ML19323B926

Discusses Commission Statement on Reactor Licensing.Forwards List of Elements for Commission Statement.Includes NRC Regulatory Process Objective,Regulations,Stds & Specs

ML19323B926
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	02/06/1979
From:	Ahearne J NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Fouchard J NRC OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (OPA)
References
TASK-TF, TASK-TMR NUDOCS 8005140426
Download: ML19323B926 (3)

Text

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Joseph Fouchard, OPA

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John Ahearne

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SUBJECT:

COMMISSION STATEMENT ON REACTOR LICENSING

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In his memorandum of January 22nd, Commissioner Gilinsky recom-N mended that, in the light of Congressional, press, and public reaction to the recent Commission policy statement on the Reactor Safety Study, p_..g.-

the Commission should publish a statement on the basis for NRC's licensing of reactor construction and operation.

Commissioner Bradford, in his memorandum of January 31st, stated that any such statement should be limited to describing our regulatory process and its objer.tives and should not include any qualitative conclusions about how safe reactors are.. I

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agree with both of these views.

Further, any Commission statement should

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of course be accurate and easily understandable by the public.

I have attached a list of the elements which could be appropriately discussed

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Commissioner Gilinsky

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Commissioner Kennedy

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Commissioner Bradford

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Elements of a Comnission Statement on the Reactor Licensing Process

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Introduction A.

Objective of the NRC's regulatory process B.

Brief overview of the regulatory process (each element to be amplified in following sections)

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Regulations, standards, and technical specifications

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Safety and environmental assessments 3.

Multiple reviews of license applications h);

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Field inspection of reactors during construction and operation j"-

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The objective of setting regulations, standards, and technical specifications t

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The various kinds (e.g., siting, design, performance); typical factors and parameters covered u

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A brief description of the rulenaking process III. Multipl'e Physical Barriers F

A brief discussion of the multiple physical barriers to release of

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radiation and how the technical specificat' ions are intended to reduce i

the probability that any and all of the barriers are breached.

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IV. Defense-in-Depth 5

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A brief description of this concept, including how plant design, redundant operating systems, and safety systems all contribute to defense-in-depth, a

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The Licensin- 'rocess A brief desc. sption of the steps from preapplication guidance to T@i inspection of operating reactors in the licensing and review process, pointing out the " multiple review" and conservative nature of the process and the objective of each step.

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VI. The Inspection and Enforcement Program E R A brief description of the I&E program, including its objectives, construction and operating inspections, the resident inspector m.

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program, and enforcement procedares.

VII. Operational Experience is..=i

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!E A brief discussion of how lessons are learned from operating reactors and fed back into the licensing process. A description of a specific example would be helpful to the lay reader in his understanding of this process.

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