Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor Standard Design: Chapters 9 through 15 (NUREG-1966, Volume 3)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: March 2011
Date Published: April 2014

Office of New Reactors
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

This final safety evaluation report documents the technical review of General Electric-Hitachi's (GEH's) Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR) design certification. GEH submitted its application for the ESBWR design on August 24, 2005, in accordance with Subpart B, "Standard Design Certifications," of 10 CFR Part 52. The NRC formally docketed the application for design certification (Docket No. 52-010) on December 1, 2005.

The ESBWR design is a boiling-water reactor (BWR) rated up to 4,500 megawatts thermal (MWt) and has a rated gross electrical power output of 1,594 megawatts electric (MWe). The ESBWR is a direct-cycle, natural circulation BWR that relies on passive systems to perform safety functions credited in the design basis for 72 hours following an initiating event. After 72 hours, non-safety systems, either passive or active, replenish the passive systems in order to keep them operating or perform post-accident recovery functions directly. The ESBWR design also uses non-safety-related active systems to provide defense-in-depth capabilities for key safety functions provided by passive systems. The ESBWR standard design includes a reactor building that surrounds the containment, as well as buildings dedicated exclusively or primarily to housing related systems and equipment.

On the basis of its evaluation and independent analyses, as set forth in this report, the NRC staff concludes that GEH's application for design certification meets the requirements of 10 CFR Part 52, Subpart B, that are applicable and technically relevant to the ESBWR design. Appendix F includes a copy of the report by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, as required by 10 CFR 52.53.