ACRS MEETING WITH

THE U.S. NUCLEAR

REGULATORY

COMMISSION

October 20, 2006
OVERVIEW

GRAHAM B. WALLIS
Accomplishments

• Since our last meeting with the

Commission on December 8,

2005, we issued 37 Reports:

* Topics included:

-Early site permit applications

for the Grand Gulf and Clinton

sites

3
-Generic Safety Issue-I 91,

"Assessment of Debris

Accumulation on PWR Sump

Performance"

Regulatory Guide 1.97, Rev. 4,

"Criteria for Accident

Monitoring Instrumentation for

Nuclear Power Plants"

4
Regulatory Guide 1.205, "RiskInformed, Performance-Based

Fire Protection for Existing

Light-Water Nuclear Power

Plants"

-Proposed approach to enhance

the Reactor Oversight Process

to address safety culture

issues

5
-Report on the NRC Safety

Research Program (NUREG1635, Vol. 7)

-Application of the TRACG

computer code to. evaluate

the stability- of the ESBWR

6
-SRP Section 14.2.1, "Generic

Guidelines for Extended Power

Uprate Testing Programs"

-Ongoing security-related

activities

Digital instrumentation and

control system research

7
License Renewal

Since December 2005:

* Completed timely review of

four applications (Browns

Ferry, Brunswick, Nine Mile

Point, and Monticello)

* Reviewed Generic Letter

2006-xx, "Inaccessible or

Underground Cable Failures

That Disable Accident

Mitigation Systems"

8
• Reviewed interim results of the

study to determine the need for

establishing limits for phosphate

ion concentration in groundwater

to protect concrete structures of

plants

* Will perform final review of

Palisades application on an

expedited schedule

* Performing interim review of

Oyster Creek application

9
Power Uprates

* Reviewed three extended

power uprate applications

(Vermont Yankee, R.E. Ginna,

and Beaver Valley)

* Will review the extended

power uprate application for

Browns Ferry Units 1, 2, and 3

after receiving complete

safety evaluation report

10
Risk-Informinq 10 CFR 50.46

* Will review draft final rule to

risk inform 10 CFR 50.46 at the

November meeting

* At the request of the staff,

deferred review of Regulatory

Guide and draft final NUREG on

10 CFR 50.46 LOCA Break

Frequency Evaluations

11
Onqoing/Future Activities

" Advanced reactor design

certifications

" Assessment of research quality

" Combined license applications

" Digital instrumentation and

control system matters

" Early site permit applications

* Extended core power uprates

i Fire protection

12
• High-burnup fuel and cladding

issues

" Human reliability analysis

" License renewal applications

" Operating plant issues

* Report on the NRC Safety

Research Program

* Resolution of GSI-191,

"Assessment of Debris

Accumulation on PWR Sump

Performance"

13
* Revisions to Regulatory Guides

and SRP Sections to support

new reactor licensing

* Risk-informing 10 CFR 50.46

" SPAR models

* Safeguards and'security

matters

" Technology-neutral regulatory

framework

• Thermal-hydraulic codes

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PWR SUMP

PERFORMANCE

Graham B. Wallis

=0li C-3'/ER PLATE

orT 7.ZSH RAC1X
ACRS Interactions With The

Staff And Industry

" February and June 2006 - NRC

Staff and NEI

• August 2006 - Strainer Vendors

and PWR Owners Group

" September 2006 - Observation

of Vendor Tests

16
Recent NRC Research

" Chemical effects

" Debris bed structure

* Coatings transport and head

loss

* Head loss correlations

" Downstream effects

17
Industry Activities

" Prototypical full-scale tests of

strainer modules

* Chemical effects testing

" Head-loss correlations

* Coatings

" Debris transport

* Downstream effects

18
The Path Forward

* ACRS letter April 10, 2006

-PWR licensees are installing

larger sump screens

Screen performance validated

by "proof tests"

- Debris formation and

transport treated

conservatively

- Industry is performing

additional needed research

19
-ACRS is questioning how the

NRC will determine the

adequacy of plant-specific

solutions

• ACRS Letter August 1, 2006

- Research efforts and

development of predictive

models should continue

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ACRS 2006 REPORT ON

NRC SAFETY

RESEARCH PROGRAM

Mario V. Bonaca
Scope

* Research projects dealing with

the safety of existing plants and

advanced LWR designs

submitted for certification

Considerations

* Justification for the research

* Technical approach

" Progress of the work

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General Observation

* NRC Safety Research Program is

focused on addressing near term

regulatory needs of the agency

with an appropriate concentration

in three disciplines:

