[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38755-38756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16547]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2015-0112]
Determining the Effectiveness, Limitations, and Operator Response
for Very Early Warning Fire Detection Systems in Nuclear Facilities
(DELORES-VEWFIRE)
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The NRC is making the proposed draft, NUREG-2180,
``Determining the Effectiveness, Limitations, and Operator Response for
Very Early Warning Fire Detection Systems in Nuclear Facilities
(DELORES-VEWFIRE), Draft Report for Comment,'' available for public
comment.
DATES: Submit comments by September 8, 2015. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received
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-2015-0112. 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.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gabriel Taylor, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0781, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 38756]]
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0112 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0112.
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
proposed draft NUREG-2180, ``Determining the Effectiveness,
Limitations, and Operator Response for Very Early Warning Fire
Detection Systems in Nuclear Facilities (DELORES-VEWFIRE), Draft Report
for Comment,'' is available electronically under ADAMS Accession No.
ML15162A416.
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-2015-0112 in your comment submission.
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 into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
Aspirated smoke detection systems have been available on the
commercial market for more than four decades as an alternative
technology to spot-type smoke detection for detecting products of
combustion. In the United States, several nuclear power plants (NPPs)
have installed these systems as early as the mid-1990s as an
alternative method to conventional fire detection systems with the idea
to provide advanced warning of potential fire threats. Recently, there
has been indication that numerous licensees of NPPs transitioning to a
performance-based fire protection program intend to install these types
of systems configured as very early warning fire detection. In many,
but not all cases, the choice to install these systems is based on the
expectation that these systems may reduce the estimated fire risk in a
fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA).
In 2008, the NRC issued a staff interim position documented in a
National Fire Protection Association Standard 805 Frequently Asked
Question 08-0046, ``Incipient Fire Detection Systems.'' This staff
interim position provides guidance on the use of these systems and the
associated fire PRA quantification for in-cabinet applications. At that
time, there was limited test data and PRA experience available for
those applications and as such a confirmatory research program was
needed. Research was also needed to advance the state of knowledge
related to the performance of these systems. This report documents the
results and findings from the confirmatory research program.
Specific areas of this draft report where comments and additional
relevant information or supporting data are sought include:
1. System availability, including system down time and surveillance
test interval for the aspirated smoke detection systems used in nuclear
and non-nuclear facilities.
2. Time duration between a very early warning fire detection system
``alert'' condition and the commencement of flaming conditions.
Alternatively, the time duration of the incipient stage, from start of
component degradation to flaming conditions. Include a description of
the type of electrical enclosure (e.g., motor control center, relay
rack, control panel, etc.) and voltage level of initiation component)
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of June 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Henry Salley,
Chief, Fire Research Branch, Division of Risk Analysis, Office of
Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-16547 Filed 7-6-15; 8:45 am]
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