The NRC requires a fire protection program at every U.S. commercial nuclear power plant to minimize both the probability of occurrence and consequences of a fire. The fire protection programs are designed to reasonably ensure, through defense-in-depth, that fires will not prevent necessary safe shutdown functions from performing and will not significantly increase the risk of radioactive releases to the environment. See our Backgrounder on Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection and Regulations, Guidance, and Communications page for additional information.

On this page:

Rulemaking and Technical Issues
Oversight of Fire Protection Programs
Involved Industry Organizations

Rulemaking and Technical Issues

The NRC staff continually monitors plant-specific fire protection technical issues and works with nuclear industry representatives to resolve generic fire protection concerns.

For additional information see our Rulemaking and Technical Issues pages below:

Oversight of Fire Protection Programs

Routine inspections are a proven and appropriate method of monitoring licensee performance. The results of the pilot fire protection functional inspections (FPFIs), which were conducted beginning September 1997, coupled with other indicators, such as licensee event reports, suggested that continued monitoring of licensee performance is needed to confirm that the safety of operating plants is being maintained. Therefore, the insights and lessons learned from the FPFI pilot program, the importance of inspecting each NPPS fire protection program has been validated. From the standpoint of potential risk, past operational experience, post-fire safe-shutdown performance indicators, and the existing regulatory requirements, the staff included reactor fire protection inspections in the reactor oversight and inspection program which began in 1999. The inspections will include risk-informed baseline procedures for routine resident inspector walkdowns and for triennial fire protection team inspections.

Risk Significance of Fires

In June 1991, the NRC issued Supplement 4 to Generic Letter 88-20, requesting licensees to identify severe accident vulnerabilities due to initiators, including fire. Based on the results of the analyses which the licensees submitted, fires were recognized as a significant contributor to risk.

For additional information see our Fire Protection Oversight pages below:

Involved Industry Organizations

Below is a list of four industry organizations that have worked with the NRC on fire protection for nuclear power plants.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI )
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE )
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA )
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI )