ML14002A027
| ML14002A027 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Limerick  |
| Issue date: | 12/31/2013 |
| From: | Fred Bower Reactor Projects Region 1 Branch 4 |
| To: | Cuthbert D Alliance For A Clean Environment |
| BOWER, FL | |
| References | |
| EDATS 2013-0370 | |
| Download: ML14002A027 (27) | |
Text
High Burnup Spent Fuel Nuclear fuel is removed from a reactor every few years when it can no longer economically sustain a chain reaction. This spent fuel remains radioactive and must be managed. Initially, it goes into a pool onsite for cooling and storage. Some utilities are moving their spent fuel after it has cooled for several years in the pool into NRC-certified dry storage casks. These casks are specially designed to contain the radioactivity and allow hot spent fuel to cool further.
What is burnup?
Burnup is a way to measure the uranium burned in the reactor. It is expressed in gigawatt-days per metric ton of uranium (GWd/MTU). Burnup depends on how long the fuel is in the core and the power level it reaches. The burnup level affects the fuels temperature, radioactivity and physical makeup.
In a reactor, uranium fuel fissionssplits apart and releases energyand the metal cladding that encases the fuel reacts with cooling water. This reaction forms oxide on the outside (similar to rust) and releases hydrogen. These processes begin slowly then start to accelerate as the fuel reaches burnup of 45 GWd/MTU. Anything above this level is considered high burnup.
Over time, burnup has increased, allowing utilities to get more power out of their fuel before replacing it. Average burnup, around 35 GWd/MTU two decades ago, is over 45 GWd/MTU today.
How hot and radioactive spent fuel is depends on burnup, the fuels initial makeup and conditions in the core. All these factors must be taken into account in designing dry storage and transport systems for spent fuel.
Is it safe to store and transport high burnup fuel?
To be certified by the NRC, dry cask designs must meet transportation requirements in 10 CFR Part 71 or storage requirements in 10 CFR Part 72. The NRC approves designs only after a full safety review.
Based on these reviews, the NRC has certified numerous cask designs for spent fuel storage and transportation. Operating experience since dry storage began in 1986 and short-term tests show both low and high burnup spent fuel can be stored and transported safely.
More casks are available for low than for high burnup spent fuel. Because it has been used longer, there is a great deal more data on low burnup fuel. There is enough data on high burnup fuel that the NRC has been able to certify some high burnup spent fuel storage casks for an initial term of 20 or 40 years. Some systems have also been approved for transporting high burnup spent fuel.
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Page l 2 Why does burnup matter?
Burnup is important to the NRCs review of spent fuel cask designs because each system has limits on temperature and radioactivity. When the cask is being dried, pressure increases inside and the fuel heats up. This may cause the cladding to become more brittle when it cools. These changes depend on burnup and the type of cladding, and need to be accounted for in high burnup spent fuel systems. A great deal of work has been done to understand the conditions that make different types of fuel cladding more brittle.
Testing continues on high burnup spent fuel and the set of available data is growing. Cask designers use the results to redesign their casks for higher burnups and additional fuel types. As more data becomes available, the NRC expects to be able to certify more casks. Cask designers also need this data to demonstrate the long-term safety of their systems so they can continue storing spent fuel beyond the initial license term.
How does the NRC make sure it remains safe?
The NRC assures safety by requiring many layers of protection. Casks provide several layers and the fuel cladding itself is an important layer. The regulations are designed to ensure the casks will hold up and the cladding will not break during storage or in a transport accident. The NRC carefully reviews each cask application to see if it meets the requirements. As part of this review, the NRC does its own analysis to confirm information in the application.
The NRC also does inspections before and during loading of dry casks to ensure the correct fuel goes into the right storage systems. Fuel with burnup higher than the NRC certificate allows cannot be loaded. It must remain in pool storage until a cask approved for higher burnup becomes available. The NRC also inspects loaded casks every few years.
What confirmatory research is being done?
Testing has provided a lot of information on how different types of cladding on spent fuel will behave, and this work continues. Planning has begun for an important new study, run jointly by the nuclear industry and the Department of Energy, with regulatory oversight by the NRC. In this study, high burnup spent fuel will be loaded into a cask fitted with instruments to provide temperature readings and allow gas sampling. Those readings, combined with tests on the fuel assemblies and inspection of the casks interior after years of dry storage, will provide a much better understanding of what happens to high burnup spent fuel in a storage cask as it cools over time.
Work is underway to create better models to determine how much cladding actually may become brittle and the impact of vibration during transport. The NRC is also monitoring work going on internationally.
All this work will help cask designers, users and regulators better understand how to ensure high burnup spent fuel will remain safe in long-term dry storage and during transportation to a centralized storage or disposal facility.
