[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14583-14584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05382]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0112]
Fuel Qualification for Advanced Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: NUREG; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing NUREG-
2246, ``Fuel Qualification for Advanced Reactors.'' The purpose of this
NUREG report is to provide a fuel qualification assessment framework
for use by applicants for proposed advanced reactors using fuel designs
and operating environments that differ from traditional light water
reactor fuel. Specifically, the framework provides objective criteria,
derived from regulatory requirements, that when satisfied, would
support regulatory findings for licensing.
DATES: NUREG-2246, Revision 0 is available on March 15, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0112 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0112. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individuals 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. NUREG-2246, ``Fuel Qualification for
Advanced Reactors,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML22063A131.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Drzewiecki, telephone: 301-
415-5184, email: [email protected] and Jordan Hoellman,
telephone: 301-415-5481, email: [email protected]. Both are
staff of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
Proposed advanced reactor technologies use fuel designs and
operating environments (e.g., neutron energy spectra, fuel
temperatures, neighboring materials) that differ from those described
in previous NRC guidance and frameworks applicable to traditional
light-water reactor fuel. As such, the purpose of this report is to
identify criteria that will be useful for advanced reactor fuel designs
through an assessment framework that would support regulatory findings
associated with nuclear fuel qualification. The report begins by
examining the regulatory basis and related guidance applicable to fuel
qualification, noting that the role of nuclear fuel in the protection
against the release of radioactivity for a nuclear facility depends
heavily on the reactor design. The report considers the use of
accelerated fuel qualification techniques and lead test specimen
programs that may shorten the timeline for qualifying fuel for use in a
nuclear reactor at the desired parameters (e.g., burnup). The
assessment framework particularly emphasizes the identification of key
fuel manufacturing parameters, the specification of a fuel performance
envelope to inform testing requirements, the use of evaluation models
in the fuel qualification process, and the assessment of the
experimental data used to develop and validate evaluation models and
empirical safety criteria.
II. Additional Information
Draft NUREG-2246, Revision 0, was published in the Federal Register
for public comment on June 30, 2021 (86 FR 34794) with a 60-day comment
period. The NRC received three public comments from private citizens
and industry organizations. The NRC staff's evaluation and resolution
of the public comments are documented in Appendix B to NUREG-2246 in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22063A131.
III. Congressional Review Act
NUREG-2246, Revision 0, is a rule as defined in the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act.
Dated: March 9, 2022.
[[Page 14584]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven T. Lynch,
Acting Chief, Advanced Reactor Policy Branch, Division of Advanced
Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-05382 Filed 3-14-22; 8:45 am]
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