ML20217D326
| ML20217D326 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Browns Ferry  |
| Issue date: | 10/08/1999 |
| From: | Dicus G, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Lochbaum D UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18039A884 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9910150117 | |
| Download: ML20217D326 (1) | |
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UNITED STATES
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. October 8, 1999
~ CHAIRMAN
. Mr. David A.' Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer Union of Concemed Scientists 1616 P Street, N.W.,. Suite 310
. Washington, D.C. 20036-1495
Dear Mr. Lochbaum:
I am responding to your letter of September 3,1999, regarding an event last year at Browns Ferry Unit 3, where a rise in spent fuel pool water temperature went undetected for approximately two days. The Browns Ferry event is relevant to our ongoing assessment of risk associated with decommisskaing activities, and we will consider its significance in our technical assessment of spent fuel pool risk.
Your letter expressed concern about non-conservativeness in the industry's approach to risk-informed regulation and encouraged the staff to continue diligently guarding against unwarranted erosions of safety margins. The NRC intends to ensure that risk-informed
- Initiatives are implemented in a manner that maintains safety margins, preserves defense-in-depth, and retains the capability to monitor safety performance.
With regard to your hope that the NRC will consider all industry experience as it continues on the road to risk-informed regulation, I want to assure you that the agency is committed to the use of current and accurate operating experience in all regulatory activities. The NRC's Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) program has demonstrated that probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is one of the most consistent and objective method for the analysis of operational experience. Moreover, much of the reliability and availability data that form the basis of PRA analyses are derived directly from operating experience. Our efforts to establish risk-informed regulatory activities will continue to be guided by the most significant and relevant
. operating experience.
Please contact Richard Barrett of the' Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at 301-415-3183, if
. you have any further questions or wish to discuss this issue further.
Sincerely, 1
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