 11, 2009. The last
biweekly notice was published on
February 10, 2009 (74 FR 6662).
Notice of Consideration of Issuance of
Amendments to Facility Operating
Licenses, Proposed No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination,
and Opportunity for a Hearing
The Commission has made a
proposed determination that the
following amendment requests involve
no significant hazards consideration.
Under the Commission’s regulations in
10 CFR 50.92, this means that operation
of the facility in accordance with the
proposed amendment would not (1)
involve a significant increase in the
probability or consequences of an
accident previously evaluated; or (2)
create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any
accident previously evaluated; or (3)
involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety. The basis for this
proposed determination for each
amendment request is shown below.
The Commission is seeking public
comments on this proposed
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determination. Any comments received
within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice will be
considered in making any final
determination.
Normally, the Commission will not
issue the amendment until the
expiration of 60 days after the date of
publication of this notice. The
Commission may issue the license
amendment before expiration of the 60day period provided that its final
determination is that the amendment
involves no significant hazards
consideration. In addition, the
Commission may issue the amendment
prior to the expiration of the 30-day
comment period should circumstances
change during the 30-day comment
period such that failure to act in a
timely way would result, for example in
derating or shutdown of the facility.
Should the Commission take action
prior to the expiration of either the
comment period or the notice period, it
will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of issuance. Should the
Commission make a final No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination,
any hearing will take place after
issuance. The Commission expects that
the need to take this action will occur
very infrequently.
Written comments may be submitted
by mail to the Chief, Rulemaking,
Directives and Editing Branch, TWB–
05–B01M, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, and
should cite the publication date and
page number of this Federal Register
notice. Copies of written comments
received may be examined at the
Commission’s Public Document Room
(PDR), located at One White Flint North,
Public File Area O1F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland.
Within 60 days after the date of
publication of this notice, any person(s)
whose interest may be affected by this
action may file a request for a hearing
and a petition to intervene with respect
to issuance of the amendment to the
subject facility operating license.
Requests for a hearing and a petition for
leave to intervene shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission’s
‘‘Rules of Practice for Domestic
Licensing Proceedings’’ in 10 CFR Part
2. Interested person(s) should consult a
current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is
available at the Commission’s PDR,
located at One White Flint North, Public
File Area 01F21, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Publicly available records will be
accessible from the Agencywide
E:\FR\FM\24FEN1.SGM
24FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8278-8281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3899]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-414; NRC-2009-0072]
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; Notice of Consideration of Issuance
of Amendment to Facility Operating License, Proposed No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination, and Opportunity for a Hearing
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No.
NPF-35 issued to Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (the licensee), for
operation of the Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 2, located in York
County, South Carolina.
The proposed amendment proposes a one-cycle revision to the
Technical Specifications (TSs) to incorporate an interim alternate
repair criterion for steam generator tube repair criteria during the
End of Cycle 16 refueling outage and subsequent cycle 17 operation.
Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the Commission
will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
The Commission has made a proposed determination that the amendment
request involves no significant hazards consideration. Under the
Commission's regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), Section 50.92, this means that operation of the facility in
accordance with the proposed amendment would not (1) involve a
significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident
previously evaluated; or (2) create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated; or
(3) involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety. As required
by 10 CFR 50.91(a), the licensee has provided its analysis of the issue
of no significant hazards consideration, which is presented below:
Criterion 1:
Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
Of the various accidents previously evaluated, the following are
limiting with respect to the proposed changes to TS 5.5.9, TS 5.6.8,
and the Facility Operating License:
SG Tube Rupture (SGTR) evaluation
Steam Line Break (SLB) evaluation
Locked Rotor Accident (LRA) evaluation
Rod Ejection Accident (REA) evaluation
Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) conditions cause a compressive
axial load to
[[Page 8279]]
act on the tube. Therefore, since the LOCA tends to force the tube
into the tubesheet rather than pull it out, it is not a factor in
this amendment request. Another faulted load consideration is a Safe
Shutdown Earthquake (SSE); however, the seismic analysis of Model D5
SGs (the SGs at Catawba) has shown that axial loading of the tubes
is negligible during a SSE.
At normal operating pressures, leakage from Primary Water Stress
Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC) below 17 inches from the TTS is limited
by both the tube-to-tubesheet crevice and the limited crack opening
permitted by the tubesheet constraint. Consequently, negligible
normal operating leakage is expected from cracks within the
tubesheet region.
