ML25087A007
| ML25087A007 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/09/2025 |
| From: | Brian Benney NRC/NRR/DRO/IRIB |
| To: | Philip Mckenna NRC/NRR/DRO |
| References | |
| Download: ML25087A007 (1) | |
Text
April 9, 2025 MEMORANDUM TO:
Philip McKenna, Deputy Director Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
Brian Benney, Reactor Operations Engineer Generic Communications and Operating Experience Branch Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF THE REACTOR OVERSIGHT PROCESS BIMONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING HELD ON MARCH 26, 2025 On March 26, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff hosted a public meeting with the Nuclear Energy Institutes (NEIs) Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Task Force executives, senior industry executives, and external stakeholders to discuss the staffs progress on initiatives related to the ROP. The meeting notice and agenda are located at ML25084A207.
ADVANCE Act Discussion Section 507 of the Act requires the NRC to develop and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that identifies specific improvements to the nuclear reactor and materials oversight and inspection programs carried out pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) that the Commission may implement to maximize the efficiency of such programs through, where appropriate, the use of risk-informed, performance-based procedures, expanded incorporation of information technologies, and staff training. Key language in Section 507 includes optimizing resource use, revising inspection planning, evaluating the cross-cutting issues program, and aligning resource allocation with safety significance and licensee performance.
During the meeting, the NRC shared several updates, including the timeline for submitting the Section 507 report to Congress, plans for training at the regional inspector counterparts meeting in June focused on implementation activities scheduled for July, and the potential for public workshops to support the review and development of revised ROP performance indicators (PIs).
Very Low Safety Significance Issue Resolution The staff presented an overview of upcoming changes to the Very Low Safety Significance Issue Resolution (VLSSIR) process (slides: ADAMS ML25083A218). As one of a number of activities the agency is undertaking to enhance efficiencies per the ADVANCE Act, the staff is revising the applicability of the VLSSIR process. When initially implemented several years ago
the process was limited to questions on issues involving the licensing basis that, if resolved, would be of very low safety significance and would take undue resources to pursue. The process was later revised to include traditional enforcement issues and nuclear materials issues. This latest revision will allow the process to be available for any question involving ambiguity with the licensing basis, design basis, or applicability of regulatory requirements for which the issue would be of very low safety significance and the agency does not wish to expend the resources necessary to disposition the issue. VLSSIR continues to not be applicable for known findings or violations or for any issue that may be of greater-than-Green or more than Severity Level IV significance. Staff will be collecting and resolving internal comments on Manual Chapter revisions and will issue updated Manual Chapters to implement this VLSSIR revision later this spring.
Advanced Reactor Oversight Process Early Development NRR Division of Reactor Oversight (DRO) briefed on the initial development of strategies and guidance for oversight for new reactors in the operating phase (AROP), which would include advanced, small modular and micro reactors. NRRs Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-power Production and Utilization Facilities (DANU) has the lead for developing the construction oversight for new reactors (ARCOP) and provided a paper to the Commission in 2023 on that topic;1 there will be more updates to come as they develop that process. ADVANCE Act Section 208(a)(1) requires the Commission to develop risk-informed and performance-based strategies and guidance for oversight and inspections of micro reactors within 18 months of the enactment of the Act. The staff will submit a paper to the Commission with a deadline of January 2026 that will address this tasking, as well as AROP for all new fission reactor designs.
The staff discussed previous Commission direction from the development of the ROP for the AP1000s, the Advanced Reactor Policy Statement, the ARCOP and CROP development, and external stakeholder input. Specifically, the staff highlight previous Commission direction for oversight for the Generation III+ reactors in SRM-SECY-10-012 and SRM-SECY-13-0137.2 The staff discussed previous external stakeholder input such as the NEI rapid deployment paper,3 specifically Appendix 23 on NRC Oversight and Inspections. In this phase, the staff does not intend to conduct extensive stakeholder engagement beyond regular updates, mostly likely during the bimonthly ROP meetings. However, it will consider any additional papers or updates to the NEI suggestions in the rapid deployment paper or from other stakeholders.
FAQ 25-01 NEI provided a presentation on FAQ 25-01 for an issue at Turkey Point. The slides for the industry presentation can be found at ML25084A047. NRC staff acknowledged receipt of the FAQ.
The Next ROP Meeting The next ROP bimonthly public meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 4, 2025.
1 SECY-23-0048, Vision for the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advanced Reactor Construction Oversight Program, June 6, 2023, ML23061A086.
2 SRM-SECY-13-0137, Recommendations for Risk-Informing the Reactor Oversight Process for New Reactors, June 30, 2014, ML14181B398.
3 Nuclear Energy Institute, NEI Proposal Paper Regulations of Rapid High-Volume Deployable Reactors in Remote Applications (RHDRA) and Other Advanced Reactors, July 31, 2024, ML24213A337.
Communicating with the NRC Staff At the start of all ROP public meetings, the project manager provides contact information for the public to use to provide their name and affiliation as a participant in the meeting. This contact information is also provided for submitting questions and comments to the NRC staff. Please note that any questions and/or comments pertaining to the ROP can be sent to Mr. Brian Benney at Brian.Benney@nrc.gov. The Contact Us about ROP page on the ROP public website can also be used to submit questions and comments regarding the ROP (https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/contactus.html).
Conclusion The industry representatives expressed appreciation for the open dialogue and willingness of NRC staff to hear industry views. The NRC management stressed the importance of the NRC being focused on providing reasonable assurance of public health and safety when considering changes to the ROP.
The enclosure provides the attendance list for this meeting.
Enclosure:
As stated
- via email OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB/BC NRR/DRO/IRAB/BC NRR/DRO/DD NAME BBenney DAird PMcKenna DATE 4/7/2025 4/7/2025 4/9/2025
Enclosure LIST OF ATTENDEES REACTOR OVERSIGHT PROCESS BIMONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING January 29, 2025 - 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM NAME Organization4 Aaron McCraw NRC Adam Craig NRC AJ Scheuermann NRC Alex Garmoe NRC Alex Prada NRC Amanda Leatherman NRC Amanda Spalding Unknown Amber Donley NRC Amy Chamberlain Southern Nuclear Andrew Mauer NEI Arthur Knotts NRC Atif Shaikh NRC Bill Rautzen NRC Brett Titus NEI Brian Benney NRC Brian Stander Unknown Bruce Greer Unknown Carlos Sisco Winston and Strawn Carrie Seipp Xcel Energy Cecil Fletcher II Duke Energy Cesare Frepoli Terra Innovatum Charles Murray NRC Cori Schoultz NEXT Lab Dan Geary NRC Dave Garmon NRC David Aird NRC David Garmon NRC Deann Raleigh Curtiss-Wright Desiree Davis NRC Don Wong NRC Douglas Bollock NRC Ed Miller NRC Edwin Lyman UCS 4 Unknown organization indicates that the participants affiliation was not provided by the issuance of this meeting summary.
2 Elias Haddad NRC Eric Bowman NRC Eric Brothman NRC Eric Frank Unknown Ernie Kee Unknown Everett Perkins Unknown Farshid Shahrokhi Framatome Glenn Dentel NRC Ian Bitner Unknown Jack Bell NRC Jake Davis NRC James Drake NRC James Pak Services - 6 James Slider NEI Jason Morgan NRC Jazmin Flores NRC Jeff Bream NRC Jeffery Wood NRC Jereme Greenblott Constellation Nuclear Jeremiah Rey NRC Jill Monohan Unknown John Butler NEI John Giddens Entergy John Jarrell Certrec John McKirgan NRC Jon Facemire NEI Jonathan Rivera NRC Joseph Cunningham NRC Joy Jiang The Breakthrough Institute Julianne Mccallum Unknown Julio Lara NRC Justin Bouknight VC Summer Justin Knowles Constellation Nuclear Justin Werne PSEG Kenneth Mack NextEra Kevin Rowe NEI, Turkey Point Kimberly Dawn Unknown Les Foyto Unknown Leslie Tapia Andrade NRC Lucieann Vechioli Feliciano NRC Luis Betancourt NRC
3 Luke Greene TVA Lundy Pressley NRC Maribel Valdez NextEra Mario Fernandez NRC Marty Murphy Xcel Energy Matt Griffin Antares Industries Michael Ellett Kairos Michael Keller Unknown Michelle Thomas Certrec Mike King NRC Mike Montecalvo TerraPower Mike Stephens Unknown Mimi King-Patterson TVA Musab AbuHamdan NRC Nick Melly NRC Nicole Good STARS Alliance Odunayo Ayegbusi NRC Patrick Boyle NRC Paul Rades NRC Peter Lom NRC Lisa Peterson Unknown Phil Lashley Vistra Corp Phil Mckenna NRC Rachel Qian NRC Rebecca Sigmon NRC Ricardo Medina Unknown Rob Burg EPM, Inc.
Rob Krsek NRC Robert Lanza Unknown Robert Williams NRC Robin Ritzman Curtiss-Wright Robyn Johnson Unknown Rodney Fanner NRC Ronald Cureton NRC Roy Linthicum Constellation Nuclear Russell Felts NRC Russell Thompson TVA Sam Sayampanathan NRC Sarah Gibboney Unknown Sebastien Bruneau NRC SHAHROKHI Farshid FRA-CORP
4 Shane Gatter Unknown Shane Sandal NRC Tim Marshall NRC Tim Riti NEI Timothy Eichler NRC Trace Orf Unknown Treyvon Griffin NRC Victor Lee NRC Victoria Anderson NEI Zack Hollcraft NRC