Press Release-15-074, NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule for Mitigating Severe Reactor Accidents

Press Release-15-074: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule for Mitigating Severe Reactor Accidents

ML15317A122
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Issue date:	11/13/2015
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
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Press Release-15-074
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9B 6 No.15-074 November 13, 2015 CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200 NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule for Mitigating Severe Reactor Accidents The Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeks public comment on a proposed rule based on lessons learned from the March 2011 accident at Japans Fukushima Daiichi plant. The proposed rule builds on Orders the NRC issued in March 2012.

The proposed rule, published today in the Federal Register, would apply to operating commercial nuclear power plants, future plants and decommissioning reactors. It would require U.S.

commercial reactors to:

Maintain resources and procedures to cool a reactors core and spent fuel pool, as well as preserve the reactors containment, following an event that disables all a/c electrical power sources at a site; Maintain equipment that can reliably measure spent fuel pool water levels after a severe event; Establish requirements for an integrated response capability, including command and control, drills and training; and Enhance requirements for onsite emergency response capabilities.

The proposed rule consolidates information from two earlier rulemaking processes involving station blackout mitigating strategies and onsite emergency response. All of these efforts are based on recommendations from a task force of senior NRC managers that examined the lessons from the Fukushima accident.

Comments will be accepted until Feb. 11, 2016. They may be submitted over the federal governments rulemaking website, www.regulations.gov, using Docket ID NRC-2014-0240. They may also be faxed to 301-415-1101; emailed to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov; or mailed to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.