ML24106A062
| ML24106A062 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 99902103 |
| Issue date: | 04/15/2024 |
| From: | Stephanie Devlin-Gill NRC/NRR/DANU/UAL1 |
| To: | Jessup W NRC/NRR/DANU/UAL1 |
| References | |
| EPID L 2023-LRM-0022 | |
| Download: ML24106A062 (1) | |
Text
April 15, 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:
Stephanie Devlin-Gill, 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 MARCH 28, 2024, PARTIALLY CLOSED PUBLIC MEETING WITH ARC CLEAN TECHNOLOGY (EPID L-2023-LRM-0022)
Meeting Information:
Applicant: ARC Clean Technology (ARC)
Project No.: 99902103 Public Meeting Notice Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No.: ML24043A100 Presentation Slides Accession Nos.: ML24074A466 (Public), ML24075A120 (Public),
ML24087A109 (Non-Public), and ML24074A468 (Non-Public)
Meeting Attendees: See the enclosure for a list of meeting attendees CONTACT: Stephanie Devlin-Gill, NRR/DANU (301) 415-5301
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).
The NRC staff began the public meeting with introductions and explained that a portion of the meeting would be closed to the public due to the discussion of export controlled and proprietary information.
During the public portion of the meeting, the NRC staff received no comments from members of the public.
The main points of discussion during the open portion of the meeting included:
Functional Containment o In addition to the presentation slides, ARC also submitted Containment [versus]
Confinement (Functional Containment) Technical Report, Document Number:
ARC-CONT-002, Revision 0 (ML24082A158), to provide the NRC staff more information on ARCs proposed use of a functional containment.
o On slide 32, the NRC staff commented that, regarding the evacuation action, emergency planning, and the design-basis events for emergency planning zones, ARC would need to look at the whole range of events. The NRC staff expressed an interest in looking at both the individual events as well as the integrated plant risk (as expressed through cumulative events and compliance with quantitative health objectives).
o Regarding the cesium trap compartment mentioned throughout the presentation, the NRC staff asked if ARC had considered inerting the compartments to prevent or mitigate the risk of a sodium fire in the compartments. ARC stated that they had considered inerting these spaces.
o The NRC staff asked if ARC had analyzed accidents that would result in pressurization of the reactor pressure vessel (normal operating pressure is approximately atmospheric). ARC stated that they performed some analyses for events that had the potential for pressurization of the reactor pressure vessel.
ARC stated that these events were expected to have very low frequencies of occurrence and that the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) would assist ARC in determining which initiating events to consider.
o The NRC staff expressed an interest in how ARC will define the functional containment performance criteria in future licensing submittals.
o The NRC staff asked if ARC plans to use the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP) design and licensing approach as part of a future licensing submittal. ARC stated that they are considering the available licensing approaches, including LMP.
Probabilistic Safety Analysis (or PRA) o On slide 16, the NRC staff commented that the use of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) national seismic hazard model to estimate the ground motion levels for a site may be suitable for a preliminary or initial seismic PRA.
However, use of the USGS models does not provide a suitable site-specific estimate of the ground motion necessary for compliance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 100.23, Geologic and seismic siting criteria.
3 o The NRC staff commented that ARC should clarify the internal events and external events being analyzed. The NRC staff asked ARC to explain the scope of its PRA, including internal and external hazards, plant operating states, and radiological sources. ARC stated that the scope of the PRA encompasses what has been used for sodium-cooled fast reactors to date. Additionally, ARC considered elements unique to the ARC-100 reactor design beyond that scope (e.g., fuel stored in reactor vessel).
o The NRC staff asked why the conventional PRA was deemed not sufficient for evaluating the ARC-100 risk, leading to the decision to additionally perform a dynamic PRA. ARC stated that the dynamic risk tool was exclusively utilized for special scenarios wherein evolving analysis over time is necessary.
o The NRC staff asked ARC if any other software was being used in the iterative process as input into the EMRALD software. ARC stated that all EMRALD inputs at are from deterministic results.
o The NRC staff asked ARC to provide an example of the dynamic risk analysis tool being used or approved by the NRC for applications. ARC stated that the NRC staff and Idaho National Laboratory have employed the EMRALD dynamic risk tool for the force-on-force security assessment scenarios.
o The NRC staff asked whether ARC is following the Electric Power Research Institute guidance for seismic PRA development. ARC confirmed that they are using this guidance.
o The NRC staff and ARC discussed holding a future meeting regarding seismic hazards, site characterization, and PRA development.
During the closed portion of the meeting, the NRC staff and ARC representatives discussed ARCs PRA and its deterministic safety analysis.
No regulatory decisions were made as a result of this meeting.
cc: ARC Clean Technology ARC-100 via GovDelivery
ML24106A062 OFFICE NRR/DANU/UAL1:PM NRR/DANU/UAL1:LA NRR/DANU/UAL1:BC NAME SDevlin-Gill DGreene WJessup DATE 04/09/2024 04/11/2024 04/15/2024 OFFICE NRR/DANU/UAL1:PM NAME SDevlin-Gill DATE 04/15/2024
LIST OF MEETING ATTENDEES
SUMMARY
OF THE MARCH 28, 2024, PARTIALLY CLOSED MEETING WITH ARC CLEAN TECHNOLOGY (EPID L-2023-LRM-0022)
MARCH 28, 2024 Name Organization Reed Anzalone U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Stephanie Devlin-Gill NRC Michelle Hart NRC William Jessup NRC Shiattin Makor NRC Nick Melly NRC Candace de Messieres NRC Hakan Ozaltun NRC Hanh Phan NRC Jeff Randy NRC Jay Robinson NRC Neil Sheehan NRC Rosalynn Wang NRC Irfan Ali ARC Clean Technology, Inc. (ARC)
Bob Braun ARC Raymond Burski ARC Robert Chiavaro ARC John DeBruin ARC David Hearnsberger ARC Robert Iotti ARC Steve Marschke ARC William Pehush ARC Christopher Grandy Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Anton Moisseytsev ANL Tyler Sumner ANL Andrian Tentner ANL Robby Christian Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Pavel Medvedev INL Curtis Smith INL Kurt Vedros INL Han Kwon Choi United Engineers & Constructors Inc. (UECI)
Calvin Kinsel UECI Jaipal Rathi UECI Kevin Schmitt UECI Ryan Marcum Public Dominik Muszynski Public Steve Pope Public Leigh Lloveras Breakthrough Institute Edwin Lyman Union of Concerned Scientists Enclosure