ML17255A018
| ML17255A018 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/07/2017 |
| From: | Jennifer Whitman NRC/NRR/DSS/SNPB |
| To: | Nuclear Energy Institute |
| Golla J, NRR/DPR, 301-415-1002 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML17255A018 (12) | |
Text
US NRCs ATF Plan Josh Whitman US NRC ATF Working Group Technical Lead NRC Public Meeting on ATF 9/7/17
- Areas covered by NRCs ATF project plan
- Assumptions
- Open items
- Activities
- Importance of early communication
- Conclusions and next steps 2
- Outlines activities associated with preparing the agency to conduct an effective and efficient review of ATF
- Includes preliminary estimates of lead time necessary to complete activities in each area
- Focused on activities expected from 2017-2022
- Is intended to be a living document 3
- NRC will not perform independent confirmatory testing
- Data will be available from DOE, industry, and others
- All integral fuel behavior data to be provided to NRC to perform code assessments
- in real time
- in advance of experiments when possible
- Interactions with external stakeholders will keep staff and stakeholders informed about developments that can affect activities in the plan
- The NRC will be appropriately resourced to execute the activities in the plan 4
- Identify whether (and what) regulatory guidance needs to be generated to accommodate licensing ATF designs under current framework
- Establish channels of communication to ensure NRC receives up-to-date information
- Determine appropriate vehicles for industry to notify NRC of intent to initiate activities
- Identify any necessary changes to existing regulatory framework
- Example: PRA and 50.69 licensing approaches 5
- Plan identifies key technical domestic and international update meetings, experimental program review meetings, and conferences
- NRC staff is committed to participating in industry project update meetings to maintain programmatic awareness of industry and DOE efforts 6
- More effort needed for revolutionary designs than for evolutionary designs
- Staff recognizes that there are potentially two types of alterations needed:
- Adjustments to allow the use of ATF (e.g.,
regulatory guidance, changes to 50.68 to allow
>5% enrichment)
- Crediting the safety enhancements obtained by using ATF (e.g., the application of 50.69) 7
- Fresh and spent fuel transportation
- Existing regulations and regulatory guidance are considered to be adequate for processing limited transportation requests for LTAs
- Shipment of irradiated LTAs for PIE may require further interaction
- Fuel fabrication
- Evolutionary design fabrication facility licensing can likely take place using existing regulatory processes
- Scoping study necessary for revolutionary designs 8
- More information needed from industry to create a meaningful plan
- How does industry intend to credit ATF?
- When does industry expect to engage with the NRC in this area?
9
- Disciplines include thermal-hydraulics, fuel performance, neutronics and source term analysis
- For each code, estimates consider the need for:
- A scoping study to identify code development needs
- Code architecture modifications (e.g. to remove Zr/UO2 hard wired properties and assumptions)
- Model development
- Model validation
- Integral assessment
- Lead time is longer for revolutionary designs than for more evolutionary designs 10
- Many of the activities in the plan have long lead times
- Advance awareness of plans and progress benefit budget formulation processes 11
- NRC staff will continue to attend meetings to remain informed on ATF progress
- Experimental data is a prerequisite for most work to prepare confirmatory codes
- Vehicles for initiating activities need to be firmed up
- Staff are prepared to participate in PIRT panels and other gap analysis exercises as they are organized by industry 12