ML25092A093
| ML25092A093 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/11/2025 |
| From: | Mike Franovich Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Download: ML25092A093 (1) | |
Text
1 Making the Connection:
Strategic Use of Risk Information to Elevate Safety and Efficiency Mike Franovich Acting Deputy Director for Reactor Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
KEY MESSAGES NRC Mission Statement (2025)
The NRC protects public health and safety and advances the nations common defense and security by enabling the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies and radioactive materials through efficient and reliable licensing, oversight, and regulation for the benefit of society and the environment.
NRC Principles of Good Regulation (1991)
- Using risk-informed decision-making (RIDM) supports implementation of the NRC mission.
- Operational flexibilities granted using RIDM that remove unnecessary conservatisms have contributed to continued safe operation of nuclear plants.
- The NRC is strategically integrating information available from activities to enhance regulatory efficiencies.
2 Independence Efficiency Openness Clarity Reliability
Operational flexibilities granted using RIDM that remove unnecessary conservatisms have contributed to continued safe operation of nuclear plants.
NRC Accident Sequence Precursor Trend Industry Safety Trend Based on Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 20-04*
3
- NEI 20-04, The Nexus Between Safety and Operational Performance in the U.S. Nuclear Industry, issued March 2020
The NRC is strategically integrating information available from regulatory activities to enhance regulatory efficiencies.
SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL (SLR)ENVIRONMENTAL RULE CHANGE Plant-specific severe accident mitigation alternatives analyses are not required because the current state of knowledge of population dose risk and severe accident consequences shows low likelihood of finding cost-effective plant improvements PROPOSED RULE ON INCREASED ENRICHMENT This rule, among other changes, increases the numerical value of the control room design criteria from 5 rem to 10 rem total effective dose equivalent (TEDE); the value may range up to 25 rem TEDE with consideration of the plant-specific risk profile or risk information REACTOR ACCIDENT ANALYSIS MODERNIZATION The NRC is investigating current light-water reactor (LWR) accident analysis and review methods to propose ways to modernize the approach while ensuring appropriate safety margins 4
Plant-specific PRA trends documented in 2024 License Renewal (LR)
GEIS Level 3 PRA Study SOARCA 10 CFR 50.155 mitigation requirements National and international radiation protection recommendations Plant-specific PRA information from 10 CFR 50.69, RICT, and SFCP license amendment requests Commission policies on PRA Licensing Modernization Project and non-LWR review experiences Commission PRA policies Recent small modular reactor review experiences
LR GEIS - Averting unnecessary analyses for SLR environmental considerations 5
Source: Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML24152A224
Enabling the use of advanced fuel technologies - reference design values for control rooms 6
More flexible control design criteria - merging risk information and modern health physics 2-10 rem acute for emergency exposure situations 25 rem for lifesaving or protection of large populations 10-50 rem, 100 rad, acute depending on the severity of the actions needed 50 rad to 10
- rem, depending on actions needed Substantial and convincing scientific evidence of health effects following high-dose exposures. However, below levels of about 10 rem above background from all sources combined, the observed radiation effects in people are not statistically different from zero.
CONCLUDING REMARKS The NRC is strategically integrating information available from regulatory activities to enhance regulatory efficiencies.
7 Commission policies relating to RIDM and PRA Modern risk and consequence studies and tools Information from plant-specific PRAs and risk management programs at plants Safety Enhancements (Station Blackout Rule, IPE/IPEEE, Maintenance Rule, Mitigating Strategies)
ACRONYMS 8
- CFR - Code of Federal Regulations
- FLEX - diverse and flexible coping strategies
- GEIS - generic environmental impact statement
- IPE - individual plant examination
- IPEEE - individual plant examination of external events
- LR - license renewal
- LWR - light-water reactor
- NEI - Nuclear Energy Institute
- PRA - probabilistic risk analysis
- RICT - risk-informed completion times
- RIDM - risk-informed decision-making
- SOARCA - state-of-the-art reactor consequence analyses
- TEDE - total effective dose equivalent