ML20353A215
| ML20353A215 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/17/2020 |
| From: | Robert Kahler Policy and Oversight Branch |
| To: | |
| Fiske J - (301) 287-9228 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML20353A215 (22) | |
Text
NRC Exercise Exemptions 1
FEMA Region VII RAC Meeting December 17, 2020 Robert Kahler, Chief NSIR/DPR/POB
EP COVID-19 Guidance and Letters
- March 25, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20028F705
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission planned actions related to emergency preparedness biennial exercise requirements for all licensees during the coronavirus disease 2019 public health emergency
- May 14, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20120A003
EP COVID-19 Guidance and Letters
- Dispositioning violations of NRC requirements for compliance with radiological emergency response plans during the COVID-19 public health emergency, Attachment (3)
- May 27, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20143A066
- Addendum to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission planned actions related to emergency preparedness biennial exercise requirements for all licensees during the coronavirus disease 2019 public health emergency
- September 2, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20223A152
EP COVID-19 Guidance and Letters
- NRC response to July 24, 2020 CRCPD letter
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission response to the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors HS/ER-5 committee for emergency response planning letter, ORO exemption request for exercises, dated July 24, 2020
- September 22, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20266G250
- Temporary Staff Guidance, TSG-02
- Additional Guidance for EP Inspections During the PHE
- November 5, 2020
- ADAMS Accession No. ML20288A523
NRC Exercise Exemptions What does it mean when the NRC approves site-specific exemptions from NRC requirements to conduct biennial exercises?
NRC Authority
- NRC has the overall authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, for making licensing decisions regarding the overall adequacy of emergency preparedness for a commercial nuclear power plant site
- NRC consults with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the adequacy of offsite emergency preparedness for the REP Program according to the NRC/FEMA Memorandum of Understanding and Section 109 of P.L.96-295
NRC and FEMA
- Since declaration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE),
FEMA performed assessments of all offsite REP plan capabilities and concluded that offsite authorities are still capable of responding to an nuclear power plant radiological event
- FEMA continues to monitor preparedness and response capabilities of the OROs to ensure that the response to the current PHE does not adversely impact their ability to respond to a radiological emergency at the NPP 7
NRC Considerations
- NRC received many inquiries from licensees and stakeholders as to the implications of the PHE on the conduct of biennial exercises
- State/locals busy responding to the PHE
- Offsite authorities currently demonstrating response capabilities, including making decisions on protective actions for the public in response to the PHE
- NRC is mindful that State/local emergency response organizations are currently focusing their time and resources on responding to the PHE
- PHE has increased resource demands on OROs that challenge scheduling
- Performance of offsite biennial exercises in CY 2020 could potentially divert public resources away from PHE to exercise performance
- Challenges to ensure health and safety of exercise participants 8
Regulations and Exemptions
- NRC Regulations and exemptions
- Apply only to NRC licensees
- NRC regulations allow exemptions subject to certain requirements:
- While compliance with all NRC regulations provides reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the public health and safety, the converse is not correct, that failure to comply with one regulation or another is an indication of the absence of adequate protection, at least in a situation where the Commission has reviewed the noncompliance and found that it does not pose an undue risk to the public health and safety
- The Commission has never defined the concept of defense-in-depth to preclude the granting of an exemption from a regulation as long as the applicable exemption criteria are met. In fact, the Commission has recognized that its regulations may provide for the possibility of exemptions when an appropriately high level of safety is in fact achieved and the public interest is served.
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Biennial Exercise Requirements
- Biennial emergency plan exercise requirements are located in 10 CFR 30.32(i)(3)(xii); 10 CFR 40.31(j)(3)(xii);
10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F; 10 CFR 70.22(i)(3)(xii); and 10 CFR 72.32(a)(12)(i) and (ii) 10
Biennial Exercise Requirements Appendix E Section IV.F.2.a a full participation exercise that tests as much of the licensee, State, and local emergency plans as is reasonably achievable shall be conducted for each site at which a power reactor is located.
Appendix E Section IV.F.2.b requires each licensee at each site to conduct an exercise of its onsite emergency plan every 2 years; this exercise may be included in the full participation biennial exercise required by Section IV.F.2.c.
Appendix E Section IV.F.2.c requires offsite plans for each site to be exercised biennially with full participation by each offsite authority having a role under the plan.
- Note: onsite exercise required by Section IV.F.2.b is not required to be performed in conjunction with the offsite exercise required by Section IV.F.2.c.
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Biennial Exercise Requirements Full Participation Exercise Full participation is defined in Appendix E to 10 CFR Part 50 "appropriate offsite local and State authorities and licensee personnel physically and actively take part in testing their integrated capability to adequately assess and respond to an accident at a commercial nuclear power plant. Full participation includes testing major observable portions of the onsite and offsite emergency plans and mobilization of State, local and licensee personnel and other resources in sufficient numbers to verify the capability to respond to the accident scenario."
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Biennial Exercise Requirements In other words......
