[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14583-14584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05382]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0112]


Fuel Qualification for Advanced Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: NUREG; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing NUREG-
2246, ``Fuel Qualification for Advanced Reactors.'' The purpose of this 
NUREG report is to provide a fuel qualification assessment framework 
for use by applicants for proposed advanced reactors using fuel designs 
and operating environments that differ from traditional light water 
reactor fuel. Specifically, the framework provides objective criteria, 
derived from regulatory requirements, that when satisfied, would 
support regulatory findings for licensing.

DATES: NUREG-2246, Revision 0 is available on March 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0112 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0112. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. NUREG-2246, ``Fuel Qualification for 
Advanced Reactors,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML22063A131.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Drzewiecki, telephone: 301-
415-5184, email: [email protected] and Jordan Hoellman, 
telephone: 301-415-5481, email: [email protected]. Both are 
staff of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    Proposed advanced reactor technologies use fuel designs and 
operating environments (e.g., neutron energy spectra, fuel 
temperatures, neighboring materials) that differ from those described 
in previous NRC guidance and frameworks applicable to traditional 
light-water reactor fuel. As such, the purpose of this report is to 
identify criteria that will be useful for advanced reactor fuel designs 
through an assessment framework that would support regulatory findings 
associated with nuclear fuel qualification. The report begins by 
examining the regulatory basis and related guidance applicable to fuel 
qualification, noting that the role of nuclear fuel in the protection 
against the release of radioactivity for a nuclear facility depends 
heavily on the reactor design. The report considers the use of 
accelerated fuel qualification techniques and lead test specimen 
programs that may shorten the timeline for qualifying fuel for use in a 
nuclear reactor at the desired parameters (e.g., burnup). The 
assessment framework particularly emphasizes the identification of key 
fuel manufacturing parameters, the specification of a fuel performance 
envelope to inform testing requirements, the use of evaluation models 
in the fuel qualification process, and the assessment of the 
experimental data used to develop and validate evaluation models and 
empirical safety criteria.

II. Additional Information

    Draft NUREG-2246, Revision 0, was published in the Federal Register 
for public comment on June 30, 2021 (86 FR 34794) with a 60-day comment 
period. The NRC received three public comments from private citizens 
and industry organizations. The NRC staff's evaluation and resolution 
of the public comments are documented in Appendix B to NUREG-2246 in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22063A131.

III. Congressional Review Act

    NUREG-2246, Revision 0, is a rule as defined in the Congressional 
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and 
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the 
Congressional Review Act.

    Dated: March 9, 2022.


[[Page 14584]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven T. Lynch,
Acting Chief, Advanced Reactor Policy Branch, Division of Advanced 
Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-05382 Filed 3-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P