December 2013
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process
1 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process Introduction....................................................................................................... 2 Rulemakings...................................................................................................... 3 Licensing........................................................................................................... 4 Decommissioning and License Renewal.......................................................... 5 High-Level Waste.............................................................................................. 6 Environmental Impacts..................................................................................... 7 Petitions............................................................................................................. 8 Reporting Safety Concerns............................................................................... 9 Enforcement...................................................................................................... 9 Public Meetings............................................................................................... 10 Freedom of Information Act Requests............................................................ 12 General Correspondence................................................................................. 12 For Additional Information............................................................................. 12 Table of Contents
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 2
Introduction Public involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions activi-ties is a cornerstone of strong, fair regulation of the nuclear industry.
The NRC recognizes the publics interest in the proper regulation of nuclear activities and provides op-portunities for citizens to make their opinions known. The NRC seeks to elicit public involvement early in the regulatory process so that safety concerns that may af-fect a community can be resolved in a timely and practical manner.
This process is considered vital to assuring the public that the NRC is making sound, balanced deci-sions about nuclear safety.
This booklet briefly de-scribes various ways you can learn about and par-ticipate in the NRCs regulatory process.
Anyone may provide comments or voice concerns at critical junctures in the devel-opment of safety rules, including decisions about (1) where to locate and whether to license a nuclear facility, (2) ongoing issues about a facilitys operation or termina-tion, and (3) a facilitys impact on the environment.
Notices of opportunities for in-volvement are published in the Federal Register, and sometimes on the Internet. The Federal Reg-ister is a daily publication announc-ing rules, policies, and other important actions of the Federal Government.
Copies are available at many local libraries, at the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) in Rockville, Marlyland, and on the internet. For major actions, the NRC issues press releases, which reach the public through local newspaper articles, mailings, and the Internet.
3 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process The rulemaking process is de-scribed in detail in the Com-missions regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations in Part H, Section 2.802.
All rulemakings provide the pub-lic with at least one opportunity for comments. Often, there are sev-eral opportunities. In some cases, NRC holds meetings and work-shops before a proposed rule is drafted. This way, members of the public can express their concerns early in the process and identify important issues to be covered in the rule. Sometimes, the NRC may publish an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Fed-eral Register to obtain public com-ments and provide clarification of certain issues before developing a proposed rule.
When a proposed rule is devel-oped, it is published in the Fed-eral Register for public comment.
The notice identifies an NRC con-tact who can reply to questions and provides an address for sending comments. The agency may hold meetings and workshops to dis-cuss the proposed rule, explain its purpose and background, and re-ceive further comments. These meetings are normally announced Rulemakings One of the primary duties of the NRC is to establish regulations on the safe use of nuclear materials.
These regulations address such is-sues as siting, design, construction, operation, and ultimate shutdown of nuclear power plants, uranium mills, fuel facilities, waste reposi-tories, and transportation systems.
NRC regulations also address other uses of nuclear materials, such as nuclear medicine programs at hospitals, academic activities, research work, industrial applica-tions such as the use of gauges and testing equipment, and the import and export of nuclear materials and technologies. The process of de-veloping these regulations is called rulemaking. A regulation is sometimes referred to as a rule.
Rulemaking is initiated mostly by NRCs technical staff, although any member of the public may pe-tition the NRC to develop, change, or rescind any regulation. Petitions should be addressed to:
The Secretary U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C., 20555-0001.
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 4
in the Federal Register. Com-ments are factored into the final rule, which, like the proposed rule, is again published in the Federal Register. The NRC issues press releases for rules that have strong public interest. In addition, an electronic bulletin board is avail-able which provides the status of all rulemakings in progress. This interactive Ruleworking Forum is located at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov on the Internet.
Policy statements, Commission guidance, and generic communi-cations with licensees that have significant public interest are often handled like a rulemak-ing, offering an opportunity for public comment.
Licensing Before a company can propose to site, construct, or operate a nuclear power plant or any other nuclear-related facility or to engage in the use of radioactive materials, it must apply to NRC for a license.
The licensing process includes approval of the initial license, amendments, license renewals, and applications for exemptions from NRC regulations.
As part of the prelicensing process, the public is notified through the Federal Register, press releases, and local advertisements that an application has been received. No-tices regarding opportunities for hearings or public comment on all licensing actions, including amendments to a facilitys operat-ing license, or license renewal pro-ceedings, are published in the Fed-eral Register. For nuclear power plants, individuals who are directly affected by the proceeding may participate in a formal hearing. However, for materials li-censes and fuel cycle facilities, most hearings are informal.
5 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process utilities may decide instead to re-quest an extension of their licenses to continue to produce electricity up to 20 years past the original li-cense under the NRC plant license renewal rule. In either case, the public has an opportunity to par-ticipate in NRCs decisionmaking process to either renew a license or decommission a facility.