-Materials and Metallurgy

-Probabilistic Risk Assessment

-Thermal Hydraulics

23
Notable RES Accomplishments

* Multidisciplinary development of

technical basis for revising the

PTS screening criterion in the

PTS Rule

" Performance of high-burnup fuel

during reactivity transients

" Embrittlement of zirconium alloy

cladding when taken to high

burnup

24
International Collaboration

" The NRC has developed

effective collaborations with

other countries on reactor

safety research

" More collaboration with Asian

countries having active nuclear

power programs should be

pursued

25
Support For Future Licensing

Activities

" NRC's resources for advanced

reactor safety research are

appropriately focused on

addressing issues associated with

ESBWR and EPR

" NRC needs to provide clear

guidance on its expectations for

the experimental validation of

computer models to be used in the

licensing of advanced reactors that

do -not use familiar technologies

26
Opportunities For Independent

Research

* Focusing NRC research entirely

on the immediate needs of the

line organizations reduces the

opportunities for independent

research by RES that could

improve the regulatory process

27
A Vision For Future

* A portion of research program

needs to be devoted to the

development of a regulatory

infrastructure to deal with future

regulatory demands

* The ACRS can foresee, for

example, a time when regulatory

staff has routine access to

superior tools for system

analysis, phenomenological

analysis, and risk assessment

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LESSONS LEARNED

FROM THE REVIEW OF

EARLY SITE PERMIT

APPLICATIONS

William J. Shack
Earl Site Permit Applications

* North Anna

• Grand Gulf

" Clinton

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Generic Lessons

• Common understanding of

expectations between staff and

applicants

" Internet Data

" Electronic submissions

" Criteria for permit conditions and

COL action items

" Performance-based seismic

hazard analysis

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Other Lessons

" Definitions of pertinent site

characteristics

* Guidance on plant parameter

envelope

" Guidance on major features of

emergency plans

" Calculation of probable

maximum flood

32
* High frequency ground motion

* Weather cycles

* Lessons learned should aid

considerably preparation and

processing of COL applications

33
FUTURE PLANT DESIGN

ACTIVITIES AND

COORDINATION WITH

STAFF ON THE MASTER

INTEGRATED SCHEDULE

Thomas S. Kress
ACRS Activities on New Reactor

Desiqns

* Early Site Permit Applications

• Design Certifications

* Coordination on the

development of Master

Integrated Schedule

* COL Applications

* Revisions to Reg. Guides and

SRP Sections

• 10 CFR Part 52

35
Early Site Permit Applications

" Completed review of ESP

applications for North Anna,

Grand Gulf, and Clinton

* Issued a lessons learned report

* Will review Vogtle ESP

application after receiving staffs

SER

36
ESBWR Design

* Reviewed application of TRACG

Code to analyze ESBWR stability

" ACRS letter dated April 26, 2006:

-Recommended that the staff

approve the use of TRACG to

analyze the stability of ESBWR

during normal operation,

anticipated operational

occurrences, and the low-power

phase of reactor startup

37
" Reviewed Draft SER related to

ESBWR pre-application

* Agreed with the staff's decision to

approve the TRACG code for use in

analyzing ESBWR in response to

LOCA scenarios,

" Identified issues that should be

considered when using TRACG for

design certification purpose

" Reviewing ESBWR PRA

" Will review staffs SER for ESBWR

design certification in 2007

38
Master Integrated Schedule

* Memorandum from former

Chairman Diaz recommending

ACRS coordination in the

development of Master

Integrated Schedule

• Provided ACRS planning

assumptions for reviewing ESP,

Design Certification, and COL

applications

39
* Discussed the staffs proposed

Master Project Management

Plan at the October ACRS

meeting

* Will continue to coordinate

with the staff in the

development and refinement of

the Master Integrated

Schedule and the Master

Project Management Plan40
COL Applications

* Established design-specific COL

Subcommittees

- R-COL

-8-COL

* Review to focus on COL action

items and on plant and sitespecific features

" Review of topic-specific issues

41
Guidance For New Reactor

Licensing

* COL application guidance

(DG-1 145)

" RG revisions

" SRP revisions

42
ACRS Recommendations Related

To Proposed Revisions To Part 52

" Level-3 PRA at the ESP stage should

not be required

* Support a requirement for COL

holders to maintain an up-to-date

PRA

* Major features of the site

emergency plan

" Operation up to 5 percent power

even with deficiencies in emergency

preparedness

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ABBREVIATIONS

ACRS Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

COL Combined license

CY Calendar year

DG Draft guide

EPR Evolutionary Power Reactor

ESBWR Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor

ESP Early site permit

GSI Generic Safety Issue

LWR Light-water reactor

LOCA Loss-of-coolant accident

NEI Nuclear Energy Institute

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission

PRA Probabilistic risk assessment

PTS Pressurized thermal shock

PWR Pressurized water reactor

R-COL Reference combined license

RES Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

RG Regulatory guide

S-COL Subsequent combined license

SER Safety evaluation report

SPAR Standardized Plant Analysis Risk Model

SRP Standard Review Plan

U.S. United States

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