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{{#Wiki_filter:ML20065K906 Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research FY2020-22 Planned Research Activities Rev 0                              March 2020
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Foreword The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) supports the mission of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by providing technical advice and tools, assessing risk, supporting resolution of safety and security issues, and coordinating the development of regulatory guidance.
Research activities in general include conducting confirmatory analyses, developing technical bases to support safety decisions, and preparing the agency for evaluation of the safety aspects for new technologies and designs for nuclear reactors, materials, waste, and security. To conduct research activities, RES relies on staff expertise and collaborates with partner offices at the NRC, commercial entities, national laboratories, other Federal agencies, universities, and international organizations.
To provide improve stakeholder visibility into NRC research activities, RES has developed information summary sheets to describe research being conducted by RES across a wide variety of technical disciplines. The sheets describe the projects that are in progress and planned as well as their impacts and benefits, deliverables, and resources. In addition, they identify the research points of contact who can be contacted for additional information.
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Table of Contents Overview of Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) .......................................................... 5 Risk Analysis Research Activities ................................................................................................. 7 Accident Sequence Precursor Program .................................................................................... 9 Reactor Operating Experience Program ................................................................................. 11 Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis Research and External Hazards Analysis ...................... 13 Drug-and-Alcohol-Related Fitness-for-Duty and Fatigue Management Research .................. 17 Safety Culture Inspections and Technical Assistance ............................................................. 17 Agency Innovation ................................................................................................................... 19 Human Reliability Analysis Methods ....................................................................................... 21 Human Reliability Analysis Data.............................................................................................. 23 Fire Protection Activities and Fire Risk Training ...................................................................... 25 High Energy Arcing Fault Hazard ............................................................................................ 27 Risk Analysis Research ........................................................................................................... 29 Development and Enhancement of NRC Risk Analysis Tools ................................................ 33 Level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment Project ........................................................................ 37 PRA Standards and Regulatory Guidance Development ........................................................ 39 MACCS Code Development, Maintenance, and V&V ............................................................. 43 WinMACCS, MelMACCS, and SecPop Code Development and Maintenance....................... 45 Consequence Analysis ............................................................................................................ 47 MELCOR Code Development and Maintenance ..................................................................... 51 Severe Accident Verification and Validation ............................................................................ 53 Accident Progression and Source Term Analysis ................................................................... 55 Dose Assessment Code Development and Maintenance ....................................................... 57 Radiation Protection Code Development and Maintenance .................................................... 61 Radiation Protection Analysis .................................................................................................. 63 Engineering Research Activities ................................................................................................. 65 Cable and Equipment Aging .................................................................................................... 67 Electrical System Evaluation ................................................................................................... 69 Safety of I&C ........................................................................................................................... 71 Security of I&C ........................................................................................................................ 73 Seismic Analysis and Evaluation ............................................................................................. 75 Structural and Geotechnical Evaluations................................................................................. 77 Aging and Materials Research Activities ..................................................................................... 79 Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Action Plan ....................................................... 81 Evaluation Techniques (NDE .................................................................................................. 83 Integrity Analysis Tool (IAT) Development and Guidance ....................................................... 87 Materials Degradation, Analysis and Mitigation Techniques ................................................... 89 Piping and Other Components Integrity .................................................................................. 93 Steam Generator Integrity ....................................................................................................... 95 Vessel Integrity ........................................................................................................................ 97 Systems Analysis Research Activities ........................................................................................ 99 Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF)............................................................................................... 101 Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis ................................................................................................... 103 Fuels and Neutronics Analysis .............................................................................................. 105 Advanced Non-LWR Support Using the Comprehensive Reactor Analysis Bundle (CRAB) 107 Thermal-Hydraulic Verification and Validation....................................................................... 109 FAST Code Development and Maintenance ......................................................................... 111 3
 
SCALE Neutronics Code Development and Maintenance .................................................... 113 PARCS Code Development and Maintenance ...................................................................... 117 SNAP Code Development and Maintenance ........................................................................ 119 RSICC Distribution of NRC Codes ........................................................................................ 121 TRACE Code Development and Maintenance ...................................................................... 123 4
 
Overview of Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)
The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) plans and conducts the research necessary for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to perform its safety and security mission consistent with the Energy Reorganization Act and Commission policy. This involves the following strategic objectives: (1) provide independent data and analyses to support ongoing licensing and regulatory oversight activities, as well as to prepare for new and emerging technical approaches, (2) maintain core research tools and capabilities to promptly and effectively respond to requests for research from the Commission and regulatory program offices, (3) maintain cognizance of the state-of-the-art developments in nuclear safety and security technologies by engaging with the domestic and international research community, and (4) identify the need for, and provide project management of, research that is contracted to external organizations.
For FY20, the total research budget is $81.1 M 1 which comprises $43.3M for contract support and travel and about $37.8 M for staffing 205 FTE (full time equivalent).
Figure 1 shows research resources associated with the NRC Business Lines that comprise the RES budget in FY20. The figure shows how the Operating Reactors Business Line (ORBL) activities comprise the majority of RESs workload.
Operating Reactors ($35.2M and 177 FTE) 8%      1%
6%            1%                            New Reactors ($2.3M and 12 FTE) 1%
Advanced Reactors ($4.5M and 10 FTE)
Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation
($0.5M and 3 FTE) 83%                            Nuclear Materials Users ($0.5M and 2 FTE)
Decommissioning and Low Level Waste
($0.3M and 1 FTE)
Figure 1. RES FY2020 Resources by Business Line Research Information Summaries The following research information summaries for each topical area provided a further breakout of planned research activities, a summary of benefits, deliverables, resources supporting the activities, and planned coordination to leverage research efforts.
1 This total includes $10 M of authorized carryover to fund contract support and omits $16 M for the Integrated University Grants Program.
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6 Risk Analysis Research Activities 7
 
