[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 80 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24439-24441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09796]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0073]


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) is issuing draft 
Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate Interim Staff Guidance (JLD-
ISG), JLD-ISG-2013-01, ``Guidance for Estimating Flooding Hazards due 
to Dam Failure.'' This draft JLD-ISG provides guidance acceptable to 
the NRC staff for reevaluating flooding hazards due to dam failure for 
the purpose of responding to enclosure 2 of a March 12, 2012, 
information request.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than May 28, 2013. 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 submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0073. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     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.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and

[[Page 24440]]

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-2013-0073 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and is publicly available, by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0073.
     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-2013-01 is available under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13057A863.
     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-2013-0073 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-2013-01 to provide guidance 
acceptable to the NRC staff for reevaluating flooding hazards due to 
dam failure for the purpose of responding to enclosure 2 of the March 
12, 2012, Request for Information (ADAMS Accession No. ML12053A340). 
This ISG is being issued in draft form for public comment to involve 
the public in development of this 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. 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 alternating current 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 
Commission approved the staff's proposed actions, including the 
development of three information

[[Page 24441]]

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.
    It should be noted that the NRC requires nuclear power plants to 
protect against very unlikely flooding hazards. This guidance focuses 
on developing potential dam failure scenarios that nuclear power plants 
have to protect against. This guidance should in no way be construed as 
appropriate for designing, regulating, operating, or maintaining a dam. 
Such guidance has been developed by the appropriate responsible agency 
that designs, regulates, operates, or maintains the dam(s) of interest. 
Although this ISG attempts to be consistent with best practices and 
guidance developed by other federal and state agencies, there may be 
differences. In some cases, the differences between this ISG and the 
guidance developed by other agencies may be due to differences in 
regulatory responsibilities.

Proposed Action

    By this action, the NRC is requesting public comments on draft JLD-
ISG-2013-01. This draft JLD-ISG provides guidance acceptable to the NRC 
staff for reevaluating flooding hazards due to dam failure for the 
purpose of responding 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 17th day of April 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Skeen,
Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-09796 Filed 4-24-13; 8:45 am]
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