80 FR 75009 - Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and Spent Fuel Pools

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 230 (December 1, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a petition for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its ``Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities'' regulations to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent- fuel pools.'' The petition, dated September 10, 2015, was submitted by Dr. Alexander DeVolpi (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by the NRC on September 21, 2015, and was assigned Docket Number PRM-50- 113. The NRC is examining the issues raised in this petition to determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is not requesting public comment on PRM-50-113 at this time.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75009-75010]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30355]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 75009]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-113; NRC-2015-0230]


Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and 
Spent Fuel Pools

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its 
``Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities'' 
regulations to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for 
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petition, dated September 10, 2015, was submitted by 
Dr. Alexander DeVolpi (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by 
the NRC on September 21, 2015, and was assigned Docket Number PRM-50-
113. The NRC is examining the issues raised in this petition to 
determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is 
not requesting public comment on PRM-50-113 at this time.

DATES: The PRM is available on December 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0230 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this petition by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0230. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual 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 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then 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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions contact 
Jennifer Tobin, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-
415-2328, email: [email protected]. For questions related to the 
petition for rulemaking process contact Anthony de Jes[uacute]s, Office 
of Administration, telephone: 301-415-1106, email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Petitioner

    The petitioner, Dr. Alexander DeVolpi, states that he ``has had a 
substantial technical career starting in the late 1950s in reactor 
safety and engineering, having worked for and been funded by U.S. 
nuclear development and regulatory agencies.'' The petitioner notes 
that he has carried out relevant research and development and published 
supportive technical papers and filed patent applications.

II. The Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC amend part 50 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic licensing of 
production and utilization facilities,'' to require ``installation of 
ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and 
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.'' The petition is available in 
ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML15264A857.

III. Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10 
CFR part 50 to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for 
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petitioner cites a 2014 National Research Council 
report titled, ``Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident 
for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants,'' that gave high priority 
to recommendation 5.1A, which stated that greater ``[a]ttention to 
availability, reliability, redundancy, and diversity of plant systems 
and equipment is specifically needed for . . . Instrumentation for 
monitoring critical thermodynamic parameters in reactors, containments, 
and spent fuel pools.'' \1\ In addition, the petitioner cites to 
section 5.1.1.4 of the report, ``Instrumentation for Monitoring 
Critical Thermodynamic Parameters,'' which states that ``robust and 
diverse monitoring instrumentation that can withstand severe accident 
conditions is essential for diagnosing problems, selecting and 
implementing accident mitigation strategies, and monitoring their 
effectiveness.''
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    \1\ The report can be accessed at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18294/lessons-learned-from-the-fukushima-nuclear-accident-for-improving-safety-of-us-nuclear-plants.
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    The petitioner claims that requiring the ``installation of ex-
vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and 
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools'' might prevent or mitigate 
potential accidents at reactors and spent fuel pools. The petitioner 
asserts that the Three Mile Island accident ``might have been prevented 
if realtime uninterruptible ex-vessel reactor water-level monitoring 
had been in place.'' Furthermore, the petitioner notes that one or both 
of the Fukushima meltdowns ``might have been delayed or averted if 
uninterruptible ex-vessel real-time reactor water-level monitoring had 
been in place and operating on self-contained low-current battery 
supplies.'' The petitioner states that ex-vessel instrumentation 
``would provide autonomous and redundant

[[Page 75010]]

measurements of reactor water level and density at all times, 
irrespective of power level.'' The petitioner asserts that amending the 
NRC's regulations to require ex-vessel instrumentation would be 
``[c]onsistent with a more anticipatory defense-in-depth strategy'' and 
would enhance strategies to mitigate beyond-design-basis accidents. In 
addition, the petitioner suggests that requiring ex-vessel 
instrumentation would ``reduce potential financial risk and public 
apprehension'' and that ex-vessel monitoring could ``supply routine 
operational nuclear-process information that might enhance fuel-
consumption efficiency.'' Finally, the petitioner notes that ex-vessel 
instrumentation could be ``designed to be functional and capable of 
providing data on fuel relocation'' after a reactor shutdown and could 
``monitor post-accident reactor fuel reconcentration over a period of 
many years.''

VI. Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold 
sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under 
10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition has been 
docketed as PRM-50-113. The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM-
50-113 to determine whether they should be considered in the rulemaking 
process.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of November, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-30355 Filed 11-30-15; 8:45 am]
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