ML24016A257
| ML24016A257 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 99902095 |
| Issue date: | 02/01/2024 |
| From: | David Williams Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Jessup W Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| EPID L-2023-LRO-0044 | |
| Download: ML24016A257 (5) | |
Text
Enclosure 1 February 1, 2024 MEMORANDUM TO:
William Jessup, Chief Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch 1 Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
Donna Williams, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch 1 Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE JUNE 27, 2023, THROUGH JUNE 28, 2023, PARTIALLY CLOSED PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS SAFETY CLASSIFICATION FOR THE OKLO ADVANCED REACTOR DESIGN (EPID L-2023-LRO-0044)
Meeting Information:
Applicant: Oklo, Inc. (Oklo)
Project No.: 99902095 Public Meeting Notice Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No.: ML23164A132 Applicant Presentation Slides.: ML23186A084 and ML23270B984 (proprietary)
Meeting Attendees: See Enclosure 1 for list of meeting attendees.
CONTACT: Donna Williams, NRR/DANU/UAL1 301-415-1322
W. Jessup 2
Meeting Summary:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff conducted the meeting in accordance with NRC Management Directive 3.5, Attendance at NRC Staff-Sponsored Meetings (ML21180A271). Highlights from the meeting included the following:
The NRC staff and Oklo discussed Oklos planned approach to safety classification for its advanced reactors. As shown in Oklos publicly available slide deck (ML23186A084), the stated goals for the meeting were to:
o Solicit feedback from the NRC staff on Oklos approach to safety classification, o
Demonstrate how Oklos safety classification approach is an improvement over the current approach, o
Provide a detailed case study implementation of Oklos safety classification process, and o
Show how programmatic controls are the building blocks that support design commitments and design bases to provide a clear licensing basis for review and oversight of Oklos reactor facilities.
In April 2023, Oklo shared a draft of a white paper (WP) that provided an overview of its safety classification approach (ML23193A445). On April 21, 2023, the NRC staff met with Oklo to discuss its approach to safety classification. The NRC staff and Oklo agreed that another meeting would be scheduled to discuss the NRC staffs feedback. On June 2, 2023, Oklo formally submitted the WP entitled, Safety Classification Overview (ML23153A204). This white paper was discussed at the June 27, 2023, meeting.
During the safety classification overview portion of the meeting, Oklo presented a case study to provide an example of how its approach to safety classification would be implemented. The case study was focused on a single bounding event (loss of heat sink);
full application of the safety classification process would consider all bounding events identified by Oklos Maximum Credible Accident methodology.
On June 2, 2023, Oklo shared a draft WP entitled Development of Regulatory Controls:
Shutdown Case Study. This draft WP superseded a previous draft that had been shared with the NRC staff in April 2023. At the June 28, 2023, meeting, the NRC staff discussed its feedback on the most recent revision of the draft WP.
During the meeting discussion, the NRC staff conveyed that, in general, it does not believe it would be safe for a reactor to be in a state in which it can potentially become critical again after shutdown indefinitely. The reactor must be subcritical and the definition of subcritical should be adhered to.
The NRC staff stated that, if structures, systems, and components (SSCs) are not classified as safety related, the NRC staff would not expect these SSCs to be credited in safety analyses.
W. Jessup 3
The NRC staff suggested that a license commitment related to control rod insertion time may be one way to monitor the effectiveness of control rods and identify whether performance is degrading over time.
Oklo proposed a follow-up discussion on safety classification, particularly on the NRC staffs preliminary feedback related to Section 5 of the draft WP on regulatory controls.
No regulatory decisions were made as a result of this meeting.
Enclosures:
- 1. List of Attendees
- 2. Meeting Notes (proprietary) cc: Oklo Powerhouse via GovDelivery to this letter contain proprietary information. When separated from Enclosure 2, this letter is DECONTROLLED.
NRR-106 Pkg ML24016A239 Ltr ML24016A257 Enc 2 ML24016A247 OFFICE NRR/DANU/UAL1: PM NRR/DANU/UAL1: BC NRR/DANU/UAL1: PM NAME DWilliams WJessup DWilliams DATE 01/09/24 1/23/24 2/1/24
List of Meeting Attendees
SUMMARY
OF THE PARTIALLY CLOSED PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS SAFETY CLASSIFICATION FOR THE OKLO ADVANCED REACTOR DESIGN June 27-28, 2023 Name Organization Donna Williams U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Reed Anzalone NRC Jason Schaperow NRC Mohsin Ghazali NRC Michelle Hart NRC Alex Siwy NRC Hanh Phan NRC Candace de Messieres NRC Zach Gran NRC Matthew Gordon NRC Andrew Profitt NRC Meg Audrain NRC Trace Orf Oklo, Inc. (Oklo)
Ross Moore Oklo Kellen McCarroll Oklo Alex Renner Oklo Alan Smith Oklo Patrick Everett Oklo Caroline Cochran Oklo John Hanson Oklo