26 October 2012
Nuclear Power Plant Flooding Hazard Reevaluation
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65417-65419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing 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: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
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: Ed.Miller@nrc.gov.
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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 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]
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