This process is also used in licens-ing and decommissioning nuclear materials facilities, such as those handling low-level radioactive waste. When facilities stop oper-ating, the owners must initiate de-commissioning to remove or re-If local interest is strong, the NRC may decide to hold public meetings in the vicinity of a pro-posed facility. Notices of local meetings may be mailed to citi-zens groups and civic and gov-ernment leaders in the commu-nity and may be advertised in lo-cal newspapers.
Decommissioning and License Renewal When a nuclear power plant approaches the end of its initial 40-year operating license period, the utility that operates it may choose to decommission the plant and terminate its license. Other
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 6
duce radioactive contamination that might have occurred at the site during operation. The NRC has developed a list of sites in the United States that warrant special oversight because of unique de-commissioning issues.
The public may become involved in the decommissioning process for these sites during the development of an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). These terms are described in more detail below. The NRC also provides opportunities for public involvement through roundtable meetings. They are con-vened when the NRC believes that enhanced public involvement will contribute to the success of the de-commissioning process. The NRC conducts roundtable meetings in the vicinity of the site to enable the public to collect information, to comment on and question the de-commissioning actions at the site, and to discuss decommissioning is-sues among stakeholders. The roundtable format includes repre-sentatives of Federal and State agencies, interest groups, and the community. Meetings are usually announced in local newspapers or on local radio stations.
High-Level Waste The projected licensing of a high-level waste (HLW) repository is a first-time endeavor for NRC, and one in which public participation started well before an actual license application. All meetings regard-ing the HLW program are open to the public and noticed in the Fed-eral Register. Up-to-date informa-tion on future meetings and other important activities regarding the HLW program can be obtained on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov.
Nuclear power plants can store spent nuclear fuel in independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) on the premises of the plant under either a specific or a general license from the NRC.
Applications for a specific license would be handled the same as other licensing actionswith full notice and participation by the affected community on use of storage con-tainers at the facility. Under the terms of an NRC general license, any nuclear power reactor licensee can use a pre-approved storage cask if the company notifies the NRC in advance, meets the condi-tions of the casks NRC certificate of compliance, and complies with the NRCs regulations. Before
7 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process approving a cask design for use un-der a general license, the NRC publishes a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Regis-ter for public comment and issues a press release.
Environmental Impacts When the NRC reviews a proposal to build a major new facility or considers any other action that might have a significant impact on the environment, an Environmen-tal Impact Statement (EIS) must be developed by the NRC staff. The concept of an EIS originated in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires Federal evaluation of a proposed facilitys impact on the environment. This is a detailed, scientific study describing the environmental ef-fects of the proposed action or fa-cility. For example, the EIS in-cludes information on the physi-cal characteristics of the area geology, water, and airthe ability of transportation sys-tems to support the facility, and local population informa-tion.
An Environmental Assessment (EA) is usually prepared and pub-lished in the Federal Register as a precursor to an EIS. An EA is a brief discussion of the need for the proposed action, along with a list of the agencies and experts con-sulted. If the EA indicates the pro-posed action or facility will not have a significant effect on the en-vironment, no EIS is required.
Scoping meetings provide a fo-rum for members of the public to express their opinion and provide information in preparation for environmental evaluations.
These meetings are often held to help NRC identify issues to be addressed in an EIS and typi-cally involve State and lo-cal agencies, Indian tribes,
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 8
take other appropriate enforcement action to resolve a problem identi-fied by a 2.206 petition.
Once a petition is accepted for re-view, and throughout the petition process, the petitioner is informed of progress, given copies of all rel-evant correspondence, and may be offered an informal public hearing, if appropriate. An informal public hearing is offered when the peti-tion presents new information that raises a significant safety issue or alleges a violation of NRC require-ments involving a significant safety issue for which new infor-mation or a new approach is pro-vided. The NRC publishes a no-tice in the Federal Register when it receives a 2.206 petition and again 30 days in advance of an in-formal public hearing.
Electronic information on petitions is available at http://
www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/
r e g u l a t o r y / e n f o r c e m e n t /
petition.html. More detailed in-formation on this process is con-tained in a pamphlet entitled Public Petition Process, NUREG/BR-0200, which is available from the Government Printing Office and NRCs Office of Public Affairs.
or other interested people who request participation.
For example, while the NRC was developing its decommissioning rule, the agency conducted four scoping meetings around the coun-try to gather public comments re-garding the EIS and the clean-up criteria for the decontamination and decommissioning of NRC-licensed facilities.
Petitions Any member of the public may raise potential health and safety issues in a petition to the NRC to take specific enforcement action regarding a licensed, operating fa-cility. This provision is contained in Subpart B, Section 2.206 of the NRCs regulations and is often re-ferred to as a 2.206 petition. In general, the petition is submitted in writing to the Executive Direc-tor for Operations and includes specific facts supporting the re-quest for the NRC to take enforce-ment action. Unsupported asser-tions of safety problems or general opposition to nuclear power are not considered sufficient grounds for action. If warranted, the NRC could take action to modify, sus-pend, or revoke a license, or could
9 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process Reporting Safety Concerns Often workers at nuclear power plants or members of the public raise concerns that safety rules are not being followed at the facilities where they work or near where they live. The NRC has estab-lished a formal process for review-ing and resolving these concerns.
