U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION April 2009

Revision 1

REGULATORY GUIDE

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH 

The NRC issues regulatory guides to describe and make available to the public methods that the NRC staff considers acceptable 

for use in implementing specific parts of the agency’s regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems 

or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in reviewing applications for permits and licenses. Regulatory guides are 

not substitutes for regulations, and compliance with them is not required. Methods and solutions that differ from those set forth 

in regulatory guides will be deemed acceptable if they provide a basis for the findings required for the issuance or continuance of 

a permit or license by the Commission. 

This guide was issued after consideration of comments received from the public. 

Regulatory guides are issued in 10 broad divisions: 1, Power Reactors; 2, Research and Test Reactors; 3, Fuels and Materials 

Facilities; 4, Environmental and Siting; 5, Materials and Plant Protection; 6, Products; 7, Transportation; 8, Occupational Health; 

9, Antitrust and Financial Review; and 10, General. 

Electronic copies of this guide and other recently issued guides are available through the NRC’s public Web site under the 

Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/ and through the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under Accession No. ML083650087. 

REGULATORY GUIDE 3.16 

(Draft was issued as DG-3035, dated September 2008) 

GENERAL FIRE PROTECTION GUIDE FOR PLUTONIUM 

PROCESSING AND FUEL FABRICATION PLANTS 

A. INTRODUCTION 

This guide directs the reader to the type of information acceptable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) staff for the review of fire protection programs included by an applicant as part of an 

application to construct and operate a plutonium processing and mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication 

facility. 

The NRC considers a MOX fuel fabrication facility to be a plutonium processing and fuel 

fabrication plant as defined in Title 10, Part 70, “Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,” of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 70) (Ref. 1). Thus, applications for licensing of plutonium 

processing or fuel fabrication facilities must satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR 70.23, “Requirements for 

the Approval of Applications;” 10 CFR 70.61, “Performance Requirements;” and 10 CFR 70.64, 

“Requirements for New Facilities or New Processes at Existing Facilities.” 

This regulatory guide endorses the methods and procedures contained in the current revision of 

NUREG-1718, “Standard Review Plan for the Review of an Application for a Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel 

Fabrication Facility,” Chapter 7, “Fire Protection,” (Ref. 2) for reviewing the fire protection portion of the 

licensing application as acceptable for meeting the regulatory requirements as they relate to fire protection 

and the radiological consequences from fires. 

This regulatory guide contains information collection requirements covered by 10 CFR Part 70 

that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved under OMB control number 3150-0009. 

The NRC may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information 
Rev. 1 of RG 3.16, Page 2 

collection request or requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

B. DISCUSSION 

The NRC developed NUREG-1718 to provide guidance to the NRC staff for the review of a 

license application for a plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant. The regulations in 10 CFR Part 

70 establish procedures and criteria for the issuance of licenses to receive title to own, acquire, deliver, 

receive, possess, use, and transfer special nuclear material (SNM). Subpart D, “License Applications” of 

10 CFR Part 70, identifies the contents of the application as well as the requirements for approval of the 

application. Part of the approval process includes an evaluation that verifies the applicant’s proposed 

equipment, facilities, and procedures are adequate to protect public health and safety, and minimize 

danger to life and property. 

One principal risk to health and safety at plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plants is a fire 

or an explosion that results in the release and dispersal of radioactive materials. Fire protection programs 

for these plants should prevent, detect, extinguish, limit, or control fires and explosions, and their 

concomitant hazards and damaging effects on people and property. Chapter 7 of NUREG-1718 identifies 

the specific fire protection program information an applicant should include in the application for a 

license to possess and use SNM in a MOX fuel fabrication facility. 

C. REGULATORY POSITION 

10 CFR 70.65, “Additional Content of Applications,” requires that the applicant submit a 

description of the safety program, established as per 10 CFR 70.62, “Safety Program and Integrated 

Safety Analysis,” with sufficient detail to enable the NRC staff to evaluate and conclude that the design 

was completed and the facility constructed with the approved design bases, and to obtain reasonable 

assurance that the facility will be operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the workers and 

the public (i.e., will meet the performance requirements of 10 CFR 70.61, “Performance Requirements”). 

Chapter 7 of NUREG-1718 provides the applicant and NRC reviewer guidance to assure that the 

facility is designed to provide adequate protection against fires and explosions (10 CFR 70.64(a)(3)) and 

defense-in-depth practices (10 CFR 70.64(b)). Chapter 7 also addresses the review of radiological 

consequences from fires in determining how a facility will meet the performance requirements of 10 CFR 

70.61. 

The fire protection program must establish the fire protection policy for the protection of 

structures, systems, and items relied on for safety at the plant, and the procedures, equipment, and 

personnel to implement the program at the site. Chapter 7 of NUREG-1718 describes the acceptance 

criteria for the NRC’s review of the organization and conduct of operations, fire protection features and 

systems, manual fire fighting capability, and fire hazards analysis described in the applicant’s fire 

protection program for a MOX fuel fabrication. Appendix D, “Fire Hazards Analysis Procedures” of 

NUREG-1718 describes specific fire hazards, identifies fire protection features proposed to control those 

hazards, and discusses the overall adequacy of facility fire protection programs. 
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D. IMPLEMENTATION 

The purpose of this section is to provide information to applicants and licensees regarding the 

NRC’s plans for using this regulatory guide. The NRC intends to use the information in this regulatory 

guide and NUREG-1718 during its review of the application to construct and operate a MOX fuel 

fabrication facility at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. NUREG-1718 provides 

guidance on the review for a license to possess and use of SNM. This regulatory guide and NUREG1718 are also applicable to any proposed amendments and license renewal applications for the MOX 

facility. The NRC does not intend or approve any imposition or backfit in connection with the issuance 

of this revised regulatory guide. 

In some cases, applicants or licensees may propose or use a previously established acceptable 

alternative method for complying with specified portions of the NRC’s regulations. Otherwise, the 

methods described in this guide will be used in evaluating compliance with the applicable regulations for 

license applications, license amendment applications, and amendment requests. 
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REFERENCES 

1. 10 CFR Part 70, “Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC. 

2. NUREG-1718, “Standard Review Plan for the Review of an Application for a Mixed Oxide 

(MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC.