ML20049J046
| ML20049J046 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/31/1977 |
| From: | Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NUREG-0392, NUREG-392, PB-275-509, NUDOCS 8203110422 | |
| Download: ML20049J046 (78) | |
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F U.S. DEPARTMENT CF COMMERCE Matenal iethnical lnformation ie rvice PB-275 509 Review and Evaluation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Safety Research Program Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Wcshington, D C Dec 77
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PB 275 509 NUREG 0392 REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE NUCLEAR REGULATOR'Y COMMISSION SAFETY RESEARCH PROGRAM
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NUREG 0392 REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SAFETY RESEARCH PROGRAM A Report to the Congress of the United States of Arr.arica Manuscript Completeil: December 1977 Date Publisheil: Decemtwa 1977 Ativisory Committee o.1 Reactoe Safewarils U. S. Nuclear Heptatory Commisson Washington D.C. 20555 I :.
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NUC*LE AR REGUL ATORY COMMISSION
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waswi=ctow, o c mu December 30, 1977 s
Tt'.e Ilonordele Waltr r F. !bndale 2e Presid?nt ot tne Sertate ne lionorable Thotas P. O'!#ill The Speaker of tha !!ouse
Dear Gentle.en:
Attacned is a cocy of the Advisory Comittee on Peactor.c f<x;uards' report a
on the safety research pro;ra.s of the Un' Str*.es :;eclear F<=;ulatory Comiiss ion. This report is requarcti by on ?) of tha Ato.T.tc Cr.oray Act of 1954 as xended by Sect ton 5 of Puol.c 1,aw 95-209.
This re;rrt revi<us and evaluates the safety renc rch proyr n of the o
fluclear f>=platory Comi ston ard : ukes reco rcrdations for ailtticnal confir: atory.. searen in certain areas and tor researcn tnat has the potential for leaJing to tt:n develolmnt of sproved safety syster:
concepts.
A copy of this report is beirvJ sent to the Chairrun of the !;uclear Regulatory Cox.assion.
Respect folly 1.uteit trd, M. Bcnder Chairnun I l.
I
w-Talk,E OF CONrtNIS Paje y
Chapter a
i ii PRE6k'T.....................................................
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I NrKXXJCr I 0N................................................
2.1 2.
SYSTEfti DCINEERItG AND ANALYSIS DrNE1DPMP.VT................
3.1 3.
PJ LL Bf 2 tAV IOR...............................................
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ML'rALLUICY AND MATERI ALS....................................
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SITE SAFLT(.................................................
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ADVANCED PJJCIURS...........................................
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WEL CYCLE AND CN I RX.'MEMTAL................................
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SAFLGUARDS..................................................
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RI SK ASS ESSE."T.............................................
1 RESEAIOl MANICEMD."T........................................
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APPC OIX A: MPD000tiXI( OF ACRS SRj0Y...........................
s B.)
APPCOIX B: 1.1ST OF A3 BRIN I ATIONS...............................
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Fif tV4h proparel in resp >nse to t ne i<spiregent tr/ Osryr ecs wa.:
1h is r ep>r t "u xiorta<o et,e AIVasor / Corus tten en Rexter daf opards (Acid) t hat annually a stuJ/ of textor nafety research arsi preparo arul curritt to the Corqresti a rep >r t containinj the resJits of such s'udy."
Tic AC% review of the resoaren prtyrax: teiny car s led out tr/ the NIC Of f ace of Nuclear i<oplatory itesparen has teen na<io tr/ six W>r k ts; (;rvapi, exn as.ns.}n.si to a par t seular atca o'. rencarcri an! each consist er>; of tnose Aced mrmers havery crxial krsuled e 3
arsi ergnizance of the areas tein j revirwl. Altrns;h tho current r esoarch pro;r a.1 arm) t nosa proposed ior tho rediate futuse in exh of the ateas were ieviewed in e^nsadorable depth, aryl at ten-t ee n was taiven to t he Jas: Inmnt of.clat avo pr nor it les within each aroa, tim did not p'rmit the ACPS to consider either assa ;n-unt of relat sve pr nor it ses aam; the var ioac areas or the lors;-
As a rosalt, the rocom-r anije anys ts of tno rervarch proilsa:n.
wrvlat sanc in this opar t tont to te mxmwnat eneral. 11; c was una nedablo in view of tne f xt s t hat the cturt/ was not tepr-unt il mid-yoar arvl that suth the ACPS.m sces a ai tte Acid Staf f h vi t o assa e t his t aset in a kint son ta trett n v>roas other stat-utory dat ion. In subsopont year s, it is exp etal that the rep >rt arsi concluaions will te mre siccifie, with tr.o curre it rep;rt providiry a saitable start iry p> int.
Tno NFC caf ety researct prujran, on the wtxale, is prodact :ve of It is not per-results that will ner vo the regulator / xt ivit ics.
foct, nor will it ever te.
"he problems for wnich colut ions are lean; sosjnt throujh rencarch are co.pls.x anJ daf f neult; in ::any casos, they are not easy to forculate, aral in rett cases they will tw >t te easy to stilve. '!he rmis of ure 3, wretu r they te the
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o Ni<C Staf f, tho publie, or the Acid, an't -r s wii! charyje f rom what they are tvu pireenved to te.
The results of resoarch will not alsays te as usotul as expectal.,wl c v problecn ;.ay turn out to te :r.ueh r: ore dif f icult to solve than rr/one could foresce.
reccarch organizat son is only a !<w years olts; it is The present Tno Acid has found ita por 1or:: ark e adoquate arxi sti11 raturinJ.
its p rconnel we11 opspysi to por form tneie tas<s.
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r i<ecom rdat ions have teen :mdo in Cha atera.! tnroa;h 's f or enantes n
in procedires, for chanjes la direct ion or e ph.nsis of projra:-c, ard f or reeckd or skastrable a kilt ional resear n.
V a* ntrm'rnas reec.rrm'rstat io1s for atkitt ianal research have not ravis su:'sur ::td or listed here ta eause the Acid has not fa unt it puasitale in trass init tal stal/ to aanjn appropriate prior ities to tr.e var tous us;-
t gest ior s. However, it is intenled that n)re cpestie recutin rs a-t ic,n: reipedini new pro 3 rams arsi lonq-range plans will :=. :tak-in nutr,equent regn>rt s.
Cocrents arml recocumrdations resprdirvi the ornnizat son arti runap-
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.wnt of the 'eaearch pro 3 ram are of fered in Cr. apter 10.
Itese result f rom certain perecived or potent tal procaleru that.nay rut exist to the sxe (k=jree wten examirwd in gre ater deptri. 16) wever, trey shoald te conandered arsi evalaated tr/ tav Ottice of Nuelear Hopsatory 14esearch, by the Lxecut ive Direct'ar f or a[ erat ion; ard tr/ tr.e Cociata.fion.
De Acid recorrends st ror>J y that t he NA.* re eme. ware travolv<.d l
in research tnat has the patential ot lealin; to tr.e develo[ rent of i.q)toved satety system concepts. It la insth destr anic and aigaropriate f or the tilC to consiaet researen on rww aatety cun-cepts, ta2t their Jevelopr ent an! sqale:x ntat ion enoalJ te car-r ie<l out by tre naelear irstantry or the i>part.wnt of L:.crgy (IAE).
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- i. If(11000Cr10N 1.1 Ilistory and Ibckground of NiC lt' search Procram Prior to the establirAwnt of the Nuclear leJulatory Cornission in January 1975, all activities related to nuclear reactors -
incl.* ling toth developrnt wi regulat ion - were the avsponsibil-Within the AEC, af ter ity of tre Atomic Energy Comission (AEC).
1961, the respansibility for regulation, and thus the resp >nsibility for the health and cafety of the public, waa vested in the Director of 149alation, wto reported directly to the Comission. Trw resp >n-sibility for all other activitier., includirty developwnt, were assigns 1 to divisiens under the General Manager.
Prior to 1973, all research arsi developnt activities relatui to reactor safety in the AEC were carried oat by the Divis'or' nt Peactor Developvnt and Technology (DIUr) usler the General Man-llowever, in May 1971 safety-relatal research in tM AEC
- ager, was ma&* the responsibility of a new Division of Reactor Safety Researen (DHSH), sepa ate f rwi Dict but still reporting to the Whe$n the NHC was established in 1975, the fune-General Nnager.
tions of DER wre transferred essentially without change to the Nic ("f'ce of Nuclear Iw3ulatory i<esearch (RES).
- Alt, uny tw and importaat rewr:5 tasks have been tegun ando J, a major port icn of the et.rrent efic*t, in terrrs of toth dollars and imortance, represents project s and test f acilities on which w]r < waa ts gan uraler the AEC Droit er ev'en in some cases under Dfor.
1.2 mjectives of NEC Pesearch Program In accordance with the Act of Corvjress establishiry the NRC, RES is responsible for: (11 developiry recomencations for research which should be performd try the NIC, arsi (2) civ3 aging in or con-tracting ior rescarch that the NIC deor.s necessasy. In spite of this broad tranaate, the legislative history of the Act and othe-circumstances have tended to limit the principal activitien of RES to what has txen termd "confirrratory research" to distirv3uish it f rom the kinds of " developmental research" that are or night be carried out oy industrial organizations or govertriental orga-nizations without regulatory responsibility, such as DOE.
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Confirmatory research has teen considered to to that necessary to provide the 'iE with suitable toses f or evaluat tr>; applica-tions or for estarilisnar=3 regalat ions or pil acies celat irr; to noelear p_wer plants, fuel-cycle !aeilit ses, anf transportat son his definit ion serves wil to dist :afusch frilit ies or systms.
bet ween research that is related clear ly to regulatory rw Ms anr' that which is developnental in nature, but it does not include, as specif seal 1y as mi yht te desirable, tesearch on new cone.' pts that have the potential of leadir>J to i@ roved safety.
Altins;h ES has desuted som ruest ef fort to ec;,earch on cun-cepts tt.it coJ1d lead to a. proved safety, such as crder.;round sit inj ard alternat sve contairrent concepts, the malor p u t ion of s's past and curtrnt effert has 11 en concerrw'd with wt at is clearly conferratory researen, as defined atove.
The /CIG has ruted the instructions from the Conjress to ttw NIC to " develop a long-term plan for protects for tre deveiotwnt of new or ivroved safety systems for nuclear p>wer pir.r.ts".
'Itc Achs telieves that the development, test in), ard poef of ef f i-eaey of rvv or t@ roved safety systet:c should no*. tw try resp;n-siblitty of the NRC, but shoJld te CondJetMI tr, the nuCIcar ardJstry or DOE. ilowever, the ACiG telieves that it is a proper and even recessary funct son of tre NW to per form or sp>ncor re-se-xd on concept s tnat, af develop d and trplemnted tr/ the ap-ne ACIG pro;>r late tsMies, could lead to imrovecents in safety.
will te happy to.aivise the Comission ard its Staf f on th< hvelop-mnt of a lor >;-term plan for such research.
1.3 Scoy of NE lesearch Prcurr The scoy* of th< current research pro;rm is indicated tr/ the esti-mated expenditures for Ii 7d sto.m in Table 1.
We '.ollowin; obser-var sons are pertirent to this revuw:
- ne researen pro} ram.cuants tv about one-half of the total NE tudget.
- Al ost 90s of the furds sient for research are in the cate;ory of progr.e suppor t; that is, research condactM tr/ oatside agencies.
- A rajor gortion of the research is conducted tr/ the DOE Nat monal Laterator ses; this is especially true of the exper imntal research.
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- The programs relat sol to Syste.ru Er>Janeer so) aM Analysis Developcent and to Fael Lk h.wsor represent over half of the total effort: these proir.srs are concerred chictly with the ofi scacy of th rgency C9re Coolire; Systenn (ECCSI anj with tuhavior fol-lowin; a Loss of Coolant Acendent (!ACd. Major part ions of this research, and the tacti st ies (such as IDET) related to it, were ts.9an urak r the aaspices of the Air.
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- "ho exp nditures for lersonnal cogensat ion, benef stc, ini t r aeei, aM f or gorwaral alminist rat sve suppor t represent only a :nall f ract son (atuut Sel of tr.e tota 1 :esearch exparkleture.s.
eWith tre except ton of the program on Risk Assessment (ure r tna Probabilist se Analysis lit anch), the size of the profossional sta'.f for each projram is rela-t ively tr.all; these staf f w-ter s not only aust renitor the contract research perfor.Td for the NRC but also "ust maintain an awareness ut ust r requarewnts and ut w>rk tein; dono tr/ other s.
T:.e ste-a listed unter Prupxi Sapport in Table I are those dis-cas/.ed in the f allowinJ chapters of this report.
1.4 (tgect ivos and Score of /CRS Feview The ACRS revtW was carrted out in response to the requiremnt by C n.;rens that the ACFS "urtlerta<e a stuly of rcactor saf ety re:waren and prepare and surat annually to the Congress a rep >rt containity the results of such study". 'ne ACRS has int >rpretal the words " reactor safety research" to include safety-related research in all pnases of the nuclear fuel cycle, excluding only tut havtry; to do with non-safety-related environxntal.'oncerns.
"Ihe o 'y et tv? Of the stud / was to review and evaluate the need, the t i:.cliness, and the etiect sveness of the research teinq spon-soreJ tr/ IES, but to do this within the cont'xt of the total satety research effort, including, to the extent pract icable within the t im available, that being carr ied out or ::ponsored by tne other
!;PC Of ficos, tr/ DOE, t// the nuclear industry arut the ut ilit ies, arvJ tr/ st:ntlar groups in other count r ;es.
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This report addresses the research projects underway in FY 77 arxl FY 78, inaludirrl som proposed for FY 78 but not yet begun.
Neither the budget nor the projects propcsed for FY 79 have been reviewed. The ACHS nevertheless believes that this study of the current research program and those plannM for FY 78 permits a reasc.nably fair and accurate assessment of the NRC safety research effort.
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For each rejor proJram element, for the sub+1ements of those program, and, in nuny instances, for individual research con-tracts, the ACHS Workin) Groups asked the following gaestions as a basis for their evaluations:
ehs the research serve the neads of the NRC in its mission to protect the health and safety of the public?
ellow does the research sponsored by the NRC relate to that being done bf others? D:,es it duplicate research being done by conparable organizations?
Is it n W to supplement or confirm wo: 4 beir>j done by others?
- Are the results being obtained consistent with the stated objectives aM needs? Can useful results be expected in a tiwly manner?
ehhat research is not being done that abould be done?
Should it to done by the NPC?
ellow effective is the mnagewnt of the research by the NRC Staf f, or by the contractors for the very large projects?
'Ihe answers to these questions provided tne basis for the evalua-tions presented in Chapters 2 through 9 of this report, each of which deals with a r.ujer program element ot the current research effort. Chapter 10 contains co.nents on the management of the resear.5 programs b/ the RES Staf f.
'Ihe procedures followed by the ACRS in traking this study ard preparity this report are de-scrited in Appendix A.
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,1 TADLE 1
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ESTIMATED RESEAIOf EXPC;DIIURES IN fY 78 i
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i EXPCJDIR!iE PE!CINT SIZE OF (in reellions) OF 1UTA!.
PROFESSIONAL STAFF i
PHOGRAM SUPPORT f
Syst( s Engineering and Analysis S 50 36%
17 Development Fuel Behavior 22 16 6
mtallurgy and ruterials 6
4 3
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5 4
5 4
Site Safety 16 12 10 Advanced Reactors Fuel Cycle and Environmental 13 9
7 8
6 5
Safeguards 4
3 2
11
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Risk Assessment Subtotal
$123 894 64
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9 b
EQUIPMENT i
6 4
PERS0rc4EL 2
1 5
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT 1btal S140 1004 69
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SYSTE DEINEERIN AND ANALYSIS DLYLIDPMElff 2.1 CbjectIves Por this initial revi w of the research, the ACRS confined its i
attention to the programs tha* address the postulata! Loss of
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Coolant Accidents (IDCA). The LDCA-r elated studies cur.ps ise the I
In later reviews, tha ACi6 will examine bulk of the programs.
the state-of-the-art for eval-the research which seeks to asses *:
uating pessible of f-norm 1 and other ecident conditions and l
other proble a in Systems Ervjineering, sach as reactor operational safety.
are exa p]es of the The Emergency Core Cooling Systems (ECCS) special safety systems that are designed to rnect the specil) eri-g Ilow can the effective-teria covering Engirected Safety Features.
ness of the ECCS te confidently ascertained? What exper it:v'nts need to te perfor.wd? Ilow can the analytical :rethods be varified?
Wese are the gaestions being examined in the researc'1 program.
5 The rojor features are the urs3erstanding of all the i:rportant phenonena that occur in the course of a LOCA, their proper mat?'e-l matica) modeling, the necessary testing of separate ef fects and of integral ef fects over a suf ficient range of sizes, ard the verification af the analytical tools ured to assess IOCAs in nuclear power plants.
Tna research pro 3 ram in Syster.1 Engineering is directed toward verifying our understanding of the thermal-hydraulics of Light-urtier accident conditions. The goal of Wcter-Reactors (LERs) this program is to furnish assurance of effective operation of l
the ECCS of IARs. A further objective is to furnish guides for i:rprovements in ECCS. The largeat cost item in this program is the Ims-et-Fluid ;est ( W Pr) fa:ility which is located at the Idaho Natio: il Ernineerina Laboratory (INEL).
The second aspact of this portion of LWR safety research is Analy-sis Developnent, which has the objective of furnishirt) an analyt-l ica) descripticn of the thernal-bydraulic perfortunee of safety systems for IRts in off-design, or accident conditions.
f The IDCA-related programs hava been undertaken in resimnse to the needs of the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Rejulation (NPR)
-7 and the recormendations of the ACRS. In addition, RES has also evaluated reconnendations and criticisms from members of the pub]ic.
The technica) inputs, along with the RES Staff's irdependent evalua-tion of needs, have been the tuses for the present programs.
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2.2 Scope 2.2.1 Systemr. Pryincer ing tiranch These programs enconpass studies of fundamentals, anall scale and larger scale tests, testing with full length simulated Cael elements, integral tests, and scaled testing with a nuclear tee.: tor systen.
The test pro 3 rams in therml-nf raulics are of two kinds. One J
irrzolves integral systems tests in the IDPP and Semiscale facili-t ies at INEL. The other involves separate ef fects tests such as blowdown heat transfer tests at INEL and Oak Ridje National Labor-atory (Ole:L). 'Ihe (JRC, in cooperat ion with West inghouse and the Elec:ric Power Research Institute (EPHI), also sponsors Full tery)th (fuel element) Dnergency Coolir>3 Ileat Transfer Separate Effects And Systems Ef fects Tests (PLECitT-SE/ SET).
INEL is the site of the mjor experimental test progra:ns. 'Ihis historically has been tne case ard will prestanably continue to t.-
so because of the IDPr facility in which a nuclear-heated core
- t. now being installed. In additson, the Semiscale facility at snis site has recently undesgona significant rnodification.
The examples of the Systems Ery]ineer ing pro)rans ment ioned above relate pr ir.ar ily to Pressur ized.iater Reactors (IWs). The NRC also has opported testa related to Doi 1irF) tiater Rractorc (IhRs) of which a recent exa,ple is the 1/5-scale i H suppression puol test prc,jraus, conducted at Lawrence Liverrnore Laboratory (LLL).
The major expenditures b/ NRC for LhR Syste.::s Engineering are in DOE flat ional Laboratories. It should be noted also that systems engineering in LwH safety research is used in a quite special and narrow sensa. The projram is specifically directed toward systems to mitigate the effects of a toCA and not toward systens engineer ing in its usual, or broader, sense.
2.2.2 Analysis Develonnent tiranch The prograa in Analysis Develorrent consists essent ially of the develognent of computer codes for calculating the therml-hydraulic behavior of ECCS under accident conditions. Since the thR with its safety systems is very comlex, code developnent at the present stage proceeds witi many assu::ptions and simplificat ions. The Nhc task consists pri:r.arily of improvery the bases for code develop-ment. Inprovements in the physical bases for code development are dependent on the results from tne Systems Ervjineering program.
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L 2.3 INaluat ion 2.3.1.
R'lation to Needs of the NE
'Ilm present geogram is clearly directal toward the needs of NE in the ;, articular area of LOCA-ECCS.11e budjet for these pralram represents 606 of the total LWR aatety research Ludjet. This large
}creentage results directly trcxn the ht;t cost of oper 3 tin) the large scale facilities involved in the Systems Enjaneerinj program.
'3ince the mjor por tion of the capital costs of the large test facilities, stch as IDFT and Smiscale, nas already been irw urred, it is clearly Jesirable to use these f a:llities to obtain as much informtion as practscable. 11e results of the projrams to date have not irslicatal a need for full-scale IDCA testinj of a nuclear power reactor.
Except for a recent request for reorientation of the Best Estimate iden-ard Evaluation Model comuter protrans, the NRR Staf f did not tify any significant need that was not betn; addressed by the fu23 Staff. Although the mjor objective of the research pro] ram is tha confirmtion of the present conservative regulatory require-
- nents, the programs should help to determne whether there are any phenomena or surprises in the ther::al-hydraulic responses of botn saparate et fects studies and integral or system studies which mijht indicate that certain portions of tne NE regiireme nts may not te suf tleiently conservativ. The INreased kr,;.c;. die gained f rom the projrams will help to provtJe a sour i basis for evaluatin}
the regulatory nethola.
The research will provide the NE with tM capability to perform independent evaluations of the ef feetiveru ss of ECCS, arkt to ver ify the evaluations provided by applicants. Of twortance also is the roster of independent experts whace cocoined judgwnts treome avall-able to the NRC to contribute to i@ro.vd urslerstanding cf LOCAs arxi to the developnent of the necessary ersjim.=erty saf ety features for nuclear power reactors.
INEL is an example of a laboratory whien is familiar with NE pro-grams and needs. INEL is perfor:nitw} ef fectively within the present guidelines, arsi there is a strors; posstoliity that, with a small in-crease in expenditures at INEL, N E could obtain large returns both in new snull scale tests aryl in trklepenknt contributions to code developnent.
- 2.3 -
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2.1. 2 ler lat son to N>rk iteini Dine tr/ Other n
'!!c wos k in t h a n ar ea out n ade t e Unit. J States in oirvlaetn} pr sn-h
- lh.re in air.o a
. ipall/ in the Fnter al Popublic of G rainy trW.).
n::all tot signif scant of tort in Japan arsi.u&n.
'Itie NiC 8ta! t
=intain, et teet ave Iial:;on, coat r itutes to c m o' the prograrc.,
arsi in turn rceeaves ntw nappor t !ror absoaJ. 'ihe aup. r at t ve internat ional projraa ap; ear n to o;ct ate et feet svol/.
ite U.f.,.;enigner s and verstorn of naelear steam sugl/ cysteru, ar. wald :e expected, condaet lar.;e pr stra.a on I:CCS par torrunee.
ate ainut exelaaively.lirect<*i twasd Iice nnini A se prair a?.:
rapirewnt s. With r eter enee to it.G cont ainnent, the ut il st ie-involved wien tno ' tar k I mi Mas at I! nynten:.1 ave us.p uasi to p rioria ta>th shor t term aret lani ter n ren. arcti prost cr..
".tw no irilant ry. ;onsored proir ax; are in r mp enca t o t he nonb ident :-
f ini tri *:.e at s l it les t o cont a rm t he., imp sey of cont airew r.'
in!oicalent of any st aise:.pinnornt
.laniana, a wl ar e ::n int to te tr/ the NiC.
!)> velo:rert pr oot.cc t or !?.M. are trint sp ennored rvf !)C. *:1c ACKi s lent it led one sijor prt>;.ar. involvin: veter at son atadio; which er it s mnt inu tn t t r view no a's to.leter:nine tet t er sta r elat sonanip to t!.e 'ii<C-apinnoini catet / r esear er. nt tali.*a.
In eteneral, he rencarch spinnatnl t y the NrC nan sou1ht to uc "r npr enal talenta and iact i st son of t tie Nat ional ha: orator i< n to.mivanta:o ani noen renearen in rvit sein; daplicateo :r/ otner a v rx ion. The code developrvnt warx :ept osent n an ef f or t to dave 1:en analytical tools tor licennent, erw!"pontant of analyt teal.s'trvxin devalopwl :r/ the indunt: f.
- 2. 3. 3 Projrenn and lecu!t n tha Synteral Ery;ineer irv] progract ia ot)tainirvi unetal rosultn er the densqnated atoc of work, na:vily 12)7.-l:CCS, Aktit son 31 <ar.c in ECC trip 2ss arxl plenum Iill will te requirni.
'Ito f e r nt nuclea tests with IDI'r wi!!,ot te init i 2tul unt il 1979.
A jer iod of three to five years will ie nental tor the co:Plet ton of major pr<qr aan involvin} n1 }or fact i s t sea for the 1Ak A heat t ransfer ark! rri rnuli n ut txlien., '! tree-dt.mnnional u; ta r plenJn d
de-entrairwat ter.tn (to te corkluctal in tre Fmri, colpit i with trput f rom t he t e)-slermnnional clab refloisi tentn (ti
!= corwiuet ed in Japan), arvi coordinated throtrin une of the ilent i:f.t anste advanced i
l i
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l
t cocputer etxte THAC teing develootd in the United crates, will require a somwhat longer perint, ina.stuch as the programs are only raw Leiry forrrulated. A var iety of test progrxts including tinse f rom the major erger imntal f acilit ses will te used f or eo ka veroficatson. Var tous versions of codes have urdergone user develoirent pra;:ams ars) have teen releasal, but an yet ru code hr. h'en ni.ojectal to the indeperwient ver it seat son step. Sernlules f >r indop rstent cak ver if seat son are at an carly stage of develop-
.wnt. ? e present research pro; rams are providin} overlap in the culo d" vel.wnts so that al t er na* e mt hods may t e pur suid i f d i f-
!icaltses asice in a partscular approach.
2.3.4 Nonis for /sList ional leccar h "tr 103 arti NHH Staf fs reem;nize the real for further research, particularly in the area of segurate ef fects tests. 'the t her :u i-tylt aul se etieeta of tho var tous two-phase f low reJines rvel Ior-tter er* r irrental vor if seat son. This as ea could prof itably te pursued in :uny stutanees with taall SCJIe tOSts.
Ito construet son of a large ceale CCC &, pass Test racility is 1.cin; prupocnl. Som m.mtetc of the ACHS rel seve that further stal/ of this progusal chould te rude Letore construct son is underta<en.
Dur in; the ter sat of review tr/ the AJHS, the NIO< Stat f recogr ized tnat 15oir rmis f or !wct 1:nt arute anl 1.'.'aluat tori.%!nl versions ut tbo ocputer colos wore r>>t tr ar>J m t tr/ their Technical Assis-t ance eu r a i n.
A for:ul rtNuest was :uda to 103 to reor sent sire of the IOCA analysin etrputer pro;ra 3.
V e ACHS has not rev vel the responso to thin request, and will snelate this item in it s cunt inu anti reviews.
.4 conclucions anl Imrnervlat sans As a sleelfic ite:t, the ACRS concurs with the decision of IUS tre ter :iina'e the Mark I !bi< contaircent tests at LLL.
Syste:tr. Erviineer in; in nt roryl/ iler. etui toward !DCA-la3. Itere sinuld te a :ture cianif ic. int research c: for e on inteqratal system design in cuch areas ar. shutdown heat re*.:nval syctems. lack of r es sabilit / in nhutdown heat removal nysters, while less dramat s than 1:CCS, :uy represent the prak>minant r isk in IMH operat ion..
- 2.5 -
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'Ibe ACR$ identified the following nutters requirir*J adiitional attention:
- Part icipat ien 17/ representatives from the nuclear stem supply system vendors in the plarnire of an aaJxnted pro;ran of research on alternate ECCS, in order to assure that the investigations are Such will manir>;f ul arxl appropriately evaluatal.
be dare fc. the proposat new series of tests involv-irti sf at m ef fects for IWd reflood; how-ver, this type af coordination has not been whieved with the present serian of tests of alternate ECC8.
- Inclusion of tepresentatives f rom the reactor vendors sa consultants to the review groups for advanced code developw nt.
- More thoroojh p1anning for code verification, for justi-fym) scaling of experixnts, and for mre maningful use of standard problems.
O
- 2.6 -
i 1
3.
WEL DDIMIOR 3.1 Objectsves s
fuel tenavior has tren a concer n of the ACNS aM tt.e tiHC fr>r.mtr/
year s, since the fuel is the source of f ission prodacts,.irm) the line of defense in prewit ary; fuel cla61ery provides the first releanc dariry outn rur:rul textor operation arvi firsson predact
%e sbject ivr uf tuel research is to tetter uthlerstand accidents.
processes leadiry to cl.v.:dievj degradat son, f uel och.r/sor urnk*r t hea accident coruitt sons, and the release of raisoxt avity f ollowin; nevere accidents. %e goals are to tetter predict fuel tchavior darinj accidents aM to minimize th? release of f asaion products.
De ACHS concerns regardity f uel el(xnt trhavior are enunciated in par >Jraphs QJoted fWIoW f rO:n its letters of Fer4"ary 10,1972 aral tioverd ?r 20, 1974. %ese place safet/ corr:erru and ricchanssms for resolut ion in percrect tve.
r 10, 1972.
Report on Water Reactor Safety Research - Fet'ruary Fuel rmi f ailure. Exper ixntal program should "e.
tu cont inual to tot ter est ablish r argins of safety related to t im-te'rperature exposures of clad 3nry
,Witt sonal urnlcrst.1nd-t o stea i envi r onwnt:.....
itx; cimid se sougnt of tt.e locaiole twes and : rag-nitud..s of loadents tnat potent 111y c,u'd te :n-posed upon the claddir*] dar ary the CoJrSe of the IDCA. Further G?finitevn of the poterrtal effeets of extensive ilow bloenaje result ing irom rtxi d.ru.]e snould also t, sought."
20, 1974.
Report on Water i<eactor Safety Research - tar.ener
"...The Co:mu ttee reiterates its previous recocinendations for research into phenomna involved in core witdown, including the r.Pchanisms, rate and rugnit h of radio-active releases and the stud / of means of retaininj In this r:niten cores or acliorat in) the conseqJences.
connection, :: ore knowled;e of tne possioility and extent of stca explosions in the presence of large quant it ses of molten fuel and steel is of par t icular imortance."
Since a trajer tool for the resolution of marr/ of the fuel concerns is the Power Burst facility (IDF), arxl since PSP expenditures re;>-
resent a major f ract ion of the fuel trhavior recearch tudyct, the
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I fol1owirv; paralraphs f rora the ACRS 14'por t on the PDF Wst Frojram, dated Decemtwr 15, 1972 are included:
"As in November,1969, th+> ACRS telieves the PEP is potentially a very valuable f aci?ity for reactor safety research. Every ef fort should te made to expedite an ajgressive, carefully planned eqer emntal projrarn acconpan N by a strorij analyt seal support effor t and the necessary, related out-of-rextcr studies.
We March,1972, progran plan reflects a desirable
- rajor charge in e phasis which is in general accord with the ACIG recomendat ions of Nove:ter,1969,....
Highest pr iority has tren placed on potent ial events involvity a serious power-ficw mi<:: ratch which magnt lead to Departure from Nxleate Boiliry (DNB), fuel elewnt rnolting and f ailure, the ge'nera' son of pres-sure pulsos, or fuel clernt failure propajat son.
Priority has also been placed on studying fuel elemnt structural integrity arsi coolability urder ptulated loss-of-coolant accident conditions more severe than those which have been stuJ M exper iwnt ally out-of-We Comittee concurs in these gerwral r eact or.
priaritles."
3.2 Scone 2e fuel iesearch projram are achinistered tr/ tne Fuel behavior Research Branch (FBRB) of RES. Dere are substant tal expenditures on short term by the Of fice of Nuclear Reactor Regulat ion (NRR) f uel research projects urder Technical Assistance projrans In general, NRC funded work deals with fuel twhavior undo: acci-dent cordit ions while the large industr ial ard Electr:c Power Research Institute (EPRI) projrats ecphasize iTproveent of fuel reliability under norml condst ions.
The major NRC expenditures on fuel trhavior research relate directly or indirectly to PBF. ALout 75% of the fuel research is spent at INEL. 'ahile the tuel research prograns are
~
budget relatively large in ter a of dollars, the ntrnber of areas studied are relatively limited. W ey include the following: (1) degra-dation of cladding, (2) consequences of core miedown, (al radio-activity release, (4) fuel twhavior under accident corditiore, and (51 analytic predict ions of fuel behavior.
3.2 -
1
- 3. 3 Eval dat ion
- 3. 3.1 Felat ion to Natda of tte NHC The f ollowm; strr ary statexnts es te the.?ajor problem areas in fuel t;nhavior ident :(sed in previous ACHS letters aM t// NRC:
- Excessive degradat son of 21 caluy claddmj undar i
eittvr stecaly-state or ac:soent condst ions could lead to severe fuel da: ap, includir>J eject son of uranixt dioxido. liet tor inforrut ion on hydr iding, oxidatson, ar radiat icn drage, aM mchar scal prop-ert ses are required to establish conservat sve xargins alainst failure of claddity.
e'Ihe uit -ute (and very low probability 1 accident, assxiirvj 1 css of coolant and f ailure of na;st backup syster:n sach as tne Dmrgancy Core Cooling System (ECCS), is a s.* vere core wir which rmy penetrate the Fextor Pressare Vessel (PWs and damage or perw-trate contair&nt, releasmj large quantities of fis-sson prchiacts. Exporixntal evidence is needed to quant ify the type and.ragnitude of drage resultirq from c oss fuel m it ml. The da: age could involve the FPV, the concrete slab of the contairwnt, or steam explosions.
. A rulor portion of tne limit <d radioact ivity released ury.er stead /-state cenjit ions, and vir tually all of the act ivity releasrd under accident cond?t ions, con-sists of fission prodJCts as Contrasted to activation prodwets. While it is relatively staple to calculate the fission produs t burden within the fuel, data relat-i irv; to fission predact dif f usion and release f rom the fuel are relatavelf 1imited. Definitive separate ef-fects exper imnts of fual ochavior must be coupled with knrvird e obtained f rom integral experimnts l
i to par:-i, developvnt of accurate pr+ dict sve models of decay heat and fission prodact transport and release.
- Expar tmntal evidence of fuel behavior ur@r a spectrisn of accident conditions is lack.ing so that -any of tha piedict ive.mdels cannat be validated. r,af ir.t ive ir'tegral test experiwnts are necessary in racilities such as IDE'r and PaF to obtain a better knowledge of fuel behavior under accident conditions.
- 3.3 -
.e esafet / analysis requires accurate protection of fuel
- havior urer in>th steady-state arri accident conds-t ior.s.
Pherwxvnolojical anlef s ant caputer codes are necessary for xeurate prediet son of fuel tchavic,r ualor a spoet:m of cond t nons, rars;inj f rca stcady-s' ate throajh transients of increasin; sever ity, up to tu.% anl f uel wit ing, mter ial proterty data, in-rextor tual whavior, t r an. sent tests in Pur, etc.,
as wall as a spoettun of separate ef fects tests all need to ic comined into one or trin e.v>dels for sem-lat ing iucl rehavior.
?!c fuel progra a are considered responsive to tre conee'ns of 1 cens er>J.
ks capr gaps app =ar to exist. Soce pryt. nut se overlap can te pstif ned teeaase of the different rethods of a;proach. Progress in large it.tt.qtal ef fects tests in PEF b2a t;een slow, wt.ien should le exp:eted for such exter imats.
3.1.2 Hr 'at son to R)r k Ik'arv !bne i>v Otters tere appeara ta te eloae appor t ietwien the Rt3 pro; ram and l
tre :.RR 'D ennical te.sist ance pross am.
Re EP81 projra-c includo mre than S17 million tor fuel research, o/or t im p> rials of a year or mre. Grwrally, those pro} ram cor'Jont r a*e on steady-st ate tchavior,
n.< F.eral acpunlie of Gorne.ny (FiC) safet / researen pro; ram L
in fJol sre fut h i at levt I s eu, par able t o l#S. Utter countr sea d
f and to ;o.ner low 1s; twover the Frenen arxl tfnited Kini an (tEl
,.ro;r.t.u are quite l ar q.
In ailstion, there are aabatantial pro;ra c fundal ty/ uti1it ies anc! of tne Nuclear Steam Supply Sfsten (E&i) versbr..
f.xcellent rapport appear s to exist wita EPRI; tnr sa:ne socra to te t r ar wit n trqar d to wor k in other co sntr ses; the situat iori with
- r. ;ard to MSS vendor s is less cer tain.
It is expected tnat the e
rei aal NPR f uel progra:u will te closely integrated in 1974, a
.inf inits plas, Owin; to the interact ive astects of sur of these projrr., a cortparicon of programs r7/ 1u3 ano tr/ others is rude in tne irvt seetion.
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3.3.3 Proaress and Jesults A1:no.t all of the projects will extend tryond fY 78. %ere appears A few salient coments to to excellent progress toward resolution.
follow:
IWS has well defined experiwntal programs on Zircaloy oxidation, irradiation ef fects, aM elevated treperature racchanical propert ses.
Definit sve answers to Simi;ar prngrams are underwxt elsewhere.
raost Zircaloy property data needs art espected within two years.
The programs are considerrd approp* atr to met the tw+ds.
Helevant analytical ard experiental progratis on core mit are fursjed by IIs anc; tr/ FIC. Principal areas include molten core interact ions with the itPV aM with concrete, ste.:sn explosions, heat transf er within tr.e melt to sur roursfirgs, phase equilibr ea, melt propert ses, and f insson product tchavior f rom the mit. All these factora are to te coct>ined.nto an analyt seal trKxlel for pre-We cn'ibined fordiru dict iry behavior of riolten core. star sal.
level:. in RES arsi in the FIC are substant ial. Considerity the comlexity of the praulem, devele;rm.>nt of a definit ive wlt tredel Since no work is trary probaaly will require three to fave years.
supportuj tyf the NSS$ verstors, EPM 1, etc., this iu:S pro; ram should retain J h Jn priority.
10:S must play a lead role in the study of fission product tchavior urder accid. int conditions treaase of the dearth ot similar work
. )st wrk tr/ :USS vendors re-citner in this count ry or actcM.
lates to steady-state corsjitions or near stead -state condit cons.
f
%e level of IWS fordirra in this area my te mrginal in the con-tore text of providity definit sve results in one to two ) cars.
wort: is telieved Just if ied.
fuel.anuf acturers and I:PPl crphasizes r: car Most of the wret tr/
?
'It:e steady-state tenavior, but tnere are now power ram tests.
burden in this case will te on RiS in their PtW and IDFT t(sts and similar programr, in France (Phobus), Gerruny (FH-2), Norway
!!!alden), and Italy (ESSOi4. %e informtion related to fuel tv-havior urvian severe transients is quite li:ritrd. Because of costs arsi conple.tity, the data ;cnerat son rate is low.
Sow informt ion is available on Departure frn:n Nucleate Boiliry ef fects; however, it my t;e r,everal years trfore sufficient (Dr.'B) data exist on failure prop >lation, on intluence of prior ; radia-t son on f ailure, and on establishiry similitude of rurall integral 3.5 -
O
tests to large core tchavior. A realistic time period is five to ter. years. Progress to date has teen limited out satisf actory.
Analytic prediction of fuel tchav'or is urder extenstse study tr/
Ft3, and others. Kiny corputer codes have teen developed or are in aivanced st>Jes of developne.at. Som are well advanced with rimprd to verification. Coq >arison of experimntal data fran tAllk separate ef fects ani integral tests irrlicato.,ood alretwnt.
In som cases, the crperimntal data talce is irruf f icient to vali-date certain aspects of som codes. Surctantial projrer.s has teen rude in developent and verification of co puter codes for accurately predict try} fuel !Xi.3viOr while qCeetry is retJined.
Aidd war < is required to mdify codes to provid.* conservative In results, yet preserve a realistic ::odel of fuel tchavior.
this respect, close rappot t is regaired tetween His an! the t.ser, NRR.
Hesults stmld te avai1alaje in one to two years.
3.3.4 ! bods for Aiditional Prsearch Whil.> the rate of pro;reas in som pro;rrc might be considered as less than optimum, particularly in the casa of the IW. tests, the overall projress is considered acceptar;le. !&) obvious deti-ciencies appear to exist. Cocpletion of current pro;r.m and the ir. corporation of the recalts into tne licenstr*; process is believed to te of greater value than aklir,J rew, or expander >;
currant pro; rams.
3.4 Conclusions arki lecorrwwf at icns 3.4.1 Conclusions ne current programs on fuel tchavior are considered responsive to the saf ety c >ncerns ruted tr/ NRR anl the ACFS. If pro;tess continues at the current rate, ceveral of tre proble::c should te resolved in two to four years.
De staf f available to mnitor the fuel prcorr:s is marginally adequate in terms of numbers, particult.rly wten their responsi-bilities include liaison with EPRI and foreign fuel pro; rams.
3.4.2 Recetcr.dati s No new research is co nested at this time. An analysis of ex.s.
tirFJ Work ard incorporation Of this work into the licensirKJ pro-gram should take preeMence. Code develoFrent in clore liaison with NRR is considered to be a continuat son of current research and sixAld have a hijh priority.
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METAI.'.UICY AND MAW. RIALS
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' W e goaltof this work'is'to keep the frequency of structural P failures'in nucleir reactors far belos that found'to be tolerable in non-nuclear system 3, taking inte account the irradiation ef fcets associated with nuc] car power reactors. %e work focuses first on the Reactor Pressure vessel (RPV) whose fracture trust remain an extrem ly Jo's-probability event in spite of its radiation environ-ment, high pressure and large size. While failures of the pipirs, steam generawrs, salves, etc., of the primry circuit have a Jes-ser safety signiricance because the plant is designed to shut down safely'af ter a failure in these corrponents, it is desirable to mini-mize the probability of such failures arvi to minimize their conse-quences if they should occur.,.
The November 1965 ACES report on " Reactor Pressure Vessels" high-lighted areas of concern. A quotation from this letter fo))ows:
"We Comittee believes, with the industry, that the probability of a su @ n major pressure vesse]
' failure leading to breachirw; wntainment is very low. Nevertheless, it seems desiraMe and possible to ruke come provisions in fstare design agtninst a
this very unlikely' accident.-
To reduce further tne already reall probability
-of pressure vessel fallute, the Committee suggests that the industry and the AEC give sti)) further attention to methods and details of stress analysis, M ""to the development and implementation of,i:rproved
-methods of inspection durity fabricatica and vessel'
o-
' service life, and to~ the improvement ~ of means for./j',l * ' ~
- evaluating the factors that may af fect the'ial duc
,u tility transition terrperature and the propagation
'^-
of flaws during vessel life."
4._
... m...
4.2 Scope-._: -_ -.~.:r Essentia))y all of the metallurgy and materials research sponsored E by RES is achinistered by' the Metallurgy arzi Materials Branch
' (MMB). '
n w-
. ~.: en.
u o tr:
r, m
ww w iTheMM3hasa'st'affof'threi/ professionals"andadmihisters research program at a level of about S6 million for FY 78. We
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1 about 4.5% of the totalpphasis placed of this progran represents ould for FY 76. If one considers the eintegrity, the level is necessary dollar value thever, itcontext of programs RSS progra:n tudgeton pri. nary pressure boundary relation to cited needs.
jor d programs in theand NSSS vendors as well as ma f
a m ear low in to considnr the Ks fundeconducted by EPRI, utilities short e programs are prograas in
- Tne NRR technical.nssistancillion dollars are e term programs; a few m in materials studies.
areas are funded of several emparablea period
21 million
- Se Japanese LWR stturturarelated) were funded at S1 977.
i for 1976 and $19.2 million for 1 materials l
h of Geranny (FIC) safety researc e
of construction raaterials arf $200 g
blic e%e Federal Repu programs in the areaestimated to be in excess o h
next five years, fund to lower levels; however, t e are known to rams eOther countrlesFrench and United Kingdom prog
{
be quite large.
tantial prospams funded l
- In addition, there are subsand by NSSS verxlors.
h on fracture mechan-presents about 276 ty utilities of M S funding is for researc'Ihe modest ef-Operational effects funding re and The major portion tion (NDE) funding 164. work on operational e ics (about 576).
and Non-Destructive Examinafort an piping is limite NDE.
4.3 Evaluation NIC intensive lelation to Needs of the have been the subject of more
'Ihis ral cocponent or material.onent, and, more
- 4. 3.1 The IW and vessel materialsresearch than any hich obvious inportance of the comp 24,1965, in w rt of November resulted from thespecifically, from the ACRS repo 4.2 -
1 concerns as to the adequacy of nuterial property data, inspection techniques and irradiation danuge were expressed. 'Ihis report triggered the mjor AEC-fu.a. led Heavy Section Steel Technology (HSST) Progran and the Industry Cooperatiw Program. Subsequently, the ALRS report on RPV reliability (1974) concluded that the proba-bility of catastrophic failure was acceptably low, however, this conclusion was t>2 sed on the availability of adequate information and techniques pertinent to flaw growth, irradiation emart ttlement, voluxtric examination ard fracture wchanisms. The major and
' contiruing safety research ef forts devoted to the RPV are urvier-standable in this context.
' Itr other corponents of the primry system, including piping,
~
pu:ips, valves, and steam generators, are considered to have a lesser safety significance than tN= RPV because the major Design Basis Accident (DBA) is the instantaneous failure of a large pip =,
and the system design nust be capable of handling such accidents.
Much of the safety research is aimed at minimizing the probability arv3 ses of a DBA through inprwed NDE, better understand-ing of failure mechanisms such as stress corrocion, ard/or tech-l' niques to minimize failures bf wehanisms such as pipe whip or water harmer. Steam generator tube failure during a IDCA repre-
.sents a special case that has led to incressed safety research enphasis because fracture of a critical ntaber of tubes could l
cause steam binding and adversely affect injection from the ewr-gency core cooling system.
u
'Ile three areas, fracture wchanics, operational aspects, and non-destructive examination, fit into an overlapping matrix
- covering.the following aspects of the pressure boundary: (1) design; (2) fracture; (3) irradiation embrittlement; (4) fabri-
- cation and properties; (5) corrosion and stress corrosion crackirvj;
! and (6) active and passiw (non-destructive) examination techniques.
Ihe MMB pro a::s generally are identified under these headiins.
s n-no,w,.
i-
- It should be recognized that sewral of the' current' programs are a teontinuation of AEC programs that were ale d originally at a more i fundamental understandir>) of dar.29e nechanisms,' which subsequently
,have continued as confirmatory research. 'Ihe ACRS believes that this reoriented work continu?s to be Justified regardless of whether it adheres to the definition of confitr:utory research.
4.
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4.3.2 Relation to Work Being Ibne by Others At one time,'tt5e AEC/tGC programs in the areas of pressure boundary "research,' including design, fracture, irradiation embrittlewnt, tfabrication and properties,: corrosion and stress corrosion cracking,
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i ues, represented a mjority of extensive
%ere are ard active and passive NDE techn q.W is is no longer true.ilities, ard s In United Kingdom (in NDE).sutstantia))y ex the world'" ork.
programs turded by EPRI, some ut particularly FIC, France, and thedollar volure, these o with toth EPRI ard foreign ef fort..
HES has relatively good liaison research programs.
hhile Progress ard lesults ntinue well beyond FY 78.
l of effort could te decreasedco:rpar 4.3.3 Most of the M!G programs wi)) co it might te thought that the leve ents, the ACRS celieves that the in because of the pronounced upsurge by EeRI e d by foreign goverrriis needed to provide the a d
Moreover, sonewhich information develope current research efforts evaluate these other program. involve bilateral agreew n d irradi-by NRC is traded for that deve work on fracture mechanism ander the H We ACRS.
We ACRS believes that theation ent>rittleme h work should te coapleted.li g level sut tantial increase in the fuis nis not true, however a mjor contribution, and suc sees no reason for ain the area covered by llSST.. W s i
work on piping.
regard to h
Needs for idditional Ibscarc f EPRI ard others in of the greatly exparded ef forts oACRS believes that an in 4.3.4 pressure toondary research, the work of others.i n concerns the Because is to monitor theto have sufficient attent oof ND function fu. FMB lusive W is nee 3 has been that does not appectreliability of piping system, exc has been forwarded to l'ES EPRI and others.
to te funded adequately by recognized by NRR and a requesta research pro a program be funded..
i ns 4.4. Conclusions and Reconmendat oin, oots in concerns'expressedexcelle Conclusions 4.4.1 i
The current programs have the r,r have made 1965-1968.,%ey the period 4.4.-
=.
I f
4 have partially, txat rut.wpletely, allayte rojulatory concerns pertinent to the preJaute courstary with enphasis on tin' t rensure l
- vessel, i
i 4.4.2 nornwndat ions Miej research should to fu sled in pipirn with eqdiaJan >>n.r-}wts p'rtainir,3 to a gaant if seat ian of reliability. It is conciib rtd vital that elsne liaison cont ina. in the f uture wit's esqard to t
esqurable prsyrarrs at EPRI arwl.e othet count r ice..
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5.
S!n: SAftT, t 5.1 tejectives
'the current regulations and criteria of tre NK require that nu-elear power plants te so located and so designed that the ef fects of natural events that might occur at the site will not damje the plant to such an extent that radioactivsty will te released in such a manner that to and transported throojh tty' environwnt the health ano safety of the public will te crxlanjereo, in order
- 2se requirexnts, the NE Staf f cust have the knowledge, to wet procedures, and bases:
. to determine appropriately conservative rugnitudes for ewnts suen as earttyuakes, tornadoes, hurri-canes, floods, arsi tsunamis (sessmically-srsluced waves) which might occur at the site;
. to evaluate the ability of the structures, systerm, arsi co.ponents of the plant to resist the ef fects er forces produced trf such events; and e to evaluate the consequences to the public of a release of ratioactivity to the environxnt at a given site.
The research programs on Site Safety now urr$erway or planned are all clearl/ related to these needs.
Because sitinij is the first step in toth the utilitics' plannin) proeess aM in the NN ]icensiry proeess, i;ecause it arouses the public interest perhaps nure than any other asteet of nuclear safety, aM tecause it may have a significant ef fect on the haz-ards to the public f rom certain postulated xcidents, that, though having a very low probability of occurrence, could have chosen properly, auch large consequences if the site were ret attention is trinil given to sitiry policy tr/ the NW.
It : ray te that policy decisions in this area canret te based wholly on the results of research, tot it is very likely that alternatives to present sitinj practices and to site-related design features nuy te required to implemnt or cor. form to new policies, or sinply Unis has to provide improved safety under existiry policies.
been recolnized to a modest degree; for exxple, a relatively st:ull research ef fort has tren devotal to an investigation of the possible advantages of undergrours! sitiry and of alternative containmer.t concepts.
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5.2 Secpe
'n.c site-related safety research discusced in this chapter is chietly that ahiinistrated tr/ the Site Safety Research firanch, however, not all such research is a331;ned to this branen. A a3jor pri>Jrat on seismic-related prot %:rr, is now unter develop-ment and will te sasigned to several Fni branetes as appropriate.
This program is discussed in Section 5.4.2.
In adlition, ceveral stujien af site-related problems relyin; chiefly on probabilistic methodolnJy are tein] carried out in the Proh3bilistic Analysis Branch.
'Ihe Site Safety Research Branch has a staff of five profes-t.ionals and achinisters a research program at a level of arnut 55 million for FY 7d.
The dallar value of this proJram repre-sents atnut J.84 of the total rewarch projram support inhet tor FY id. *ne ackittional rite-related wrk in tre Pro.w ilistic
,eialysis Dr nch armi the proposed nes projram to evaluate seismic margins, rxw tein; formulatai, could inercase this figure to as much as 56.6 million. In view of tr.e imortance of site selce-tion ar.d evaluation in the licensina proerns and in th< minis of the public, the costs to the ut alltles (arri thus to the pus,licl, an1 the.mjor attention teinj given to.itini polsey tr/ tre *.lc and its staf f, this allocation of research furvu would aita ar tc te extremely rmWst in relation to existin; anj perceivM or potential nenis.
The m3)or portion of the research on sitin; (atout 79t in dellar value) is concerned with seismie-related problems. Arnat 16-of the research is relatul to mitecro1Tineal proulemr., incl.xi-in) torna4ws armi the transport and dif fustan of r.ylivactivat in tha atmosphere. A similar amount i.s.k nted to the ilujin) or coastal sites as a result of hurricannas at tsunamis.
'1% re-mainin; research has involved a ::s@st ef fort to explore the possibic increases in safety from unioriroand citina or athor novel contairrw nt concepts.
5.3
- 1. val uat ion
- 5. J. ] ikilat ion to Noods of the tJ5C In tha opinion of the IW.S Staff and, except for research on tornadoes, in the opinion of the staf f f rom the other NiC Ot-fices, all of the site-related researen now urkierway atiresses clearly perceived needs.
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% e relatively extensive and high-priority program relating to the seimicity of the Eastern U.S. was undertaken, at least in part, at the urgiro of the ACHSv and is in its opinion needed to brin) order to the siting process and to assure a suitable level of safety.
We programs concerned with sei:nic problems in the Western U.S.
are quite small and address relatively specific needs. Althoo3h seismicity is a mach greater problem in the Western U.S. than j
in the Eastern it.S., it has already received a great deal core l
I attention; the tatterns of seismicity are better known ard urder-stood, and there are thus far fewer uncertaintics; and rrony of the reeded studie.4 are site-specific and thus should be r: ode tr/
the applicants. l'or these reasoes, this nodest program is con-sidered adegaate until such tiw as generic problems relating to the seismicity of the Western U.S. can te delir -ated more specifically.* A new program to qJantify the :rurgins inherent in current practices and procedures for designin) plants to resist eartn.: Jakes will te extensive and expensive but is considered to te c.f high priority tr/ the ACRS.
We structural cr>1ineering research to evaluate the resist-ance of reirforced concrete containments to seismically in-duced shear forces is perceived as nealed tr/ the staf f in NkH. W e ACRS ajrees that this research is needest to eval-uate the safety of certain designs not conformin; to current NRC Staff eriteria; however, tSe ACRS sees no rcason why an applicant rather than the NRC chould not te reqJired to unler-take the research netxled to Justify his particolar design.
Were is disagreewnt among the NHC ftaf f regardirm) the need 'or the research on tornadoes. One viW is that current eriteria and requirewnts have teen nude suf f iciently conservative to reduce the hazards f rom tornadoes to an acceptably low level. We ACHS has in the past accepted this vin. However, since current reqJire-ments are tuned on gross phenomenological evidence rather than on a clear and co@leta urrierstanding of the intricate and co@ lex in-ternal details of tornade behavior, which this research addresses, it is possible that this program will yield results requirinj an iecrease in current requirew nts. If so, it would be worthwhile; but results i om this program should te reviewed carefully to determine whether ticy are indeed providing the alditional knowl-edja or understandirr) needed to confirm or i@ rove the adeqJac/
of current requirements.
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1 The research on struspheric transport and diffusion of potential accidental releases of radioact ivity is clearly related to regula-tory reeds, and sone of the esults have alscady been it'corporatal into tne procedures used for evaluatin; sites.
ines of coastal iloodiry as a result of hurticanos or tsu-nx:ss will yield re:_ults that can te incorporated into regulatory
';te stut reqairetxnts or regulatory guides which will sisplify the licensity-review process witnout co@romisiry safety.
- 5. 3. 2 ke1at ion to Wor < ceirvj Done tr/ Others Little or to research a the seimietty of the Eastern U.S. is for the intenaive and relat ively trirN done tyf others excepttrf applicants in connection with specific localizW studies sud, Iicense applteations and for a moclese continuity ef fort by the 6:ven more signficant is the fact that U.S. Ceological Sarvay.
no other goverriment or pr svate agencies are participating in the extensive, i:rportant, and potent sally very usefal work now teing for partscipcstion at a low level spon.;ored tr/ t14 NkC, except tr/ tne Corps ot Esqirers, U.S. Arn/, whose intenast relates to In view of the fact that current local or the safety of dams.
regional buildern codes for ssismie design ray not adequately protect major structuus a3ainst very low probaatlity large earthquakes, it is :.arpe estry that othe. goverreent agencies or Lullders of large expenst te industrial facilitias have not in these proble:~. and have not, so far, evincal more interest participated in sponsoring such studies.
DOE has sponsored a fairly extensi.e study relatin) to orth-of quake intensity and var coas aspects of the set:2nic dosigt:
structures and conponents. '!he NHC Staff is colnIZant of this work.
EPHI is sponsor SJ research on the interactson between strrtures and ? he surrounding arsi supportiry soil as itThis af fects the rer.mnse of the structure to earthquakes.
RES is work is teing funded at a level of about Si million.
co2nizant of this research and is following it closely to determine its relation to the study of soi::nic :rargins siow l
teiry planned, and to determine whether confir:ratory research sr.3y re required if the results of the EPHI work are i; sed as a tasis for changing current seismic design procedures.
EPAI has underway air.o a f air ly extenaive program to deter-meno the ef fects of tornado-borno rr.assales on nuclear One por t ion of this pro 3 ram is similar to a por t ion plants.
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of tre NiC tornado research, but liaison has %-n establishrd to prevent unnecessary duplteatson.
A related EPRI project concerns the pu,sible damge to rein-forcal concrete walls or roots tr/.nissiles prod' seed tr/ failure of a steam turbire rotor or disk. This work is tein; follow d closely tif the Nnf Staf f becaase it triy result in proposaln to r elax the current conservat sve asstq)? nons regarding missile p no-t r at tan.
If this ocects, close.mnitte iry of the tests and armle-pendent interpretat nor of the results ould orniate the need for coifir:ratory research in this area.
A fairly extensive study of tha consequeneca of a petulated core rneltdown arvi the releam of radioactivity to the grot.rmtsater or to a rwartrf lake or stteam, eather tnan to the atmosphare, bas been performed tri Nid. Studies made tr/ the Nic staf f or throagh Technical Assistance contracts have consideral such releases for larwl-based plants, a xi studies tif Of fshore Power Systeras, the applicant for a licenso to manufacture Float ing Nuclear Plants, have considared tI w. fot f1 >at in; plants. Althoojh these stoili?s have had sorno research asp'ets, for the a>st part they have te en short-term pro 3eets related to the licensability of Float in; Nxlear Plants. The ICIG haa tren informd that the long-term needs in tnis area will t** censick red tr/ RES for future projects.
T!w Nic Of f ice of Stanlards Draelc;r='nt (J6D) h.% severs.] site-related Teennt ral Assistence cont racta in tho ascas 01 extre.m maximo.:-rainimum temperaturea, arm; ext res.c fastest mile wind speeds.
These are all state->f-tne-art consilat ions arvi rut at this stage in conflict or in comet it son with on-goiry or pre ~ ial researen projects.
A modest a iount of worr is irin; oor.3 tu DOE, EPA, arxt FDA to develop or improve procedure:: to evaluate and to tantigate tne consequences of an accidental release of radi. activity at trv>
site of a naclear f acility. The RTS Staf f is ec9nizant of t!wse studies out has not teen act ive in coordinating t = Ark or is;-
terprat iry the,ignificance of tha results to us-a groups in ene NIC.
- 5. 3. 3 Prograss and Resultc Almost all of the projects revirved will extend well tcyond FY 78, sie have tren init lated only recent IV, and scoe are st ill teiry formulated. All cora to te prcytessin; well to-ward their ot>Joet ives.
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7 We studies of seicnicity of the Eastern U.S. are inherently long range progr as and it will undoubtedly be at least cnother three years, or even longer, before it will be possible to de-termine whether the results will be usable in the licensing pro-Even so, the potential is great and work in this area cess.
stuuld cont inue to tx given high prior ity.
For-the other projects in this area, results will become avail-able more rapidly, at least to a level that will permit an eval-uation of' their potential significance and a decision as to wiether they offer enough promine of useful results to justify their con-We AC16 expects to te able to report on some of these tinuation.
projects in its rubsequent reviews.
5.3.4 teeds for Mditional fesearch In the area of seism;c-related research, it is necessary to dis-In the Western t inguish tetween the Eastern and the Western U.S.
U.S., the occurrence of recent and, to soce extent, of historic carthqua':es can usually be related to a known gwlogic structure In the Eastern U.S., although very large earthquakes or fault.
have occurred historically, they cannot definitively te associated with a known geologic structure. %e sesearch now underway is intended to seek such relat ionships for the Ea-tern U.S.
- liowever, recent develc; tents in the states of Washington and Oregon suggest that the seismicity of this rojion my be more similar to that of tne Eastern U.S. than to that of California, and thought shoald bo given to the need for seimisc-related research in the Pacific Northwest simiIat to that teing carr ned out in the Eastern U.S.
It is also clear that probabilistic studies of earthquake occ~r-rences and effects are tecoming an increasingly *.aluable tool in reaching licensing decisions, and m/ te even more valuable in evaluatir.y the safety of older reactors designM and sited in accordance with earlier eriteria. Probabilistic studies of this type will undoubtedly constitute a major port ion of the Wis proposed research to determine inherent safety margins.
problem is extrerely canplicated and not usually amonable to solutions frer fro.n yvipental factors. Werefore, before the probabilistic approactican play an ef fective role in licensing,
~'
it will te necessary that the public perceive that solutions obtained tij thi: meas can be appropriately conservative and cred ible.
'Ib achieve this will itself require very thorough arW eareful study..
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l De ACRS belia/es that consequences of the release of large amounts of radioactivity to the liquid pathway ma/ be deserving of further study in relation to the siting of land-based plants, and reconm nds that the problems in this area be det'icM and research needs fornu-lated for future programs.
Another area ut site-related safety that appears to be deservin) of further research relates to emergency plans for evacuation or for uther interdictive actions. Much could be done in this area ty/ c.n appropriately 2xpanded RES Staf f without the need to sponsor additional programs. For example, the RES Staff should be in a position to coordinate, monitor, and interpret trie results from the several studies being trade by others and mentioned in Sec. 5.3.2.
We ACPS has made nther recocwndations for research on emergen y plannin) in its report to the Counission dated April 8,1975.
S.ae of these are being addressed tr/ RES (development of accident scenarios), some are being addressed by others (interdictive neas-ures), aM sme have not yet been iglemented. The ACHS is contin-uing to study site-related safety nutters and more specific recom-mendaticns for needed research will be nude in future reports to the NRC or to the Con 3ress.
And finally, there h.3 been a modest effort toward the investi-gation of new concepts to i:rprove safety, such as underground siting and alternative contairrent concepts..iuch studies, al-th> ugh not essential to confirm current staff positions or ap-plicant propo nis, are nevertheless useful and desirable for two First, they can be anticipatery of new directions and reasons.
may provide a tusis for a nore timely response by the NRC staff to new concepts when they are proposed by applicants. And secorxi, the raen!ts may either inspire the industry to look at new concepts that could inrove safety or permit the NRC staff to suggest alter-natives that have shown promise of ig roving safety.
5.4 Conclusions and Recomendations 5.4.1 C,:. cl usions The current prcgrams are for the most part well-conceived, well-managed ard well-executed. They are confirmatory in nature and responsive to regulatory rnds. We only potential exceptions, for the reasora given in the foregoing, are the ctudies on tornadoes and on the seismic resistance of a particular type of containment.
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5.4.2 feconinendat ions
/dittional research has been stugested relatiry-l to the seismicity of the Pacific Northwest, probabilistic studies of carttwpake oeeurrences and ef fects, liquid pathway releases f rom larxi-based plants, energency planning, and new concepts in sitiry.i.
A major research project, proposed to tel n in FY 78 and extent i
for several years, relates to the quantification of inherent safety rrorgins in current seismic designs. It will involve all aspets of seismic re: istant design includial: earthquake suJnitude and location; ground shakir 3 at the site; soil-structure interaction and the snakirvj i:r,sarted to the structure; dynxnic analysis of structures, sistem3, arsi coqx>nents; ark 1 the response arsi resist-ance of structtres, systems, and conpanents. 'Ihe ICIG telieves that sch a pro 1 ram should have the highest priority arri that its usefulness n the licensirv) process and in the evaluation of older reactors wi!) be significant. For this reason, the A016 urges that the program plan now teirx3 Aveloped for this research place nujer ecphasis on obtaining results useful in licensin3 as soon as possible, preferably within less than twa years, althow3h acklitional research to refire arxl confirm these early results :nay have to continue much lorvjer. Extennive re-scaren on the seismic response arwi resistance of structures arti cocponents is beirx) carried out in the Federal liepublic of Germanf and in Japan. A thoroo}h review of *his work anl coordination of the SIC effort might decrease significantly the tirre respired to achieve useful results.
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6.
,MNKED HEicIU16 6.1 OojectIves
'Ihe fundxnental purposes of tne Meanced Rextor Safety He:t arch (ARSR) program are to develop ine analytic.nl tools and data base necessary for t he NRC to ful f s i ! i ts l icens tr>; t t. net im, to etu-i f ilm irepervient ly the research wrk of develo[m.nt al <;roup:,, and to assure that it has access to kru.Inkjeable tv r.vnnol (including consultant s) to support itc 1icensing dacis'ons, 6.2 Scme j
'nv ARSR progra:n nominally ailresces all ty; a of snateed rea:-
tors; however, up to the present, it has limited its attent ion largel'/ to considerat ion of Liquid-Metal Fast-3 ret +r Peactorr (IMBR) and gas-cooled textors.
In view of the Ad;unist rat ion's non-proliferat ion policy, it is expectal that the DOE will devot? considera!:1c ettort t o t h<-
study of reactor aM f uel cycle concepts dif ferant f r om t he It'.!*JR with the conv.nt ional uranitr-plutonium fuel cycle. It is iner-tant that Nic' have input to tnese stalies as early as Ins:.itl since advanced reactor safety research will no doarit tv ne<*J before row concepts are omlenented, llow<.ser, these crudies.:e in their prolininarf st,yjes, and it is virtually i ptassible to plan a soursi extensian to the A16H program at this t im. Tnis uncer tainty in exp feted to cont inue for several montus.
6.1 Fvaluatioq 6.3.1 feelat ion to Needs of the MC In response to the Pres toent's 1977 ere gy messaqe, the ITFDR re-search program is tving reor ?cnted f rom heavy e@hasis on the Clinch
,l River Ureeder Reacter toward problems of a generic nature a;plicanle to any INI3R. Attent ion is tem] given to the tL* Lu-uranium-233 fuel cycle which door:phastres the use of plutonitrn, and this ef fort will increase if DOE ef tor ts expand. For fast rea tors, the basic safety issues revolve cround the facts that (a) in c'clor to breed ef fect ively, the neutron sp.<trum :nust involve fast neutrons and this, in turn, requires consider:nbly higher enrichment than is re-quired in IMRs, and (b) since the rate of breeding is strongly dependent on power density, there is great incentive to operate at high power densities wt"ch are e osmally aceocyanied by nigh tercperatures. A furxla ent.
safety issue is tha possibility of f
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a criticality event that could lead to a burst of en. cgy, f :a]
melting or vaporization, and a sutxstantial energy-m,oase trer-sient. Wis, in turn, could establish a need for enharex con-tainment to avoid spreading of radioactive cute rials oute'da *he plant boundary. Such Core Disruptive Accida.itn (CDA] have be.:3 stated to have a very low probability of occurrence. IX BRs nave nany safety considerations comon to those in LWRs; however, the i
CDA and a few other possible accidents, such as sodium-water rea:-
tions, are peculiar to this type. Furthermre, treause of the relatively higher liquid-metai-coolant temratures, materials are used at temperatures beyond the range reflected in codes ar1 standards comonly enployed in LWR design. heae two generic classes of problems - the CDA and the integrity of the system under p clonged service at high tenperatures - have been the focus of the ARSR program.
The INBR program tu divided into fiv? nujor categories which re-flect the safaty curce:ns discussed above: (a) studies ai m ! at analyzing possible accidents, (b) tests in the Ar.nalar Core pulsed Reactor ard othar fa..ilities to aid in those analytical studies, (c) analytica! and s gerimental studies of the interactions of materials Jurnag an cident, (d) studies of the release and dis-persion of :adioactne aerosols from contairmnt, and (e) studies of the iategrity of var tuus reactor systems, under high-te:.perature operating conditions.
'.N first four focus on the CDA and the last on long-term operational reliability. We fundamenta2 pur-poses of the work are to develop the analytical toals and data base neceasary to fulfill the regulatory function ard to con-firm incependantly the work of others.
The gas-cooled reactor effort is directed to the high-tecperature thermal reactor sfstem which utilizes a thoriun-uranium-233 fuel cy.:le and which is currertly being demonstrated by the Fort St.
Vrain reactor near Denver. A snall amount of ef fort has also been devoted to the gas-cooled, plutonium-cycle fast breeder reactor.
Although there may ** s future need to widen the. cope of the pro-gram in response to developments within DOE, the citire gas-cooled-reactor program is currently being reduced to a maintenance level consistent with the slow industrial developnent of the liigh-Tenperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (trIGR).
De operating budget of the ARSR program for FY 78 is tentatively
$14 million for the fast-reactor conponent and $2 million for the gas-cooled component. This total of $16 mi))icn is about 12% of the total RES budget of $140 million. The S14 ' 1] ion for fast-reactor work is divided among to the five major sotegories enu-merated above.
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1 6.3.2 Relation to Work Being tbne by Others While NRC sponsors a large fraction of the total U.S. !)iR safety research effort, the NRC program ir advanced reactor safety research is much smaller than that of DOE and privately-funded ird.istrial w;,a in the U.S.
In addition, several other national govern-ments including the Federal Republic of Germany, Francc, the United Kingdora, and Japan also contribute in a major and significant way to the world knowledge of advanced reactor safety. Most of these non-NFC progras have been underwc.f for mre than two decades.
The NRC utilizes these lug-term, broader-based ef forts and tailori, its own ARSR prcq!am to take advantage of and cocplement the others.
An important cocponent of fast-breeder-reactor developaent in the l
U.S. is ti.e proposed Safety Research Experiment Facilities (SAREF) program which is administered by DOE. The facilities will consist of the Safety Test Facility -- a nuclear reactor test system; the SMEP Experimental Systems Project - a ntrnber of experimental loops and systems; the SAREP Support Facilit ies Project - an expansion of the Hot Fuel Examination Facility in Idaho; the TREAT Upgrade Project - a modification of the TREAT reactor; and the Et3R-II Safety Research Modifications Project - a modification of the EBR-II which is also loca'ed in Idaho. 'Ihese factlities are currently e timated to cost approximtely $550 million total.
The NRC has strongly endorsed the SAREF program.
The ARSR progra will rely heavily upon data from SAREF, and is involved in defining of facility carabilities and experi ental needs, in defining requirements for better fuei mtion diagnostic instt awntation, and in analyzing the performance of specific types of tests.
6.3.3 Prortress and Results The AIGR program is, on the whole, fulfilling an inportant need.
The subcontractors arpear to be cocpetent; in general, the work is timely; and worthwhile results appear to be forthcocing on a time scale reasonably consistent with needs.
6.3.4 Needs for Additional Nesearch The ACRS believes that generic IRFBR safety research work should be continued. Furthermore, the focus of the current frIGR safety research program might be usefully broadened to provida greater emphasis on identification of alternate accident scenarios for their possible influence on safety criteria and future safety research emphasis. It is also apparent that considerable safety
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l research work will be required in conjunction with the Administra-tion's program of evaluating alternate reactor and fuel-cycle is virtually impossible today to suggest concepts; hcuever, it either the direction or the magnitude of any new effort.
It has been noted above that the ARSR program in gas-coaled reac-tors has teen reduced to the maintenance level, and the ef fort If either the International on gas-cooled breeders is very snal).
Fuel Cycle Evaluation or the DOE Non-Prolifenocion Alternative Systems Assessmnt Program were to call for a crash program to develop gas-cooled breeder reactors, for exa::ple, the ARSR prcgram would require significant n>dification.
6.4 Conclusions and Reconnerxlations 6.4.1 Conclusions It is concludod that the ARSR program is meting the current NHC needs in a reasonable fashion at the pres (nt timt. The program is well planned and tirly, the personnel involved (both NRC and subcontractor) are cometent, and usef al results are beim obtained on a reasonable tim scale.
is In view of the,Mninistration's non-proliferat ion policy, it expected tnat NRC needs will change signiticantly in the near future. Ilo.ever, it is virtually iapossible to suggest a sound extension to the ARSR program at this tiw.
6.4.2 lococw ndaticns is meetity the NRC needs, it is believed that Although the ARSR progra.h These a few n>difications could enhance the value of the pror'"am.
include:
e A fundamental purpose of NRC-sponsored research is to provide information that will permit the NRC Staff to develop the independent ability to assess the behavior of reactor systems in accident situ-ations. In order that progra:rs be daveloped which provide for both present needs and anticipated future requirements, a broad perspective is needed in the
%us, signi-establishment of goals and priorities.
ficant and continuing input from the NRC user staff and from outside experts as well as from the NRC research st.-f f is needed. Stronger w ehenisms should be establishal to ensure that the needed
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infor:ution is available to those who plan the AIGR prograns and that the programs are responsive to the needs of other NRC offices that utilize the results of the research. However, ARSR must not give up its init iative and esponsibilit les for identifyiry) and invest igating gutters requir sq research.
. %e developwnt of the SINER conputer code is one of tte aujor ARSR e?'rts, and the final corputer progran should provide considerable insight into the cocplex problems of II1FBR core disrupt sve ac-cident analysis. It will be expensive arul will regaire a lengthy development ef fort. (One estimate was S100 million and about 10 years). Further at-tent son should tx* given to defining desired and realistic capabilities for SIKER and to delineat-in) other important needs for analytical accident analysis ethodolcyy. Validation of SIMMER in a quant itat ive sense by exper imnt will be dif ficult becauro of the com)exity of tne phenorna, and the experimntal projram develord for this purpose wil!
roquire judicious review and evaluat ion. It is believed that the code developers should wor k more closely with the licencir>3 staf f throughout the develo, ment to assure that tho code is of maximum value in licensing.
. It is important that there not Le an undue t im lag retween tne work of a reactor developer and the confitrutory reaearch needed tri NRC to eval-uate the desiJn. Such a ' N can result in the impositson of licensing riquirements on a devel-oper at a t im when a concept is relat ively frozen or when design anxl const ruct son rnit ficat ions are difficult anel expensive to make. b is is es p-cially so in a tim of rapid chanjes such as ruy evolve Irom the eur ent non-pr01 terat ion atalics.
It is reco: mended therefore that the NRC cont inue its ef forts to reor ient the ARSR progra.n in an ant icipatory direct ion, even at sonr> rask of doire unneeded work.
e Without endorsing the specific S/JEF approach or errphasis, the ACIG telleves that an exper imntal fast-reactor cafety program by DtE and related ARSR cet ivit ies warrant cont inued support, and
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3 planning should continue. However, there should be a continuing review of the entire program to help assure that the most cost-ef fective facilities are built consistent with programatic need. It i
is of great inportance that these facilities incor-porate the ability to obtain meaningful test results from well-plar.ned experiments, with a high ratio of information obtained to cost. Pere consideration e
should be given in the experimental program to prob-lems of post accident heat removal. In addition, alternate accident sceriarios to those cqttasized in the past should be carefeilly evaluated for their possible inpact on experimental needs.
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RJEt, CYCIE AND E;NIRX0 MAL 7.]
Objectives The objective of the NHC fuel cycle and environwntal researen program is to provide technical information and methodology for predicting and assessing the environwntal and public health im-pacts resulting from the operation of licensed nuclear facilities and to support the developent of associated standards and licens-ing criteria. Components of this effort include the evaluation of:
. In-plant radiation exposures, includin3 the conduct of research to assure the adequacy of wthods for limiting personnel exposures, both external and in-ternal, in accordance with the As Ic.: As Reasonably criteria. 'Ihis encopasses wthods Achievable (AIARA) for minimizing the buildup of radionuclides within plant systems and/or re m ing such build,;ps through decontamination procedures.
e Environwntal radiological exoosures, includir>J (1) research to develop the casic data to i@ rove the NRC capability for predicting and assessirn environwntal transport mechanisms associated with nuclear plant ef-fluents, (2) refiner nts in m thodology for monitoring mntal radionuclide releases and associated environ.
development of mathemtical models transport, and (3) for estimatirv) the resulting dose rates and their as-sociated environmental imacts and health effects.
. Decorrissioning operations, including the conduct of researen to confirm that adequate methods and criteria have been developed to safely decoamission nuclear facilities af ter they are no longer to be oterateo.
. Waste management methodology, includir*} the cor. duct of confirmtory reseiren to assure that criteria can be developed for evaluating the adequacy of procedures proposed for the management of liquid, solid, and air-borne wastes of low, intermediate and high level.
Other environ.wntal problems include mtters such as emergency plannirg and the assessment of the liquid pathway as a source of
'these : ratters are discussed in Chapter 5.
population exposure.
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i 7.2 Scoco The fuel eyele aM environwntal research diceussed in this criapter is aininistercd throujh the Division of Safeguards, Fuel Cycle and Environwntal Research, of Rf S.
Tie total dollar value of the research within these categories f or FY 76 is atout $11 million. Of this, aboat $1.5 million is for evaluation of the non-radiolojical arti sacioeconanic twacts of nuclear facilities upon the envirortwnt and society.
Of the remainder about 316 is directed to research on physical transport and of fluent characteristics,19s to research on 164 to ralia-fuel c/ ele t.ieillt tes,17s to waste managewat, tion dostwtry arti health ef fects, and about da each to reactor ef fluent control and to ecological precesses.
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7.3 ENaluat ion 7.1.1 telat ion to Nmis of the NRC In the opinion of the ACHS, all of the health and environmental researen currently uMerway wittiin the NRC clearly addresses need.; of that agency.
The level of confirnatory research on in-plant exposures is mulost and is designed both to ot> serve treMs and to correct any pr.oblems noted. This ef for t provides data *.o determine cor.pliance with 10 CFR 20 requirements and the results are teinj used to formulate,WTHA criteria to encourage vendors and utilities to develop new, inproved approacht s for r-inimiz-ing in-plant exposares.
Research is teing conducted to confirm mather:utical mdels for dose estimates f rom enviror6wntal releases unrier condi-tions of both routine operations and emergencies. Since routine release restrictions are currently very conservative, environwntal samples f requently yield little in the way of quantitative inf arnuti,n on associated population dose rates.
As a result, i:nthenutical transport mode]s have beeow the pri-mary tool for determiniry whether routine plant discharges are withire acceptable limits. Because it is essential to nnow the degree of conservatism within such cxxlels, a continuirv), but rrodest, level of research on the subject is required. It is also essential that continuing studies te ::ude to confirm the of fective-cess of environw ntal surveys so that unnecessary sampling and ana:fses are avoided.
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4 In tnis same regard, however, the ACRS believes that NRC is int the proper agone / to undertake extensive studies of the short ard lary term ef fects of populat ion exposures associated with accidents in nuclear facilities. Because the ::ugnitude of the required suppor r iry research ef for t is large, it appears that other Federal agencies, with larger resources and more direct responsibs1 ties in this subject area, can rure proper 1y akiress these proble.ns, no primary need of the NRC is to obtain expert and crediole interpretat ions and recoitrv rstat ions on the signi-ficanco of the data teiry generated tr/ these other groups.
