ML20231A673
| ML20231A673 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/24/2020 |
| From: | Booma Venkataraman NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL3 |
| To: | Nancy Salgado NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL3 |
| Venkataraman B | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20234A303 | List: |
| References | |
| EPID L-2019-PMP-0002 | |
| Download: ML20231A673 (4) | |
Text
August 24, 2020 MEMORANDUM TO: Nancy L. Salgado, Chief Plant Licensing Branch III Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM: Booma Venkataraman, Project Manager /RA/
Plant Licensing Branch III Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF JULY 27, 2020, PUBLIC WEBINAR WITH NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE AND INDUSTRY RE: TASK INTERFACE AGREEMENT PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT - DISCUSSION OF COMMENTS ON UPDATED DRAFT COM-106 GUIDANCE (EPID L-2019-PMP-0002)
On July 27, 2020, a Category 2 public webinar was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and representatives of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and industry (collectively, industry). The purpose of the webinar was to discuss industry and public comments on the updated draft of the NRR office instruction, COM-106, for the enhanced Task Interface Agreement (TIA) process, that was made publicly available for comments on July 9, 2020. The intent of the webinar was for NRC staff to facilitate a discussion with the industry and members of the public, focused on the portions of the draft process that directly involve interactions with external stakeholders. The meeting notice and agenda, dated July 15, 2020, are available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML20205L366. A list of attendees is enclosed. The webinar was transcribed.
The transcript of the recording is available is ADAMS Accession No. ML20234A286. No regulatory decisions were made during the meeting.
Discussion The NRC staff presented an update on the progress of the ongoing TIA Program Revitalization project, to be rebranded as Technical Assistance Request (TAR). The staffs presentation slides can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML20205L300. The NRC staffs document for comment, made available July 9, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20178A474), was attached to the meeting notice and consisted of an updated draft for the TAR process, COM-106, Revision 6, with the draft Safety Significance Determination (SSD) Guidance and SSD tool.
Discussion highlights are as follows.
The NRC staff provided the project status and indicated its plan to complete the COM-106 update by August 2020.
The NRC staff highlighted the aspect of holistic problem solving with safety significance considerations for licensing basis related issues, by illustrating how the new TAR process will coordinate with the Very Low Safety Significance Issue Resolution and Backfitting processes, to help focus agency and licensee resources on issues that are more important to safety.
The industry noted that the TAR process is an important and valuable tool for resolving issues that may arise from regional inspections or other areas that relate to licensees.
The industry appreciated the opportunities extended by the NRC staff in participating in the TAR process development, including discussing examples, safety significance screening, and process flow on various public engagements.
The industry commented that the flow of COM-106, the timeliness, and the goals established should alleviate previous concerns related to length of time taken to solve problems in the process.
The NRC staff clarified industry questions regarding the enhanced licensee engagement, opportunities to provide voluntary inputs, and information exchanges in the different phases of the TAR process, and licensee notification on the status of the TAR.
The NRC staff clarified the estimated range of level of effort for the safety significance determination tool provided in the COM-106. The staff indicated that based on tabletop exercises conducted, it estimates that the effort to be in the proposed range; however, for issues where the SSD is assessed to be indeterminate (e.g., tool fails open), it would move forward to an in-depth review, subject to acceptance criteria in the TAR process.
The NRC answered questions regarding the SSD tool principles (e.g., making Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 50.69 approaches as the first option for safety margins and defense in depth). The NRC staff indicated it will consider industrys inputs.
The industry queried the NRC staff on training for NRC staff on the COM-106, when it is implemented, and if there might be anything made public from the training. The NRC staff indicated that training for NRC staff (e.g., inspectors, technical staff, risk analysts) is being planned for the TAR process rollout, and the NRC staff will consider the industrys idea for sharing training materials publicly.
Members of the public did not have any questions or comments.
Public Meeting Feedback forms were not received.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-2934 or Booma.Venkataraman@nrc.gov.
Enclosure:
List of Attendees
LIST OF ATTENDEES JULY 27, 2020, MEETING WITH NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE AND INDUSTRY TASK INTERFACE AGREEMENT PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT-DISCUSSION OF COMMENTS ON UPDATED DRAFT COM-106 GUIDANCE NRC Participants Gregory Suber George Smith Jenny Tobin Nancy Salgado Booma Venkataraman Alex Schwab Matt McConnell Tim Reed Audrey Klett Paul Cataldo David Roth Joe Gillespie Ray Kellar Micheal Webb Robert Krsek Industry Participants Andrew Mauer (NEI)
Tim Riti (NEI)
Victoria Anderson (NEI)
Tom Basso (NEI)
Cheryl Gayheart (NEI)
Marty Murphy (Xcel Energy)
Stephenie Pyle (Entergy)
Steve Catron (NextEra Energy)
Jarrett Mack (NextEra Energy)
Art Zaremba (Duke Energy)
David Gullott (Exelon)
Russell Thompson (Tennessee Valley Authority)
William Victor (Tennessee Valley Authority)
Zachry Dibbern (South Texas Project)
Members of the Public Jana Bergman (Curtiss Wright)
Larry Nicholson (Certrec Corporation)
Charles Morrison (Neal R. Gross and Company) Court Reporter Enclosure
ML20131A673 *via e-mail OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM* NRR/DORL/LPL3/LA* NRR/DRA/APOB/TR*
NAME BVenkataraman JBurkhardt ASchwab DATE 08/20/2020 08/21/2020 08/21/2020 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL3/BC* NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM*
NAME NSalgado BVenkataraman DATE 08/24/2020 08/24/2020