[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79168-79169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32699]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Announcement of Public Meeting on Proposed Plan to Risk-Inform 
Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Circuit Analysis Inspection

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold a public 
meeting, in the form of a facilitated workshop, to discuss and gather 
stakeholder input on proposed risk-informed post-fire safe-shutdown 
circuit analysis inspection.

DATES: February 19, 2003, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Two White Flint North, Auditorium, 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Referenced documents are available for review in ADAMS, NRC's 
online document management system at http://www.nrc.gov or from the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), www.pdr.gov, 1-800-397-4209 or 301-
415-4737, located on the first floor of One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Referenced documents and their 
Accession Nos. are: NRC Information Notice 99-17, ``Problems Associated 
with Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Circuit Analyses,'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML023510114); Enforcement Guidance Memorandum EGM-98-002, Revision 2, 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML003710123); Memorandum dated, 11/29/2000, 
``Rationale for Temporarily Halting Certain Associated Circuits 
Inspection Lines of Inquiry During Fire Protection Baseline Triennial 
Inspections,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML003773142); Draft Revision D of 
NEI 00-01, ``Guidance for Post-Fire Safe Shutdown Analysis, 10-15-
2002,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML023010376); Draft NUREG/CR, ``Guidance 
for Post Fire Safe Shutdown Analysis,'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML023430533).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Birmingham, Mail Stop O-11F1, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone: 1-800-368-5642, 
extension 2829, or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Beginning in 1997, the NRC noticed a number 
of Licensee Event Reports (LERs) that identified plant specific 
problems related to potential fire induced electrical circuit failures 
that could prevent operation or cause mal-operation of equipment 
necessary to achieve and maintain post-fire safe shutdown. LERs 
identified problems involving Associated Circuits, Cable Routing, 
Redundant Train Separation, Wiring Errors, Fire-Induced Hot Shorts, 
Evaluations of Spurious Operations, Motor Operated Valve Evaluations, 
Transfer and Isolation Capability, Fuse/Breaker Coordination, High 
Impedance Faults, High-Pressure/Low-Pressure Interfaces (See NRC 
Information Notice 99-17 for more information) (Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML023510114). On 
November 29, 2000, a memorandum was written that outlined the rationale 
for halting certain associated circuits inspections while the industry 
worked to resolve the issue (ADAMS Accession No. ML003773142).
    In response to this issue, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), with 
support from the Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group (BWROG), formed a 
circuit

[[Page 79169]]

analysis issue task force. As part of this task force's efforts, a 
series of cable fire tests were performed. The results of these tests 
were reviewed by a panel of technical experts and their work was 
assembled by a technical integrator into a coherent overall evaluation. 
The final report, ``Spurious Actuation of Electrical Circuits Due to 
Cable Fires: Results of an Expert Elicitation,'' was issued by the 
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in May 2002 (Report No. 
1006961). EPRI also developed a document titled, ``Characterization of 
Fire-Induced Circuit Faults, Results of Cable Fire Testing,'' December 
2002 (Report No. 1003326), that provides the results of the EPRI/NEI 
initiative examining circuit failures. These EPRI reports are EPRI 
Licensed Material and are available through EPRI, www.epri.com. (a fee 
may be applicable).
    NEI has also been preparing a guidance document for a risk based 
evaluation method as part of the industry initiative. This document is 
currently in Draft Revision D, NEI 00-01, ``Guidance for Post-Fire Safe 
Shutdown Analysis, 10/15/2002'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML023010376).
    The NRC has contracted with Brookhaven National Laboratory to 
develop a NUREG/CR that will assemble all NRC positions concerning 
post-fire safe-shutdown circuit analysis into one source document. A 
preliminary draft copy is being made available for purposes of this 
meeting (ADAMS Accession No. ML023430533). The NUREG/CR will also 
identify successful strategies used by licensees and identify how risk-
informed techniques can be used to inspect this program area.
    The purpose of this workshop is to identify: (1) The most risk 
significant associated circuit configurations for inspection so the 
Enforcement Guidance Memorandum (EGM) EGM-98-002 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML003710123) may be withdrawn and inspections resumed in a risk-
informed manner, (2) other associated circuit configurations that 
require further research before focusing inspection in these areas, and 
(3) the least risk significant associated circuit configurations so 
that inspection resources will not be expended on low risk/small 
consequence items. The meeting may gather other information and serve 
as a vehicle for members of the public to express concerns and to 
provide advice.
    The facilitated workshop will be conducted in a ``roundtable'' 
format to encourage a dialogue on the safe shutdown circuit analysis 
issues among the broad spectrum of stakeholders affected by and 
concerned about these issues. To have a manageable discussion, the 
number of participants around the table will, of necessity, be limited. 
Other members of the public are welcome to attend, and will be given 
the opportunity to comment on each agenda item to be discussed by the 
roundtable participants. All questions regarding participation should 
be directed to the workshop facilitator, Francis ``Chip'' Cameron by 
phone at 301-415-1642 or e-mail [email protected].
    If participants need to provide more detailed explanations than 
time in the workshop permits, written comments may be delivered before 
or up to 10 days after the workshop to Joseph Birmingham, MS 11F1, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 
a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. Electronic comments may be 
submitted to the NRC by e-mail to [email protected] for consideration by the 
NRC staff.
    All comments received by the Commission, including those made by 
Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, or other interested 
persons, will be made available electronically at the Commission's PDR 
in Rockville, Maryland, and from the Public Access Record System (PARS) 
component of ADAMS.
    Persons may pre-register to attend the facilitated workshop by 
contacting Joseph Birmingham (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 
Individual oral comments will be limited by the time available and at 
the discretion of the facilitator. If special equipment or 
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the 
public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr. Birmingham's 
attention no later than February 1, 2003, to provide the NRC time to 
determine whether the request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may register to attend or present oral 
comments at this workshop by contacting Mr. Birmingham, no later than 
January 15, 2003. Those who wish to make comments may also register 
outside the Public Meeting Room within 15 minutes of the start of the 
meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, 
depending on the number of persons who register. Participants who do 
not have adequate time to fully express their views during the workshop 
may submit written comments to Mr. Birmingham up to 10 days following 
the meeting.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of December 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John N. Hannon,
Chief, Plant Systems Branch, Division of Systems Safety and Analysis, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-32699 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P