Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 4774af39-208c-4761-97e8-2d66c6d14794
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Performance-Based Containment Leak-Test Program (Rev. 1)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2200/ML22006A317.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-05
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.163
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
source not found. Licensees wishing to implement the methods, procedures, or analyses in this RG, will need to submit a license amendment request (LAR) to amend the Technical Specifications to reflect incorporation of this RG. Also, 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix J, Option B, Paragraph B.3, states, in part, that, “if the licensee chooses to deviate from methods approved by the Commission and endorsed in a regulatory guide … [t]he submittal for technical specification revisions must contain justification, including supporting analysis.” Background Appendix J to 10 CFR Part 50 requires the following types of containment leakage tests: • Type A tests: integrated leakage rate tests (ILRTs) • Type B tests: leakage tests across each pressure-containing or leakage-limiting boundary for specified primary reactor containment penetrations including seals, gaskets, and expansion bellows • Type C tests: leakage tests of containment isolation valves Type B and C tests are also referred to as local leakage-rate tests (LLRTs). Maximum allowable leakage rates (La) are calculated in accordance with 10 CFR Part 100, “Reactor Site Criteria.” (Ref. 7) Allowable leakage rates are typically about 0.1 percent containment volume per day for pressurized water reactors and about 1 percent containment volume per day for boiling water reactors. Appendix J has two options to determine test frequencies: Option A (prescriptive) and Option B (performance-based). Under Option A, three Type A tests are to be performed at approximately equal intervals during each inservice inspection period. The Option B performance-based requirements, issued DG-1391, Page 5 in 1995, allow licensees to replace prescriptive testing requirements with testing requirements based on leakage rate performance and a supporting plant-specific risk impact assessment. Option B also introduced a requirement for visual inspection of accessible portions of the containment before each Type A test and at a periodic