[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26303-26304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11036]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0048]


Compliance With Phase 2 of Order EA-13-109

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing its 
Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-
ISG-2015-01, ``Compliance with Phase 2 of Order EA-13-109, Order 
Modifying Licenses with Regard to Reliable Hardened Containment Vents 
Capable of Operation under Severe Accident Conditions.'' This ISG 
provides guidance and clarifies the Phase 2 requirements in the order 
to assist the licensees that have Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) with 
Mark I and Mark II Containments in the design and implementation of 
either a vent path from the containment drywell or a strategy that 
makes it unlikely that venting would be needed from the drywell before 
alternate reliable containment heat removal and pressure control is 
reestablished. This ISG also endorses, with clarifications, the 
industry guidance contained in Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 13-02, 
``Industry Guidance for Compliance with Order EA-13-109,'' Revision 1.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0048 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document by 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0048. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 (if it available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The 
JLD-ISG-2015-01 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15104A118. 
The ISG for complying with Phase 1 requirements of the order (JLD-ISG-
2013-02) was issued on November 14, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13304B836). The NEI 13-02, Revision 1 is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML15113B318.
     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/isg/japan-lessons-learned.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rajender Auluck, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1025; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC developed JLD-ISG-2015-01 to provide 
guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor licensees 
with the identification of methods needed to comply with Phase 2 
requirements in Order EA-13-109 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13130A067), 
``Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Reliable Hardened Containment 
Vents Capable of Operation under Severe Accident Conditions.'' This ISG 
is not a substitute for the requirements in Order EA-13-109, and 
compliance with the ISG would not be a requirement.
    The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station 
reinforced the importance of reliable operation of containment vents 
for BWR plants with Mark I and Mark II containments. As part of its 
response to the lessons learned from the accident, on March 12, 2012, 
the NRC issued Order EA-12-050 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12056A043) 
requiring licensees to upgrade or install a reliable hardened 
containment venting system (HCVS) for Mark I and Mark II containments. 
While developing the requirements for Order EA-12-050, the NRC 
acknowledged that questions remained about maintaining containment 
integrity and limiting the release of radioactive materials if 
licensees used the venting systems during severe accident conditions.
    The NRC staff on November 26, 2012, presented the Commission with 
options to address these issues in SECY-12-0157, ``Consideration of 
Additional Requirements for Containment Venting Systems for Boiling 
Water Reactors with Mark I and Mark II Containments'' (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML12325A704). In the staff requirements memorandum (SRM) for SECY-
12-0157, dated March 19, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13078A017), the 
Commission directed the staff to: (1) Issue a modification to Order EA-
12-050 requiring BWR licensees with Mark I and Mark II containments to 
upgrade or replace the reliable hardened vents required by Order EA-12-
050 with a containment venting system designed and installed to remain 
functional during severe accident conditions, and (2) develop a 
technical basis and rulemaking for filtering strategies with drywell 
filtration and severe accident management of BWR Mark I and II 
containments. The NRC subsequently issued Order EA-13-109 to define 
requirements and schedules for licensees for BWRs with Mark I and Mark 
II containments to install severe accident capable containment venting 
systems.
    In recognition of the relative importance of venting capabilities 
from the wetwell and drywell, a phased approach to implementation is 
being used to minimize delays in implementing the requirements 
originally imposed by Order EA-12-050. Phase 1 involves upgrading the 
venting capabilities from the containment wetwell to provide reliable, 
severe accident capable hardened vents to assist in preventing core 
damage and, if necessary, to provide venting capability during severe 
accident conditions. Phase 2 involves providing additional protection 
during severe accident conditions through installation of a reliable, 
severe accident capable drywell vent system or the development of a 
reliable containment venting strategy that makes it unlikely that a 
licensee would need to vent from the containment drywell during severe 
accident conditions. For implementation of Phase 1 order requirements, 
the NRC issued JLD-ISG-2013-02 on November 14, 2013 (78 FR 70356), 
which endorsed, with exceptions and clarifications, the

[[Page 26304]]

methodologies described in the industry guidance document NEI 13-02, 
Rev. 0, ``Industry Guidance for Compliance with Order EA-13-109'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13316A853). As required by the order, licensees 
submitted their site-specific overall integrated plans (OIPs) by June 
30, 2014. The NRC staff has completed its review of the OIPs and has 
issued interim staff evaluations.
    On March 10, 2015, the NRC staff issued a Federal Register notice 
(80 FR 12649) to request public comments on draft JLD-ISG-2015-01 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15051A143). In response, the NRC received 
comments from SimplyInfo by letter dated March 11, 2015 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML15083A277), and the NEI by letter dated April 9, 2015 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15104A316). Several of these comments have been 
previously submitted to the NRC for staff's consideration. The 
resolution of these comments has been documented and publicly available 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15114A051).
    The focus of this ISG is to provide guidance for implementing Phase 
2 requirements of the order. The Phase 2 portion of Order EA-13-109 
builds on the Phase 1 activities, and is intended to be consistent with 
the expected outcome of the development of a regulatory basis for the 
Containment Protection and Release Reduction (CPRR) rulemaking. 
Specifically, the industry described a containment venting approach 
that includes severe accident water addition (SAWA) and severe accident 
water management (SAWM) strategies that would preserve the use of a 
wetwell vent path, in addition to providing other benefits. Evaluations 
performed in support of the CPRR rulemaking confirmed significant 
benefits to including SAWA as part of a severe accident management 
strategy. Therefore, SAWA will facilitate implementation of Phase 2 of 
Order EA-13-109 by establishing the design conditions for a drywell 
vent and supporting SAWM for licensees choosing to pursue that option 
as a strategy that makes it unlikely that a licensee would need to vent 
from the drywell.
    On April 23, 2015, NEI submitted NEI 13-02, ``Industry Guidance for 
Compliance with Order EA-13-109,'' Rev. 1 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15113B318) to assist nuclear power licensees with the identification 
of measures needed to comply with the Phase 2 requirements of Order EA-
13-109 regarding reliable hardened containment vents capable of 
operation under severe accident conditions. The NEI document includes 
guidance for implementing order requirements for both Phase 1 and Phase 
2, including the industry's proposed approach to use the SAWA and SAWM 
strategies to control the water levels in the suppression pool and 
maintain capabilities to address over-pressure conditions without a 
severe accident drywell vent. This ISG endorses, with clarifications, 
the methodologies described in the industry guidance document NEI 13-
02, Revision 1.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of April 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack R. Davis,
Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-11036 Filed 5-6-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P