A/ch itc Technica1 Assistance program, the NHC has recent1y initiated a series of studies on alternat ives for decoxiissionity a var iety of nx' ear f acilit ies. 'this wor n includes assessenta of the aa weiate safety prablems arx! ecoryxnic costs arxl is de-signed to generi e data necessary for developiry the reJulato y er iter ia rw eessar f for such operat ions.
Becaw of the reed to protect tha environment from contamination by radroxtive materials, the NIC is exparkling its research ef fort to assist in c:eveloping eriter ia for the long terra nonagement of radioxt sve wastes and spent fuel. An imortant comunent of this ef fort is research on the envirorental transport of radio-nuclides to resolve conecrns associated with wastes in shallow lark! trar tal sites as well as deep geological format sons.
7.3.2 Felat ton to work Heing Ibno bf Othors Research teiry corxluetm by other organizations, as well as the impact of policy decisions ty/ advisory groups arxi other Federal agencies, can have a significant impact on the fuel cycle and envirorwntal research needs of the NIC.
A nu:rwr of improvements in the reduct ion of in-plant exposure have resulted f rom research ef forts tif nuclear power plant vendors, architect-engineer ing f irms, and electr ical utilit ies.
The NRC 550u1d continue to encourage these af fof ts and to assure that, to the extent pract ical, the benefits of this resear:h are made available througheut the nuclea: industry.
In terms of environmental expcsures, the major interact ion of NRC is with the EPA. Through 40 CFR 190, the EPA has pronul-gated a limit of 25 millirema per year as tne :taximum dose rate to an individual within the general populat ion a', a result of nuclear power oper at ion:,.
That regulat son will tecom ef fect ive in Decurber 1979. In the anendments to the Clear. Air Act, the
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1 Coryress recently classified radioactivity as an air pollutant.
Since I:PA is responsible for adninistering this Act, this may require the developaent of new environwntal eriteris by t!'e Both of these actions could require additional research NIC.
on environx ntal discharges and the resultiry population dose rates.
Unt il recently, most of the research on dacormssioning has e
teen conducted by groups other than the NHC. mis includes a study performd under the auspices of the Attraic Industrial Forum and the preparation of a "Decociaissioniry Techtvlogy Handbok" under tne auspices of DOE. The NEC Staf f is ful1y aware of both of these efforts and is usiry the findings in i
its regulatory functions, DOE has a major research program underway on radioactive waste Modest studies and assessments are also tcing pur-managew nt.
Doeause of the interest of the public in this sued by tne EPA.
subject and because of the it:portancy of proper waste management in protecting the environment from radionaclide contamination it is important that the NRC maintain a vigorous program of research on this subject arul develop a capability for an in-assenswnt of the research findarqs of others. In dependent the train, tho ACRS is encouraged by current NFC efforts in this area.
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- s. 3 Progress aru Results Many of the propets reported upon have teen underway only a tim arxl st ill others are only new being for:rulated. All short of the projects will extend beyond FY 76.
Most appear to te pro-gressing satisf actorily toward their objectives. However, prob-lems stall exist. For exa@le, the reported data show that the tragnitade of in-plant exposures in licensed nuclear power plants is increasing year by year. Wis confirrrn the need for enphasis on specific problem areas. One such area considered of high pri-ority by the ACHS is the decontaninat ion stud / currently underway at the Dresden Statson. Unfortunately, this prcyram is far behind the schedule originally projected. In contrast to this, work in developing AIARA criteria for power plants, as exe@lified by Reg-ulatory Guide 8.8, is prcqtessiry well. De ajor need here is for increased emhasis to encourage architect-engineering firms, NSSS vendors, and utilities to iglement the reconverdations as outIinad.
This review has shown that the primary NRC effort on the assess-ment of in-plant exposures is directui to external exposures.
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Similar ef forts are needed on the develo[n'nt of irrproved wttuxis for the assesswnt of internal exposures arisin3 throajh the inha-lation ard irnestion of radioactive truterials. This includes the support of groops responsib)e for the maintenance and develop-
- nent of coquter ized systens for est i:rutiry interna' loses toth for erklividuals arvi f or papalat son groups. 'Itc suptort of such wor < is part seular1/ relevant at this tim tecaase of the p njir>J issuance by tho International Comission on kalialogical Protee-t ion of a ntreer of new recormr rulations on internal exp>sures.
Subsequent am!ificat ions of these recormervlationa tr/ the Nat ional l
Council on RaJiat ion Protect son and Measurewnts will, in turn, need to be ta<en into considerat son in the for ulation ard/or
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ruis t ieat ian of NIC reiplatory reqJirements.
The studies on envirorriental transport, particularly tar air-borrie releases, are leadin2 to i:rprovewnts in r:uthemat ical
.m@ls for est inut any populat ion expysares. As is pointed out ir. Ct.3pter 5 rowever, the MHS telieves that greater at tent ion needs to te directed to exp'rtwntal and theoret ical stadies in supuort of lig. tid pathway.nssassmnts, e.,imeially urkler rvasta-lated acei vnt conlitions.
1.itt le attent ion has rven & voted to trearporit inj into the desiin of nxlear puer plants feat ires to fxilitate decomis-sioning. Statics are nenied on the estanlistrent ut cr iter ia for tr.e selection of. ater ials within reactors to mini nize xtivatian prtalxt:n, :or tre role of deconta:ination of spNi-f ie synte:a as a preearsar to docoxiissiontr>3, tor ti;e 1orma-lation of designs that woala facilitate disassert,1y at the t im of deemnissiontr>;, arvi on tre evalaation of tne experiece. f rom previous decomissionirn op rations as a guide f or developing re-gulatory erstoria. M wat toned previously, the NRC has euntracted for an extensive stady of tre tecnnology, safety, and costs of de-comissionin; a viriety of nuclear tacilities. The f irst report of this war <, which wan directai to a reference narloar f uel reprocess-iry plant, was issund in 0: toter,1977 (NURIM-027tl). The report on the pressurized water reactor will not te coq)leted unt il 1976 arvi the repart on the toilin) w2ter reactor will not m cortpletci until 1979. Sturlies on low level wacte burial sites ark! -ranium mills will also not te cortpleted until 1979.
The ACRS has been encourajad by the exparvjed research ef fcrt on long-term high-level radioxtive waste manaoement. At the sa.m tim, however, it must bn noted that an oper stional repository appnars to be some years of f, aru! much work remains, particalarly
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is also needed to develop the data necessary for fornulating reg-ulatcry requirements associatal with the storage of spent nucle.)r fuels. hklitional recomendat ions on the long-term management of high-level radioactive wastes were outlined in ACRS reports issued on April 15 and December 20, 1976.
7.3.4 Needs for Mditional Research Each of the problem areas previously cited is receiving re-scarch attention. Dere are, however, significant areas that are not beirmj addressed or that are in need of increased attentini.
Alternate Fuel Cycles
%e i:: pact of proposed alterna+ives, such as the thorium-based fuel eyele, on fuel cycle safe:y arsi associated environmental ef fects ruy require ariditional research. Although uranium-233 is not as radiotoxic as plutonium when inhaled, it is still a serious radiological hazard. In additio% the high gantna radio-activity and radiological toxicity of reactor-grade uranitzn-233 require substantial shielding and hian degrees of confinement for tha protection of workers.
For these same reasons, the problems of protecting the public in case of accidental releases of these traterials to the environment are also increased. The NRC should consider initiating a research program to evaluate the health and safety problems associated with the developnent of this and other alternate fuel cycles.
In-Plant Exposures Althoo3h considerable attention has been directed to research needs associated with the control of external exposures with.n nuclear power plants, conparable attention has not been directed to proolems of internal exposures nor have AIARA criterla for the control of such exposures been formulated.
Environmental Exposures Problems requirir:3 increased resear ch within the category cf environ:nental exposures include:
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Dose as.scss:nent nethcdolocy.- Wis includas the need to check, and ver sty the accuracy of dose calculational
- rethodology; the need for increased attention to devel-oping criteria for assuring the quality, representative-ness, and cost-ef fectiveness of environrmntal sanples; and the need for better infornution on differences in the behavior of radionuelides in people as a function of age and sex, and on tha particle size distribution and chemical form of airborne releases as a function of time and distance from the point of discharge. Also in need of i;nproved quant itative assessment are the living habits of people and related actions that may enhance their exposure to, or intake of, radioactive mater ials through environmental pathways.
A! ARA Criteria.- here is a need for research to pro-vide tusic guidelines for applying AIARA principles to a wider ranga of environmental problems associated with nuclear operat ions. nose problems include those associated with uranium mining and milling, fael fabri-cation, the developnent and employment of alternate fuel cycles, nuclear power plant decomissioning, and the control of accidental releases from nuclear facilities.
Decomissionino operat ions One additional subject not explieitly addressed in the ongoing research on dacommissioning is the possible impact of associated requireaents on the selection of sites for nuclear facilit ies.
The !.CRS believes that this matter should be evaluated to de-termine if it should te made a part of the ongoing Nic re-searen effort.
Waste *unaaement The possible need for the retrievability option after storage of high-levr-1 waste may require research as a basis for develop-ing related eriteria.
7.4 Conclusions and Recormwndat ions 7.4.1 Conclusions The current research programs on fuel cycle and environmental problams are for the most part well-conceived, well-managed
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and well-executed. Trey ara confircutory in nature and sponsive to regulatory needs. W e one area in need oi greater attention appears to be in the assignxnt of pr nor it ses for research with-in this subject area. This is illustrated tif problems associated with the tailinjs from uranitrn mill operat nons. Esti..ates show that this source contr stutes about half the pop.ilat ton ciase from the entire fuel cycle. This trity the case, it wuald aprear that a greater research ef fort should te direetN to c.:,tainary the data necessary for formulatiry criteria for tne control of this source.
7.4.2 Recoarnendat ions In general, tne ACRS belleves that tosearch prcurerns for the con-trol of external exposures to workers in nuclea: f rilit ies are adequate. The ACRS reerxmends, however, tinat rote attent non te3is directed to requirements associated with internal exposuren.
includes research to obtain data necessary for the developnent of ALARA criterla for the control of these exposures. Ihe etfor t teing devoted to the developvnt of mathemat scal rodala ter the est imat On of papulatic,n exposures dae to airbor ne releases f rom twelear f acili-t ses appears to be adequate. We ACHS recorrnerxis, rowever, that in-creased ef fort te directeo to confir ratory resoaren for &se estimatas f rom relaa>s into the liquid pathway, especialiy undor accident con-dit ions f.4e Jhapter 5).
The ACHS also s ocorty Ma enat the Nic tr. more act ive in conduct-nry tenearch on the devol<>;mnt of A11aA criter la f or t r.o cont r ol of en/ iron:wntal releases arx1 associated popalat son exposures from naclear facilities auct. as uranium niines and mills, w.istc retent ion and cisposal sites, and fuel f ar,r ication plants. The Nic has several researeb. studies directed to protelern associated with the decorraissioning of nuclear facilit ses. Tnese includo research on determining acceptable levals of permisaiole contan-inat ion and on myeloping cr iter ia for :nothfullin;, entu oirn, and/or deconta.inat ion and teruval of osia.;tmnt, once a nuclear facility ceases operatson. Tha ACh3 recomrxis tnat the NRC give
.:ckiit tonal coi Wrat son to research on evaluat ions of deeosants-sioniry operations that may te relatai to f aelli'. / desiga and site selection.
I In lin+- with the Adaiinistrat ion's non-proliferat ion polic/, there j
is a concer trd ef fort to develop alternate nuclear fuel cycles.
The ACRS rcecanends that the NRC direet attention to re -arch e
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ciated with t'ese alternate cycles. Similarly, confirnutory re-
- s. arch needs associatM with the nunagement of increasing gaantit;es l
. cf stent fuel f rom existiry consnercial nuclear power plants require attention, i
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8.
SAFEXRJARDS
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8.1 Objectives
'Ihe purpose of the NRC safeguards research is to 9velop infor-mation, models, and procedures for assessing th< W.fectiveness of safwuards strategies, systems aM coqx)nents in support of tne decision-making processes involved in the NRC's regala-tory responsibilities. The safeguards problems fall into two broad areas, namely, (1) physical security of licensed nuclear facilities and (2) protection and accountchility of Special Nuc] ear Materials (SNM).
Major problems with rsjard to physical security of nuclear facilities concern (a) how to achieve a suitable balance of area access controls between the needs of safe, efficient oper-ation a -1 of adequate safeguards, (b; how to provide plant de-sign features which permit safe, efficient operation and which also could reduce the probability aM con >equences of sabotage, and (c) how to reduce the potential for internal sabotage by plant personnel who have full or limited accecs to safety-related plant conponents.
Problems with regard to.naterials protection A:d aCCoJntability of S?;M include such difficult matters as persennel policies, transportation of SIN, timely detection of SIM diversion at nuclear installations, ar.d accurcte.ind rapid mensuremnts of S?N.
It is inportar.t to recognize that significant flexibility in safeguards research may be needed as the extent and degree of safeguards measures must be modified in crds to cope with the reqairements of a growing nac]c-ar industry and with cht.nges in nati'>nal ana worlu conditions. 'Ihe NRC safeguards research, particularly that concerned with S?;M protectio t arx1 account-ability, is r.ow 5eing reviewed for nylificatioris which would be responsive to cNmges in safeguards reeeds fcr alternative
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types of power reacters ard fuel cycles. (E will presumably also rxxiify its research and developnent prcgr.~ns *.o develop new safeguards technology in recocnition of xv requirc:nents resulting from alterrntive nuclear power reactors and fuel cycles. However, the burden of performing the confirmatory reser.ch r=juired for assessing the effectiveness of rvw safe-guards measures for these reactors aw! fuel cyc.les wilJ fall on the NRC.
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8.2 Scope The FY 1978 funding for safeguards research is $8 million which represents about 64 of the total RES budget. Because the impact of alternative nuclear power reactors and fuel cycles which may stem f rom the implemr. at ion of the Aininistration's rwn-proliferation policy is not yet known with regard to safeguards prcolees, it is difficult to judge the adequacy of funding budg-eted for this area. Based on its observations of the current greater enphasis on non-proliferation and of the increased concern for protection of licensed nuclear facilities against sabotage, the liCRS tel. eves that the future requiremnts for safeguards research will te at least as great as in the past two to three years and that the present levels of rcpport for this research in F.5 should be maintained, as a minimu:3.
Beca.:se the NHC does not have the necessary personnel or facil-ities to conduct its safeguards research in-house, it has con-tracted to have the work performd for it b/ others including the National Bureau of Standards, National Laboratories, industry, ard universites. Tne Safeguards Branch has made an appropriate selection of contractors and what appears to be a satisfactory breadown of the total research progran into an ef fective number of projects.
8.3 Evaluation 8.31 Relation to Needs of the NRC The !.CRS believes that the Safeguards Branch has applied generally apprcpriate priorities to the different elements of this program.
It apears that the NRC user needs have been addressed appropriately in establishing the levels of funding and the scheduling of research efforts d'aring the past two to three years that tho safeguards progran has been in effect.
8.3.2 Pelation to Work Being Done by Others
'Ite Safeguards E' anch has made comendable ef forts to f amiliarize itself with the safeguards research performd by other government agene.es, particularly that b/ DOE which has the principal respon-sibility to do the recessary research and to develop safeguards t echrology. She NkC has coc:plemented DOE studies b/ sponsoring research which is primarily confirmatory in character and re-sponstve to the needs of various NPC user groups.
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8.3.3 Progress and Pesults
,The ACRS concludes that satisfactory prograss'and results have been obtained thus far by the NRC on its safeguards research.
Ilwever, the ACRS believes that it wuld be desirable to develop
.wnarios and protect ive masures that take into account the experience, eriteria, and procedures of law enforcem nt and military organizations and apply this information to NHC's regulatory needs in lieu of the independent model developnent and valid 3t ton by NRC.
For scrae tin the NHC has strong 1y supported wark to iJrprove the accuracy and reduce the time required for SNM measuremnts.
