[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 15 (Monday, January 25, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3876-3877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1317]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 15 / Monday, January 25, 2010 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 3876]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-93; NRC-2009-0554]


Mark Edward Leyse; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for 
public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking, dated 
November 17, 2009, which was filed with the NRC by Mark Edward Leyse. 
The petition was docketed by the NRC on November 23, 2009, and has been 
assigned Docket No. PRM-50-93. The petitioner requests that the NRC 
amend its regulations regarding the domestic licensing of production 
and utilization facilities. Specifically, the petitioner requests that 
the NRC revise its regulations based on data from multi-rod (assembly) 
severe fuel damage experiments. The petitioner also requests that the 
NRC promulgate a regulation that will stipulate minimum allowable core 
reflood rates in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident.

DATES: Submit comments by April 12, 2010. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Please include Docket ID NRC-2009-0554 in the subject line of your 
comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be 
posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web site 
Regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any 
identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against 
including any information in your submission that you do not want to be 
publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2009-0554. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 301-492-3668, e-mail 
[email protected].
    Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
    E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not 
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, 
contact us directly at (301) 415-1677.
    Hand-deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays (telephone (301) 
415-1677).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
(301) 415-1101.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
petition, including the incoming petition for rulemaking, using the 
following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents the NRC's PDR, Room O1 
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC, including 
the incoming petition for rulemaking (ADAMS Accession No. ML093290250) 
are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public 
can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's 
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's 
PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments and supporting 
materials related to this petition, including the incoming petition for 
rulemaking, can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on 
Docket ID NRC-2009-0554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Telephone: 301-492-3663 or Toll Free: 800-368-5642.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Mark Edward Leyse (petitioner) submitted a petition for rulemaking 
dated November 17, 2009. The petitioner states that he is aware that 
data from multi-rod (assembly) severe fuel damage experiments indicates 
that the current regulations at 10 CFR Part 50 are non-conservative in 
their peak cladding temperature limit of 2200 [deg]F, and that the 
Baker-Just and Cathcart-Pawel equations are also non-conservative for 
calculating the metal-water reaction rates that would occur in the 
event of a LOCA. As a result, the petitioner requests that the NRC 
revise its regulations at 10 CFR 50.46(b)(1) and Appendix K to 10 CFR 
Part 50 based on this data. The petitioner also requests that the NRC 
promulgate a regulation that will stipulate minimum allowable core 
reflood rates in the event of a LOCA. The NRC has determined that the 
petition meets the threshold sufficiency requirements for a petition 
for rulemaking under 10 CFR 2.802. The petition has been docketed as 
PRM-50-93. The NRC is requesting public comment on the petition for 
rulemaking.

Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner believes that data from multi-rod (assembly) severe 
fuel damage experiments indicates that the current peak cladding 
temperature limit contained in 10 CFR 50.46(b)(1) is non-conservative. 
The petitioner also believes that data from such experiments as the 
LOFT LP-FP-2 experiment also indicates that the Baker-Just and 
Cathcart-Pawel equations

[[Page 3877]]

are both non-conservative for calculating the temperature at which an 
autocatalytic (runaway) oxidation reaction of Zircaloy would occur in 
the event of a LOCA. The petitioner states that these experiments 
demonstrate that the autocatalytic oxidation reaction of Zircaloy 
cladding occurs at temperatures far below those predicted by the Baker-
Just and Cathcart-Pawel equations. The petitioner concludes that this, 
in turn, indicates that the Baker-Just and Cathcart-Pawel equations are 
both non-conservative for calculating the metal-water reaction rates 
that would occur in the event of a LOCA. The petitioner requests that 
the NRC revise its regulations at 10 CFR 50.46(b)(1) to require that 
the calculated maximum fuel element cladding temperature not exceed a 
limit based on data from multi-rod (assembly) severe fuel damage 
experiments.
    The petitioner also requests that the NRC revise Appendix K to 10 
CFR Part 50 to require that the rates of energy release, hydrogen 
generation, and cladding oxidation from the metal-water reaction 
considered in emergency core cooling system (ECCS) evaluation 
calculations be based on data from multi-rod (assembly) severe fuel 
damage experiments. The petitioner believes that these same 
requirements also need to apply to any NRC-approved best-estimate ECCS 
evaluation models used in lieu of calculations made under Appendix K to 
10 CFR Part 50.
    Lastly, the petitioner requests that the NRC promulgate a 
regulation that will stipulate minimum allowable core reflood rates in 
the event of a LOCA. The petitioner believes that it can be 
extrapolated from experimental data that in the event of a LOCA, a 
constant core reflood rate of approximately one inch per second or 
lower would not, with high probability, prevent Zircaloy fuel cladding 
from exceeding the peak cladding temperature limit of 2200 [deg]F if, 
at the onset of reflood, the cladding temperature was 1200 [deg]F or 
higher.
    The petitioner believes that, if implemented, the amendments 
proposed in the petition would improve public and plant-worker safety. 
Therefore, the petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations 
regarding the domestic licensing of production and utilization 
facilities.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of January 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-1317 Filed 1-22-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P