Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 239cc7c1-f2cb-46cc-945d-8009db28aa6c
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: General Site Suitability Criteria for Nuclear Power Stations + HISTORY - HISTORY 12/2023 – DG-4034 , Proposed Revision 4 12/2011 – DG-4021 , Proposed Revision 3 02/1995 – DG-4004, Second Proposed Revision 2 11/1992 – DG-4003, Proposed Revision 2 (Rev. 4)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 4
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2312/ML23123A090.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-10
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-4.7
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
ea of low density, acceptability will be determined after consideration of safety, environmental, economic, and other factors. The numerical values in this guide are generally consistent with past NRC practice for large LWRs and reflect consideration of severe accidents, as well as the demographic and geographic conditions of the United States. ANSI/ANS-2.6-2018 provides information on performing population counts and estimating future population. Preferably, a reactor should be located so that, at the time of initial site approval and for about 5 years thereafter, the population density, including weighted transient population, averaged over any radial distance out to 20 miles (cumulative population at a distance divided by the area at that distance), is at most 500 persons per square mile. A reactor should not be located at a site where the population density is well in excess of this value. The NRC staff has developed additional guidance in Appendix A to this RG on alternatives to the established population‑density criterion to support licensing for non-LWRs and light-water small modular reactors with attributes that could support siting a commercial nuclear power station closer to population centers than is typical for large LWRs. Appendix A includes alternative population density criteria based on estimates of radiological consequences from design-specific events and provides additional ways that DG-4034, Page 19 applicants can meet the requirements of 10 CFR 100.21(h). An applicant can demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR 100.21(h) by siting a nuclear reactor in a location where the population density does not exceed 500 persons per square mile out to a distance equal to twice the distance at which a hypothetical individual could receive a calculated TEDE of 1 rem over a period of 1 month from the release of radionuclides following postulated accidents (see appendix A for more details). If the population density of the proposed site exceeds, but is not well in