8 Accident Sequence Precursor Program Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes activities related to nuclear facility event risk assessments performed under the Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) Program.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Provide timely reports to support the annual Abnormal Occurrence Report to Congress and the annual Agency Action Review Meeting (an internal NRC meeting where the Agency reviews the effectiveness of the NRCs Operating Experience (OpE) program.
* Support to the NRCs OpE program in accordance with NRC Management Directive 8.7.
* Enhance realism of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) guidance and codes.
* Exercise new standardized plant analysis risk (SPAR) model features (e.g., seismic hazards, FLEX mitigation strategies) and explore use of new methods (e.g., Integrated Human Event Analysis for Event and Condition Assessment [IDHEAS-ECA]), when applicable, to provide feedback for potential improvements and to enhance existing guidance.
Impact and Benefits
* Provide the NRCs tool for long-term risk-informed trending of industry-wide operating experience of all events that occur at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants.
* Provide feedback to improve the realism of the NRCs SPAR and industry PRA models.
* Provide an independent check on the effectiveness of NRC and licensee activities to minimize risk significant events.
* Provides insights to the OpE Program on potential risk significant trends and events.
Drivers
* Program established in 1979 in response to the Risk Assessment Review Group report (NUREG/CR-0400). Commission directive (SRM SECY-98-228) transferred the ASP Program to the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
* Reviews and evaluates operating experience to identify precursors to potential core damage as required by Management Directive 8.7, Reactor Operating Experience Program.
Key Deliverables Year          FY 2019 Project                                            FY 2020                    FY 2021                  FY 2022 Accomplishments Completed review and      Complete review and        Complete review and      Complete review and analysis of calendar      analysis of calendar        analysis of calendar    analysis of calendar year LERs and NRR OpE      year LERs and NRR OpE      year LERs and NRR OpE    year LERs and NRR OpE ASP Program      Program                    Program                    Program                  Program Support          Completed ASP              Complete ASP Program        Complete ASP Program    Complete ASP Program Program 2018 Annual        2019 Annual Report          2020 Annual Report      2021 Annual Report Report including trend    including trend            including trend          including trend analyses to support        analyses to support        analyses to support      analyses to support RES input to the AARM      RES input to the AARM      RES input to the AARM    RES input to the AARM Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), licensee event reports (LERs), the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Agency Action Review Meeting (AARM) 9
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget              Planning
                                $K          FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE        Trend Business Line
                          $0              1.2          $0          2.9            $0            2.9 Operating Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Idaho National Laboratory - Indirect and minimal contractor support for accident sequence precursor modeling (provided through the SPAR Technical Support Contract).
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* The ASP Program leverages the evaluation results of the Significance Determination Process (SDP).
* ASP program analysts provide support to NRR and regional senior reactor analysts on SDP evaluations.
* The ASP Program supports rotational assignments from NRR and regional analysts to develop the NRCs event and risk assessment capabilities.
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Reactor Operating Experience Program Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes activities to evaluate reactor operating experience (OpE) from a risk-perspective. The program analyzes events for long-term performance trends and serves as the basis for initiating event frequencies and component failure parameters employed in the NRCs standardized plant analysis risk (SPAR) models and other probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) studies.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Provide timely communication of OpE to internal stakeholders for information and/or evaluation.
* Identify trends, recurring events, or significant safety issues for appropriate follow-up actions.
* Conduct periodic assessments of the OpE program to determine/confirm its effectiveness and to identify needed improvements.
Impact and Benefits
* Provide up-to-date event frequencies and component reliabilities for use in NRC and licensee PRA models to support plant licensing and oversight activities.
* Produce industry-wide reliability estimates, summary tables, graphs, and charts to support long-term OpE and issue-specific risk activities undertaken by the NRC (also capable of generating plant-specific information, component-specific information, and vendor-specific information as needed).
* Maintain and update the publicly-available Reactor Operational Experience Results and Databases webpages on the NRCs public website with computational results based on failure rate estimates using the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Consolidated Events (ICES) and Mitigating Systems Performance Indicator (MSPI) databases and licensee event reports (LERs).
* Manage and update the LER-Search public database (one of the most used NRC public webpages) containing searchable LERs and Inspection Reports.
* Identify potential risk significant events and distributes available information to subject matter experts.
Drivers
* Commission directive (SRM SECY-97-101) to choose the voluntary nuclear industry initiative allowing INPO to design, implement and manage the reporting of nuclear plant licensee operating experience under long-term, renewable contractual arrangement with NRC.
* Commission directive (SRM SECY-98-228) to transfer OpE activities, ASP and long-term trending, formerly performed in the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD), to RES.
* NRR User Need Request (UNR) NRR-2015-009, User Need Request for Support in the Development and Enhancement of NRC Risk Analysis Tools.
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Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021                  FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Gathered and analyzed            Gather and            FY annual              Gather and industry-wide OpE data            analyze industry-      activities plus        analyze industry-from LERs and INPO for            wide OpE data for      perform parameter      wide OpE data for use in the PRA models            use in the PRA        update of all basic    use in the PRA Evaluation of covering initiating events,      models covering        events in PRA          models covering Reactor OpE component and system              initiating events,    models                  initiating events, performance                      component and                                  component and system                                        system performance                                    performance Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents            Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $1,997            2.3        $2,193          3.3        $1,900          3.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - Reactor Operating Experience Data for Risk Applications
* INL - Computational Support for Risk Applications.
* INPO - Access to INPO Operational Information (ICES), which provides NRC staff with proprietary operational experience information necessary for risk-informed regulatory activities.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* INPO under MOU and long-term commercial contract to provide NRC with nuclear licensee OpE failure information.
* Collaborate with EPRI and Owners Groups on more efficient collection, publication, and dissemination of plant operating data.
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Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis Research and External Hazards Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes tasks to develop a more realistic framework for conducting flooding assessments at nuclear power plants, as well as work on assessing other non-seismic external hazards in probabilistic risk assessments.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Complete efforts to develop a probabilistic flood hazard assessment (PFHA) framework and guidance to support future licensing and oversight actions.
* Provide support for operating reactor licensing and oversight flooding issues by providing technical assistance for review of licensee submittals and training for staff.
* Provide support to the Process for Ongoing Assessment of Natural Hazards Information (POANHI) by maintaining and enhancing the Natural Hazards Information Digest (NHID) and through technical engagement and coordination with other Federal Agencies.
* Maintain engagement with National Institute of Standards (NIST) to update U.S. tornado hazard maps.
Impact and Benefits
* Provides improved guidance and tools for assessing flooding hazards and potential impacts to structures, systems and components in the oversight of operating facilities as well as licensing of new facilities. Current guidance and tools are based on methods that are considered dated and, in some cases, may be overly conservative.
* Provides support to licensing and oversight offices: 1) training for hydraulic/hydrologic software used by NRC staff; 2) technical support for staff reviews of licensee submittals (e.g., post-Fukushima flooding reevaluations); and 3) knowledge transfer (e.g., project-related in-house knowledge transfer seminars, annual PFHA Research Public Workshop).
* Maintain and enhance the NHID and technical engagement and coordination with other Federal agencies.
Drivers
* NRO User Need Request for Probabilistic Flood Hazard Assessment Research (NRO-2015-002), which is jointly supported by the New and Operating Reactors business lines.
* External hazards analysis work is supporting the development and deployment of the Commission-directed (SRM-SECY-16-0144, ML17123A453) Process for Ongoing Assessment of Natural Hazards Information.
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Key Deliverables Year Project                            FY 2019 FY 2020                FY 2021                FY 2022 Driver (Start - Stop)      Accomplishments Phase I PFHA          Completed                Publish Technical Research (Technical      Technical Basis          Basis Research Basis)            Research Projects        Reports Phase II PFHA          Developed Pilot          Implement Pilot        Finalize and          Finalize and publish Research (Pilot        Studies                  Studies                publish Pilot          Pilot Studies Studies)                                                            Studies Initiated discussion    1) Complete            1) Revise Draft        1) Publish Draft with User Office on      Scoping of Draft        Guidance              Guidance for Public Phase III PFHA Scope of Draft          Guidance                2) Internal Review    Comment Research (Guidance)
Guidance                2) Develop Initial      and Concurrence        2) Finalize Draft Guidance                                Guidance Coordinated              Complete tornado        Develop updated        Develop updated tornado hazard          hazard map              guidance as            guidance as High Winds Research        map research with        updates and            needed                needed existing NIST effort    assess need for updated guidance Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Joseph Kanney (Joseph.Kanney@nrc.gov), Hydrologist in the Division of Risk Analysis Resources FY 2021 Presidents      Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget              Planning Business Line            $K            FTE            $K          FTE              $K          FTE          Trend Operating
                        $1,108            2.4          $521          1.9            $521          1.8 Reactors New Reactors            $ 447            1.6        $455            1.9            $300          0.9 Total            $1,555            4.0        $976            3.8            $821          2.7 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Hydrologic Engineering Center - Riverine Flooding PFHA Pilot Study, PFHA Frameworks.
* USACE Engineer Research and Development Center - PFHA Frameworks, Coastal Flooding PFHA Pilot Study, Uncertainty in Storm Surge Models, Structured Hazard Assessment Committee Process for Flooding (SHAC-F) for Coastal Flooding.
* U.S. Geological Survey - Flood Frequency Analysis Methods, Paleoflood Hydrology Methods, Paleoflood Studies Review Guidance.
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Potential Climate Change Impacts on NPPs, SHAC-F for Riverine and Site-scale Flooding, Local Intense Precipitation PFHA Pilot Study.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Methods for Estimating Joint Probabilities of Coincident and Correlated Flooding Mechanisms, Application of Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates to Watersheds, State of Practice for Dam Risk Assessment.
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* Idaho National Laboratory - Natural Hazards Information Digest, Strategies for Flood Barrier Testing.
* NIST - Tornado Hazard Maps.
* National Center for Atmospheric Research - Numerical Simulation of Intense Precipitation.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Memorandum of Understanding between NRC and the Electric Power Research Institute on Cooperative Research on External Flooding Hazards.
* International Agreement with the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety on Probabilistic Flood Hazard and Risk Analysis Programs.
* Participation in a Nuclear Energy Agency Working Group on External Events.
* Participation in federal interagency workings groups (e.g., Advisory Committee on Water Information Subcommittee on Hydrology, Office of Science and Technology Policy Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, U.S. Coastal Research Program).
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16 Drug-and-Alcohol-Related Fitness-for-Duty and Fatigue Management Research Safety Culture Inspections and Technical Assistance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes (1) research on drugs, alcohol, fitness-for-duty to aid drug-testing, and research on fatigue management and (2) technical support on safety culture implementation.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintain the ability to keep NRC regulations up to date with societal drug use trends and rapidly evolving drug and drug subversion technologies.
* Support implementation of safety culture assessment in the Reactor Oversight Process.
Impact and Benefits
* Provide staff with up-to-date information on rapidly evolving drug and drug-test subversion technologies needed to provide effective oversight of licensees fitness-for-duty programs.
* Maintain knowledge of safety culture assessment techniques needed to provide oversight of licensees safety culture programs.
Drivers
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) on fatigue management guidance development (NRR 2016-020).
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) on substance abuse technologies and guidelines (NSIR 2011-002).
* Requests from the Office of Enforcement (OE), NRR, and the Regions on Safety Culture technical support and inspection support (NRR 2016-011 and OE 2015-001; NRR-2019-012).
Key Deliverables Year            FY 2019                  FY 2020                  FY 2021              FY 2022 Project              Accomplishments Fatigue          Completed Technical        1) NUREG on fitness    1) Development of    1) Development of Management        Letter Report on          for duty technologies  Performance Metrics  Urine Temperature and Fitness      prescription drug          2) RG 5.73 - Fatigue    2) Drug Prevalence    Assessment Model for Duty          issues                    Management              Investigation        2) NUREG on fitness International Program for duty technologies Review Safety Culture    1) Provided Pilgrim        1) Cross-Cutting        1) SC Counterpart    1) SC Counterpart Inspection Support        Issues Working          Meeting              meeting
: 2) Provided Watts          Group                  2) Assessor Desk      2) SC Regional and Barr Inspection            2) SC Refresher        Guide                Inspection Support Support                    Training & Training    3) Independent SC
: 3) Held SC Meeting        Plan                    Assessment NUREG Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Nuclear Regulatory Report (NUREG), Regulatory Guide (RG) 17
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Sean Peters (Sean.Peters@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals                FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K              FTE            $K          FTE              $K          FTE            Trend Operating          $25              0.3            $80          0.9            $75          0.6 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Fitness for Duty support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* National Institutes of Health/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (NIH/SAMSA) substance abuse and drug and alcohol testing research.
* Nuclear Energy Agency/Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations/Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors (NEA/CSNI/WGHOF) safety culture research.
* The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) safety culture research.
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Agency Innovation Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research activities to support advancing innovation at the agency. Specific Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) activities include:
: 1) Supporting the Agency Innovation Forum (AIF) by providing an integrated software platform by which agency-wide staff level representatives can engage with one another.
: 2) Supporting the AIF team in order to evaluate and disposition the 362 ideas transferred to the AIF from the Transformation Team and any other agency-level ideas that come from office panels.
: 3) Providing expert assistance to help further develop the infrastructure needed for an efficient, end-to-end agency innovation program.
: 4) Supporting the development of the transformation framework and initiative teams.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Efficient implementation and sustainability of innovative ideas to better serve the agency and its staff.
Impact and Benefits
* Allow staff to start thinking about the future, creating a cultural shift towards innovation and being a modern regulator.
* Futures Jam methodology will enable participative decision-making such that the staff can provide their feedback and insights regarding the futures assessment report.
* Provide cohesion among the separate innovation activities that the agency is undertaking.
* Provide the infrastructure needed for an efficient, end-to-end agency innovation program.
Drivers
* User Need request from the OEDO (Office of the Executive Director for Operations), EDO-2018-001, to develop the infrastructure for innovation efforts.
* SECY-18-0060, Achieving Modern Risk-Informed Regulation.
* Supplemental need to help support the AIF in order to evaluate and disposition the 362 ideas transferred from the AIF to the Transformation Team.
Key Deliverables Year              FY 2019 Project                                                      FY 2020            FY 2021        FY 2022 Accomplishments Transformation        Supported Disposition of Tiger Team            362 ideas transferred to AIF Developed, sustainable      Implement sustainable    Compile model for implementing      agency-wide innovation    lessons-learned OEDO User            approved Agencywide          program consistent with  and transition Need on              ideas                        model developed in FY    innovation Innovation                                        2019                      program to a permanent place in the agency Supported development Futures Jam          and execution of Jam Session (June 18-20, 2019)
Supported post Jam          Support transformation Futures Core transformation strategy      initiative teams and Team transformation effort Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY) 19
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Amy DAgostino (Amy.DAgostino@nrc.gov), Human Performance Analyst in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget              Planning
                            $K          FTE          $K          FTE          $K          FTE Business Line                                                                                            Trend Operating Reactors              $0          2.5*          $0          3.0*          $0            0             
*Unbudgeted work to support OEDO initiative. In FY19, resources were shifted from planned human factors activities.
Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* None.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* RES looks to commercial off-the-shelf collaboration solutions and for innovation programs and ideas from other government agencies (i.e., NASA).
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Human Reliability Analysis Methods Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research on the development and improvement of human reliability analysis (HRA) methods for NRC use.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Advance a standardized approach for conducting HRAs to support risk-informed decisionmaking.
* Complete efforts to support analyzing the use of FLEX equipment.
* Assess needed changes to HRA methods to support advanced reactor licensing.
Impact and Benefits
* Increase realism of the NRCs risk analyses by providing more credible HRA analyses.
* Evaluate the use of: 1) FLEX equipment for normal operations and severe accidents; 2) digital control rooms for small modular and advanced reactors and upgrading existing control rooms; and 3) computerized procedures for modernized operations.
Drivers
* Commission direction in SRM-M061020 and M140529 to improve upon uncertainties in HRA analyses and identify appropriate methodologies for NRC staff use.
* Requests from NRR and the regions for assistance in modifying, improving, and developing HRA methodologies based upon identified programmatic issues.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 Accomplishments                FY 2020            FY 2021                FY 2022 Project
: 1) Developed Draft Integrated      1) IDHEAS-G        1) IDHEAS Data        HRA method Human Event Analysis                NUREG              NUREG                  improvements in General (IDHEAS-G)                  2) IDHEAS-ECA      2)Technical Letter    dependency, Methodology for HRA method          NUREG              Report on              uncertainty, errors development                        3) Completed        Dependency            of commission, HRA
: 2) Developed Draft IDHEAS          IDHEAS-ECA                                and minimum joint Methodology for Event and Condition            Computer Tool                              human error Assessment (IDHEAS-ECA)            4) Draft IDHEAS                            probability Methodology for modeling            Data RIL accident and FLEX scenarios
: 3) Developed Draft IDHEAS-ECA Computer Tool Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Nuclear Regulatory Report (NUREG), Research Information Letter (RIL) 21
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Sean Peters (Sean.Peters@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning
                      $K            FTE            $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Business Line Operating Reactors
                      $427            3.4          $878          3.3          $850          3.0 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - HRA Method Development/IDHEAS Testing.
* Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) - EPRI HRA Users Group.
* Halden - Halden Program Group (Man Technology Organization).
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU between NRC and EPRI on Human Reliability Analysis.
22
 
Human Reliability Analysis Data Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes the collection, development, and analysis of data for the improvement of the NRCs human reliability analysis (HRA) methods for NRC and licensee use.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintaining and update data needed to support HRA analyses.
Impact and Benefits
* Improve realism in Probabilistic Risk Assessments through development of better HRA methods and less variability in HRA results.
* The collection and analysis of data under this program will enable the staff to evaluate the use of: 1) FLEX equipment for normal operations and severe accidents, 2) digital control rooms for small modular, advanced, and upgrading existing control rooms, and 3) computerized procedures for modernized operations.
Drivers
* Commission direction in SRM-M061020 and M140529 to improve upon uncertainties in HRA analyses and identify appropriate methodologies for NRC staff use. SRM-M090204b directed the staff to keep the Commission informed of the NRCs HRA Data program.
* Requests from NRR and the regions for assistance in modifying and improving HRA methodologies based upon identified programmatic issues.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 Accomplishments              FY 2020                  FY 2021                FY 2022 Project Created Bilateral                1) SACADA                1) NUREG on data        Targeted Agreement with Korean            modification to          for incorporation      improvements to HRA              Atomic Energy Research          collect ex-control      into NRC HRA            selected NRC Database        Institute to analyze HRA        room data                methods                methods and HRA          data                            2) Analysis report      2) Targeted Methodology                                      on the use of            improvements to Improvement                                      SACADA data for          selected NRC HRA method              methods improvement Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Scenario Authoring Characterization and Debriefing Application, Nuclear Regulatory Report (NUREG)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Sean Peters (Sean.Peters@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
23
 
Resources FY 2021 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning
                              $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE            Trend Business Line
                            $391            1.3        $300          1.6            $285          1.6 Operating Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - SACADA.
* University of Central Florida - Human Performance Test Facility Data Collection.
* GSE Systems Inc. - PWR Simulator Maintenance.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU between NRC and EPRI on Human Reliability Analysis.
* MOU between NRC and South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) on the SACADA project - STPNOC is contributing cost-free human performance data for the NRC to analyze.
* MOU with the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) on HRA Data Exchange -
KAERI has a similarly sized data program and shares the information with the NRC.
* The Halden Reactor Project and INLs Advanced Test Reactor also supply data to the NRCs SACADA database.
* Potential, new collaborators include Entergy and the Nuclear Energy Agency.
24
 
Fire Protection Activities and Fire Risk Training Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes the development and implementation of tools, methods, and data to improve realism in fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to support risk-informed decision-making and support fire risk training activities.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Collaborate with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to improve realism in fire PRAs.
* Assess if new research efforts are needed in this area to support advanced reactor licensing.
Impact and Benefits
* Reduce conservatism and uncertainties in fire PRAs leading to a better understanding of plant risk.
* Shorten timeline for licensing decisions and minimize requests for additional information.
* Consistent understanding and application of fire PRA tools by NRC licensing and inspection staff and by licensees through training.
Drivers
* Ensure realism in regulatory guidance and methods in response to an NRR User Need Request NRR-2008-003 (update in progress).
* Improve and maintain the knowledge and tools needed to support regulatory oversight activities.
* Confirmatory analysis and assessment of industry proposed new methods for fire PRA.
* Provide fire risk training to support NRC's policy to increase the use of PRA technology.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021              FY 2022 Project            Accomplishments Published draft          Publish final version NUREG-2230 for          NUREG-2230 public comment Published draft          Publish final version NUREG-2178              NUREG-2178 volume 2 for public      volume 2 comment Published NUREG-        Conduct testing and  Document additional 2232 and associated      analysis to expand    transient fuel Fire PRA data                    transient fuel        package testing and Realism package models        development of spread model Working group            Publish draft and completed draft          final versions of NUREG-2233              NUREG-2233 Supported NRR and        Testing, analysis,    Testing, analysis,    Testing, analysis, joint efforts with      and documentation    and documentation    and documentation EPRI to improve fire    for additional topics for additional topics for additional topics PRA realism              as appropriate        as appropriate        as appropriate 25
 
Fire Risk        Supported delivery of        Support delivery of      Support delivery of      Support delivery of Training        fire risk training          fire risk training        fire risk training        fire risk training Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Nuclear Regulatory Report (NUREG)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* MarkHenry Salley (MarkHenry.Salley@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning
                            $K            FTE              $K        FTE              $K          FTE            Trend Business Line
                          $770            2.9          $468        4.5            $401        3.7 Operating Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contract Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - Support for fire PRA methods development.
* National Institute of Standards & Technology - Support for fire testing for fire PRA.
* Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Support for PRISME 3 and Incident Exchange Project.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU Between NRC and EPRI on Cooperative Fire Research.
* Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations Fire Propagation in Elementary Multi-Room Scenarios (PRISME 3).
26
 
High Energy Arcing Fault Hazard Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research related to high energy arcing fault (HEAF) hazard on nuclear power plant reactor safety.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Continue work to support resolution of pre-generic issue (GI) 018, Proposed Generic Issue on High Energy Arc Faults Involving Aluminum.
* Continue work with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) to complete the HEAF Phase 2 Project (Second Testing Phase of the HEAF Project).
Impact and Benefits
* Adequate characterization and understanding of HEAF hazard.
* Reduced uncertainties in fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) in the area of HEAF modeling.
Drivers
* Resolution of pre-GI 018.
* International agreement on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) NEA HEAF Phase 2 Project.
* Enhance realism in PRAs used in risk-informed decisionmaking.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020            FY 2021            FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Conducted testing                          Assessment of plant Pre-GI 0018              of Aluminum HEAF                          risk (GI Assessment Report)
Supported/reviewed                                              Finalize and HEAF Initiating OpE, draft                                                      publish Event Frequency frequencies Phase II -                                        Testing of OECD  Testing of OECD      Publish Results International HEAF                                sponsored HEAF    sponsored HEAF Fire PRA Model                                    Conduct Decrement Model refinement    Model refinement Refinement                                        HEAF testing Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Operating Experience (OpE)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* MarkHenry Salley (MarkHenry.Salley@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
27
 
Resources FY 2019 Actuals                                        FY 2021 Presidents FY 2020 Enacted                                      Research Planning Budget Business      $K            FTE              $K        FTE            $K            FTE              Trend Line Operating    $1,364          2.6          $590          1.0          $443            1.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* National Institute of Standards & Technology - Support for HEAF test thermal measurements.
* Sandia National Laboratories - Support for photometrics, spectroscopy, and model development.
* KEMA Laboratories - Support for use of power test laboratory.
* Brendan Stanton Inc. - Support for electrical contractor.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU between NRC and EPRI on Cooperative Fire Safety Research Related to HEAF methods refinement for Fire PRA.
* International Agreement on the OECD NEA HEAF Phase 2 Project.
* MOU Between NRC and Japans Nuclear Regulatory Authority (JNRA) on joint publication of relevant JNRA work.
28
 