This has resulted in better mterials accountability which is I
an inportant corponent in one of NRC's regulatory roles, namly, refutation or confirmtion of SNP $.ersion. Working coopera-t ively with DDE, the NRC is suppo. t ing studies on newer techni-ques for mterials accountability which have the objective of essentially instantaneous account ing of S'Ot so that real-t im inventory of S!21 can be obtained in licensed facilities.
8.3.4 Needs for Additional fesearch The ACHS believes that it would be desirable for RES to have additional research performd for purposes of assessing the effectiveness of techniques being developed by other organi-zations for prce.pt detection of attenpted diversion of SNM.
Confirmatory research on the applicability of new techniques to accomodate alternative fuel cycles should also be under-taken.
In addition, the ACRS believes that conceptual design studies and/or probabliistic risk assessment studtes may be warranted in connection with tha following exanples of design changes that could lead to improved safety:
In its revim of trae physical security of nuclear power plants, the ACHS has noted and expressed concern on mny occasions that storage pools for irradiated fuel are frequently located at ele-vations, relative to grade level, such that breaching of a pool wall would result in partial or total loss of shielding and coo!-
irn water. 'this could lead to melting of spent fuel and, perhaps, even to sxe volatilication and dispersal of fission products.
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Mit;. regard to providing better assurance of shutdown heat removal j
in the event of plant accidents or sabotage, a bunkered, dedicated, shutdown heat removal system with independence from conponents of the regular heat removal syst m might significantly enhance reliability.
Increased separation of redundant safety-related conponents or fa-cilities could contribute to plant safety by reducity the vulner-ability of such facilities or conponents to possible un-envisioned plant accidents or to acts of sabotage.
8.4 Conclusione and Recomendations 8.4.1 Conclusions The ACRS believes that the NRC has a satisfactory safe 7Jards research program and that it generally has been well foraulated and conpetently nunaged. Sus far, the absolute and relative levels of funding for safeguards that have been provided in the total RES budget appears reasonable. Modifications in the Safe-guards research program including sone increase, may beconc neces-sary should the Administration's non-proliferation policy be inple-mented by adoption of alternative nuclear power reactors and fuel cycles that differ significantly from present W W and fuel cycles.
8.4.2 Reconwndat ions I
D e research efforts in regard to the protection ard accountability of S!N should be realigned in order to allow more support of work to enhanca the evaluat ion and application of techniqJes which are capable of pronptly detect ing diversion of SNM. Studies of these techniques should be encouraged to assess their reliability for use in locations such as irgress and egress points of nuclear facilities which handle large quantities of SNM in various physical and chemical forns. The NRC should also support studies to determine the feasi-bility of locating diverted S!N at locations such as open terrain, i
cities, rivers, lakes, etc.
W a ACRS believes that the NRC should support research on design concepts that make sabotage more difficult to perform and less likely to be harmful to public health and safety.
I Some specific exar:ples of design features which the ACRS be--
lieves have the potential for improvements in LWR cesigns and for which tha NRC should fund conceptual design studies of a ge-neric natare are: (1) alternative locat ions of the ir radiated
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re-1 d wn heat nkered, dedicated, shut opar ation of i
fuel storage pool; (2) a buincreased geographical se rnoval systern; and, (3) safety-relatcd f acilit e.
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RISK ASSESSMEffr I
9.1 Objectives The objectives of the ris< assessment research nonaged by the Probabilistic Analysis Branch (PAB) of RES are to develop and t
apply risk assessent wthodology to 1ight water and advanced
}
reactor designs aM fuel cycles, and to aid in the developnent of risk assessx nt capability in other NRC offices and contractor i
organizat ians.
In order to m et its research goals, PAB must have the knowledje, procedures aM bases:
- To predict the behavior of facility safety conp r nents and systems under normal and faulted condi-c tions, and to derive realistic but appropriately i
conservative failure rate data-bases.
t o'Ib determine realistic but appropriately conser-vative ::ajnittries of extreme environmental events j
such as catihqaakes, tornadoes, hurr scanes, floods, I
and tsanamis and their ef fects on the behavior of plant safety systems and conponents.
- 1b determine appropriately cor. servat ive extrexs of plant site xtcorology, hydrology and geology aru their ef fects on the transport of radioactive releases from plant structures.
e'Ib apply the Reactor Safety Study (RSS) wthodolojy to the identification of postulated accident sequencer.
and radioactive release magnitudes and to develop enginer iryj insights and quantitative r ask acuess-ments for nuclear facilities operations.
- To aid in the selection and training of caMidates for Nic work in probabilistic analysis and related risk assessment areas.
The research programs now under way or plannnd are all related to these needs.
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i 9.2 Scone The present NRC risk assessment research is the outgrowth of the Reactor Safety Study, MSil-1400, NUx11; 75/014 and has, since 1974, beeri conducted ti/ the PAB. Research progrxts are established pri-tr.arily by th > IMB Staf f in consultat ion with the Director, RES.
A balance in struck between programs support irq PAB's perception j
of the needs to develop mthodology for indcpendent risk assess-i ment projects, and programs in response to requests for support f rom other N!C of fices, hhen a specific user request is under j
consideration, interactions with the requestirq NRC Office also occur. Wherca.s this program selection process appears to have worked adequately in the past, the ACHS helneves that the NIC should provide for greater participation of other NRC of fices in establishiry needs, progra. miry and suitability of results for future PAB research.
The PAB has a staff of eleven professionals who manage contractor-performd programs funded for 1977 at a level of about S3 million.
W e current program level appears appropr iate considor ity the limited availability of basic irformation and risk assessment cap-ability. D e ACRS believes that further substantial expansion of the FAB program should be preceded tr/ the development of wil coordinated sets of cr iteria for estaolishing and document ing the suitability of: (1) research teams organized for specific research projects; (2) basic input infor:mt ion such as, expanded data bases and facility designs and operat iry experience; (3) quality control and assurance procedores; and (4) program results. Particular
{
attention should be paid to previous work experience as it relates 1
to qualificat ion of individuals and also as it cont abutes to the breadth of exper ionce of specific t'scarch tea.ts.
PAB programs e
for aiding others in the recruit ing, trainary and gaalification of personnel for probabilistic risk assessment research are ex-tremely modest in view of the cowlicated nature of the wor t, its growiry importance in the regulatory process, and public interest in nuclear risk asses mentc.
Current rist assessent proJrams are civided generally among re-finomnts to the RSS (396 of rt 78 budget), adaptation of the RSS methodolo]y to the IKR fuel cycle (33e) and applicat ion of RSS rnethodology and engirieer irn insights to rpocific topics in response to requests for support f rom other NiC of fices (z6f).
f
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4 9.3 Evaluation i
9.3.1 felation to Needs of the NRC 4
The current RSS refinoment programs are related to needs of NRC to continue to improve the RSS methodology and its applacation to lhR designs. Most prograns are tesponsive, at least in part, to spoeific needs identified in the corments of the ACRS on the RSS. The ACHS telieves that the program results will provide l
igroved ergineering insights useful in support of regulatory 5
act ivities and igroved inputs to a second RSS now conteglated to begin in 1980, and will aid in identifyiry naeds for additional confirmatory research.
j i
About two-fifths of the RSS refinew nt effort is an investigation j
of ef fects on dominant accident sequances of thR design features dif ferent from 'he prototypical Surry and Peach Bottom designs.
Design differences include the Westiryhouse PWR with ice con-denser and steel containwnt, a Babcock & Wilcox PhR with rein-forced concrete containwnt, t. Combustion Engineeriry PWR with 8
prestressed concrete containwnt and tha Ger.at Electric BhR l
6 with Mark 111 contairmnt, i
Another two-fif ths of tha RSS refinement effort is related to i
selected topics of the RSS: (1) sensitivity of risk assessw nts l
to uncertaint ses in rrodeling of core mit and transport; (2) im-pr sved corputat ional model for radioact ive release consequences; (3) transport models for radioacttvity releases through liquid pathways at land-basM plants; (4) prMiction rodels for proba-i bilities of occurrence and plant specific consequences for a l
f range of seis:,ic events spanning the design for safe shutdown earthquake; and (5) prediction models for probabilities of occur-i rence, development, quenching and consequences of fire.
i The reiuinity one-fif th of the RSS refinemPQts ef fort involves reliability data collation and data modeliry. Included is som j
promising work by the pad Staff on sensitivity of risk to tim -
g depervient variat ions in plant cor:ponent an,1 syctems unavailability j
which result from scholuled systems test iry and repair, and limit ing-conditions for operations.
The risk assessm nt programs related to thR fuel reprocessing and to lorn-term geologically isolated high leval waste storage represent initial atte gts to apply RSS m thodology to the fuel cycle. These programs are not likely to provide riak assessments 1
having tha sp quality as the RSS because of the lack of operatiry
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facilities and data. % ey should, h&.ser, provide needed in-sights to erk3 neerino opt ions, domir. ant risk contributors, and i
sensitivity of risk assessw nts to uncertainties in data.
Docu-wntation of the suitability and limitations of basic ir.put information, and wthodology will enhance the utility of prograr.:
results.
Typical topics of PAB research in response to requests for sup-from other NIC offices are: data bases for ewrgency plan-port ning, inproved definit nons of Class 3 through o accidents and inprovexnts in the ettectiveness of NHC inspwtion procedures.
The expliratory nature of nuny of these programs prevent early judjxnts of the ef ficacy of the ultimate results.
9.3.2 Belation to work Being tbne by other s The PN3 is cognizant of risk assessent research performed b/
CPRI and other U.S. organizations, and in foreign countries such as Japan, the UK and the FIC. Carrent Pla efforts to keep informed of results from work by others is limited b/ the derrands of its own program work. To date such results have not had a significant inpact on Pla programs. n o ACMS believes that PAL should plan to pursuo vigorously future opportunities for cooperative relation-ships with others performirs; nuclear and non-nuclear risk assessment research.
9.
3 Progress and Results Die PAB is addressing high pricrity issues as Staff ard essential infor:rution tecom available, and its progrxus appear to be pro-ducirvj results. /dl programs are relatively new and so it is too early to draw definite conclusions as to their quality and appro-pr iateness. The ACRS believes that valid conelustons relative to runy programs, especially those concerning issues other than LhR safety are likely to require trony studies of sensitivity of g
risk to uncertainties and inadequacies in data and wthodology, and that in the case of larger programs, independent esaluations by know1mijeable individuals may te necessary. Most current pro-grans are scheduled for cocpletion during EY 7d-79.
9.3.4 feeds for /dditianal lescarch Much additional research will be regiired over several years to achieve current PA3 research objectives. Additional programs will need to te defined and prior ities established as future NHC research requirex nts cow into focus and data bases and methodology become available.
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Needs for adlit torul research not included in Pla research plans revealed to tne ACHS durirrj this revi(w, include: (l) an on-j going progrx f or test inj new concepts for r isk evaluat ion; (21 substantial further effort to access the contribution of correlated i
I or dep*ndent failure paths to the probability of ra<t'oactivity releases; arx1 (3) patent tal risss from lon;-term st r aje of IAV spent fuel at depositor ses rerste from rcaetor 3ites, in the event such stora;o is required.
i 9.4 Conclust ions and Hocorrwrvlat sons 9.4.1 Conclusions Results from tha propamr. involvinj ref erements to the 16S.chould
~ ~
te usef ul in aa;.por t cf the regalatory proces; arki as sq) roved input to a,eecryl edS. 'Ihey should also 11 dress, at least in part, a nreer of ACIG com nts on tha 16S, tot are tot exp.vted to resolve all of the exist inj dif ferences of opinion on tre largor icsco of tna validity of the q2 ant ita' avo sesults in abaclute termr..
f I
i Tre projta s relat ir>J to rep ocessirn of IAR f uel aal to lona-term gaolopeally isolat< d. high-;cvel waette storm *.Tiay av>t pruvido r ask assez tv*nts riaving the ca'io 42ality as tt'e 16S assans ents j
for IXC, onea ne of tre lack oi oper at ern f acilit ies aal data.
Car ef ul <t>xent at ion of t te au s t ara l i ty arul l imi t at ioris of tunic inpat infor rat nun aM mtholi.ori will onhance the ut il sty of t he proir r. r analt c.
Ce-r t in n >f
- t. Pla prop ar.:: in r ecp>nse t o r epost n f r e o' rcr Nk: of f ices na;1d prova lo noesi.vl result s, others are exploratory k
et fer ta aM 2r 1*. j Al;rrnts of the usof ulness of the result s canrmt ir.ui<.
I Tre cont in.d i:rproveren' and cohf seat ion of tte RSS nw tnodol>ri,
),
arw! tte euntrof ani assurance of <pality an! 1ppropr iate-ness of
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proJram ros;lt s, as uses a vi usert of t he ret tnt >lo ny mul t s pl,
f will to on; tha :: >r.
dormiiry challonijes f acity P.V. ana'jewnt.
9.4.2 imiv rr.ht so.. :
Pr esent Pia pro 3ra. plans st.ould te expandewi to include: (1) an on~;oiry of tor t for tost arvj n<w cor.ce;;ta for r ink asces:mnt wt h-L odology, (h subseant ial.~urther ef fort to assess the cont r ibut inn l
or correlata f depory. font faslure pat hs to t te pror>>bi l i t y of r adio-l act ivity rcloases, anil ( 3) poteut ial r sens f rom long-tertr. atorage of IAR ger 3 f oal at dop>sitor son remote f rom reactor sites, in j
the event sxS stora ;" is re*1uirts!.
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Further extensions of the applications of the :nethodology to areas not having d:,ta tuses and facility operat ion experience corparable to LWRs, should te preceded by the developaent of well-coordinated sets of general criteria for establishirm; ard documenting the suit-ability of: (1) research teams organized for specific research projects; (2) basic input information such as, expanded data bases e
and facility designs and operatirvj exparience; (3) quality control ard assurance procedure.,,. and (4) projram results.
RES shoJ14 provide for greater gurticipation of other NIC offices in establishing the needs, programirmj, and suitabi!ity ci results of future PAB research. Also, probabilistic analysis projrams in support of regulatory activities should tegen to be performed by the user group as work loads and analytical capabilit ses develop.
Corhideration shcukd be given to expanding representation on PAB Program Review Groups for the' larger indepe dent risk a:.sessment
- prograr::s, such as a second RSS, to a broader segment of society.
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1 ti 10.1 Int rrxluet ion The cornents in this chapter relate only to those aspects of rs in the NiC and in the Of fice of Nuclear Regulatory search run.>Jernt a
Research that may have an et feet on tr.e nature and quality of the l
research tnat is tein,; per forant.
t Since the nanalemnt of the research projram was rut consiered
+
17/ the Workiry Groups conJuct irvj this initial staff in as much l
detail as were the technical aspoets of the proJr.r.s, the come'nts l
herein, especially those that may appear to oe eritical, srould not be considered as requiring imnisate rewdial action tot simply I
as rutters that should te reviewed further t// tne Cornission and l
its Staf f ard by the ACRS.
I, 10.2 Organization of Of fice of thrlear itqulatory fescarch i
ne overall runagexnt of the Of fice is judged to te quite of fec-anomalien l
tive. Ilowever, the ACIG has pbserved som apparent in the orijanizat ional structure. For exag]c, the Division of Reactor Safety Research includes altrost two-thirds of the total professional staf f and atnut the saw protort son of the dollar On the other hand, the Division of Safeguards, Fuel Cycle, budget.
and Environw ntal Research has a professional staff of only 12 people, atout the saw size as the probabilist ic Analysis Branch, which is not in a Division organizat ion. Similar disparitias in size exist among the various branches.
As another exa:rple, the Site Safety Reccarch Branen is under the Assistant Director for Water Reactor Safety Research its the Divi-sion of Reactor Safety Research. Tte acttvities cf this branch, however, relate as much to the sit irv) of Advanced Reactors as to Water Reactors, and ser.e of its act ivit ies are close to those of To a sam-concern to the !!ealth and Environwntal Safety Branen.
lesser extent, the act ivit les of the Metat lurgy and Mater 'als what Branch are, or could and should te, concerned witn Advanced Reactors as well as with Water Reastors.
