[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4322-4323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1899]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Knowledge Base for Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Analysis, Availability 
of Draft NUREG 1778

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 4323]]


ACTION: Notice of availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing the completion 
and availability of Draft NUREG-1778, ``Knowledge Base for Post-Fire 
Safe-Shutdown Analysis,'' January, 2004. The NRC is seeking comment 
from interested parties on the clarity and utility of the draft NUREG. 
The NRC will consider comments received in its final issue of NUREG-
1778.

DATES: Comment period expires March 29, 2004. Comments submitted after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance 
of consideration cannot be given except for comments received on or 
before this date.

ADDRESSES: Draft NUREG-1778 is available for inspection and copying for 
a fee at the NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland. As of January 30, 2004, you may also electronically access 
NUREG-series publications and other NRC records at NRC's Public 
Electronic reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html.
    Submit written comments to the Chief, Rules Review and Directive 
Branch, Mail Stop: T6-D59 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    A free single copy of Draft NUREG-1778, to the extent of supply, 
may be requested by writing to Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Reproduction and Distribution Services Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Printing and Graphics Branch, Washington, DC 20555-0001 
facsimile: 301-415-2289; e-mail: [email protected].
    Some publications in NUREG-series that are posted at NRC's Web site 
address http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/indexnum.html are updated 
regularly and may differ from the last printed version.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark H. Salley, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, Mail Stop O11 A11, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. E-mail [email protected]. Telephone: 
301-415-2840 FAX: 301-415-2300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As a result of a major fire that occurred at 
the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in 1975, the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) significantly revised its regulatory 
framework to enhance fire protection programs (FPPs) at operating 
nuclear power plants (NPPs). The revised criteria used in this 
framework had three main objectives to (1) prevent significant fires, 
(2) ensure the capability to shutdown the reactor and maintain it in a 
safe-shutdown condition, and (3) minimize radioactive releases to the 
environment in the event of a significant fire.
    Recent Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) studies have shown that 
the revised criteria are beneficial to safety. Plant design changes 
required by the new regulatory framework have been effective in 
preventing a recurrence of a fire event of the severity experienced at 
Browns Ferry. In addition, according to a 1989 study performed by SNL 
plant modifications made in response to the new requirements have 
reduced the core damage frequencies (CDFs) at some plants by a factor 
of 10.
    The NRC's regulatory framework provides several options for 
ensuring that structures, systems, and components (SSCs) important to 
safe shutdown are adequately protected from the effects of fire. 
Because of the potentially unacceptable consequences that an 
unmitigated fire may have on plant safety, each operating plant must 
perform a documented evaluation to demonstrate that, in the event a 
fire were to initiate and continue to burn (in spite of prevention and 
mitigation features), the performance of essential shutdown functions 
will be preserved and radioactive releases to the environment will be 
minimized. The document that describes this evaluation process and its 
results is commonly referred to as a ``safe-shutdown analysis'' (SSA).
    Fire protection for NPPs is a complex subject. The purpose of this 
document is to facilitate understanding of the regulatory framework of 
the Fire Protection Program by compiling the related knowledge into a 
single document. This document assumes that the reader has had little 
or no involvement in the development and/or implementation of fire 
protection criteria, post-fire safe-shutdown analysis, or any of its 
related engineering disciplines. The criteria and assumptions described 
in this document are based on the NRC's regulatory framework for fire 
protection, as it was in place at the time of this writing. This 
document only clarifies existing criteria. This document does not 
contain any new or different staff positions and does not impose any 
new requirements. The knowledge base documented in this NUREG-series 
report must be used within the context of the licensing basis of each 
individual plant and with due consideration for the NRC's Backfit rule, 
as specified in Title 10, Section 50.109, Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR 50.109).

    Date at Rockville, Maryland, this 20 day of January, 2004.

    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. 04-1899 Filed 1-28-04; 8:45 am]
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