Risk Analysis Research Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research to maintain state-of-the-art risk assessment methods, tools, data, and technical information to support the NRCs safety mission and increasing use of risk-informed regulatory decisionmaking. In support of this research, cooperative partnerships have been established with other government agencies, universities, industry organizations, international regulators, and technical support organizations.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Support efforts to increase the use of risk insights in regulatory decision making.
* Support licensing reviews through resolution of industry-identified probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) issues.
* Assess PRA research needs for advanced reactors.
Impact and Benefits
* Directly supports program office oversight and licensing activities by providing guidance, methods, and data for use in risk-informed decision-making (i.e. updates to the Risk Analysis Standardization Project (RASP) Handbook, support in resolving issues such as common cause failure, support staffs review of new methods and approaches proposed by industry).
* Supports the development of national consensus PRA standards.
Drivers
* NRR User Need Request (UNR) NRR-2015-009, User Need Request for Support in the Development and Enhancement of NRC Risk Analysis Tools.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020                FY 2021              FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Provided technical    Provide technical    Continue to provide  Continue to provide support to NRR        support to NRR and    technical support to  technical support to and Regions in the    Regions in the risk  NRR and Regions in NRR and Regions in risk analysis of      analysis of          the risk analysis of  the risk analysis of operational events    operational events    operational events    operational events Risk Analysis of by increasing the Operational number of SPAR Events models updated using staff resources to supplement contractor resources PRA Standards      Participated in      Participate in        Participate in        Participate in for LWR and non-    JCNRM to develop      JCNRM to develop      JCNRM to develop      JCNRM to develop LWR                PRA standards        PRA standards        PRA standards        PRA standards Provided input for    Provide input for the Provide input for the Provide input for the the RASP              RASP Handbook        RASP Handbook        RASP Handbook Handbook on          (as requested)        (as requested)        (as requested)
RASP Handbook hazards (high winds, flooding, fires) 29
 
Develop and              Continue to            Continue to implement                incorporate new        incorporate new Incorporation of                                approaches to            insights on external    insights on external External Hazards                                incorporate              hazards into NRC        hazards into NRC into NRC Risk                                  advances in the          risk tools.            risk tools.
Tools                                          understanding of external hazards into NRC risk tools.
Participated in          Start research into      1) Continue            1) Continue internal and            the gaps in current      research into          research into external                PRA tools and            advanced PRA            advanced PRA stakeholder              methods to fill these    methods.                methods.
meetings for            gaps using                2) Begin                2) Finalize PRA Develop awareness of            advanced methods          development of          model for advanced Advanced PRA ongoing activities      such as dynamic          PRA model for          reactor concept.
Methods related to advanced      PRA and other            advanced reactor PRA methods in          computational            concept using support of new and      approaches.              advanced PRA advanced reactor                                  methods.
designs.
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), NRC-developed Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) plant-specific, probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) models.
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K            FTE            $K                            $K          FTE            Trend FTE Operating Reactors        $80            2.2          $311          1.0            $295          4.7*
Advanced Reactors          $10            0.1          $150          1.0            $300          1.0 Total              $90            2.3          $461          2.0            $595          5.7             
  *The significant increase in FTE corresponds to a shift in resources from the Level 3 PRA Project, which is nearing completion in FY 2021: the change in staff resources will be used to increase the number of SPAR models updated, incorporate new methods into SPAR models (IDHEAS-ECA, causal alpha factor for common failure etc.) and implement improved user interface to NRCs risk tools to support access to these tools by a broader scope of NRC staff.
Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) - The NRC is a member of the International Common Cause Failure Data Exchange under the NEA. This project provides information used in understanding common cause failure and provides data used in determine dependencies in failures of like components.
* Energy Research, Inc. (ERI) - ERI provides technical support on general topics on the application and development of risk tools in support of NRC oversight and licensing.
* Sandia National Laboratories - Support for implementing and developing non-LWR PRA tools and regulatory guidance for risk-informed activities associated with internal events, internal flood, internal fire, seismic, high wind, and external flood PRA for at-power Level 30
 
1/LERF, Level 2, Level 3, LPSD and treatment of parameter uncertainties. Also serves as independent body to support development of national consensus PRA standards.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort by sharing of information related to research programs of mutual interest.
* MOU with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to supports the development of advanced risk analysis techniques and tools to support risk-informed decisionmaking.
* Participate in the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee for the Safety of Nuclear Installations Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) to foster continual improvement in the application of risk assessment methods by NEA member countries to improve the safety of nuclear installations.
* Participate in the NEA Working Group on External Events (WGEV) to enhance the understanding of the phenomenological aspects of external hazards to better inform regulatory decisions within a risk-informed framework.
31
 
32 Development and Enhancement of NRC Risk Analysis Tools Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research to maintain and enhance the capabilities of the Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluation (SAPHIRE) computer code and the NRC-developed Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) plant-specific, probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) models. Research includes activities such as: updating and confirming PRA success criteria; developing approaches to assess the risk for new issues (e.g., NUREG-2195 on consequential steam generator tube ruptures issued in May 2018); and adopting new approaches (e.g., mitigating strategies - FLEX equipment) and technology (e.g., improved reactor coolant pump seals) within a risk-informed decision-making framework.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Update SPAR models and the SAPHIRE code.
* Perform more SAPHIRE code updates in-house.
* Assess modeling needs to support advanced reactors.
Impact and Benefits
* Support the Significance Determination Process, implementation of Management Directive 8.3, NRC Incident Investigation Program, the Accident Sequence Precursor Program, Generic Safety Issues screening and prioritization, and risk impact studies on system and components by making tools available for staff to perform accurate and efficient risk calculations.
* Provide tools for the program offices to develop risk insights using state-of-practice methods.
* Develop of methods for assessing risk of potential safety issues; and to understand the risk impact of advances in state-of-practice, operational approaches, and new technologies.
Drivers
* The Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) User Need Request (UNR) NRR-2015-009, User Need Request for Support in the Development and Enhancement of NRC Risk Analysis Tools.
* New Reactor business line Research Assistance Request dated May 22, 2018, for new and advanced reactor SPAR model development.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021              FY 2022 Accomplishments Project
* Updated SPAR
* Continue updates
* Continue updates
* Continue updates models incorporating      to SPAR models        to SPAR models        to SPAR models external hazards          incorporating        incorporating        incorporating
* Performed routine        external hazards      external hazards      external hazards updates to 6 SPAR
* Continue routine
* Continue routine
* Continue routine Risk Analysis      models with plant        updates with plant    updates with plant    updates with plant Tools              specific information)    specific              specific              specific
* Incorporated FLEX        information (target  information (target  information (target into 60 SPAR models      6 models a year)      6 models a year)      6 models a year)
* Incorporated advance
* Incorporation of
* Direct support to
* Direct support to reactor recirculation    FLEX into            Regional staffs      Regional staffs remaining SPAR        and user office      and user office 33
 
pump seals in BWR              models (total of      staff on use and        staff on use and SPAR models                    73 SPAR models)        implementation of        implementation of
* Published Success
* Secure Portal          models                  models Criteria NUREG                (cloud) based
* Continue
* Continue
* Provided direct                SAPHIRE                development and          development and support to Regional            operational            maintenance of          maintenance of staffs and user office
* Direct support to      risk applications        risk applications staff on use and              Regional staffs        for broader risk-        for broader risk-implementation of              and user office        informed                informed models                        staff on use and      decisionmaking          decisionmaking.
* Issued Technical                implementation of
* Incorporate
* Apply IDHEAS-Report on publicly            models                IDHEAS-ECA into          ECA to routine available generic
* Develop                suite of risk tools. risk-informed PWR and BWR                    applications for                                decisions.
SPAR models                    using risk tools to support broader risk-informed decisionmaking.
* Maintained
* Update AP1000
* Update initial
* Develop new risk awareness of status            SPAR model with        Vogtle 3/4 SPAR          tools to address of Vogtle 3/4 PRA              Vogtle 3/4 plant      model with as-          gaps in regulatory development by                specific design        built plant specific    framework to licensee and                  information for        information when        support new and Westinghouse                  initial Vogtle 3/4    available.              advanced New and
* Maintained                      SPAR model
* Identify gaps and        reactors that rely Advanced            awareness of status
* Assess current        tools to address        on advanced PRA Reactor SPAR        of NUSCALE PRA                state of practice in  gaps in the              methods (such as Models              development by                the use of            regulatory              dynamic PRA).
applicant                      advance PRA            framework to methods (such as      support use of dynamic PRA) -        advanced PRA this work supports    methods (such as current operating      dynamic PRA).
reactors as well.
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals                  FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning
                    $K              FTE            $K            FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Business Line Operating Reactors
                  $2,297              3.8          $2,096            4.1        $2,095          5.6 New Reactors        $0              0.1            $200            0.4        $100            0.2 Total        $2,297              3.9          $2,296            4.5        $2,195          5.8 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
34
 
