ML25083A240
| ML25083A240 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/24/2025 |
| From: | William Kennedy NRC/NRR/DANU/UARP |
| To: | Michael Wentzel NRC/NRR/DANU/UARP |
| References | |
| Download: ML25083A240 (1) | |
Text
March 24, 2025 MEMORANDUM TO:
Michael Wentzel, Chief Advanced Reactor Policy Branch Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
William B. Kennedy, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Advanced Reactor Policy Branch Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE FEBRUARY 20, 2025, WORKSHOP ON THE DRAFT INTEGRATED MICROREACTOR ACTIVITIES PLAN Meeting Information:
Public Meeting Notice Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No.: ML25049A268 Presentation Slides ADAMS Accession No.: ML25050A123 Meeting Attendees: See the Enclosure for a list of meeting attendees.
CONTACT:
William Kennedy, NRR/DANU 301-415-2313
Workshop Summary:
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held a hybrid public workshop to discuss the scope and prioritization of 36 microreactor licensing and deployment topics in the staffs draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan (ML25036A199).
The NRC staff conducted the meeting in accordance with NRC Management Directive 3.5, Attendance at NRC Staff-Sponsored Meetings (ML21180A271). The following provides a summary of the main points of discussion and feedback from attendees.
The workshop participants generally agreed with the scope, descriptions, and prioritization of the topics included in the NRC staffs draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan.
Participants provided feedback on a few topics for the NRC staff to consider adding to the plan and suggested adjustments to the prioritization of several topics. The feedback below is organized by the names of the topics in the NRC staffs draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan.
Staffing, Training, and Qualification Requirements: One participant suggested that this topic should be a high priority due to the dependency on the proposed rulemaking, Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Commercial Nuclear Plants, (also known as the proposed 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking). One stakeholder suggested that fire brigade should be included as a separate topic (as opposed to being included in the broader topic of Operational Programs). A representative from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) indicated that NEI plans to submit a report to the NRC staff on this topic (fire brigade staffing).
Remote Operation and Autonomous Operation: One stakeholder suggested adding an interdependency between this topic and the topic Staffing, Training, and Qualification Requirements. One participant asked for clarification on the prioritization of the actions associated with this topic, and staff responded that the action to develop near-term guidance would include research that would help build a baseline to support development of longer-term, durable guidance.
Oversight and Inspections during Operation: One participant suggested adding separate line items for oversight and inspection during other phases of the microreactor deployment life cycle, such as for transportation and post-operation, and to coordinate inspection programs at different phases to avoid duplication of inspection activities.
Cybersecurity: One participant suggested adding a dependency between this topic and Remote Operations and Autonomous Operations. One stakeholder suggested elevating the priority to high because this topic is related to the proposed 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking.
Decommissioning Process: One participant recommended that the priority of this topic should be elevated because considerations related to post-operation strategies for decommissioning, refurbishment, and re-deployment will inform deployment models and could be important to inform the design and initial licensing.
Population Density Criteria for Siting: A representative of NEI indicated that NEI plans to submit a white paper on population density criteria for siting to the NRC staff in the near term.
Licensing Mobile Deployment of Microreactors: Several participants agreed with the prioritization of this topic as high, while others suggested that it should be given a lower priority. Several participants suggested that this topic could be the subject of a future workshop.
Licensing Replacement Reactors: One participant suggested elevating the priority of this topic to high because the available options and strategies for licensing replacement reactors could influence decisions in the initial licensing stages.
Graded Site Characterization: One participant suggested that this topic should be a high priority. A representative of NEI indicated that NEI is working on a project related to meteorological data for siting and a longer-term paper on seismic hazards considerations for siting.
Timeframe for Authorization to Operate at the Deployment Site: Several participants suggested that this topic could be separated into one topic on contested hearings and another topic on inspections, test, analyses, and acceptance criteria. Participants also suggested elevating the priority of these topics because they may take longer to address and could impact the schedules being considered by developers in their deployment models.
Alternative Licensing Strategies (e.g., General Licenses, Services Provider Licenses, Construction Authorization Upon Docketing, Site Licenses, Licensing without Predetermined Sites): Several participants suggested that this topic should be a high priority because stakeholders are interested in deployment of fleets of microreactors of a standard design this decade and alternative licensing strategies that require rulemaking could take a longer time to develop. Several participants suggested that this topic could be the subject of a future workshop.
Use of Contractors by Manufacturing License Holders: Participants clarified that the scope of this topic is whether the regulations for manufacturing licenses have any specific requirements for or restrictions on the use of contractors in the manufacture of microreactors. Several participants indicated this topic is not a high priority compared to other topics in the NRC staffs draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan.
The NRC staff will consider the feedback from the workshop as it updates the draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan.
No regulatory decisions were made as a result of this meeting.
Enclosure:
List of Meeting Attendees cc: Advanced Reactor Updates via GovDelivery
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE FEBRUARY 20, 2025, WORKSHOP ON THE DRAFT INTEGRATED MICROREACTOR ACTIVITIES PLAN. DATED: MARCH 24, 2025 DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC RidsNrrDanuUarp Resource RidsNrrDanu Resource MWentzel WKennedy JHarvey MChauhan ADAMS Accession Number: [ML25083A240] NRR-001 OFFICE NRR/DANU/UARP/PM NRR/DANU/UARP/PM NRR/DANU/UARP/BC NAME WKennedy MWentzel WKennedy DATE 03/20/2025 03/24/2025 03/24/2025 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure List of Meeting Attendees February 20, 2025, Information Meeting on The Draft Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan Name Steve Schilthelm Omar Fares Al Ali Eric Oesterle Kati Augsten Jon Facemire Spencer Klein Martin O'neill Aaron McCraw Amy D'Agostino Andrea Johnson Brian Green Daneira Meléndez-Colón Denise McGovern Donald Palmrose Duane Hardesty Edward Robinson Jackie Harvey James O'Driscoll Jenise Thompson Jesse Seymour Jon Greives Jorge Hernandez Munoz Maggie Chauhan Marty Stutzke Naeem Iqbal Nanette Valliere Norma Garcia Santos Patrick Boyle Phil OBryan Philip McKenna Tammie Rivera Theresa Buchanan Yamir Diaz-Castillo Yoira Diaz Sanabria William Kennedy Timothy Williamson Mike Montecalvo Joy Jiang Adam Stefankiewicz Name Alexander Sapountzis Amy Snyder Angelica Gheen Ashley Forbes Jana Bergman John Lewis Jerry Bonnano Pascal Brocheny Bruce Murren Alan Cambell Irene Casares Casey Emler Clifford Chapin Chris Gosdin Donna M. Christiansen Cole Takasugi Garill A Coles Corey Chance Egemen Aras Eric Schrader Les Foyto Fred Miller William Freebairn Ross French Joseph Green Bruce Greer Ashley Harper Yassin A Hassan Harley D Hutchins Ingrid Nordby Jason Albert Christensen Jason Tokey Jessica Fontaine John Cupp John Russell Jon Conrad Jonathan Fiske Judy Petrucelli Kadoya Yutaka
2 Kim Lawson-Jenkins Harold Koussa Kylar Coleman-Foley Laurel Bauer Diana Li Lori A. Braase Marcio Paes Barreto Mario Fernandez Mark Pérs Julianne McCallum Rodney McCullum Melissa Shahzadeh Michael Mayfield Miguel Hernandez Mike Hamer Mike Melton Richard Mogavero Jill S. Monahan Charles Moore Nishka Devaser Dominic Norman Patrick O'Neil Paul Day Alyse L Peterson Allison Pinheiro Rani Franovich Richard Turtil Stephen Campbell Steve Burns Steve Rhyne Suzanne Ani Ted Smith Kenneth M Thomas Todd Smith Together Mode Travis Leach David Young Stew Yuen Niav Hughes Green Amanda Spalding