NRC APPROVES INCREASED POWER OUTPUT FORGRAND GULF NUCLEAR ST

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NRC APPROVES INCREASED POWER OUTPUT FORGRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT NO. 1The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Entergy Operations Inc. to increase the power generating capacity of Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Unit No. 1 by 15 percent. The power uprate for the boiling-water reactor, located approximately 25 miles south of Vicksburg, will increase the plant’s power generating capacity from approximately 1,300 to 1,500 megawatts electric.The NRC staff’s careful evaluation determined that Entergy could safely increase the reactor’s power output primarily by replacing significant portions of several plant systems and components, including the turbine rotors for the reactor feed pumps, power range neutron monitoring system, steam dryer, and the high-pressure turbine. As part of its evaluation, NRC staff reviewed the company’s analysis showing the plant’s design can accommodate the increased power level. The NRC’s safety evaluation of the proposed power uprate focused on several areas, including the nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, fire protection, operations and training, testing, and technical specification changes. Entergy intends to implement the uprate following the spring 2012 refueling outage. The NRC previously published a notice about the power uprate application in theFederal Register. The agency’s evaluation of the Grand Gulf power uprate will be available through the NRC’s ADAMS electronic document database using the “Advanced Search” tab, selecting “Accession Number” as the property, and inserting ML121210020 as the value.###