For the SGTR event, the required structural margin of the SG
tubes is maintained by limiting the allowable ligament size for a
circumferential crack to remain in service to 203 degrees below 17
inches from the TTS and above 1 inch from the bottom of the
tubesheet. Tube rupture is precluded for cracks in the hydraulic
expansion region due to the constraint provided by the tubesheet.
The potential for tube pullout is mitigated by limiting the
allowable crack size to 203 degrees. This allowable crack size takes
into account eddy current uncertainty and crack growth rate. It has
been shown that a circumferential crack with an azimuthal extent of
203 degrees meets the performance criteria of NEI (Nuclear Energy
Institute) 97-06, Rev. 2, ``Steam Generator Program Guidelines'' and
NRC draft Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.121, ``Bases for Plugging Degraded
PWR Steam Generator Tubes.'' Therefore, the margin against tube
burst/pullout is maintained during normal and postulated accident
conditions and the proposed change does not result in a significant
increase in the probability or consequence of a SGTR.
The probability of a SLB, LRA, and REA are not affected by the
potential failure of a SG tube, as the failure of a tube is not an
initiator for any of these events. SLB leakage is limited by leakage
flow restrictions resulting from the leakage path above potential
cracks through the TTS crevice. The leak rate during postulated
accident conditions has been shown to remain within the accident
analysis assumptions for all axially or circumferentially oriented
cracks occurring 17 inches below the TTS. Since normal operating
leakage is limited to 60 gpd through any one SG and 240 gpd through
all SGs, the attendant accident condition leak rate, assuming all
leakage to be from indications below 17 inches from the TTS, would
be bounded by 150 gpd through any one SG and 600 gpd through all
SGs. This value is within the accident analysis assumptions for
these design basis accidents for Catawba Unit 2.
Based on the above, the performance criteria of NEI 97-06, Rev.
2 and draft RG 1.121 continue to be met and the proposed change does
not involve a significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously evaluated.
Criterion 2:
Does the proposed amendment create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed changes to TS 5.5.9, TS 5.6.8, and the Facility
Operating License do not introduce any changes or mechanisms that
create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident. Tube
bundle integrity is expected to be maintained for all plant
conditions upon implementation of the IARC. The proposed change does
not introduce any new equipment or any change to existing equipment.
No new effects on existing equipment are created nor are any new
malfunctions introduced.
Therefore, based on the above evaluation, the proposed change
does not create the possibility of a new or different kind of
accident from any accident previously evaluated.
Criterion 3:
Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety?
Response: No.
The proposed changes to TS 5.5.9, TS 5.6.8, and the Facility
Operating License maintain the required structural margins of the SG
tubes for both normal and accident conditions. NEI 97-06, Rev. 2 and
draft RG 1.121 are used as the basis in the development of a
methodology for determining that SG tube integrity considerations
are maintained within acceptable limits. Draft RG 1.121 describes a
method acceptable to the NRC staff for meeting GDC 14, 15, 31, and
32 by reducing the probability and consequences of a SGTR. Draft RG
1.121 concludes that by determining the limiting safe conditions of
tube wall degradation beyond which tubes with unacceptable cracking,
as established by inservice inspection, should be removed from
service or repaired, the probability and consequences of a SGTR are
reduced. This RG uses safety factors on loads for tube burst that
are consistent with the requirements of Section III of the ASME
Code.
For axially oriented cracking located within the tubesheet, tube
burst is precluded due to the presence of the tubesheet. For
circumferentially oriented cracking in a tube or the TTS weld, the
supporting Westinghouse analysis defines a length of remaining tube
ligament that provides the necessary resistance to tube pullout due
to the pressure induced forces (with applicable safety factors
applied).
Based on the above, it is concluded that the proposed change
does not result in any reduction of margin with respect to plant
safety as defined in the UFSAR or Bases of the plant TS.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on
this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the
amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration.
The Commission is seeking public comments on this proposed
determination. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice will be considered in making any final
determination.
Normally, the Commission will not issue the amendment until the
expiration of 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. The
Commission may issue the license amendment before expiration of the 60-
day period provided that its final determination is that the amendment
involves no significant hazards consideration. In addition, the
Commission may issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 30-
day comment period should circumstances change during the 30-day
comment period such that failure to act in a timely way would result,
for example, in derating or shutdown of the facility. Should the
Commission take action prior to the expiration of either the comment
period or the notice period, it will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of issuance. Should the Commission make a final No Significant
Hazards Consideration Determination, any hearing will take place after
issuance. The Commission expects that the need to take this action will
occur very infrequently.