Contractor Support
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - support in the development and maintenance of SAPHIRE, SPAR All Hazards, Interactions with EPRI under an MOU, New Reactor SPAR model development, and Technical Support for risk-informed decision making. INL will support the development of new applications to meet the needs of NRR in the areas of reactor oversight and licensing, support the integration of IDHEAS HRA methods into the suite of risk tools, prepare for the use of advanced PRA methods (such as dynamic PRA),
provide support to NRC Headquarters and Regional risk analysts in the use of NRCs risk tools.
* Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) - provides support through the licenses for CAFTA and FTREX risk tools that support the development of NRC risk tools and in understanding the use of risk tools by the nuclear industry.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* EPRI under MOU to support identification and resolution of SPAR model issues.
* Sharing of SPAR models with licensees (currently all licensees have SAPHIRE and SPAR models for their plants).
* Sharing of SAPHIRE with other U.S. Federal Agencies (NASA, NAVSEA, US Airforce, Bureau of Reclamation, etc.), as well as Non-Government Organizations (universities, technical support organizations, individual researchers) and foreign regulatory authorities (Spain, Japan, Ghana, etc.) subject to acceptable non-disclosure agreements.
35
 
36 Level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment Project Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research on the state-of-practice methods, tools, and data reflecting advances in the application of probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) to gain new insights on PRA for enhancing the agencys capabilities for regulatory decisionmaking.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Complete and document the Level 3 PRA work.
* Incorporate insights to support current licensing work and advanced reactors work.
Impact and Benefits
* Inform and update the staffs understanding of reactor risk in relation to the Commission Safety Goals to support the use of risk insights in decisionmaking.
* Advance PRA state-of-practice for integrated site wide assessment of risk to public health and safety from all major radiological sources.
* Advance PRA state-of-practice by developing a human reliability analysis approach for post core damage response.
* Advance PRA modeling concepts for new and advanced reactor designs (e.g. non-reactor source terms, multi-unit risk, use of risk metric other than core damage frequency).
* Demonstrate and increase NRC staff capability in PRA and related technical areas.
* Pilot and identify improvements to PRA standards (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, risk aggregation, etc.).
* Demonstrate the NRCs expert elicitation guidance.
Drivers
* Response to Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) for SECY-11-0089, Options for Proceeding with Future Level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) Activities, dated September 21, 2011.
* Response to SRM-SECY-11-0172, Response to Staff Requirements Memorandum COMGEA-11-0001, Utilization Of Expert Judgment In Regulatory Decision Making, dated February 7, 2012.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021          FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Finalized internal        Finalize internal    Finalize internal  Publish Final Technical Reports on:    Technical Reports    Technical Report  NUREG on Level 3
* Background, Site        on:                  on:                PRA Project and Plant
* Reactor at-power
* Integrated Site Description, and          PRA for Internal      Risk Approach                  Fires and External
* Reactor at-power          Hazards            Issue Draft NUREG Level 3 PRA PRA for Internal
* Dry Cask Storage    for public comment Activities Events and Floods        PRA
* Reactor Low Power and Shutdown PRA for Internal Events
* Spent Fuel Pool PRA 37
 
Published final Use of Expert      NUREG/CR on Judgement          Piloting of Expert Elicitation Process Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), Nuclear Regulatory Report (NUREG)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals                FY 2020 Enacted Budget              Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K        FTE              $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                    $250              5.0          $121          7.1            $100          1.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) - Human Reliability Analysis support.
* Energy Research Inc. (ERI) - Low Power and Shutdown Level 2 PRA support, Level 2 PRA modeling and analysis support, and Integrated Site and Multi-unit Risk assessment support.
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Low Power and Shutdown Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) development support.
* Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) - Level 3 PRA Project Peer Review support.
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - PRA Model development using SAPHIRE.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Pressurized Water Reactor Owners Group (PWROG) support for PRA Standards based peer reviews.
* EPRI and Westinghouse Subject Matter Expert support to the Level 3 PRA Project Technical Advisory Group.
38
 
PRA Standards and Regulatory Guidance Development FY 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This work addresses an acceptable approach for determining whether a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), that is used to support a regulatory application, is sufficiently acceptable to provide confidence in the results. Moreover, it addresses the development of guidance for licensing and oversight of risk-significant technical areas.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Support the use of risk insights in licensing through updating guidance and standards.
* Support licensing reviews through development of technical review guidance and participation in activities to review industry PRA initiatives.
Impact and Benefits
* Provides broadly accepted approaches for conducting PRA analyses, which allows for greater alignment between staff and licensees assessments.
* Clarifies NRC staff position and expectations regarding an acceptable PRA in support of riskinformed regulatory activities.
* Reduces timeline and staff resources for risk-informed licensing decisions and generate fewer requests for additional information.
* Reduces uncertainties in determining structural safety margins.
* Endorses consensus PRA standards in support of risk-informed decisionmaking.
* Provides technical review guidance for rapidly advancing state-of-the-art control technologies and concepts of operation.
* Identifies the most risk-significant issues associated with non-destructive examination (NDE) and NDE training programs.
Drivers
* Response to Commission Direction Setting initiative 13 requesting the staff to work with standards development organizations to develop PRA standards.
* User Need Requests NRR/NRO-2011-009 for assistance in enhancing regulatory guidance in support of risk-informed regulatory activities.
* User Need Requests NRR-2019-008 on Human Factors Engineering Technical Support and NRR-2015-001.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020            FY 2021      FY 2022 Accomplishments Project ASME/ANSI Standard for          Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision Publication as NRC endorses in Level 1/LERF LWR PRA -          to standard          to Standard        ANSI Standard  Rev. 4 to RG at-power conditions                                                                    1.200 Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision Publication as NRC endorses in ASME/ANS Standard for to standard          to Standard        ANSI Standard  Rev. 4 to RG Level 2 LWR PRA 1.200 Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision Finalizing    Publication as ASME/ANS Standard for to standard          to standard        revision to    ANSI Standard Level 3 LWR PRA standard ASME/ANS Standard for          Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision Finalizing    Publication as Level 1/LERF LWR PRA -          to standard          to standard        revision to    ANSI Standard low power shutdown                                                      standard 39
 
