95-14791. Exemption  

  • [Federal Register Volume 60, Number 116 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 31737-31738]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 95-14791]
    
    
    
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    NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
    
    [Docket No. 50-499]
    
    
    Exemption
    
        In the Matter of Houston Lighting & Power Company, City Public 
    Service Board of San Antonio, City of Austin, Texas; (South Texas 
    Project, Unit 2).
    
    I
    
        Houston Lighting & Power Company, (the licensee) is the holder of 
    Facility Operating License No. NPF-80, which authorizes operation of 
    the South Texas Project, Unit 2. The operating license provides, among 
    other things, that the licensee is subject to all rules, regulations, 
    and orders of the Commission now and hereafter in effect.
        The facility consists of a pressurized water reactor at the 
    licensee's site in Matagorda County, Texas.
    
    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 March 16, 1995, Houston Lighting & Power 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 of approximately 18 months (from the currently scheduled 
    outage, Fall 1995, until the next planned refueling outage, Spring 
    1997). This request does not alter the requirement that the third Type 
    A test shall be conducted when the plant is shutdown for the 10-year 
    plant inservice inspection.
        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 leakage through the primary reactor containment is 
    detected and does not exceed allowable leakage rate values. 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 South Texas during the two Type A tests conducted in 1988 
    (the pre-operational Type A test) and 1991 (the first periodic Type A 
    test), 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 Type A test by approximately 18 
    months. The Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 
    50.12(a)(1) that 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 this particular circumstance 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. Both previous Type A tests were within the acceptance 
    limits, and both passed with significant margin. In addition, at the 
    staff's request, the licensee has verbally committed to perform the 
    general containment inspection specified in Section V.A of appendix J 
    even though this inspection is only required prior to a Type A test.
        The NRC staff has also made use of 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 South Texas Project, Unit 2 experience has also been 
    consistent with this.
        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 
    
    [[Page 31738]]
    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).
        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 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 
    environment (60 FR 28431).
        This Exemption is effective upon issuance and shall expire at the 
    completion of the 1997 refueling outage.
    
        Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of June 1995.
    
        For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    John N. Hannon,
    Acting Deputy Director, Division of Reactor Projects--III/IV, Office of 
    Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
    [FR Doc. 95-14791 Filed 6-15-95; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
    
    

Document Information

Published:
06/16/1995
Department:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Entry Type:
Notice
Document Number:
95-14791
Pages:
31737-31738 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Docket No. 50-499
PDF File:
95-14791.pdf