[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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