Document: NUREG-1555
Document ID: f75c60c4-c77d-43bc-9d0f-6a5615e750b4
Document Type: esrp
Title: SEVERE ACCIDENT MITIGATION ALTERNATIVES
Source: NUREG-1555
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1555/initial/
Revision Date: 2007-10
Chapter: 7
Section ID: 7.3
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d not satisfy NEPA, where policy statement did not represent requisite careful consideration of environmental consequences, excluded consideration of design alternatives without making any conclusions about effectiveness of any particular alternative, and issues were not generic in that impact of severe accident mitigation design alternatives on environment would differ with particular plant’s design, construction and locations.” October 1999 7.3-5 NUREG-1555 Currently, NRC considers the evaluation of SAMAs in the environmental impact review that is now performed as part of every application for a construction permit, an early site permit, an operating license, and a combined license. In addition, the Commission has endorsed staff consideration of SAMAs in conjunction with the design certification application. The purpose of this consideration is to ensure that plant design changes with the potential for improving severe accident performance are identified and evaluated. III. REVIEW PROCEDURES This procedure applies to the review of applications for construction permits, operating licenses, combined licenses, standard design certifications, and early site permits. When evaluating SAMAs, the reviewer should do the following: (1) Be familiar with analyses previously performed and with the potential process and design alternatives, if any, in previous studies, including the following: ` Limerick (NRC 1989) ` Watts Bar (NRC 1995) ` 10 CFR 50.34(f)(l)(I) reviews of the System 80+ (NRC 1997c) ` the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) (NRC 1997d) ` the GESSAR II (NRC 1985b) ` the Containment Improvement Program ` Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal (NRC 1996). (2) Evaluate the applicant’s methods for identifying the potential mitigation alternatives. If the applicant used an alternative methodology to a probabilistic risk assessment approach to assess potential SAMAs (e.g., a margins-based approach to evaluate external events initiated by