Information Notice 2009-31, Non-Power Reactor Licensee Notifications to NRC during an Incident
| ML092680467 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/10/2009 |
| Revision: | 0 |
| From: | McGinty T J Division of Policy and Rulemaking |
| To: | |
| Reed B, 415-2130, nrr/dpr/prta | |
| References | |
| IN-09-031 | |
| Download: ML092680467 (4) | |
ML092680467 December 10, 2009 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2009-31: NONPOWER REACTOR LICENSEE NOTIFICATIONS TO THE NRC DURING AN INCIDENT
ADDRESSEES
All holders of operating licenses for nonpower (research or test) reactors under the provisions of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, "Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities."
PURPOSE
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to distribute lessons learned from a recent emergency declaration at a nonpower reactor regarding the appropriate NRC office to contact and the types of information that the NRC may request from licensees at that tim Recipients should review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriat The suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is require DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES On June 11, 2008, a tornado damaged the building housing the Kansas State University research reactor, prompting the licensee to declare an Aler The licensee appropriately notified the Operations Officer at the NRC Headquarters Operations Center by telephon However, in subsequent conversations with other nonpower licensees, it became apparent that not all licensees knew to call the NRC Headquarters Operations Center and not the respective region or project manager during an inciden DISCUSSION Licensees' emergency plans describe several emergency situations covering a spectrum of emergency conditions that require the notification of the NR In addition, Appendix G of 10 CFR Part 73 requires licensees to contact the NRC for safeguard event It is requested that licensees refer to Appendix D of 10 CFR Part 20, "Standards for Protection Against Radiation" for information on how to contact the NRC during an inciden Appendix D of 10 CFR Part 20 consists of a table with the first column "Region," under which is a separate row for Region I, Region II, Region III, and Region IV, as well as a separate row for
"NRC Headquarters Operations Center." The NRC staff requests that nonpower reactor licensees make notifications by telephoning the NRC Headquarters Operations Center because (1) although nonpower reactors are located throughout the country and in all four NRC Regions, all inspections, licensing, and operating licensing programs are centralized at NRC Headquarters and (2) the NRC Headquarters Operations Center has equivalent capabilities for contacting the Administrator any time day or nigh Table 1 lists the basic information that the NRC Headquarters Operations Officer may request from the licensee during the initial emergency notification cal Table 1 Information Given during the Initial Emergency Notification Call Emergency classification Description of what occurred Safety status of the facility and reactor Status of security posture Status of event, any possibility of the event degrading Response efforts Contact information of facility personnel who will maintain communications with the NRC Table 2 lists some questions the NRC is likely to as Table 2 Topics the NRC Is Likely To Discuss with the Licensee What are the licensee's current top priorities for the facility? Are there significant uncertainties about any aspect of the event (e.g., is the situation improving or degrading)? Does the licensee need help from the NRC or other Federal agencies? Is the licensee having any communication or staffing problems?
The licensee's primary responsibilities during an event are to mitigate the accident, secure the facility, classify the event, and make notification Meeting these primary responsibilities takes precedence over discussing the event with the NR If taking time to talk to the NRC would interfere with its primary responsibilities, the NRC expects the licensee's designated manager to direct a subordinate to take the cal If this is not feasible, the NRC will inform the licensee when the NRC Executive Team Director would like to speak with the licensee's designated representativ IN 2009-31