ASME/ANS Standard for              Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision    Publication as        NRC endorses in Level 1-2-3 non-LWRs PRA          to standard          to standard            ANSI Standard        new RG ASME/ANS Standard for              Finalizing revision  Finalizing revision    Publication as Level 1/LERF adv-LWR              to standard          to standard            ASME/ANS for PRA - design certification                                                      trial use stage NEI revised based                            NRC endorses in on pilots and NRC                            Rev 3 to RG NEI 17-07 issued approval                              1.200 letter Draft for public        Publish Rev 3          Publish Rev 4 Regulatory Guide 1.200 comment Completed            1) Technical letter    Technical Letter      NUREG on HF in Technical Letter      reports on              Report on HF in          encoded UT Report on            Training and            encoded UT Human Factors (HF) of              challenges of HF      Practice in NDE Non-Destructive                    in manual            2) NUREG on HF Examination (NDE)                  Ultrasonic Testing    in Manual UT (UT)                  3) Complete field research on HF in encoded UT Completed            Develop                1) Develop HFE        Targeted updates NUREG-0700,          recommendations        technical training    to the NRCs HF Rev. 3, Human        for innovation of      program                technical review Human Factors Review              System Interface      human                  2) HFE Review              guidance Guidance                          Design Review        performance            Guidance for Guidelines          operational            Small / Non-LWR experience              Nuclear Power trending                Plant Designs Deliverables are driven by ASME and ANS Joint Committee on Nuclear Risk Management (JCNRM)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Nakoski (John.Nakoski@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Risk Analysis.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                          $186            4.3          $440          1.4            $345          1.4 Reactors New Reactors            $385            1.7          $385          1.0            $385          1.0 Total            $571            6.0          $825          2.4            $730          2.4 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - Support for implementing and developing PRA tools and regulatory guidance for risk-informed activities associated with internal events, internal flood, internal fire, seismic, high wind, and external flood PRA for at-power Level 1/LERF, Level 2, Level 3, Low Power and Shutdown (LPSD) and treatment of parameter uncertainties. Also serves as independent body to support development of national consensus PRA standards.
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Support for human factors engineering of NDE.
40
* Brookhaven National Laboratory - Support for human factors engineering technical review guidance development.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Collaboration with ASME and ANS JCNRM to develop PRA standards.
* Collaboration with Nuclear Energy Institute to develop peer review guidance.
* Collaboration with BWR and PWR Owners Groups to conduct workshops to resolve technical issues.
* Collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute on human factors of NDE.
* Collaboration with the Nuclear Energy Agencys Working Group on Human and Organizational Factors with respect to human factors guidance development.
41
 
42 MACCS Code Development, Maintenance, and V&V Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research covers development, maintenance, verification, validation, documentation, and distribution of the MACCS computer code (MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System), a tool used to perform consequence analysis from potential accidents of nuclear reactors and spent fuel. MACCS supports a wide variety of regulatory applications listed below.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintenance, development, and MACCS documentation activities will continue to build staff expertise and ensure that a modern, state-of-practice code can be used to address current and future regulatory applications (e.g., emergency planning, consequence analyses for safety studies and cost-benefit analyses, environmental reviews, changes to rules and regulatory guides, backfit reviews, etc.).
* Complete state-of-practice updates consistent with the cost-benefit improvement project.
* Address obsolescence issues related to computing architecture to improve flexibility.
* Complete MACCS near-field atmospheric transport modeling updates and guidance to support emergency planning applications. Use information exchanges to maximize external and international resource leverage.
* Continued focus on customer support improving ease of use and address bugs identified by staff or Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP) members.
Impact and Benefits
* MACCS is the only U.S. code for probabilistic consequence analysis that is used by nuclear power plant licensees and applicants, academia, DOE, and international regulators.
* MACCS use in Severe Accident Mitigation Design Alternative (SAMDA) and Severe Accident Mitigation Alternative (SAMA) environmental reviews minimizes litigative risk in large scale applications such as license renewals, subsequent license renewals, and design certifications.
* MACCS studies [e.g., State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA), spent fuel pool studies, Containment Protection and Release Reduction (CPRR)] enable risk-informed decisionmaking by providing unique insights on margins to the quantitative health objectives (QHOs).
* MACCS provided technical basis for burden reduction rulemaking such as decommissioning and emergency preparedness (EP) small modular reactor (SMR) rule.
Drivers
* User Need Request NRR-2017-008, Consolidated Cost-Benefit Guidance Improvement Activities.
* DOE/EHSS Safety Software Quality Assurance Audit for its Toolbox of computer codes.
* Draft NRR User Need Requests covering MACCS Code Suite Maintenance, Development, Documentation, Verification, Modernization, Distribution, User Support, Workshops, and International Collaboration.
* Non-LWR Implementation Action Plan Strategy 2, Acquire/develop sufficient computer codes and tools to perform non-LWR regulatory reviews. Although this is an advanced reactor driver, it is also applicable to emergency planning calculations under the operating reactor business line.
43
 
Key Deliverables Year Project            FY19 Accomplishments                      FY20                      FY21                  FY22
* Completed integration
* Release major upgrade of alternative HYSPLIT-        to MACCS (V4.0) with
* Various MACCS Various MACCS based atmospheric              alternative atmospheric      updates to support updates to support transport model into            and economic models          cost-cost-benefit NRR-2017-008        MACCS                          and associated              benefitguidance guidance
* Completed integration          documentation                including improvement of alternative economic
* MACCS Input                  monetization of program model into MACCS                Parameter Technical          cancer incidence Bases Report
* MACCS User Guide
* Draft MACCS User
* MACCS Theory Manual
* MACCS
* MACCS Guide for internal
* MACCS Verification Architecture            Architecture Draft NRR User      review                          Report and Support Modernization          Modernization Need Request
* MACCS dosimetry                  DOE/EHSS SQA Audit
* IMUG 2021
* IMUG 2022 updates
* MACCS Architecture Meeting                Meeting
* IMUG 2019 Meeting                Modernization
* IMUG 2020 Meeting Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
* NOTE: Currently budgeted contract funds are not sufficient to support all of the following planned accomplishments.
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Jonathan Barr (Jonathan.Barr@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's            Research FY19 Actuals                FY20 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K            FTE          $K          FTE        $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                        $652            2.4          $420          2.0        $300            2 Reactors Advanced
                        $200            0.1          $200          0.4        $200          0.4 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - MACCS Code Suite Maintenance, Development, Applications and Technical Support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MACCS development is leveraged domestically (e.g., DOE, NOAA) and internationally via NRCs CSARP. CSARP contains over 25-member countries and their membership dues are used to support MELCOR and MACCS code development, maintenance, and international meetings and cooperative projects.
44
 
WinMACCS, MelMACCS, and SecPop Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research covers development, maintenance, verification, validation, documentation, and distribution for the user interface, utility, pre-processor, and post-processor codes that support MACCS (MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System) consequence analysis calculations and enable its use in a variety of regulatory applications.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Address obsolescence issue related to computing architecture to improve flexibility.
* Complete COMIDA2 updates and documentation.
* Complete MelMACCS updates including user interface and documentation.
* Continued focus on customer support improving ease of use and address bugs identified by staff or Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP) members.
Impact and Benefits
* Use of the following MACCS utility codes enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory analyses and assessments:
o WinMACCS is the graphical user interface for MACCS; o MelMACCS is the pre-processor code that converts MELCOR source term results into MACCS input format; o SecPop is the pre-processor code that prepares site-specific data including population, land use and land fraction, and economic data; o COMIDA2 is the pre-processor code that prepares food chain/ingestion model input data; o AniMACCS is the post-processor code that enables visualization of plume dispersion and air and ground concentrations of modeled accident releases; and o LHS is the pre-processor code that supports uncertainty analysis by generating values of uncertain parameters based on user-defined probability distributions.
* These codes plus MACCS support regulatory applications including (1) regulatory cost-benefit analyses, (2) environmental analyses of Severe Accident Mitigation Alternatives (SAMA) and Design Alternatives (SAMDA), (3) Level 3 PRA, (4) research studies of accident consequences, (5) support for emergency preparedness, and (6) dose-distance evaluations for emergency planning.
Drivers
* Draft NRR User Need Requests covering MACCS Code Suite Maintenance, Development, Documentation, Verification, Modernization, Distribution, User Support, Workshops, and International Collaboration.
* Improving robustness and runtime performance of MACCS calculations for NRC and other external domestic and international code users.
Key Deliverables Year                FY19 FY20                    FY21              FY22 Project              Accomplishments
* Publish SecPop NUREG User
* Release AniMACCS publicly to Guide, Theory Manual, and      user community
* WinMACCS Verification Report
* Publish MelMACCS NUREG User
* Update SecPop Draft NRR User                                                                                          Graphical User
* Completed draft report on      Guide, Theory Manual, and          code to include Need Request        COMIDA2 models and            Verification Report                2020 US Census Interface Modernization parameters that warrant
* Complete COMIDA2 input technical basis updates        parameter technical basis report Acronym: Fiscal year (FY) 45
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Jonathan Barr (Jonathan.Barr@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                    $142            0.0          $150        1.5          $50          1.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - MACCS code maintenance, development, and verification and validation.
* Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses - Review of MACCS COMIDA2 Food Chain Model.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MACCS and its supporting utility codes are shared internationally via NRCs Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP). CSARP contains over 25 member countries and their membership dues are used to support MELCOR and MACCS code development, maintenance, and international meetings and cooperative projects.
46
 
