[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75009-75010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30355]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 75009]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM-50-113; NRC-2015-0230]
Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and
Spent Fuel Pools
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a
petition for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its
``Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities''
regulations to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petition, dated September 10, 2015, was submitted by
Dr. Alexander DeVolpi (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by
the NRC on September 21, 2015, and was assigned Docket Number PRM-50-
113. The NRC is examining the issues raised in this petition to
determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is
not requesting public comment on PRM-50-113 at this time.
DATES: The PRM is available on December 1, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0230 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may
obtain publicly-available information related to this petition by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0230. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time
that a document is referenced.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions contact
Jennifer Tobin, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-
415-2328, email: [email protected]. For questions related to the
petition for rulemaking process contact Anthony de Jes[uacute]s, Office
of Administration, telephone: 301-415-1106, email:
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. The Petitioner
The petitioner, Dr. Alexander DeVolpi, states that he ``has had a
substantial technical career starting in the late 1950s in reactor
safety and engineering, having worked for and been funded by U.S.
nuclear development and regulatory agencies.'' The petitioner notes
that he has carried out relevant research and development and published
supportive technical papers and filed patent applications.
II. The Petition
The petitioner requests that the NRC amend part 50 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic licensing of
production and utilization facilities,'' to require ``installation of
ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.'' The petition is available in
ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML15264A857.
III. Discussion of the Petition
The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10
CFR part 50 to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petitioner cites a 2014 National Research Council
report titled, ``Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants,'' that gave high priority
to recommendation 5.1A, which stated that greater ``[a]ttention to
availability, reliability, redundancy, and diversity of plant systems
and equipment is specifically needed for . . . Instrumentation for
monitoring critical thermodynamic parameters in reactors, containments,
and spent fuel pools.'' \1\ In addition, the petitioner cites to
section 5.1.1.4 of the report, ``Instrumentation for Monitoring
Critical Thermodynamic Parameters,'' which states that ``robust and
diverse monitoring instrumentation that can withstand severe accident
conditions is essential for diagnosing problems, selecting and
implementing accident mitigation strategies, and monitoring their
effectiveness.''
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\1\ The report can be accessed at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18294/lessons-learned-from-the-fukushima-nuclear-accident-for-improving-safety-of-us-nuclear-plants.
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The petitioner claims that requiring the ``installation of ex-
vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools'' might prevent or mitigate
potential accidents at reactors and spent fuel pools. The petitioner
asserts that the Three Mile Island accident ``might have been prevented
if realtime uninterruptible ex-vessel reactor water-level monitoring
had been in place.'' Furthermore, the petitioner notes that one or both
of the Fukushima meltdowns ``might have been delayed or averted if
uninterruptible ex-vessel real-time reactor water-level monitoring had
been in place and operating on self-contained low-current battery
supplies.'' The petitioner states that ex-vessel instrumentation
``would provide autonomous and redundant
[[Page 75010]]
measurements of reactor water level and density at all times,
irrespective of power level.'' The petitioner asserts that amending the
NRC's regulations to require ex-vessel instrumentation would be
``[c]onsistent with a more anticipatory defense-in-depth strategy'' and
would enhance strategies to mitigate beyond-design-basis accidents. In
addition, the petitioner suggests that requiring ex-vessel
instrumentation would ``reduce potential financial risk and public
apprehension'' and that ex-vessel monitoring could ``supply routine
operational nuclear-process information that might enhance fuel-
consumption efficiency.'' Finally, the petitioner notes that ex-vessel
instrumentation could be ``designed to be functional and capable of
providing data on fuel relocation'' after a reactor shutdown and could
``monitor post-accident reactor fuel reconcentration over a period of
many years.''
VI. Conclusion
The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold
sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under
10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition has been
docketed as PRM-50-113. The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM-
50-113 to determine whether they should be considered in the rulemaking
process.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of November, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-30355 Filed 11-30-15; 8:45 am]
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