[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 140 (Friday, July 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37775-37776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18371]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Notice of Meeting

SUMMARY: The NRC will hold a public meeting in Rockville, Maryland to 
receive comments from licensees and the public on its initiative to 
perform research on electric cables to resolve technical issues related 
to the Environmental Qualification (EQ) process. All interested 
licensees, and members of the public are invited to attend this 
meeting. Interested parties, unable to attend the meeting, are 
encouraged to provide written comments pertinent to the proposed EQ 
research by August 2, 1996.

DATES: The meeting will be held on August 6-7, 1996, beginning at 8:30 
a.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel at 
1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Visitor parking is also 
available at the hotel, however, the hotel is located adjacent to the 
Twinbrook Station on the Metro Red Line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact 
Satish K. Aggarwal, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Mail Stop T 
10 E-10, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, 
telephone 301-415-6005; fax: 301-415-5074; INTERNET: [email protected]

Meeting Agenda

Tuesday, August 6, 1996
    8:30 am--Welcome and Introductions
    8:45 am--Overview of EQ Research
    9:30 am--Overview of EQ Task Action Plan
    10:15 am--Overview of Issues to be Resolved and Planned Research
    11:00 am--Discussion of Issue 1
    12:00 noon--Lunch Break
    1:00 pm--Discussion of Issue 2
    1:30 pm--Discussion of Issue 3
    2:00 pm--Discussion of Issues 4 and 5
    3:00 pm--Discussion of Issues 6 to 9
    5:00 pm--Adjourn
Wednesday, August 7, 1996
    8:30 am--Discussion of Issues 10 to 13
    10:00 am--Discussion of Issues 14 and 15
    12:00 noon--Lunch Break
    1:00 pm--Discussion of Issues 16 to 19
    4:00 pm--Adjourn

Unresolved Issues

    The following issues have been identified for further research. 
Information that may help fully or partially resolve these issues may 
be presented at this meeting.
Issues 1 & 2: Thermal Preaging Process
--Arrhenius application
--Activation energies
Issue 3: Other Aging Factors
--The effects on humidity
Issues 4 & 5: Cable Construction
--Multiple vs. single conductor cables
--Bonded jacket cables
Issues 6, 7, 8 & 9: Installed Environment
--Hot spots
--Vibration
--Water/steam impingement
--Maintenance activities
Issues 10, 11, 12 & 13: Installed Configuration
--Bends, vertical runs, overhangs
--Cable trays, conduits
--Fire protection coatings
--Installation damage
Issues 14 & 15: Condition Monitoring
--Effectiveness
--LOCA survivability
Issues 16, 17, 18 & 19: Life Extension
--Requalification options
--Definition of qualified life
--Use of operating experience
--Extension of qualified life

    Further information on these issues can be obtained from NUREG/CR-
6384, Volumes 1 and 2, which are available from the Government Printing 
Office.


[[Page 37776]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When the latest regulation for environmental 
qualification (EQ) of electric equipment, 10 CFR 50.49, was issued, it 
contained provisions that allowed licensees to meet different standards 
for qualification. In general, one standard required testing of 
electric equipment by exposing it to a harsh environment. The second 
standard required similar testing in addition to artificial radiation 
and thermal aging of equipment prior to LOCA testing. Although the 
first standard does not include consideration of the effects of aging, 
both standards include margin for operating temperature, radiation 
levels, and some physical damage mechanisms. It is believed that this 
margin compensates for any damage mechanisms which are not modelled 
precisely in the accelerated testing.
    As a result of the staff's activities related to license renewal in 
the early 1990s, EQ was identified as an area that required further 
review. As discussed in SECY-93-049, a major concern related to EQ was 
whether the EQ requirements for older plants were adequate to support 
license renewal. Subsequently, the NRC staff concluded that differences 
in EQ requirements between older and newer plants constituted a 
potential generic issue which should be evaluated for backfit, 
independent of license renewal activities. Furthermore, recent test 
results raise questions with respect to the environmental qualification 
and accident performance capability of certain types of cables, and 
there have been some instances of cable failures as a result of 
exposure to high temperature and/or radiation during normal plant 
operation.
    The NRC staff developed a task action plan (TAP) which has been 
designed to identify, evaluate and resolve EQ concerns. One item of the 
TAP was for the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research to develop and 
implement a research program which will focus on (1) data collection 
and analysis, and (2) technical issues. Since most of the electrical 
equipment in operating nuclear power plants can be replaced with 
relative ease except for cables, the research program was subsequently 
developed to focus on low-voltage I&C cables within the scope of 10 CFR 
50.49.
    For the data collection and analysis, Brookhaven National 
Laboratory (BNL) was designated the lead laboratory to perform a 
literature review and establish an extensive database. The assessment 
of the literature has been completed and includes an analysis of 
available data, both domestic and foreign, to determine which EQ 
related technical issues can be resolved with existing information and 
which will require further research. For those issues identified which 
require further research, testing of both naturally aged and 
artificially aged cable samples will be performed.
    The primary objective of this research program is to answer EQ 
questions related to electrical cables based upon actual testing. The 
testing phase of the program will provide information to assess the 
effectiveness of condition monitoring (CM) methods to determine the 
extent of degradation, if any, of qualified low voltage instrumentation 
and control (I&C) cables within the scope of 10 CFR 50.49, and evaluate 
the adequacy of accelerated aging techniques in the environmental 
qualification process.
    This meeting will provide an opportunity for licensees and the 
public to provide input on the issues identified for further research, 
and the research to be performed. A transcript of this meeting will be 
available for inspection, and copying for a fee at the NRC Public 
Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW., Lower Level, Washington, DC 20555, 
on or about September 2, 1996.
    The meeting will be open to the public, and the public will be 
provided opportunities throughout the workshop to comment on the issues 
under discussion.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland on this 15th day of July, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence C. Shao,
Director, Division of Engineering Technology, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 96-18371 Filed 7-18-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P