ML17354A062
| ML17354A062 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 01/03/2018 |
| From: | Alexander Schwab NRC/NRR/DIRS/IRGB |
| To: | Sunil Weerakkody NRC/NRR/DRA |
| Schwab A | |
| Shared Package | |
| ml17354a054 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML17354A062 (4) | |
Text
January 3, 2018 MEMORANDUM TO: Sunil Weerakkody, Chief PRA Operations and Human Factors Branch Division of Risk Assessment Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM: Alexander Schwab, Project Manager /ra/
ROP Support and Generic Communications Branch Division of Inspection and Regional Support Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE DECEMBER 14, 2017, PUBLIC PHONE CALL BETWEEN NRC STAFF AND THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE TO DISCUSS COMMON CAUSE FAILURE On December 14, 2017, a Category 2 public phone call was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and stakeholders. The purpose of the phone call was to discuss the project plan the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) proposed for qualitatively addressing common-cause failure (CCF) with representatives of the industry.
The NRC began the call with an overall summary of their current comments and concerns about the whitepaper NEI had submitted (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession Number ML17349A074) which detailed NEIs proposal for how to qualitatively address CCF. Specifically, the comments included the fact that consideration of qualitative factors may influence the quantified values in positive or negative direction, and that the NRCs development of alpha factors for their CCF calculations captures many of the qualitative factors that were discussed in the whitepaper. The NRC also mentioned that crediting qualitative factors could potentially be non-conservative if it does not take into account certain considerations, such as inter system dependencies.
The Nuclear Energy Institute began the call by stating that their goal with the whitepaper was to save resources, and that they wanted to do this by focusing on qualitative factors, not making adjustments to how the quantitative CCF contribution was calculated. They also mentioned that their desired end product for the whitepaper would most likely be some type of letter to the Division Director of the Division of Risk Assessment.
The NRC then discussed their plan to publish the revision to the CCF NUREG in the near future since it had already been out for public comment. The NRC also mentioned that the revision to the NUREG would include only the quantitative discussions, and that all the qualitative discussions on CCF would remain in the Risk Assessment Standardization Project Handbook.
S. Weerakkody The Nuclear Energy Institute also discussed their desire to work with the joint Pressurized Water Reactor Owners Group and Boiling Water Reactor Owners Group to update the CCF data to reflect the current CCF practices at nuclear power plants. They stated that they planned to attempt to go through all of the old data and characterize it by the end of 2018.
The NRC then discussed how they would like a revised version of the whitepaper addressing the comments already put forth by the NRC before they send it officially to the Regions for comment, so they wouldnt have to ask the Regions for comment more than once. The NRC also discussed the process of how they would be reviewing the whitepaper and subsequent iterations, and committed to getting a schedule together for the review process.
During the meeting the attendees were reminded that although their comments were discussed with the staff, no decisions would be made at the meeting. A list of meeting attendees is enclosed.
Please direct any inquiries to Alexander Schwab, Project Manager, at 301-415-8539, or via e-mail to Alexander.Schwab@nrc.gov.
Enclosure:
List of Attendees
Pkg: ML17354A054; Mtg. Notice: ML17335A588; Mtg. Materials: ML17349A074; Mtg.
Summary: ML17354A062 *Concurrence via e-mail NRR-001 OFFICE NRR/DIRS/IRGB/PM* NRR/DIRS/IRGB/LA* NRR/DRA* NRR/DRA* NRR/DIRS/IRGB/PM NAME ASchwab ELee JCircle SWeerakkody ASchwab DATE 12/22/2017 12/26/2017 12/21/2017 12/22/2017 01/03/2018 List of Attendees PUBLIC PHONE CALL BETWEEN NRC STAFF AND THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE TO DISCUSS COMMON CAUSE FAILURE (CATEGORY 2 MEETING)
December 14, 2017 Name Organization Greg Krueger NEI Jim Slider NEI Jeff Stone Exelon Fernando Ferrante EPRI Roy Linthicum PWROG Mark Brossart Xcel Energy David Bidwell Jensen Hughes Chris Cahill NRC/Region I George MacDonald NRC/Region II Rick Deese NRC/Region IV Steven Alferink NRC/Region IV Sunil Weerakkody NRC/NRR/DRA Jeff Mitman NRC/NRR/DRA Victoria Huckabay NRC/NRR/DRA Jeff Circle NRC/NRR/DRA Alexander Schwab NRC/NRR/DIRS Enclosure