[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65417-65419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26375]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0261]


Compliance With Information Request, Flooding Hazard Reevaluation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate guidance; 
request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing draft Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate Interim 
Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-06, ``Guidance for Performing a 
Tsunami, Surge, or Seiche Hazard Assessment.'' This draft JLD-ISG 
provides guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor 
applicants and licensees with performing a flooding hazard reanalysis 
in response to enclosure 2 of a March 12, 2012, information request.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than November 26, 2012. Comments 
received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do 
so, but the NRC staff is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-
0261. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0261. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.

[[Page 65418]]

     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    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: Mr. G. Edward Miller, Japan Lessons-
Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-2481; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0261 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0261.
     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 ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The draft JLD-ISG-2012-06 is available under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12271A036.
     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.
     NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Web Site: JLD-ISG documents 
are also available online under the ``Japan Lessons Learned'' heading 
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/#int.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0261 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 entering 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. Background Information

    The NRC staff developed draft JLD-ISG-2012-06 to provide guidance 
and clarification to assist nuclear power licensees and holders of 
construction permits in active or deferred status with the performance 
of an integrated assessment. This ISG is being issued in draft form for 
public comment to involve the public in development of the 
implementation guidance.
    On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast 
of the Japanese island of Honshu. The earthquake resulted in a large 
tsunami, estimated to have exceeded 14 meters (45 feet) in height that 
inundated the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant site. The 
earthquake and tsunami produced widespread devastation across 
northeastern Japan and significantly affected the infrastructure and 
industry in the northeastern coastal areas of Japan. When the 
earthquake occurred, Fukushima Dai-ichi Units 1, 2, and 3, were in 
operation and Units 4, 5, and 6, were shut down for routine refueling 
and maintenance activities. The Unit 4 reactor fuel was offloaded to 
the Unit 4 spent fuel pool (SFP). Following the earthquake, the three 
operating units automatically shut down and offsite power was lost to 
the entire facility. The emergency diesel generators started at all six 
units providing alternating current (ac) electrical power to critical 
systems at each unit. The facility response to the earthquake appears 
to have been normal. Approximately 40 minutes following the earthquake 
and shutdown of the operating units, however, the first large tsunami 
wave inundated the site, followed by additional waves. The tsunami 
caused extensive damage to site facilities and resulted in a complete 
loss of all ac electrical power at Units 1 through 5, a condition known 
as station blackout. In addition, all direct current electrical power 
was lost early in the event on Units 1 and 2 and after some period of 
time at the other units. Unit 6 retained the function of one air-cooled 
EDG; Despite their actions, the operators lost the ability to cool the 
fuel in the Unit 1 reactor after several hours, in the Unit 2 reactor 
after about 70 hours, and in the Unit 3 reactor after about 36 hours, 
resulting in damage to the nuclear fuel shortly after the loss of 
cooling capabilities.
    Following the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, 
the NRC established a senior-level agency task force referred to as the 
Near-Term Task Force (NTTF). The NTTF was tasked with conducting a 
systematic and methodical review of the NRC's regulations and 
processes, and determining if the agency should make additional 
improvements to these programs in light of the events at Fukushima Dai-
ichi. As a result of this review, the NTTF developed a comprehensive 
set of recommendations, documented in SECY-11-0093, ``Near-Term Report 
and Recommendations for Agency Actions Following the Events in Japan,'' 
dated July 12, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML11186A950). These 
recommendations were enhanced by the NRC staff following interactions 
with stakeholders. Documentation of the staff's efforts is contained in 
SECY-11-0124, ``Recommended Actions to be Taken Without Delay from the 
Near-Term Task Force Report,'' dated September 9, 2011 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML11245A158) and SECY-11-0137, ``Prioritization of Recommended 
Actions to be Taken in Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned,'' dated 
October 3, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML11272A111).
    As directed by the Commission's Staff Requirement Memorandum (SRM) 
for SECY-11-0093 (ADAMS Accession No. ML112310021), the NRC staff 
reviewed the NTTF recommendations within the context of the NRC's 
existing regulatory framework and considered the various regulatory 
vehicles available to the NRC to implement the recommendations. SECY-
11-0124 and SECY-11-0137 established the staff's prioritization of the 
recommendations based upon the potential for each recommendation to 
enhance safety.
    As part of the SRM for SECY-11-0124, dated October 18, 2011, the

[[Page 65419]]

Commission approved the staff's proposed actions, including the 
development of three information requests under 10 CFR 50.54(f). The 
information collected would be used to support the NRC staff's 
evaluation of whether further regulatory action was needed in the areas 
of seismic and flooding design, and emergency preparedness.
    In addition to Commission direction, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, Public Law 112-074, was signed into law on December 
23, 2011. Section 402 of the law directs the NRC to require licensees 
to reevaluate their design basis for external hazards.
    In response to the aforementioned Commission and Congressional 
direction, the NRC issued a request for information to all power 
reactor licensees and holders of construction permits under 10 CFR part 
50 on March 12, 2012. The March 12, 2012, letter includes a request 
that licensees reevaluate flooding hazards at nuclear power plant sites 
using updated flooding hazard information and present day regulatory 
guidance and methodologies. The letter also requests the comparison of 
the reevaluated hazard to the current design basis at the site for each 
potential flood mechanism. If the reevaluated flood hazard at a site is 
not bounded by the current design basis, licensees are requested to 
perform an Integrated Assessment. The Integrated Assessment will 
evaluate the total plant response to the flood hazard, considering 
multiple and diverse capabilities such as physical barriers, temporary 
protective measures, and operational procedures. The NRC staff will 
review the licensees' responses to this request for information and 
determine whether regulatory actions are necessary to provide 
additional protection against flooding.

Proposed Action

    By this action, the NRC is requesting public comments on draft JLD-
ISG-2012-06. This draft JLD-ISG provides guidance and clarification to 
assist nuclear power reactors applicants and licensees with performing 
a flooding hazard reanalysis in response to enclosure 2 of the 
information request. The NRC staff will make a final determination 
regarding issuance of the JLD-ISG after it considers any public 
comments received in response to this request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of October 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Skeen,
Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-26375 Filed 10-25-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P