NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. 01-066 May 30, 2001

NRC SEEKS COMMENTS ON PROPOSED AGENDA

FOR ANNUAL NUCLEAR SAFETY RESEARCH CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comments on its proposed agenda for the

Nuclear Safety Research Conference, which will be held on October 22-24 at the Marriott at Metro

Center, located at 775 12 Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. Formerly known as ìThe Water Reactor

Safety Meeting,î the conference is designed to promote dialogue with stakeholders on research matters

and gather feedback for future agency regulatory decisions.

The complete proposed agenda is attached. Comments should be forwarded by June 15 via

e-mail to Sandra Nesmith, at www.srn@nrc.gov . 
D R A F T - June 26, 2001

Nuclear Safety Research Conference (NSRC)

(formerly known as the Water Reactor Safety Meeting (WRSM)

October 22-24, 2001

Marriott at Metro Center

(775 12th St. NW, Washington DC)

Monday, October 22, 2001

8:00-8:15am Opening Remarks - Ashok Thadani

8:15-9:00am Keynote Speech - Chairman

9:00-9:30am Recent Accomplishments - Roy Zimmerman

9:30-

12:00pm

Advanced Reactors - Panel Discussion

(Coordinator: Tom King)

Objective: The panel will give an overview of ongoing programs and discuss the following:

safety attributes of advanced designs, key issues with respect to licensing, key issues with

respect to development, research needs/priorities, and the outlook for the future.

Potential Panel Makeup to Include: 

NRC (RES and NRR); Industry (e.g., NEI, EPRI, Westinghouse, Exelon); International; Public

Interest; State; Congressional; and DOE

12:00-

1:30pm

LUNCH

1:30-2:00pm Plenary - Commissioner Speech
2:00-5:00pm Advanced Reactors Session 

(Coordinator: T. King) 

Objective: To communicate specific research

activities related to preparing the Agency to

license an advanced design.

Potential Topics for Presentation Include:

- Pre-application activities (e.g., PBMR, GTMHR, IRIS)

- New technologies for advanced reactors

- Development of a Regulatory Framework for

advanced reactors

 

- Research needs for advanced reactors

- Use of prototype testing to validate analytical

tools 

Materials/Waste Session

(Coordinator: C. Trottier)

Objective: To provide a forum to discuss

current research initiatives in addressing

issues in human and environmental heath

risk assessment.

Potential Topics for Presentation Include:

- NRC tools available and under

development to support decommissioning

decisions on sites of varying complexity

- Work underway to develop a probabilistic

version of RESRAD-Build for release of

buildings

- Inter-agency efforts to seek a common

technological base for multi-media

environmental modeling

- Long-term performance of engineered

barriers

- Efforts underway to revise the basic

methodologies for assessing human risk

from radiation

Tuesday, October 23, 2001

8:30-

9:00am

Plenary - Commissioner Speech

9:00 -

12:00pm 

Dry Cask Research Session

(Coordinator: M. Cunningham)

Objective: To communicate recent

accomplishments and future plans in the Office of

Researchís work to assess key safety and risk

issues relating to the licensing of dry cask fuel

storage devices.

Potential Topics for Presentation Include:

- Risk analysis of on-site dry cask storage

- Assessment of structural integrity for on-site

storage

- Assessment of fuel and cladding for on-site

storage

- Assessment of cask performance during transport

Aging Panel

(Coordinator: N. Chokshi)

Objective: To discuss viewpoints of

various stakeholders on some of the key

policy and technical issues with emphasis

on role of research in addressing them. 

Some of the key issues are: (1) recent

experiences related to aging and

degradation (e.g., recent experiences with

primary water stress corrosion cracking

(PWSCC); (2) What may be the future

challenges?; (3) How do we account for

aging effects in the risk-informed

regulations?; (4) How do we apply lessons

learned to new designs (e.g.,

implementation of online monitoring)?;

and (5) What research is needed to

address current and future issues?

Potential Panel Makeup to Include:

US and international experts from

industry, regulatory, research, and public

interest groups
12:00-

1:30pm

LUNCH

1:30-

2:00pm

Plenary - Commissioner Speech

2:00-

5:00pm

Fuel Issues Panel (2:00-4:00) 

(Coordinator: R. Meyer)

Objective: What issues should be addressed in an

NRC safety research program, and is the current

spectrum of research projects adequate?

Potential Panel Makeup to Include:

NRC (RES, NRR, NMSS, ACRS) and EPRI

Fuel Research Session (4:00-5:00)

(Coordinator: R. Meyer)

Objective: To communicate recent

accomplishments in NRCís fuel research program

and related programs that are used by NRC through

cooperative agreements.

Potential Topics for Presentation Include:

- Japanese results on effects of hydrogen on

behavior of Zircaloy during LOCA

- Russian results on mechanical properties of Zr-1%

Nb cladding alloys (unirradiated and high burnup)

Age Related Issues and Research

Session (Coordinator: N. Chokshi)

Objective: To concentrate on the current

issues and research, and include

representation of both regulatory and

industry activities as appropriate. 

Potential Topics for Presentation Include:

- Recent PWSCC events - Implications for

the NDE and inspections, LBB

considerations, repairs and mitigation,

and needed research

- Aging issues and management in other

industries (e.g., discussion of aging of

aircrafts and FAA activities)

- Aging and wire system safety

- Methods to consider aging effects in

probabilistic risk assessments.

- Materials and aging factors considered

in the advanced design and current

research

- Aging effects on structures and passive

components

Wednesday, October 24, 2001

8:30-9:00am Plenary - Commissioner Speech

9:00-11:00am Communicating the RES Role and Program - Panel Discussion

(Coordinator: Patricia Norry)

Objective: The panel will explore and seek innovative ways to communicate the role and the

scope and content of the RES program, with particular emphasis on objectives, products, and

regulatory applications.

Potential Panel Makeup to Include:

Trade Press, Public Interest, International, Industry, and Government

11:00-

12:30pm

LUNCH
12:30-3:00pm Fuel Research Session (Contíd)

(Coordinator: R. Meyer)

- Preliminary results on high-burnup fuel rod

testing at ANL under reactor transient conditions

and dry storage conditions

- Final plans and schedule for S0 test series in

Cabri international program

- First release of NRCís FRAPTRAN fuel rod

transient code by PNNL

- Coupling of STUK (Finland) GENFLO thermalhydraulics code to NRCís FRAPTRAN code

- Overview of EPRIís Robust Fuel Program and

EPRIís cooperation with NRC

Risk Informing Regulatory Practices

Panel (Coordinator: M.

Cunningham)

Objective: To communicate recent

accomplishments and future plans in the

Officeís work to risk-inform agency

regulatory practices, showing the breadth

and value of such activities as well as

describe key technical issues. Key issues 

that will be addressed include: (1) secondgeneration importance measures to

improve the realism and efficiency of riskinformed decision making; (2) riskinforming 10 CFR 50 technical

requirements - status, issues, future plans;

(3) assessment of uncertainties in modern

risk analyses (e.g., PTS, SGTR); 

(4) assessment of human performance in

modern risk analyses; (5) improvements in

fire risk assessment methods and tools;

(6) key perspectives from the review of

seventy IPEEEs; (7) key issues in low

power and shutdown risk analyses; and (8)

use of risk analysis in nuclear materialís

regulation.

Potential Panel Makeup to Include:

NRC, Universities, EPRI

3:15-3:30pm Closing Remarks - Ashok Thadani