Written comments may be submitted by mail to the Chief, Rulemaking,
Directives and Editing Branch, TWB-05-B01M, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and
page number of this Federal Register notice. Documents may be examined,
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
person(s) whose interest may be affected by this action may file a
request for a hearing and a petition to intervene with respect to
issuance of the amendment to the subject facility operating license.
Requests for a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene shall be
filed in accordance with the Commission's ``Rules of Practice for
Domestic Licensing Proceedings'' in 10 CFR Part 2. Interested person(s)
should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is available at
the Commission's PDR, located at One White Flint North, Public File
Area O1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Publicly available records will be accessible from the Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a request for a hearing or petition
for
[[Page 8280]]
leave to intervene is filed by the above date, the Commission or a
presiding officer designated by the Commission or by the Chief
Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel,
will rule on the request and/or petition; and the Secretary or the
Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
will issue a notice of a hearing or an appropriate order.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in
the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of
the proceeding. The petition should specifically explain the reasons
why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the
following general requirements: (1) The name, address and telephone
number of the requestor or petitioner; (2) the nature of the
requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party to the
proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the requestor's/petitioner's
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the
proceeding on the requestor's/petitioner's interest. The petition must
also identify the specific contentions which the petitioner/requestor
seeks to have litigated at the proceeding.
Each contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue
of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the
petitioner/requestor shall provide a brief explanation of the bases for
the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert
opinion which support the contention and on which the petitioner
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The
petitioner/requestor must also provide references to those specific
sources and documents of which the petitioner is aware and on which the
petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts or expert opinion.
The petition must include sufficient information to show that a genuine
dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact.
Contentions shall be limited to matters within the scope of the
amendment under consideration. The contention must be one which, if
proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner/requestor
who fails to satisfy these requirements with respect to at least one
contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene,
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing.
If a hearing is requested, the Commission will make a final
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration. The
final determination will serve to decide when the hearing is held. If
the final determination is that the amendment request involves no
significant hazards consideration, the Commission may issue the
amendment and make it immediately effective, notwithstanding the
request for a hearing. Any hearing held would take place after issuance
of the amendment. If the final determination is that the amendment
request involves a significant hazards consideration, any hearing held
would take place before the issuance of any amendment.
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c),
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC
promulgated on August 28, 2007 (72 FR 49139). The E-Filing process
requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents
over the Internet, or in some cases to mail copies on electronic
storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their
filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures
described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor
must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
in which the petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or representative)
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each petitioner/
requestor will need to download the Workplace Forms ViewerTM
to access the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the
E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and is
available at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-
viewer.html. Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-
submittals/apply-certificates.html.
Once a petitioner/requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate,
had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit
a request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene. Submissions
should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC
guidance available on the NRC public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the filer submits its documents through EIE. To be timely, an
electronic filing must be submitted to the EIE system no later than
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends
the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the document. The
EIE system also distributes an e-mail notice that provides access to
the document to the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any others
who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the
documents on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request/petition
to intervene is filed so that they can obtain access to the document
via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC electronic filing
Help Desk, which is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday. The electronic filing Help Desk can be contacted
by telephone at 1-866-672-7640 or by e-mail at MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov.
Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such
filings must be submitted by: (1) first class mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
[[Page 8281]]
Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications
Staff. Participants filing a document in this manner are responsible
for serving the document on all other participants. Filing is
considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in
the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service
upon depositing the document with the provider of the service.
Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be
entertained absent a determination by the Commission or the presiding
officer of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition and/
or request should be granted and/or the contentions should be admitted,
based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)-
(viii).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
https://www.ehd.nrc.gov/ehd_proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded
pursuant to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board, or a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to
include personal privacy information, such as social security numbers,
home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to
copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use
application, Participants are requested not to include copyrighted
materials in their submissions.
For further details with respect to this license amendment
application, see the application for amendment dated November 13, 2008,
which is available for public inspection at the Commission's PDR,
located at One White Flint North, File Public Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room
on the Internet at the NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact
the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of February 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Stang,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-3899 Filed 2-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
