ML21047A253
| ML21047A253 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/09/2021 |
| From: | Rodriguez H NRC/NRR/DNRL/NLRP |
| To: | |
| Rodriguez H, 301-415-6004 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML21048A091 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML21047A253 (11) | |
Text
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Meeting Summary
Title:
Development of guidance documents to support license renewal for 100 years of plant operation Meeting Identifier: 20201407 Date of Meeting: January 21, 2021, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (Eastern Time)
Location: Microsoft Teams Type of Meeting: This was a Category 3 meeting. Public participation is actively sought for this meeting to fully engage the public in a discussion of regulatory issues.
Purpose of the Meeting(s):
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sought public dialogue related to license renewal for nuclear power reactors, specifically the need for the NRC to consider the potential technical issues and guidance document development related to license renewal that would authorize operation for up to 100 years, including:
- Should the NRC begin to consider the potential technical issues and the development of guidance documents to support license renewal to authorize operation for up to 100 years, and if so, when?
- What are the technical issues that could be potential challenges for license renewal to 100 years?
- What approaches should be used to optimize the development of data to address potential technical challenge areas?
General Details:
The NRC staff held a public meeting to discuss with the public potential technical issues related to license renewal that would authorize operation for up to 100 years. The meeting began at 9:00 a.m. and ended at approximately 5:00 p.m. There were at least 184 named participants, including NRC staff and external stakeholders from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), Exelon Nuclear, Texas A&M, University of Colorado and members of the public (Attachment 1). An additional 28 Teams participants were identified by unique phone numbers and as many as 73 unique Teams participants were identified as Unknown User. Some of the latter participants may be internal duplicates or may be tied to named participants.
A description of this meeting is provided in the NRCs Agencywide Documentation and Management Systems (ADAMS) using Accession No. ML21019A481. The meeting agenda is provided at ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A073. The meeting was transcribed (ADAMS Accession No. ML21042B878). A list of the presentations and ADAMS Accession Nos. is provided in Attachment 2.
Enclosure
Summary of Meeting:
The meeting started with Anna Bradford, the Director of the NRC Division of New and Renewed Licenses, welcoming every participant and providing opening remarks. The meeting followed the agenda (ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A073) as planned.
The following topics were discussed during the meeting:
License Renewal Overview and History - NRC, Allen Hiser: Dr. Hiser of the NRCs Division of New and Renewed Licenses described the basis for license renewal in the U.S., the process for the NRC to review license renewal applications, the development of guidance documents for subsequent license renewal, and the status of both license renewal (to extend operating licenses from 40 to 60 years) and subsequent license renewal (to extend operating licenses from 60 to 80 years). Dr. Hiser also provided an overview of the agenda for the meeting, including the meeting purpose.
Topic 1 - Timing of Guidance Document Development NEI, Chris Earls: Mr. Earls provided NEIs perspective that the meeting was not to discuss licensing to allow plants to operate for 100 years, since he was not aware of any utility that is actively discussing that or intends to in the near future. Given that status, Mr. Earls stated that it is still prudent to continue relevant research on aging to extend our current level of knowledge, given the lead time needed to implement and complete research activities.
EPRI, Emma Wong: Ms. Wong provided EPRIs perspective on the value of research on long-term operation (LTO) of nuclear power plants, including supporting the business cases related to life extension and refurbishments, and providing knowledge to manage plant assets through an extended lifetime. She also described EPRIs approach to support LTO and considerations for LTO.
Beyond Nuclear, Paul Gunter: Mr. Gunter provided perspectives from Beyond Nuclear on whether the NRC should develop guidance to extend reactor operating licenses to 100 years, with a response of no. He stated that the technical issues needed to meet the required reasonable assurance standard for operational reliability and safety throughout any requested relicensing period are but one of a set of significant issues that need to be addressed.
ORNL, Tom Rosseel: Dr. Rosseel provided ORNLs perspectives on the need for preparation for plant operation to 100 years. He also described the goals and objectives of current Department of Energy (DOE) materials research. The latter includes developing the scientific basis for understanding and predicting long-term environmental degradation behavior of materials in nuclear power plants, along with providing data and methods to assess the performance of systems, structures, and components essential for the safe and economically sustainable operation of the US nuclear power plant fleet.
Open Discussion: The open discussion included numerous questions and comments, as provided on pages 69 to 89 of the meeting transcript.