The NRC encourages workers in the nuclear industry to take their concerns directly to their employer because he or she has the primary responsibility for maintaining safe operations. However, should em-ployees not be satisfied by com-pany response or choose to bring safety concerns directly to the NRC, they may do so by calling NRCs toll-free safety hotline, 1-800-695-7403. Any member of the public may voice safety con-cerns in this same manner. Addi-tional information on reporting safety concerns is found in Reporting Safety Concerns to the NRC, NUREG/BR-0240, from NRCs Office of Public Affairs.
Enforcement The NRCs enforcement program seeks to protect public health and safety by ensuring that licensees comply with regulations and license conditions. Enforcement actions might take the form of no-tices of violations, civil penalties, or orders to modify, suspend, or revoke licenses. Predecisional enforcement conferences are often held with a licensee, a vendor, or other person before the NRC
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 10 makes its final decision on a sig-nificant enforcement action. In most cases, these conferences are open to public observation. The NRC issues press releases an-nouncing all open enforcement conferences, as it does with pub-lic meetings (see the following sec-tion, Public Meetings). In addi-tion, summaries of all enforcement conferences, NRC actions, and lic-ensee responses are available in the NRCs Public Document Room.
Public Meetings The public can keep abreast of NRCs regulatory activities through a variety of open meetings dealing with significant safety is-sues. These include most techni-cal meetings with licensees and meetings with trade organizations and public interest groups. Often, the NRC staff meets with licens-ees to discuss their safety perfor-mance. These meetings are open for public observation.
In some cases, meetings are held in the community near a nuclear power plant or other facility to make it easier for the public to par-ticipate. If a community expresses concern over licensing or other actions involving a facility nearby, the NRC may hold public meetings near the site to explain the NRCs role as it relates to the licensees planned activities and to answer questions posed by local citizens.
Public meetings may also be held when a licensee submits a plan to decommission a facility. Other open meetings may be held at one of the NRC regional offices or at
11 Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.
The types of meetings that are not usually open to the public include discussions of classified, propri-etary, or safeguards information; ongoing investigations; privacy in-formation; inspector meetings with licensee management and technical staff on site; or meetings that could pose a significant administrative burden and interfere with NRCs primary safety responsibilities.
Schedules of all NRC meetings are available electronically at http://www.nrc.gov/public-in-volve/public-meetings/meeting-schedule.html.
Weekly lists of staff meet-ings are also posted in the agencys public document room in Rockville, Maryland.
For staff meetings, a listing is available at least 10 calendar days in advance of the date of the meet-ing. Notices for Commission and Advisory Committee meetings are published in the Federal Register.
Persons interested in the activities of a particular committee may call or write the NRC Advisory Committee Management Officer, Office of the Secretary, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-1968.
The agencys policy regarding open meetings is described in more detail in NRCs Management Directive 3.5, Public Attendance at Certain Meetings Involving the NRC Staff (available from the Government Printing Office).
In addition to these mechanisms, the NRC announces major meetings in press releases issued to the news media and mailed to more than 1,000 addressees. Notices are posted in the Public Document
Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process 12 Room and sometimes through ad-vertisements placed in local news-papers several days in advance of a meeting.
Freedom of Information Acts Requests The NRC releases information to the public related to its health and safety mission by placing docu-ments in its Public Document Room. However, under the Free-dom of Information Act (FOIA),
members of the public may request copies of other NRC documents and, unless these records fall under specific Federal exemptions, the NRC will provide access to them within 20 working days after the request is received. Under certain circumstances, fees are charged to cover the cost of locating and copy-ing the requested material.
Freedom of information in-quiries may be addressed to the FOIA/PA officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Wash-ington, D.C. 20555-0001.
General Correspondence At any time, of course, a member of the public can request information in writing or identify concerns about nuclear facilities through regular correspondence. Routine correspon-dence between NRC and its licens-ees is made available in the Public Document Room. General corre-spondence should be addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washing-ton, D.C. 20555-0001.
For Additional Information For more information on pub-lic involvement, contact the NRC Office of Public Affairs by tele-phone at 301-415-8200, or via Internet electronic mail at
<OPA@NRC.GOV>.
For more detailed descriptions of how to obtain information from the NRC, you can order a copy of the latest revision to the Citizens Guide to NRC Information, NUREG/
BR-0010, by writing to the Superinten-dent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC, 20402-0001 or at http://bookstore.gpo.gov/.
NUREG/BR-0215, Rev. 2 October 2004