ML101600151

UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION 

OFFICE OF NEW REACTORS 

WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 

August 4, 2010 

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2010-14: CONTAINMENT CONCRETE SURFACE 

CONDITION EXAMINATION FREQUENCY AND 

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA 

ADDRESSEES 

All holders of an operating license or construction permit for a nuclear power reactor issued 

under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, “Domestic Licensing of 

Production and Utilization Facilities,” except those who have permanently ceased operations 

and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel. 

All holders of or applicants for standard design certification, standard design approval, or 

combined license issued under 10 CFR Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for 

Nuclear Power Plants.” 

PURPOSE 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to inform 

addressees of recent issues identified by the NRC staff during license renewal application (LRA) 

review audits at different nuclear power plant sites concerning the containment concrete surface 

condition examination frequency and acceptance criteria. The NRC expects recipients to review 

the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid 

similar problems. The suggestions that appear in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, 

no specific action or written response is required. 

DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES 

During recent LRA audits, the NRC staff found that some nuclear plant licensees did not meet 

the requirements for containment concrete surface examinations specified in 10 CFR 50.55a, 

“Codes and Standards,” dated August 8, 1996, and in Article IWL-2510, “Surface Examination,” 

of Subsection IWL, “Requirements for Class CC Concrete Components of Light-Water-Cooled 

Power Plants,” of Section XI, “Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant 

Components,” of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure 

Vessel Code. Specifically, 10 CFR 50.55a incorporates, by reference, Subsection IWL, which 

requires periodic inservice inspections (ISIs) of containment concrete. Paragraph IWL-2410(a), 

as modified by 10 CFR 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(B)(2) based on the final rulemaking of August 8, 1996, 

states, “Concrete shall be examined in accordance with IWL-2510...[at all operating nuclear 

power plants by September 9, 2001] and every 5 years thereafter.” However, during recent 

LRA audits of some multiple-unit nuclear power plants, the NRC staff found that some licensees 
IN 2010-14 

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of pressurized-water reactor (PWR) plants have been performing the containment concrete 

condition surface examination every 10 years. 

The NRC staff also found that the containment concrete surface degradation quantitative 

acceptance criteria used by the licensees for the ASME Section XI, Subsection IWL, aging 

management program (AMP) were significantly less stringent than the acceptance criteria 

specified in American Concrete Institute (ACI) 201.1, “Guide for Making a Condition Survey of 

Concrete in Service,” and ACI 349.3R, “Evaluation of Existing Nuclear Safety-Related Concrete 

Structures.” Article IWL-2510 recommends the use of ACI 201.1 and ACI 349.3R guidelines in 

developing site-specific inspection programs. 

According to ACI 349.3R, concrete surfaces that are exposed and accessible for inspection and 

that have popouts and voids that are more than 2 inches, scaling of more than 0.75 inch in 

depth and 8 inches in diameter, and cracks larger than 0.04 inch in width are considered 

unacceptable and in need of further technical evaluation. However, during the LRA audit at 

some PWR plants, the NRC staff noted that the licensees’ inspection criteria allow popouts of 

up to 4 inches, scaling of 3 inches in depth and 8 feet in diameter, and cracks of 0.4 inch in 

width without further technical evaluation or repair. 

BACKGROUND

NUREG-1801, “Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report,” Revision 1, Volume 2, 

“Tabulation of Results,” issued September 2005, states that the evaluation of concrete 

containment in accordance with 10 CFR 50.55a and Subsection IWL is part of an AMP for 

license renewal. AMP XI.S2, “ASME Section XI, Subsection IWL,” in the GALL Report states 

that Article IWL-2400 specifies the frequency of concrete inspection. In addition, AMP XI.S2 

states that concrete acceptance criteria are qualitative and that guidance is provided in 

Article IWL-2510, which references ACI 201.1 for the identification of concrete degradation. 

Quantitative acceptance criteria based on the evaluation criteria provided in Chapter 5 of 

ACI 349.3R should also be used to augment the qualitative assessment of the responsible 

engineer. 

DISCUSSION 

Concrete containments are required to be operable as specified in plant technical specifications 

to limit the leakage of fission product radioactivity from the containment to the environment and 

to resist design-basis loads such as seismic and internal pressure during an accident. The 

regulations at 10 CFR 50.55a and their modifications and limitations mandate the use of 

Subsection IWL to perform ISIs for reinforced and prestressed concrete containments (Class 

CC). The primary inspection method specified in Subsection IWL for concrete surface 

examination is visual examination. 

The ISI plan established by licensees at some multiple-unit PWR sites specifies a concrete 

containment visual examination frequency of 10 years, which is two times the frequency (5 

years) specified in Article IWL-2410 of Subsection IWL. This increase in ISI duration extends 

the period that concrete and steel reinforcement degradation can go undetected, allowing 

further progression until the degradation is corrected. In addition, licensees’ use of concrete 
IN 2010-14 

Page 3 of 3 

surface degradation quantitative acceptance criteria that are significantly less stringent than the 

ACI 349.3R recommendations can result in the progression of degradation such that it may 

impact containment operability. 

CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. Please direct any questions about this 

matter to the technical contact listed below or to the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation (NRR) project manager. 

/RA by TQuay for/ /RA by JTappert for/ 

Timothy McGinty, Director Glenn Tracy, Director 

Division of Policy and Rulemaking Division of Construction Inspection and 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Operational Programs 

 Office of New Reactors 

Technical Contact: Abdul Sheikh, NRR 

301-415-6004 

E-mail: abdul.sheikh@nrc.gov 

Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, 

http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collections. 
IN 2010-14 

Page 3 of 3 

surface degradation quantitative acceptance criteria that are significantly less stringent than the 

ACI 349.3R recommendations can result in the progression of degradation such that it may 

impact containment operability. 

CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. Please direct any questions about this 

matter to the technical contact listed below or to the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation (NRR) project manager. 

/RA by TQuay for/ /RA by JTappert for/ 

Timothy McGinty, Director Glenn Tracy, Director 

Division of Policy and Rulemaking Division of Construction Inspection and 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Operational Programs 

 Office of New Reactors 

Technical Contact: Abdul Sheikh, NRR 

301-415-6004 

E-mail: abdul.sheikh@nrc.gov 

Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, 

http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collections. 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML101600151 TAC ME3877 

OFFICE RASB:DLR Tech Editor BC: RASB:DLR D:DLR LA:PGCB:NRR

NAME ASeikh KAzariah-Kribbs RAuluck BHolian MAG for CHawes 

DATE 7/1/2010 06/28/10 e-mail 7/1/2010 7/7/10 07/07/10 

OFFICE PM:PGCB:NRR BC:PGCB:NRR D:DCIP:NRO D:DPR:NRR 

NAME DBeaulieu SRosenberg(TAlexion for) GTracy (JTappert for) TMcGinty(TQuay for) 

OFFICE 07/07/10 07/10/10 07/26/10 08/04/10 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY