Safety Concerns Associated with Pipe Breaks in the BWR Scram System (Generic Letter No. 81-30) (Previously Issued July 7, 1981 as Generic Letter 81-26 Is Now Identified as 81-30)

                                UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                           WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
                                     
                                July 31, 1981

TO ALL BWR LICENSEES 

Gentlemen: 

SUBJECT:  SAFETY CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH PIPE BREAKS IN THE BWR SCRAM 
          SYSTEM (GENERIC LETTER NO. 81-30)
          (PREVIOUSLY ISSUED JULY 7, 1981 AS GENERIC LETTER 81-26 IS NOW
          IDENTIFIED AS 81-30)

Our letter of April 10, 1981 forwarded draft NUREG-0785 (same subject) and 
requested a generic reply within 45 days of receipt. General Electric 
Company submitted a generic response on behalf of the BWR licensees by 
letter dated April 30, 1981. 

The staff has completed its review of the generic evaluation prepared by GE.
NUREG-0803 "GENERIC SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT REGARDING INTEGRITY OF BWR 
SCRAM SYSTEM PIPING" dated June 1981 is in the final editing phase and is 
now planned for publishing in late July 1981. This report will provide 
guidance to individual licensees in answering the plant specific request 
contained in our April 10, 1981 letter. 

Since the original time allowed for plant specific responses will expire on 
or about the time you receive the staff's guidance, we are hereby extending 
the time allowed to submit the plant specific information requested in our 
April 10, 1981 letter. This extension of time is warranted based on our 
finding that the analyzed sequence of events is not a dominant contributor 
to core melt. However, the assumptions made in the risk assessment 
supporting this conclusion must be confirmed with plant specific 
information. Therefore, plant specific responses conforming to the guidance 
contained in NUREG-0803 should be provided within 120 days of your receipt 
of the NUREG guidance. 

                              Sincerely, 



                              Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director 
                              Division of Licensing 
                              Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

cc:  Service List