As noted earlier, the Probabilist ic Analysis Brarrh is not udt either of the two Division Directors tot reports directly to the Director of the Of fice. This is not inappropriate since the actI-vitles of this branch cut across all lines and a significant port ion i
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4 of its current work is in-boase research, technical support of other NK Of fices, and training of p+wle for otner of fices. Its funct son, altnough spor tant, appears at this t sw to te related l
more clo.:ely to the techni al review funct ions of the NHC t.han 4
to research of the kind urtier the cojnizance of the other.hraxhes.
j ha dat ses of this branch and its professional staff should te j
loaked at with a view tward planned f uture act ivit ies, and its place within the organizat tonal structure o: RES or of the N E l
as a whole should te reviewed.
IC.3 In carch Staff "Itc ACRS was i:rpressed with the corvatence and dedicat non of the professional staff. Most impor t ant, however, is that the workload of tip= Staf f is such that it limits their ability to perform those dut ias expected of them lif the ACRS, by the RES managernt, and the rest of the NRC.
ne pr incipal funct son of rernarch man > point is to assure that the need.sl resoaren is cortfacted ef fect ively. That is, the Staff it) mu st te aale to ident if y problemi relat ir>J to the r e pl at er y pr oe sa, coord inat e t hm w i t h t he non-research Ot fices, arkt state ther' in such a form t hat a usef ul sulat sen can be ootaired, aal
( 2) must select suitable contiaetorn tor tr.e research, monitor the cent r actors' poriorr:unce, and assare t hat the r esul's aro ffectivel,. presented to ' nose w:n will na<a am a: 'hom.
In ordor to por form th ::o f anct tons, 'ho StatI cast divide it s e im suitaoly between tne fir.it itom, which procedos the actual researca, arvl t:c soeund item, which is related tu the researen work str: alt.
It appears to t he ACHS tha' the RES St af f, with help f rom the Staf f f rom other of f ices, Research Review Grougi, and consultants, is por formir>J all of those funct non,, with varying degrees of success, but only with great difficulty, chtofly tocause of the small size of the staff in relat son to the demaah placed on it.
The averago dollar valon of contract research per profetisional staf f memter is anoat $2 million for tre ent ire program, and var ies f rom $3.7 million per man for the Fuel 13nha/ tor Research [1 ranch to S1 million por tran for the Site Safety Researen Brar.cn.
(nr very low figure of S270,000 per non for the Prooabilist ic Analysis Branch is not pertinent boeaaso of the relatively largo in-house effort Lrf the staff). Treso figures are high tr/ any stancard, 1
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and even the lowest ratio of $1 m liion per man for the Site Safety that this Research Branch must te viewed in the light of the fact branch Ahinisters and conitors wer 65 diffe ent research contracts.
We ACRS does ret believe that the ES Staf f can cont inue to func-l e
tion as it should, and as it now seenc to be doitrJ, at its present size and level of effort. It seens inevit 21e that the urgercy of contract alm.inistrat ion and nunitor ing eventually will detract from the other equally essential fur.ctions that must be performd in order to assme an ef fee ave and ef f icient research program.
is extremly important that the f(ES Staff maintain current Itawareness of the licensing activit ies and the regulatory needs.
is egaally important that the staf t certers have a thorough, It is beiry int inste, and up-to-date knowledge of
ia research that done ty others, and that they te in
- tton to pdge the depce j
to which that research is adequate a of scope, exect' tion, and credibility to neet exist erv) ne...c.
Goth of these functions require tim, ef fort, and f requently travel. It is suggested that, as a rule of thumb and on the average, about half of the staff effort should be devoted to these functtons ano about half to the actual manarmnt of projects. nis ratio can vary considerately, however, from branch to brrnch, depending on the nature and size of the research projects and on the capabilities of the contractors.
It has teen noted in Table 1 of Chapter 1 that only about 5% of the tctal research to:1 et is for personnel. %e AG dest in the stze in staf f would result in a greater mount at needed and useful roc < arch than would a'dirn a simi1ar a ount to the bud-for research centracts (progra:n support). 'Ihe RES staf f needs get more t tre to plan for regulatory needs c.nd to te in a positici to take a r: ore active role in proposing rer.earch rather than what has been perceived in certain cases to be essentially a react ive role. ne developwnt of a long-range plan for research on con-cepts to i: prove safety is an exa ple of this approach and one that will require considerable tim and of' ort and nuch interac-tion a-ong the RES StatI, the staf f of other hBC of fices, DOC, ard industry.
10.4 Investigators anc. Contractors In the opinion of the ACHS, the celect son of inw st igators and con-tractors to perfor:r tha safety research projects han been done ef-i feetively. As might tv expected, a trajor port ten of the cor, tract research (about 354 in dollar value) is teing done at the various National baboratories.
Wis is especially true of the e::perimntal work, vnich requires large aid special fac i t i< r.
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Although the dollar value of the research being done by other than the National Laboratories is relatively cmall, it amounts to a significantly larger proportion of the nunber of research contracts because the projects involved are usually much smaller v
In scope.
De n.:mber of research contracts being awarded to universities has been increasing. %is trervi should be encouraged for at least two reasons:
(1) It draws on a new pool of exports, who brinu new insight on the fundaxntal processes involved in safety matters.
(2) University research trains both graduate students and staf f, and thus will produce a cadre of trained, safety-oriented engineers and scientists for possible future ecployment by Federal Agencies, the National Laboratories, or industry.
10.5 Research leview Groups he FIS Office has established about 70 Research Review Groups (RIC) to provide advice and guidance to the RES Staff and to the research contractors in specific areas or for specific re-search projects. These groups typically consist of 3 to 13 staf f memoers f rom the various NIC Offices, with a RES staf f ne: er serving as chairman. In addition, knowledgeable persons f rom outside the NIC Staf f serve on these groups as non-voting ad/isors or consultants.
Although the functions, actual activities, and membership of the RFCs have not been reviewed in detail by the ACRS as a part of this study, these RfCs would appear to be capable of providing a valuable service and contributing significantly to the time-liness and usefulness of the research program. The dRC staff raembers of the groups presumably represent those most knowledge-able of the problems to be solved arti the uses to be nude of the solutions. Tne "outside" members are presumably knowledgeable not only of problems but of possible approaches and techniques of research needed to solve them, and can thus bring an inde-pendent point of view to the assignment of priorities, and to the evaluation of the quality of the research and of the results obtained.
We ACRS expects to be able to report rore fu))y on the effec-tiveness of the RICs in its annual report for 197ti.
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l 10.6 Wehnical Assistance Contracts In addition to the research contracted for by RES, the other NRC of fices contract with outside agencies for technical assistance of many kinds. Since som of these Technical Assistance Contracts (TAC) appeared to involve activit ies not easily dist inguished from research, the ACRS explored this mtter in seer depth.
We atudy revealed that, for the cost part, the TACs were indeed simply contracts with outside agencies (somet tms National Labora-tories or other Governwnt Agencies, and sort ams private coapanies to obtain technical assis-or individuals having special expertise)In a few instances, the TACs tance at the state-of-the-art level.
were in fact "research", but these usually involved relat ively For some m.all tasks tF at could be conpleted in a sher t tim.
of these, a TAC with a Nat tonal Laboratory could be arranged and the work completed in a ver'/ much shorter tim than if the work were done through RES.
if not all, of the research being con-The ACRS telieves that most, ducted under TACs is being done with the cognizance and cooperation Ilowever, no formi procedures er guidelines seem to exist of PIS.
to define when such research is appropriate ard how it should be RES. Nor is it clear integrated into the pr agrams sponsored ty/
that adequate procedures have b*n wt up within the non-research offices to coordinate the research tring dore for them by RES with the TACs that may be related to that rercarch.
The ACRS telieves that the non-research offices must retain the
- fiowever, ability and authority to obtain outside help urder TACs.
it would be desirable that research should rut be done by this
& chanism except with the approval or concurronce of RES or of the Executive Director for Operat ions. With]ot such a procedure and without a clear definition of recaarch vs. technical assistance, the current modest and acceptable amunt of research obtained through TACs could increase to the point where proper coordinat ion of the NIC research progra:n would be either diifieult or ineffective.
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APPENDIX A ML"n000IiXN OF ACRS S1UDY h the Act of Congress requir ing this study and a report
.d thoug thereon was not signed tr/ the Fresident until December 13, 1977, the requirement was included in the !!ouse of Representatives ver-sion of the Authorization Bill as early as May 1977.
It was therefore possible for the ACRS to anticipate the require r nt Even so, the limited and to begin its study well in advance.
time available, the f act that ACRS members serve only part-t ime and both the mnmbers and the ACRS Staff had other statutory duties to perform during this ter sod, alI combined to make this study less coaplete than is expected to be the case in the future when a full year will oe available for the study and when the Fellows authorized by the Congress will be available to assist the ACRS xmbers and Staff.
1 The ACRS Reactor Safety Research Subcomittee has on numerous occasions reviewed various safety research programs, and the re-sults of these reviews have been reported to the AEC or NRC. In addit ion, the ACRS has many generic subcommittees whose assignment is to mintain current awareness of safety problems in specific areas and of the research being done to solve these problems.
In May 1977, the existing Reactor Safety Research Subcommittee, which then consisted of only four members was reorganized for the purpose of making this study. The new Subcomittee was com-prised of six Working Groups which included all 15 members of the ACRS. Each Working Group was assigned a suitable portion of the NRC research program in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Researco (RES). The relation of these Working Groups to the or-The member-ganizational set-up in RES is shown in Attachment A.
The members ship of the Working Groups is shown in Attachment B.
arsigned to each Working Group were those having special expertise in the area of research to be reviewed by the group; in most cases, the raembers were already serving on generic ACRS subcomittees relating to these areas. In addition, most Working Groups utilized the services of those ACRS consultants who had previously been called upon to advise the ACRS or its subcomittees in the areas of concern.
During the period June 16, 1977 through Docemter 7, 1977, the six Working Groups and related Subcomittees held a total of 26
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I days of wetings, as irdicated in Attachment C.
At these wet-i irgs, the ACRS m:nbers and consultants met with errbers of the RES Staf f, wxbers of the staf fs from other NRC of fices, repre-sente ives of DOE, and representatives of the naclear industry and industry associations such as EPRI.
Drafts of individual chapters of this report were prepared by the W]rking Groups and reviewed ard discussed by the ACHS at its 211th Meetirg, Nove:rber 3-5, 1977, and its 212th Heeting, Deccxcer 8-10, 1977.
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5 Attachment A to Appendm A Relationship of Working Groups to RES Organization OFFICE OF NUCLE AR REGUL ATORY RESE ARCH Saut Levine r-------
,I Probatninte Anal (sis Braith l
OlVISION OF SAF EGU ARDS. FUEL CYCLE l
AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESE ARCH OlVISION OF g
Ian B. Wall i
RE ACTOR SAFETY RESE ARCH g
Frank J. Atsenault g
Thaitias E. Mutley y
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FUEL CYCLE AND ADVANCED RE ACTOR l
SAF E CU ARDS RESE ARCH ENVIRONMENT AL RESE ARCH l
WATER Rf AC10R SAFf TV RESE ARCH F rank J. Arsenault JareJ J. 0 avis l
SAFETY RESE ARCH E. N. Kelber Long Sun Toag 1
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I E mperimentat F ast Reactor l
l I"et Cycle Rewarch Branch l
- w Systems Engineermg Branch l
Safety Rewarch Branch l
Charles B. Bartten l
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l Mel $dheiberg g
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Health and Envwenmental
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Research Branch l
I Analyses Development Branch l
Stannlav Fabac l l Safety Reward Branch l
F rank $*enberg.Jr.
I Robert T. Curtes l
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I~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Branch MetallJrgy & Matettals l l Rea ter Safety Rewarth Branch Charles Z. Serpan, Jr*
l I Rober: 0. Schamberger l
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Fuel Behavior Research Branch l I
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c Wdliam V.Johnston I
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Jerry Harbour l
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Attachment B to Appendix A fu;/CIOR SAFETY RESEARCil SUDCOMMITIT.E AND WOIEltG GiWPS SUBCOiMITITE D. Okrent, Co-chair ran it. S. Isbin C. P. Siess Co-chairman S. Lwroksi J. H. Arnold M. S. Plesset T. G. McCreless, Staf f S.11. Bush M. W. Carbon h0PX1% CIEPS 1.
Systems, Eryineer try aril Analysis Dw.vlogrent
!!. S. Isbin, Co-chairran M. S. Plesset, Co-chair:an J. C. Ebersole
- 11. Ether irF] ton W. Kerr A. L. Bates, Staff 2.
Fuel Behavior, Metallurgy and Materials S. II. Bush, Chair:ran
- 11. Etherini3 ton P. G. Shewon P. A. Boehnert, Staff 3.
Site Safety C. P. Siess, Chair:ran M. Bender J. C. Mark D. W. Moeller D. Okrent R. P. Savio, Staff 4.
Advanced Reactor Safety M. W. Carbon, Chaltran M. Bender W. Kerr J. C. Mark l
D. Okrent R. P. Savio, Staff l
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Fuel Cycle, Dwiron=ntal, and Safeguards S. Lawroski, Chairnun J. C. Elersole D. W. Moeller l
P. G. Shev un R. K. Pbjor, Staff 6.
Rick Assessm nt i
J. Arnold, Chairrr.an M. Dender W. Kerr M. S. Plesset H. L. Wright, Staff t
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1 Attachment C to Apperdix A MELTINGS J une 1 6, 1 9 7 7................................................. WG-4 J u l y 7-8, 19 7 7................................................ WG-1 J u l y 1 3, 1977................................................. WG-1 J u l y 21 -22, 19 7 7.............................................. HCDA l
J u l y 2 8, 1 9 7 7................................................. WG-3 J u l y 3 0, 1 9 7 7................................................. WG-1 Augu s t 3, 1 9 77................................................ WG-5 August 4, 1977................................................ WG-6 August 9, 1 9 7 7................................................ WG-2 August 16, 1977............................................... WG-4 Sep t embe r 7, 19 7 7............................................. WG-6 Sep t embe r 7, 19 7 7............................................. RS R September 14-1 5, 19 77......................................... WG-1 Septemoer 29, 1 9 7 7............................................ WG-5 September 22-2 3, 1977......................................... WG-2 September 2 8-29, 1 97 7......................................... WG-4 Oc t obe r 5, 1 9 7 7............................................... RS R October 1 3, 1 9 7 7.............................................. WG-3 November 11, 1977............................................. WG-4 Decembe r 6, 197 7.............................................. WG-2 December 7, 1977..............................................
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APPDOIX B LIST OF ABBREVIATIOiS Advisory Corsaittce on Reactor Safeguards ACRS Afr Atomic Erergy Comission As tai as Reasonably Achievable AIARA MIL Argonne Fiational Laboratory
/dvanced Reactor Safety Research N6R BNL Brookhaven National Laboratory BWR Goiling Water Reactor CDA Core Disruptive Accident DBA Design Basis /c ident DtB Departure From Nucleate Boilirn DOC Departraent of Energf Division of Reactor Dmelopent and Technology (AEC)
DIUr Division of Reactor Safety i<esearch (AEC)
DRSR ECC Emergency Core Coolant ECCS Emergency Core Cooling System EPA Environmental Protect ion Agetcy EPRI Electric Power Research Institute Energy Research and IMveloprnt Administration EPDA FBRB Fuel Behavior Research Brarkt FDA Food and Drty Administration 4
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FLECllT-SEASLT Separate Effects and Systems Effects Tests Federal Repub)ic of Gercorrf FIC High 'IW perature Gas-Cooled Reactor IMUR Heavy Sect ion Steel Technolog/
HSST Idaho Nat ional Engineer inj It.boratory INE!,
Imrence Live'rmore Laboratory
e N::SS Nuclear Steam Sumly Systro OlcJL G1k Ridge National Laboratory Office of Standards Ikvelo; rent OSD Probabilistic Analysis Brarch PAD Power Burst Facility PDF IHR Pressurized Water Reactor Offace of Nuclear Regulatory Research RES Reactor Pressure Vessel RPV RFC Research Review Groups
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