A full participation exercise that tests as much of the licensee, State, and local emergency plans as is reasonably achievable shall be conducted for each site at which a power reactor is located Each licensee at each site must conduct an exercise of its onsite emergency plan every 2 years which may include the offsite full participation biennial exercise Offsite plans for each site shall be exercised biennially with full participation by each offsite authority having a role under the radiological response plan
- Full participation means appropriate offsite local and State authorities and licensee personnel physically and actively take part in testing their integrated capability to adequately assess and respond to an accident at a commercial nuclear power plant
- Full participation includes testing major observable portions of the onsite and offsite emergency plans and mobilization of State, local and licensee personnel and other resources in sufficient numbers to verify the capability to respond to the accident scenario 13
TSG-02, Additional Guidance for EP Inspections During the PHE Temporary Staff Guidance TSG-02, Attachment 2
- Licensee granted an exemption from full participation offsite biennial exercise, Appendix E,Section IV.F.2.c ORO/FEMA negotiated extent-of-play need not be evaluated for any level of demonstration and participation, from no participation to full participation.
- ORO/FEMA negotiated extent-of-play may result in not meeting the NRC definition of full participation
- FEMA may grant ORO exercise demonstration credit EP inspector may use the FEMA crediting documentation as input into the NRC compliance decision for full participation Guidance in TSG-02, Attachment 2 to aid in risk-informing compliance determination 14
TSG-02, Additional Guidance for EP Inspections During the PHE Temporary Staff Guidance TSG-02, Attachment 2, Table 2-1 15 FEMA REPP Manual Capability Target NRC Risk Significant Planning Standard Capability Targets 1.2, 1.3 (plume), and 1.4 Implementation of the minimum emergency response measures commensurate with the emergency classification level declared by the licensee.
NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, rev2 Evaluation Criteria (EC) D.4 Capability Targets 3.2 and 3.3 (plume)
Demonstration of the ability to alert and notify the public in a timely manner.
Demonstration of the capability to provide accurate emergency information and instructions to the public and the news media in a timely manner.
NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, rev2 EC E.2 and E.4 Capability Target 4.5 Demonstration of the ability to perform dose assessments that consider all available information including plant conditions, environmental conditions, field monitoring data, sample analysis results, and dose projection calculations.
Information may be provided when earned by the ORO.
NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, rev2 EC I.8 Capability Targets 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 Demonstration by the responsible ORO(s) to develop and provide protective action recommendations, in a timely manner, directly to the designated ORO(s) responsible for making protective action decisions (PADs) within the plume EPZ.
Demonstration of the capability to implement protective actions and coordinated implementation of PADs with all appropriate jurisdictions. The demonstration should include, as a minimum, identification of those with access and functional needs during the implementation of the protective action.
Demonstration of the capability to implement precautionary protective actions (e.g., actions taken at a site area emergency).
NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, rev2 EC J.9, J.11, J.11.a, J.11.g
Stakeholder Input to Exemption Consideration
- Public meeting on June 23, 2020, to discuss potential exemptions from biennial exercise requirements due to PHE
- State officials commented they can deal with multiple events at the same time however the extraordinary circumstances of the PHE would require additional planning to ensure the safety of participants
- Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) Committee on Emergency Response Planning (HS/ER-5) recommended that the NRC issue an exemption from the offsite biennial exercise requirement for CY 2020 and CY 2021 in a July 24, 2020 letter 16
Emergency Response
- NRC recognizes that even if a licensee were to be exempted from the requirement to conduct an offsite biennial exercise in CY 2020, in the event of an actual radiological emergency, offsite authorities would respond.
- NRC continues to monitor U.S. nuclear power plants to ensure that they operate safely during the PHE 17
Staff Practice:
Exemption vs Conduct of Exercise
- If a licensee were granted an exemption from the full participation exercise, then that exemption would not prevent a State or local authority, from conducting the exercise in CY 2020 or CY 2021
- If NRC grants a licensee an exemption from the full participation exercise, but FEMA denies an ORO request for relief from the exercise frequency for that licensees facility, the OROs need to determine the level of participation in an exercise, if any, when negotiating extent of play with FEMA
- However, because the NRC granted the exemption, the conduct of the offsite full participation exercise would not be required to meet licensee regulatory requirements 18
Duration of Exemptions
- Biennial exercises follow an 8-year cycle
- Exemption from the offsite biennial exercise requirement for CY 2020 would not prevent a demonstration of those key skills in subsequent drills and exercises for the 8-year exercise cycle
- Exemption would not prevent a State that wants to conduct the exercise in CY 2020 or CY 2021 from so doing
- Should the COVID-19 PHE be lifted, exemptions that are approved under this process remain in effect until the performance of the next regularly scheduled offsite biennial exercise in CY 2022 to allow for the necessary assessment, scheduling, and coordination required to perform exercises 19
Thank you!!
The NRC commends offsite authorities for their continued commitment to maintaining radiological response readiness during these unprecedented times.
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Questions?
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Contact Information Robert Kahler, Branch Chief, NSIR/DPR/POB Policy and Oversight Branch Division of Preparedness and Response Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response robert.kahler@nrc.gov (301) 287-3756