ML20309A185
| ML20309A185 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 11/03/2020 |
| From: | James Firth NRC/NMSS/DREFS/RRPB |
| To: | Popik T Foundation for Resilient Societies |
| Firth, James | |
| References | |
| 10 CFR Part 50, NRC-2011-0069, PRM-50-96 | |
| Download: ML20309A185 (2) | |
Text
Firth, James From: Firth, James Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2020 2:28 PM To: thomasp@resilientsocieties.org Cc: Berrios, Ilka; Bladey, Cindy; McIntyre, David
Subject:
Status of Petition for Rulemaking, Long-Term Cooling and Unattended Water Makeup of Spent Fuel Pools, (PRM-50-96; NRC-2011-0069)
Good afternoon Mr. Popik:
I am contacting you to provide a status update on the petition for rulemaking you submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), dated March 14, 2011, on behalf of the Foundation for Resilient Societies (the Foundation). In your petition, you requested that the NRC amend its regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50 to address concerns about the effects of long-term commercial grid outage on spent fuel pool cooling and water makeup. You stated that in the event of a long-term loss of commercial grid power extending beyond a month, it is likely that water in spent fuel pools would heat up and boil off, fuel rods would become uncovered by water, zirconium cladding would catch fire, and large amounts of dangerous radionuclides would be released into the atmosphere.
The NRC docketed your letter as petition for rulemaking PRM-50-96, Long-Term Cooling and Unattended Water Makeup of Spent Fuel Pools, and the NRC published a notice of receipt in the Federal Register on May 6, 2011 (76 FR 26223). The status of PRM-50-96 can be found at the NRC Rules and Petition page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/rulemaking-ruleforum/petitions-by-year/2011/. At this Web site there is a link to a listing of all NRC PRMs submitted in 2011. You can monitor this site for status updates as they become available.
You can also continue to monitor the docket for PRM-50-96 at http://www.regulations.gov. The Federal rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: 1) navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2011-0069); 2) click the Sign up for E-mail Alerts link; and
- 3) enter your e-mail address and select how frequently you would like to receive e-mails (daily, weekly, or monthly).
We will also provide you with updates and inform you about the final resolution of your petition.
Previously, we informed you that the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events (MBDBE) final rule (84 FR 39684; August 12, 2019) addresses, in part, the issues that you raised in your petition. Specifically, these regulations require licensees to establish offsite assistance to support maintenance of the key functions (including both reactor cooling and spent fuel pool cooling) following an extended loss of alternating current power, which has been postulated to be a consequence of geomagnetic disturbances. We also identified that on March 26, 2019, two events occurred that directly affect the NRCs analyses related to PRM-50-96. First, the Executive Office of the Presidents National Science and Technology Council issued the National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan (NSWSAP). Second, the President issued Executive Order (EO) 13865, Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses (84 FR 12041; March 29, 2019). The NRCs work responding to the EO and the NSWSAP is ongoing. The NRCs work responding to the EO and the NSWSAP is ongoing. This work will inform how the Commission proceeds with PRM-50-96.
Please feel free to contact me at James.Firth@nrc.gov or (301) 415-6628 if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely, James Firth James Firth 1
Project Manager NMSS/MSST/MSTB U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Phone: 301-415-6628 e-mail: James.Firth@nrc.gov 2