New Light-Water Reactors Sub-Arena
New light-water reactors (LWRs) comprise one of four sub-arenas that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) identified in considering which areas of the reactor safety arena to target for greater use of risk information. This page summarizes the following aspects of this sub-arena:
Objective
Implement risk-informed and performance-based activities to address the PRA elements of Title 10, Part 52, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 52), and to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the design certification, licensing, and oversight activities that the NRC staff conducts for new LWRs.
This objective has two main parts:
- First, this objective involves using the plant-specific PRA to implement risk-informed and performance-based programs. For example, the maintenance rule (10 CFR 50.65) will utilize the PRA to a great extent. Other examples include initiatives that a new reactor licensee may voluntarily pursue, such as risk-informed technical specification completion time, risk-informed in-service inspection, or special treatment under 10 CFR 50.69.
- Second, this objective involves using risk insights and PRA results to improve the NRC’s effectiveness and efficiency in the licensing and oversight processes. For example, the staff will use risk insights, in conjunction with other considerations, to focus its review of a new reactor license application on those aspects that are important to risk. Other examples include developing risk-informed acceptance criteria for applications and adopting a risk-informed approach to sampling the inspection, testing, analysis, and acceptance criteria (ITAAC) to confirm the acceptability of the as-built plant.
Basis
The risk-informed and performance-based activities (listed below) for this sub-arena satisfy the following screening criteria:
- The stated objective will help to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the NRC’s regulatory process, while increasing nuclear plant safety and reducing unnecessary regulatory burden.
- The bases for developing a risk-informed and performance-based regulatory structure for licensing and oversight of new LWRs are articulated in several Commission documents, policy statements, and processes (including the 10 CFR Part 52 rulemaking).
- Goals and activities to meet the objective for this sub-arena will be performance-based, to the extent that they meet the following four criteria:
- measurable parameters to monitor performance
- objective criteria to assess performance
- flexibility to allow licensees to determine how to meet the performance criteria
- no immediate safety concern as a result of failure to meet the performance criteria
An applicant for a combined license (COL) for a new LWR is required to perform a PRA. The NRC staff expects such PRAs to be used for the following purposes:
- Identify risk-informed safety insights.
- Demonstrate how risk compares to the Commission’s goals.
- Assess the balance between accident prevention and mitigation.
- Identify and address vulnerabilities, reduce risk contributors, and select among design alternatives during the design phase.
- Demonstrate that the plant design represents a reduction in risk (compared to existing operating plants).
- Demonstrate that the design addresses the requirements in 10 CFR 50.34(f), as they relate to Three Mile Island (TMI).
PRA results and insights are used to support the following programs (among others):
- Regulatory Treatment of Non-Safety Systems (RTNSS)
- Inspection, test, analysis, and acceptance criteria (ITAAC)
- Reliability Assurance Program (RAP)
- Future aspects of regulatory oversight, technical specifications, the maintenance rule (10 CFR 50.65), and others
Goals
The following goals are derived from the Commission’s policy statements and guidance, which reflect the current phase of NRC and industry development, as well as the current implementation of risk-informed activities:
- Ensure (during the design certification phase) that the applicant used risk-informed safety insights to select among alternative features, operational strategies, and design options to reduce or eliminate the significant risk contributors of existing operating plants.
- Ensure that the risk associated with the design compares favorably with the Commission’s goals of less than 1E-04/year for core damage frequency (CDF) and less than 1E-06/year for large release frequency (LRF).
- Using the results and insights from the PRA, ensure that the COL applicant supported the RTNSS process, including the identification of structures, systems, and components (SSCs).
- Using the results and insights from the PRA, ensure that the COL holder supported regulatory oversight processes, as well as programs associated with plant operations (such as technical specifications, reliability assurance, human factors, and maintenance rule implementation).
- Using the results and insights from the PRA, ensure that the applicant identified and supported the development of specifications and performance objectives for plant design, construction, inspection, and operation (such as the ITAAC, RAP, technical specifications, and COL action items and interface requirements).
Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Activities
The following table specifies the ongoing licensing initiatives, projects, and activities that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has targeted for greater use of risk information in the New Light-Water Reactors Sub-Arena within the Reactor Safety Arena.
This page includes links to files in non-HTML format. See Plugins, Viewers, and Other Tools for more information.
| Initiative, Program or Project | Project Description and Major Activities | Status Oct 2012 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluate and develop risk-informed regulatory guidance for new reactors | Assess whether the current numerical risk metric goals for core damage frequency (CDF) and large early release frequency (LERF) are applicable to new light-water reactors, or whether alternate metrics for CDF and large release frequency (LRF) should be developed consistent with the Commission’s safety expectations and approved goals for new reactors. This project has the following major activities:
|
Commission SRM issued | Commission SRM dated 3/2/11 |
| Hold public meeting on staff’s response to SRM | Meeting summary for 3/24/11 | ||
| Conduct tabletop exercises to test the adequacy of existing guidance | Meeting summaries for 5/4/11, 5/26/11, 6/1/11, 6/29/11, and 8/9/11 | ||
| Provide informational briefing to ACRS | ACRS transcript | ||
| Issue Commission Policy Paper | |||
| Risk-informed construction significance determination process pilot | The construction significance determination process (SDP) is designed to provide a means to assess the significance of findings for which applicants or licensees have been authorized to perform construction activities as part of the Construction Reactor Oversight Process. | Commission Policy Paper on new construction assessment and enforcement program | SECY-10-0140 |
| Pilot program | Memorandum 01/05/2012 | ||
| Construction significance determination process | IMC 2519P | ||
| Development of Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) Models for New LWRs | Develop SPAR models for each unique new LWR plant-specific design (as applicable), and maintain models to support user needs. | Develop US-APWR model Develop ESBWR model Develop IPWR model | SECY 12-0133 |
To request additional information, Contact Us About Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Regulation.
