UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

Vice President, Operations 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 

Palisades Nuclear Plant 

27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway 

Covert, Ml 49043-9530 

August 25, 2015 

SUBJECT: PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT - STAFF REVIEW OF INTERIM EVALUATION 

ASSOCIATED WITH REEVALUATED SEISMIC HAZARD IMPLEMENTING 

NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION 2.1 (TAC NO. MF5258) 

Dear Sir or Madam: 

By letter dated March 12, 2012 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 

(ADAMS) Accession No. ML 12053A340), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

issued a request for information pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 50, 

Section 50.54(f) (hereafter referred to as the 50.54(f) letter). The request was issued as part of 

implementing lessons-learned from the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. 

Enclosure 1 to the 50.54(f) letter requested that licensees reevaluate seismic hazards at their 

sites using present-day methodologies and guidance. Enclosure 1, Item 6, of the 50.54(f) letter 

requested that licensees identify "interim evaluation and actions taken or planned to address the 

higher seismic hazard relative to the design basis as appropriate, prior to completion of the 

[seismic] risk evaluation." In addition to the interim evaluation provided in the March 2014 

Seismic Screening and Hazard report, the licensees for the Central and Eastern United States 

committed to providing the Expedited Seismic Evaluation Process (ESEP) report, an interim 

evaluation, by December 31, 2014. 

By letters dated December 18, 20141, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy, the licensee), 

provided its ESEP report in a response to Enclosure 1, Item (6) of the 50.54(f) letter, for 

Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades). The NRC staff assessed the licensee's implementation of 

the ESEP guidance through the completion of a reviewer checklist2. In support of NRC staff 

questions, Entergy provided a response dated July 2, 20153 , clarifying submittal information. 

Based on the NRC staff review of the ESEP report and responses to the staff's questions, the 

NRC staff concludes that the licensee's implementation of the interim evaluation meets the 

intent of the guidance. 

The NRC staff concludes that, through the implementation of the ESEP guidance, the licensee 

identified and evaluated the seismic capacity of certain key installed mitigating strategies 

equipment that is used for core cooling and containment functions to cope with scenarios that 

1 The December 18, 2014, letter can be found under ADAMS Accession No. ML 14357A165. 

2 The Palisades ESEP NRC review checklist can be found under ADAMS Accession No. ML 15231 A393. 

3 The Entergy response to NRC staff questions can be found ADAMS Accession No. ML 15183A317. 
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involve a loss of all alternating current power and loss of access to the ultimate heat sink to 

withstand a seismic event two times the safe shutdown earthquake for Palisades. The 

licensee's ESEP assessment provides additional assurance which supports continued plant 

safety while the longer-term seismic evaluation is completed to support regulatory decision 

making. The NRC staff concludes that the licensee responded appropriately to Enclosure 1, 

Item (6) of the 50.54(f) letter. Application of this review is limited to the interim evaluation as 

part of the Recommendation 2.1 Seismic review. 

The NRC staff notes that the attachment of the December 18, 2014, letter contains regulatory 

commitments to complete walkdowns and evaluations of inaccessible items, modifications 

related to ESEP, and submit a results letter to NRC within 60 days following completion of all 

ESEP activities. 

If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-1115 or via e-mail at 

Nicholas.DiFrancesco@nrc.gov. 

Sincerely, 

Nicholas J. DiF cesco, Senior Project Manager 

Hazards Management Branch 

Japan Lessons-Learned Division 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

Docket No. 50-255 

cc: Distribution via Listserv 
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involve a loss of all alternating current power and loss of access to the ultimate heat sink to 

withstand a seismic event two times the safe shutdown earthquake for Palisades. The 

licensee's ESEP assessment provides additional assurance which supports continued plant 

safety while the longer-term seismic evaluation is completed to support regulatory decision 

making. The NRC staff concludes that the licensee responded appropriately to Enclosure 1, 

Item (6) of the 50.54(f) letter. Application of this review is limited to the interim evaluation as 

part of the Recommendation 2.1 Seismic review. 

The NRC staff notes that the attachment of the December 18, 2014, letter contains regulatory 

commitments to complete walkdowns and evaluations of inaccessible items, modifications 

related to ESEP, and submit a results letter to NRC within 60 days following completion of all 

ESEP activities. 

If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-1115 or via e-mail at 

Nicholas.DiFrancesco@nrc.gov. 

Docket No. 50-255 

cc: Distribution via Listserv 

DISTRIBUTION: 

PUBLIC 

JLD R/F 

RidsOeMailCenter 

RidsNrrDorllpl3-1 

RidsRgn3MailCenter 

DJackson, NRO 

NDiFrancesco, NRR 

Sincerely, 

IRA/ 

Nicholas J. DiFrancesco, Senior Project Manager 

Hazards Management Branch 

Japan Lessons-Learned Division 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

RidsNrrPMPalisades 

RidsNrrLASLent 

RidsNrrOd 

MShams, NRR 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML 15233A 101 *via e-mail 

OFFICE NRR/JLD/JHMB/PM NRR/JLD/LA NRO/DSEA/RGS2/BC* 

NAME SWyman Slent DJackson 

DATE 08/20/15 08/21/15 08/12/15 

OFFICE NRR/JLD/JHMB/BC NRR/JLD/JHMB/PM 

NAME MShams NDiFrancesco 

DATE 08/25/15 08/25/15 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY