Westinghouse says fuel storage software deviation could create substantial safety hazard
- Deviation affects TracWorks checks on fresh fuel storage
- Westinghouse adds Sequoyah to potentially affected plants
- Updated software requirements due by fourth quarter of 2026
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa., Sept 30 — Westinghouse Electric Company told the NRC on Sept 30 that a deviation in its TracWorks fuel data system, if left uncorrected, could permit fresh fuel storage configurations that could potentially result in a substantial safety hazard.
Westinghouse determined the system could potentially permit storage configurations of fresh fuel assemblies containing integral fuel burnable absorbers (IFBAs) that "in conjunction with a potential abnormal condition could potentially result in a substantial safety hazard," according to the NRC event notification, which summarises information the company provided.
The issue only affects plants that use TracWorks with burnup credit curves defined in the plant database and one or more storage curves that contain IFBA credit, the notification said.
"There are no safety concerns if the affected licensees do not have fresh fuel stored in their storage racks," the notification said.
Westinghouse performed representative analyses for typical fuel storage configurations, recognizing that storage rack analyses are not generically applicable across different plants, according to the notification.
The company is taking action to determine and implement updated software requirements for IFBA conversion into TracWorks by the fourth quarter of 2026, the notification said. As an interim measure, Westinghouse has implemented a user warning in the system to alert users of potential nonconservative results when using the fresh fuel IFBA credit for storage.
The update added Sequoyah to the potentially affected plants.
Westinghouse first reported the deviation on June 19, listing Cook, Diablo Canyon, Farley, Millstone, Point Beach, Salem, Turkey Point, Summer, South Texas, Vogtle and Wolf Creek as potentially affected. At that time the company said it had not identified an existing condition where the system had allowed fuel to be stored in a manner not encompassed by the fuel storage criticality analysis of record for those plants, and that affected customers had been notified.