Press Release-11-158, NRC to Release Preliminary Evaluations of Rulemaking Request Regarding Emergency Core Cooling Requirements
| ML11237A083 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/25/2011 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-11-158 | |
| Download: ML11237A083 (1) | |
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NRC TO RELEASE PRELIMINARY EVALUATIONS OF RULEMAKING REQUEST REGARDING EMERGENCY CORE COOLING REQUIREMENTS To increase transparency and meet public interest, the NRC will soon begin posting preliminary conclusions and other material related to a petition about NRC regulations for reactor core emergency cooling systems.
In the course of reviewing Petition for Rulemaking (PRM)-50-93/95 and releasing its preliminary findings, the NRC is departing from its usual petition review process. We are doing so because of the complexity of the issues raised in the petition, the length of the anticipated review period and the goal of providing a more transparent review process.
The petition claims that calculations required by NRC regulations underestimate cladding oxidation, hydrogen production, and heat generation from the zirconium-water reaction during loss-of-coolant accidents. The NRCs initial assessment of the petition concluded that there are no immediate safety concerns.
However, to properly address the petitioners detailed concerns, the agency must carefully review and re-consider more than 200 different technical citations related to experiments performed over the last 40 years. As the petition review completes its examinations of the experiments, the NRC will release its preliminary conclusions to inform the public about the reviews progress. The agencys final decision regarding PRM-50-93/95 will not be issued until after the NRC Commissioners have considered all staff recommendations and evaluations.
These periodic preliminary evaluations and other documents related to (PRM 50-93/95) will be available at regulations.gov by searching on NRC-2009-0554 and on the NRC website. A message via Twitter will also be sent notifying the public whenever new information is posted relative to this petition. Go to www.twitter.com/NRCgov to follow the NRC and receive these messages.
News releases are available through a free listserv subscription or by clicking on the EMAIL UPDATES link on the NRC homepage (www.nrc.gov). E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's website. For the latest news, follow the NRC on www.twitter.com/NRCgov.
NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No.11-158 August 25, 2011