Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Sub-Arena
Spent fuel storage and transportation comprises one of three sub-arenas that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) identified in considering which areas of the waste management arena to target for greater use of risk information. This page summarizes the following aspects of this sub-arena:
Objective
Utilize risk information on a case-by-case basis to prioritize and address regulatory initiatives in spent fuel storage and radioactive materials transportation.
Basis
SECY-99-100 and SECY-04-0182, as well as the related staff requirements memorandum (SRM), provide the conceptual framework for risk-informing the NRC’s waste activities. Guidance on how to apply this framework is provided in “Risk-Informed Decision-Making for Material and Waste Applications”. In particular, individual risk-informed applications must meet the established screening criteria.
In this subarena, the NRC staff is limited in its ability to risk-inform the agency’s regulatory activities because it is not cost-beneficial to perform risk-assessment of each of the numerous storage or transport designs. As a result, the agency has conducted (or sponsored) risk assessments for a few selected designs. In addition, the staff may apply risk assessments to specific activities on a case-by-case basis, provided that the screening criteria are met. For example, the staff has completed and documented a pilot study PRA of a dry cask storage facility, and determined that the risk from that facility was negligibly small.
The goal described below meets the screening criterion for cost/benefit by assessing risk impacts by judgment.
Goals
The staff has established the following goal for risk-informed and performance-based activities in this subarena:
- Produce updated versions of NUREG-1536, “Standard Review Plan for Dry Cask Storage Systems,” and NUREG-1567, “Standard Review Plan for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facilities.”
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 Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Sub-Arena within the Waste Management Arena.
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| Initiative, Program or Project | Project Description and Major Activities | Status Oct 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Extended Storage and Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) | Continue current research activities that support the determination of the regulatory bases of long- term storage. Use risk information and performance-based approaches to perform research on significant technical issues related to updating the waste confidence rule | SECY-11-0029 Plan for completing technical research anticipated in FY 2012 |
| Complete the extended storage and transportation regulatory gap assessments. Use risk information and performance-based approaches in the gap assessments to identify technical and regulatory needs to expand the basis for regulating the extended storage and transportation of SNF | Gap Assessment Report will be finalized in FY 2012 | |
| Update the Existing Regulatory Framework for Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation | Revise the spent fuel dry storage SRPs, NUREG-1536, “Standard Review Plan for Dry Cask Storage Systems” and NUREG-1567, “Standard Review Plan for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facilities” | Update to NUREG-1536 completed July 2010. Update to NUREG-1567 is ongoing. More Information |
| Updated Assessment of Spent Fuel Transportation Risk | Obtain an updated and refined assessment of the risks associated with transportation of spent nuclear fuel | More Information |
| Full-scope site Level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) | Develop a Level 3 PRA, generally based on current state-of-practice methods, tools, and data, that (1) reflects technical advances in PRA and related fields, as well as plant modifications, that have occurred since the NUREG-1150 studies were published in 1990, and (2) addresses scope considerations that were not considered in NUREG-1150 (e.g., low power and shutdown, multiunit risk, and spent fuel storage). | More Information |
To request additional information, Contact Us About Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Regulation.