Topic 2 - Technical Issues for Mechanical Components NRC, Carol Moyer: Ms. Moyer provided an overview of NRC Materials Research for Aging Management. She described the NRCs approach using domestic and international research partnerships along with ex-plant materials harvesting, to conduct confirmatory research to establish technical bases that support regulatory decisions and development of regulatory guidance documents. Ms. Moyer stated that long-lead-time confirmatory research is an important consideration in proactive aging management.
Beyond Nuclear, Paul Gunter: Mr. Gunter provided perspectives on technical issues for mechanical components. He advocated harvesting of ex-plant materials to enable closure of technical knowledge gaps, citing a poster session from the NRC Regulatory Information Conference in 2018, a draft report from PNNL, and NUREG/CR-7153, Volume 2.
ORNL, Mikhail Sokolov: Dr. Sokolov described thermal annealing of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) as an approach to recover irradiated beltline material transition temperature shift and recover upper shelf energy properties lost during radiation exposure, thereby extending the RPV service life. He described the positive experience with thermal annealing on Russian-design VVER-440/1000 and pressurized-water reactor (PWR) RPVs in the beltline region.
Texas A&M, Frank Garner: Mr. Garner described potential materials issues for stainless steel reactor internals in PWRs during extended plant life to 80-100 years. He recommended additional research to address second-order processes that could grow to first-order importance, previously unidentified phenomena at higher exposure, and enhanced synergisms between various phenomena with extended operation times.
EPRI, Mike Burke: Mr. Burke described EPRIs approach for structural metallic materials to address light-water reactor (LWR) operation beyond 80 years, using Issue Management Tables and the Materials Degradation Matrix. He identified EPRI activities related to boiling-water reactor plants, PWR reactor vessel internals, PWR reactor pressure vessel neutron embrittlement, and low alloy steel aging (neutron embrittlement of RPV supports and thermal embrittlement at high temperature).
Open Discussion: The open discussion included numerous questions and comments, as provided on pages 141 to 156 of the meeting transcript.
Topic 3 - Technical Issues for Civil Structures and Concrete NRC, Madhumita Sircar: Ms. Sircar described NRCs confirmatory research program related to radiation effects on concrete. This program includes domestic collaborations with DOE and EPRI, and international collaborative activities include bilateral and multilateral agreements, the International Committee on Irradiated Concrete, and strategic international partnerships with France, Japan, and Canada.
ORNL, Yann Le Pape: Dr. Le Pape described ORNLs work on concrete aging. He described the various relevant structures and types of aggregate used in LWRs, along with the principal aging mechanisms of interest and knowledge gaps. Dr. Le Pape also identified possible interactions of the aging mechanisms with longer plant operating times.
EPRI, Sam Johnson: Mr. Johnson described EPRIs program related to concrete and civil structures for LTO. He described joint research road maps, that have been developed in coordination with NRC and DOE, for alkali-silica reaction, concrete irradiation, and nondestructive evaluation.
Univ. of Colorado, Victor Saouma : Dr. Saouma provided his perspectives on technical issues for civil structures and concrete for 100 years of plant operation. He described his personal lessons learned related to the Crystal River and Seabrook plants, and provided recommendations related to identifying and reaching resolution of technical issues related to civil structures and concrete for 100 years of plant operation.
Open Discussion: The open discussion included numerous questions and comments, as provided on pages 187 to 212 of the meeting transcript.
Topic 4 - Technical Issues for Electrical and I&C Components NRC, Darrell Murdock: Mr. Murdock described NRCs confirmatory research program related to cable aging. The NRCs program is evaluating the effectiveness of commonly used cable condition monitoring methods, in cooperation with EPRI, DOE and the Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS). The research is addressing thermal and radiation aging of cables.
EPRI, Andrew Mantey: Mr. Mantey described EPRIs program on long term operation of electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C) components. He described cable aging management activities, research activities, a joint roadmap with NRC and DOE, and establishment of a Cable Users Group to promote sharing and monitoring of industry operating experience.
Beyond Nuclear, Paul Gunter: Mr. Gunter provided the Beyond Nuclear perspective that, for non-metallic systems and structures (electric cable and concrete), projecting age management programs for safety-critical systems and structures out to 100-year begins with observing and assessing the foundation for assuring safety margins during the initial (40-60 years) and subsequent license renewal (60-80 years) periods.
PNLL, Leo Fifield: Dr. Fifield described the DOE LWRS program on cables research. He described several elements to ensure continued use of aging cables, including Cable Aging Management Programs, halting/reversing aging (mitigation and rejuvenation), aging management tools (monitoring and simulation), and condition-based management (test bed and validation).
Open Discussion: The open discussion included numerous questions and comments, as provided on pages 245 to 261 of the meeting transcript.
Final discussion and summary Final discussion by the presenters and the public, along with a brief meeting summary are provided on pages 261 to 275 of the meeting transcript.
Closing remarks Anna Bradford provided closing remarks, first thanking all of the meeting participants. She emphasized that the NRC did not have plans to revise license renewal durations to allow operation for 100 years and did not have any requests from licensees to approve them to operate up to 100 years. She then encouraged participation in a public meeting scheduled for February 18, to discuss the possibility of extending the time period for renewed licenses for nuclear power plants from 20 years to 40 years.
Public Comment Topics:
Members of the public announced themselves on the phone or informed the NRC staff that they were participating in the teleconference. The publics comments covered a range of topics.
Comments that were aligned with the meeting purpose include: concerns over reactor pressure vessel surveillance specimens; concerns over a lack of discussion of new materials for actual remediation or repair of concrete cracks or other defects; the age of foundations for plants with extended construction times; parts of the plant that cannot be inspected; and, degradation in the cement from tritium.
Topics of other public comments included: nuclear waste, including plans for interim storage, cask storage of high burn-up fuel, and inability to inspect storage canisters for cracking; impact of effluents and reporting; license renewal of fuel fabrication facilities; and lack of consideration of external factors (e.g., plant siting, climate change).
Attachments: - Meeting Attendees - ADAMS Accessions Nos. for Presentations ATTACHMENT 1 - Meeting Attendees Annette Marie Adkins Gary Adkins Paul Aitken Dominion Energy (Dominion)
Brian Allik NRC/Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)
Lydiana Alvarado NRC/NRR Kyle Amberge EPRI Chris Bagley MPR Associates Matt Bandyk Sherry Bernhoft EPRI Stephanie Bilenko Eric A. Blocher Dominion Jan Boudart Nuclear Energy Information Service Jeremy Bowen NRC/ Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)
John Bozga NRC/Region III (RIII)
Anna Bradford NRC/NRR Michael H Breisch Michael Burke EPRI Scott Burnell NRC/Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
Matthew Burton NRC/NRR Alexander Butcavage NRC/Region II (RII)
Robert Caldwell NRC/NRR Roberto Caricchio Edward Carley Roberto Carlos Alec Casillo Connie Cline John Conly Certrec Corporation Paula Cooper NRC/RII Diane Curran Harmon Curran Diane DArrigo NIRS Robert Davis NRC/NRR Adilson de Alcantara Oriano de Oliveira e Silva Jesse Deer In Water CRAFT Jonathan DeLaune Megan DesAutels Rep. Mirras Office Steven Dolley S&P Global Peter Donahue Chris Earls NEI Kurt Edsinger EPRI Shanna Eismar Global Research for Safety Carolyn Fairbanks NRC/NRR Carlos Fernandez Leo Fifield PNNL Wyldon King Fishman Michael Fluss Eric Focht NRC/RES Cindy Folkers Beyond Nuclear Istvan Frankl NRC/RES Eric Frevold Bart Fu NRC/NRR Pablo Garcia Schuabb Frank Garner Texas A&M James Gavula NRC/NRR Sally Gellert Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition Anita Ghosh Naber NRC/Office of General Counsel (OGC)
John Gibson Lauren Gibson NRC/NRR Gionanna Giovanardi Bill Glass Hipolito Gonzalez NRC/NRR Matthew Gordon NRC/RES Erica Gray Virginia Sierra Club Dan Green Pamela Greenlaw Jeff Gromatzky Karl Grossman Paul Gunter Beyond Nuclear Maxim Gussev ORNL Steven Hamrick Tom Henry Environmental-Energy Writer, The (Toledo) Blade Terry Hermann Structural Integrity John Hilditch Exelon Nuclear Natalie Hildt Treat Executive Director, C-10 Allen Hiser NRC/NRR Matthew Hiser NRC/RES Ace Hoffman Robert Hoffman NRC/Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguard (NMSS)
Kent Howard NRC/Advisory Committee on Reactor Safety (ACRS)
Amy Hull NRC/RES Gregory Imbrogno Ata Istar NRC/NRR Raj Iyengar NRC/RES Ronaldo Jenkins NRC/RES Janelle Jessie NRC/Office of the Commission (OCM)
Marieliz Johnson NRC/NRR Sam Johnson EPRI Stephen Johnson Travis Jones NRC/OGC Timothy Judson NIRS Roger Kalikian NRC/NRR Bob Kalinowski Michael J. Keegan Bob Kellner NRC/RII Connie Kline Robert Krsek NRC/OCM Sandra Kurtz Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team Yann Le Pape ORNL Michael Lee NRC/NRR Michel Lee Chairman, CIECP Bryce Lehman NRC/NRR Sue Lesica Donghui Li Ryan K Lighty Wayne Lunceford EPRI Juan Lopez NRC/NRR Louise Lund NRC/RES Eric Magnuson NRC/RIII William Maher Florida Power & Light Andrew Mantey EPRI Bill Maier NRC/Region IV Chad Mason Nancy Martinez NRC/NMSS Benjamin E. Mays Westinghouse Matthew McConnell NRC/NRR Michael McCoppin NRC/Office of the Executive Director for Operation Alfred Meyer Eric Ashley Michael Jeff Mitchell NRC/NRR Viktoria Mitlyng NRC/OPA Carol Moyer NRC/RES Darrell Murdock NRC/RES Daniel Mussatti NRC/NMSS Rie Nakamura Japan NUS Co Duc Nguyen NRC/NRR Jinsuo Nie NRC/RES Mary Olsen William Orders NRC/OCM Yiming Pan Andrew Parish Kevin Petty Jose Pires NRC/RES Jeffrey Poehler NRC/RES David Pratt NRC/NRR Andrew Prinaris NRC/NRR Pat Purtscher NRC/RES Robert Reese Lower Richland Community Action Committee Hector Rodriguez NRC/NRR Bill Rogers NRC/NRR Elliot Rosenfeld NJ Dept. Environmental Protection William J. Rosko Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear Tom Rosseel ORNL David Rudland NRC/NRR Gary Sachs Mo Sadollah NRC/NRR Don Safer Tennessee Environmental Council Kaori Saito Victor Saouma University of Colorado Michael Schneider Kraig Schultz Michigan Safe Energy Future Dogan Seber NRC/RES Min Seung NRC/NRR Neil Sheehan NRC/OPA Rennan Silva John Simons Madhumita Sircar NRC/RES Patricia L. Skibbee Jean Smith EPRI Sten Spinella Frederick Sock NRC/RES Mikhail Sokolov ORNL Michael Starr Steve Swilley EPRI George Thomas NRC/NRR Charles A Tomes Dominion Robert Tregoning NRC/RES Raymond Trelka NRC/RIII Peter Tutinas Jeremy Wachutka NRC/OGC Kalene Walker Shakur Walker NRC/OCM George Wang NRC/NRR Barbara Warren Citizens' Environmental Coalition Chris Wax EPRI B. Waybright Heather Westra Lynnea Wilkins NRC/OCA Chris Wilson Exelon Nuclear Brandon Wise NRC/NRR Emma Wong EPRI Mary Woods NRC/OGC Angela Wu NRC/NRR Zuhan Xi NRC/NRR Jim Xu NRC/RES Albert Ye (court reporter)
On Yee NRC/NRR Sho Yoshinaga ATTACHMENT 2 - ADAMS Accessions Nos. for Presentations 00 - License Renewal Background and Status - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A336 1B - Technical Considerations for 100 years of Operation - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A289 1C - Should NRC consider developing guidance to operate U.S. reactors to 100 years? -
ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A017 1D - Is there Life Beyond Eighty? Why we should prepare for License Renewal to 100 years -
ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A355 2A - NRC Materials Research for Aging Management of Metals - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A197 2B - Technical Issues for Mechanical Components- ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A019 2C1 - Reactor Pressure Vessel Aging at Extended Operation - Thermal Annealing of Reactor Pressure Vessels - ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A344 2C2 - Potential materials issues to monitor for stainless steel reactor internals during extended plant life to 80-100 years - revised slides ADAMS Accession No. ML21047A142 (presented slides at ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A346) 2D - Structural Metallic Materials: Long Term Operations - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A315 3A - Long Term Operation NRCs Current Research on Concrete - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A198 3B - Life Beyond 80. Concrete Aging - ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A347 3C - Concrete and Civil Structures: Long Term Operations - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A320 3D - License Renewal for 100 years of Plant Operation, Technical Issues for Civil Structures and Concrete - revised slides ADAMS Accession No. ML21047A145 (presented slides ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A071) 4A - NRC Materials Research for Aging Management of Cables - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A199 4B - Electrical and I&C Components: Long Term Operations - ADAMS Accession No. ML21015A321 4C - Technical Issues for Electrical Cables - ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A064 4D - Reliable Use of Old Electrical Systems in Extended Operation - ADAMS Accession No. ML21019A352