NRC APPROVES USE OF ADVANCED FIRE PROTECTION STANDARD 

AT OCONEE NUCLEAR PLANT IN SOUTH CAROLINA

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the Oconee Nuclear Station’s 

adoption of the National Fire Protection Association’s “Performance-Based Standard 

for Fire Protection for Light-Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants" (NFPA 805). 

“This is an important milestone in the continuing effort to strengthen fire protection 

regulations at U.S. nuclear power plants,” said Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko. “After making 

safety improvements, Oconee becomes the second applicant to receive NRC approval to 

transition to the new fire protection standard. Approval of Oconee’s application also starts a sixmonth clock for the other reactors to submit their fire protection license amendment requests to 

the NRC.” 

NFPA 805 describes how existing U.S. reactors can provide acceptable fire protection 

programs by applying risk-informed, performance-based requirements and fundamental fire 

protection design elements. Under the NFPA 805 standard, reactor owners and operators perform 

engineering analyses to demonstrate their installed fire protection systems and features will meet 

specific fire protection and nuclear safety goals, objectives, and performance criteria. These 

comprehensive evaluations of fire safety measures allow U.S. reactors to focus their resources in 

the most appropriate manner. 

Plant owners must also install additional equipment or take other measures if the analyses 

call for them. In the case of Oconee, the NFPA 805 analysis led the plant to make several 

modifications, including installation of additional fire detection systems and upgraded fire 

barriers. The NRC’s safety evaluation for Oconee’s transition concludes the plant has 

documented and demonstrated its fire safety enhancements. 

The NFPA issued the standard in 2001, and the NRC provided extensive opportunity for 

the public and the fire safety community to participate in the agency’s examination of the 

standard. The NRC incorporated the standard in 2004 as a voluntary alternative to existing fire 

protection regulations. Oconee, located 30 miles west of Greenville, S.C., and the Shearon Harris 

plant, located 20 miles southwest of Raleigh, N.C., volunteered in 2005 to lead the industry’s 

pilot implementation program. Oconee submitted its formal application to switch to NFPA 805 

in May 2008 and revised the application in April 2010. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 11-001 January 3, 2011
An additional 46 reactors at 29 sites, representing 17 utilities, have told the NRC they 

plan to adopt the NFPA 805 approach. The NRC expects other U.S. nuclear power plants will 

consider adopting this approach once the industry gains experience in implementing the 

standard. For those plants choosing not to transition to NFPA 805, the Commission has 

determined that licensees must have identified all fire-induced circuit failure violations and 

noncompliances, as well as implement compensatory measures. These licensees were granted a 

total of 36 months of enforcement discretion to end November 2012. 

More information on the NFPA 805 approach and fire protection at U.S. nuclear power 

plants is available on the NRC website here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/opsexperience/fire-protection.html. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's website.