Quality assurance program for Angra 1 licence renewal and long-term operation

In Brazil, according to Cnen standard, a nuclear power plant has authorization to operate for 40 years. Angra 1 commercial operation started in 1985 and it has license to operate until 2024. Eletronuclear aims to extend the operation of the Angra 1 plant from 40 to 60 years. To obtain the license renewal by more than 20 years (long-term operation), Eletronuclear will need to meet the requirements of 10 CFR Part 54, Cnen NT-CGRC-007/18 and NT-CGRC-008/18 (Cnen technical notes). To obtain a license renewal to a long-term operation it is necessary to demonstrate that the plants will operate according to safety requirements, through analysis, testing, aging management, system upgrades, as well as additional inspections. Plant operators and regulators must always ensure that plant safety is maintained and, when it is possible, strengthened during the long-term operation of the plant. One of the documents to obtain a license renewal to a long-term operation is the Quality Assurance Program (QAP). Angra 1 has a QAP according to 10CFR 50 App B and Cnen NN 1.16 for safety related items. However, according to 10 CFR50.34, Nureg-1800 Appendix A.2, Nureg-1801 Appendix A-1 of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and NT-CGRC-007/18 and NT-CGRC-008/18 of Cnen, the QAP needs to include the items that are not safety related but are included in the Aging Management. This article will discuss the Angra 1 QAP for the license renewal to a long-term operation according the standards approved by Cnen.


INTRODUCTION
(1) Involve systems, structures, and components within the scope of license renewal.
(2) Consider the effects of aging; (3) Involve time-limited assumptions defined by the current operating term, for example, 40 years; (4) Were determined to be relevant by the licensee in making a safety determination; (5) Involve conclusions or provide the basis for conclusions related to the capability of the system, structure, and component to perform its intended functions.

ANGRA 1 LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS
The licensing process is based on the Permission for Permanent Operation (AOP), as Cnen NE 1.04.
According to Cnen NE-1.04 the current Permit for Permanent Operation may be extended if based on technical assessments to demonstrate that the effects of aging will be satisfactorily managed during the long-term operation period.
The Angra 1 timeline is shown in Figure 1.

QUALITY ASSURANE PROGRAM FOR ANGRA 1 LICENSE RENEWAL AND LONG-TERM OPERATION
The quality assurance for a nuclear power plant comprises all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a structure, system, or component will perform satisfactorily in service. Quality assurance includes quality control, which comprises those quality assurance actions related to the physical characteristics of a material, structure, component, or system which provide a means to (1) Safety-related systems, structures, and components relied upon to remain functi onal during and following design-basis events to ensure (i) the integrity of the reactor coolant pressure boundary; (ii) the capability to shut down the reactor and maintain it in a safe shutdown condition; or (iii) the capability to prevent or mitigate the consequences of accidents which could result in potential offsite exposures; (2) Non-safety related systems, structures, and components whose failure could pre vent satisfactory accomplishment of any of the functions identified above. Based on increased scope, the QAP for Angra 1 was revised and it was necessary to create a complementary QAP for the LTO project. According to the IAEA standards the Quality assurance is part of the Integrated Management System [11]: "an integrated management system should provide a single framework for the arrangements and processes necessary to address all goals of the organization. These goals include safety, health, environmental, security, quality and economic elements and others considerations such as social responsibility." The Angra Another important change in Angra 1 QAP was the elaboration of the administrative procedures for the LTO project: The PA-LG 05 describes how Angra 1 will introduce the AMP in the operation manual. The AMP should present the follow elements: Other important change in the QAP are: ➢ The identification of the SSC of the LTO scope in the drawing, procedures, main tenance program, purchase order.
➢ The implementation of a methodology to identify when a design change affects a n SSC of the LTO scope, because, maybe, it will be necessary to review the AM R and AMP.
➢ Inclusion of audits about the LTO project in the audits program of Eletronuclear.
➢ Perform the audits about the LTO project.
The results of the audits show that Eletronuclear have been implementing the LTO activities according the international standards and technical notes of Cnen, however it was identified some opportunities for improvement. For the elaboration of the AMP it was necessary to elaborate a procedure to describe how to implement the 10 elements. It was necessary to improve three elements: the corrective action, administrative control and operating experience. Besides it was necessary to develop the methodology for the confirmation process. These four elements are part of the QAP for Angra 1 and for the LTO project.