[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 23, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30435-30437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12475]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM-50-105; NRC-2012-0056]
In-core Thermocouples at Different Elevations and Radial
Positions in Reactor Core
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; receipt and request for comment.
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[[Page 30436]]
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission)
is publishing for public comment a notice of receipt for a petition for
rulemaking (PRM), dated February 28, 2012, which was filed with the NRC
by Mr. Mark Edward Leyse (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by
the NRC on March 2, 2012, and assigned Docket No. PRM-50-105. The
petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to ``require all
holders of operating licenses for nuclear power plants (``NPP'') to
operate NPPs with in-core thermocouples at different elevations and
radial positions throughout the reactor core.''
DATES: Submit comments by August 6, 2012. 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. Due to resource constraints the NRC cannot guarantee
explicit response to comments received after this date.
ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related
to this petition for rulemaking, which the NRC possesses and are
publicly available, by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under
Docket ID NRC-2012-0056. You may submit comments by the following
methods:
Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0056. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission at 301-415-1101.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules,
Announcements, and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-492-3667, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0056 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this petition for rulemaking.
You may access information related to this petition for rulemaking,
which the NRC possesses and is publicly available, by the following
methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0056.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The incoming petition is in
ADAMS under accession No. ML12065A215.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0056 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. The Petitioner
The petition states that the petitioner previously submitted an
earlier PRM to the NRC on emergency core cooling systems (ADAMS
Accession No. ML070871368), which the NRC assigned Docket ID PRM-50-84
(73 FR 71564; November 25, 2008). In addition, the petition states that
the petitioner co-authored a paper entitled, ``Considering the Thermal
Resistance of Crud in LOCA Analysis'' (American Nuclear Society, 2009
Winter Meeting, Washington, DC (November 15-19, 2009)).
III. The Petition
In its petition (ADAMS Accession No. ML12065A215), the petitioner
requests that the NRC amend its regulations in Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' to ``require all holders of
operating licenses for nuclear power plants (``NPP'') to operate NPPs
with in-core thermocouples at different elevations and radial positions
throughout the reactor core to enable NPP operators to accurately
measure a large range of in-core temperatures in NPP steady-state and
transient conditions.'' The petitioner further asserts that, in the
event of a severe accident, in-core thermocouples would provide NPP
operators with ``crucial information to help operators manage the
accident.''
In addition to several other reports and findings cited by the
petitioner to support the petition, the petitioner cites the ``Report
of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island
[TMI]: The Need for Change: The Legacy of TMI,'' dated October 1979.
The petitioner states that ``[i]n the last three decades, NRC has not
made a regulation requiring that NPPs operate with in-core
thermocouples at different elevations and radial positions throughout
the reactor core to enable NPP operators to accurately measure a large
range of in-core temperatures in NPP steady-state and transient
conditions, which would help fulfill the President's Commission
recommendations. If another severe accident were to occur in the United
States, NPP operators would not know what the in-core temperatures were
during the progression of the accident.'' The petitioner continues by
stating that ``[i]n a severe accident, core-exit thermocouples would be
the primary
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tool that was used to detect inadequate core cooling and core
uncover.'' The petitioner states ``[t]he problem with using a
predetermined core-exit temperature measurement to signal the time for
NPP operators to transition from EOPs [Emergency Operating Procedures]
to implementing SAMGs [Severe Accident Management Guidelines] is that
experimental data indicates that core-exit temperature (``CET'')
measurements have significant limitations: (1) `[t]he use of the CET
measurements has limitations in detecting inadequate core cooling and
core uncovery;' (2) `[t]he CET indication displays in all cases a
significant delay (up to several 100 [seconds]);' and (3) `[t]he CET
reading is always significantly lower (up to several 100 [Kelvin]) than
the actual maximum cladding temperature.' '' \1\ The petitioner
continues by asserting that ``despite the fact that `the nuclear
industry developed SAMGs during the 1980s and 1990s in response to the
[Three Mile Island] accident and followup activities,' which `included
extensive research and study (including several [probabilistic risk
assessments]) on severe accidents and severe accident phenomena,' \2\
NRC and the nuclear industry have ignored experimental data indicating
that CET measurements have significant limitations. And ignored the
President's Commission recommendations that NPPs have `instruments that
can provide proper warning and diagnostic information; for example, the
measurement of the full range of temperatures within the reactor vessel
under normal and abnormal conditions.' '' \3\
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\1\ Robert Prior, et al., OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Committee
on the Safety of Nuclear Installations, ``Core Exit Temperature
(CET) Effectiveness in Accident Management of Nuclear Power
Reactor,'' NEA/CSNI/R(2010)9, November 26 2010, p. 128.
\2\ Charles Miller, et al., NRC, ``Recommendations for Enhancing
Reactor Safety in the 21st Century: The Near-Term Task Force Review
of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident,'' SECY-11-0093,
July 12, 2011, available at: www.nrc.gov, NRC Library, ADAMS
Documents, Accession Number: ML 111861807, p. 47.
\3\ John G. Kemeny, et al., ``Report of the President's
Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island: The Need for
Change: The Legacy of TMI,'' p. 72.
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The petitioner cites the NRC's July 2011 ``Recommendations for
Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st Century: The Near-Term Task Force
Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident,'' by stating
that ```EOPs typically cover accidents to the point of loss of core
cooling and initiation of inadequate core cooling (e.g., core exit
temperatures in PWRs greater than 649 degrees Celsius (1200 degrees
Fahrenheit)).' '' \4\ The petitioner continues by stating
``[u]nfortunately, NRC and Westinghouse do not consider that
experimental data from tests conducted at four facilities indicates
that CET measurements would not be an adequate indicator for when to
transition from EOPs to implementing SAMGs in a severe accident.''
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\4\ Charles Miller, et al., ``Recommendations for Enhancing
Reactor Safety in the 21st Century: The Near-Term Task Force Review
of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident,'' p. 47.
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The petitioner cites findings of experiments, including a LOFT LP-
FP-2 experiment, and states that ``[t]he results of LOFT LP-FP-2 and
other experiments demonstrate the need for NPPs to operate with in-core
thermocouples at different elevations and radial positions throughout
the reactor core to enable NPP operators to accurately measure a large
range of in-core temperatures in NPP steady-state and transient
conditions.''
The petition states that the ``[p]etitioner is submitting this 10
CFR 2.802 petition because if NPPs were to operate with in-core
thermocouples at different elevations and radial positions throughout
the reactor core to enable NPP operators to accurately measure a large
range of in-core temperatures in NPP steady-state and transient
conditions, it would help improve public and plant-worker safety. In
the event of a severe accident, in-core thermocouples would enable NPP
operators to accurately measure in-core temperatures, providing crucial
information to help operators manage the accident; for example,
indicating the time to transition from EOPs to implementing SAMGs.''
The petitioner also asserts that ``[i]f implemented, the regulation
proposed in this petition for rulemaking would help improve public and
plant-worker safety.''
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of May 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-12475 Filed 5-22-12; 8:45 am]
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