Consequence Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research covers the planning, performance, documentation, and review of consequence analysis calculations for a variety of regulatory purposes. Consequence calculations generally use the MACCS code suite, but this EPID also covers analyses and projects that do not involve MACCS.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Enhance readiness to support licensing actions by o Using recently completed consequence analyses to risk-inform regulatory processes.
o Using consequence analysis to support the cost-benefit guidance improvement program.
o Using consequence analysis to support risk-informing emergency planning.
* Develop and maintain staff consequence analyses expertise.
Impact and Benefits
* Commission-directed SOARCA studies provide technical basis for possible reactor program changes based on margins to the quantitative health objectives.
* Evacuation time estimate (ETE) studies facilitate 10 CFR 50, Appendix E reviews.
* Level 3 PRA activities enable licensing modernization for innovative non-LWR designs.
* Consequence analysis projects underpin emergency planning zone (EPZ) size reductions.
* Incident response E-library and ETE studies improve NRC incident response readiness.
Drivers
* SRM-SECY-11-0089 (Level 3 PRA Project).
* User Need Request NRR-2017-008, Consolidated Cost-Benefit Guidance Improvement Activities.
* Draft NRR User Need Request (Consequence Analysis Applications)
* User Need Request NSIR-2014-002, Evacuation Time Estimate Studies.
* User Need Request NSIR-2016-001, Incident Response Electronic Library.
* User Need Request NSIR-2017-002, Support Emergency Preparedness Rulemaking and Related Activities.
Key Deliverables Year          FY19 Project                                                    FY20                          FY21      FY22 Accomplishments
* Level 3 PRA Project -
Complete offsite consequence
* Level 3 PRA
* Level 3 PRA Project  analysis for low power and Project - Complete offsite consequence  shutdown sequences and NUREG documentation of SRM-SECY-11-0089      analysis for          spent fuel pool releases all offsite consequence sequences initiated
* Level 3 PRA Project -
analyses by all hazards        Complete NUREG document-ation of all offsite consequence analyses
* Replacement Energy
* Consequence
* Cost-Benefit Costs NUREG Study                analysis to inform cost Guidance Update NRR-2017-008
* Cost-Benefit          uncertainty for use in Appendix H on Guidance Update Appendix K      regulatory cost-benefit Severe Accidents on Morbidity Valuation          applications 47
 
Year            FY19 Project                                                      FY20                          FY21                  FY22 Accomplishments
* Analysis to identify which accident
* Completed mitigation equipment are SOARCA Surry most important in severe Uncertainty Analysis accidents for SDP and NUREG report reactor oversight
* Completed
* Complete SOARCA Draft NRR User                                                                (leverage SOARCA UA and draft Research                Uncertainty Analysis Need Request                                                                  L3PRA)
Information Letter (RIL)      Summary NUREG report
* NUREG study to for inter-office review inform when site-specific on the many benefits SAMDA are needed in and uses of the SOARCA new reactor applications project or whether generic SAMDA could be used Completed NUREG Support NSIR development of report on research NSIR-2014-002                                  updated ETE guidance in study on Evacuation NUREG/CR-7002 Time Estimates Complete NUREG Complete update of Op      report of Center electronic library  electronic library NSIR-2016-001                                                                  of information potentially information useful in an emergency    useful for MACCS consequence analyses Consider updated Complete guidance on                                        Evaluation of MACCS Evaluation of non-radiological                            PAR study to dose-distance                                              code updates and their NSIR-2017-002                                  consequences of evacuation                                better risk-inform calculations to support                                    impact on protective and relocation                                            EP (future user EPZ size determinations                                    action recommendations need)
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Jonathan Barr (Jonathan.Barr@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 Presidents            Research FY19 Actuals                FY20 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K            FTE          $K            FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                      $606            3.2        $500            3.8        $300              3 Reactors New Reactors          $300            0.5          $90            0.5        $80            0.5 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - Providing technical support as needed.
* ICF - Replacement Energy Costs Study.
* Gryphon Scientific - Literature Survey and Analysis on Non-Radiological Consequences of Evacuation and Relocation.
48
 
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MACCS is shared internationally via NRCs Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP). CSARP contains over 25-member countries and their membership dues are used to support MELCOR and MACCS code development, maintenance, and international meetings and cooperative projects.
49
 
50 MELCOR Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research enables the NRC to develop, validate, and maintain the state-of-the-art MELCOR computer code used to perform severe accident and source term analysis in support of safety issue resolution and risk-informed decisionmaking.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Efficiently maintain code at state-of-the-practice especially for a variety of regulatory applications including ATF and non-LWRs, Fukushima forensics, and other long running analysis.
* Modernize MELCOR to enhance its technical and regulatory readiness.
* Develop and maintain staff core capabilities in source term and severe accident analyses.
* Continued focus on customer support improving ease of use and address bugs identified by staff or Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP) members.
* Use commercial entities to increase CSARP participation and leverage advanced reactor capabilities.
Impact and Benefits
* MELCOR code development activities supported many regulatory analyses, inspection support, emergency response support and formal studies activities that are described in the Source Term and Accident Consequences research summary, such as o Technical Specifications Amendments.
o Formal studies (e.g., Spent Fuel Pool Study, containment protection and release reduction rulemaking) that led to hundreds of millions of averted costs.
o Updates to SPAR models and development of SAMG insights.
o Rulemaking technical basis (e.g., decommissioning rule, SFP petition for rulemakings).
o Upgrades the Reactor Technical Tool designed for responses to emergencies at the NRCs Operation Center.
* Note that drivers and resources for Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF), High Burnup and High Enrichment MELCOR Code Development and Maintenance are covered by the Accident Tolerant Fuel research summary.
Drivers
* Old (retired) User Need Requests provided resources for MELCOR Code Development and Maintenance (e.g., NRR-2004-001 & NRR-2005-005); new User Need Requests need to be developed.
* NRR-2015-005 (RAR) - Independent Review/Update of Regulatory Guide 1.183, Alternative Radiological Source Term for Evaluating Design Basis Accidents at Nuclear Power Reactors.
* Non-LWR Implementation Action Plan Strategy 2, Acquire/develop sufficient computer codes and tools to perform non-LWR regulatory reviews.
Key Deliverables Year            FY19 Project                                                  FY20                    FY21                  FY22 Accomplishments Released (interim) of                            Release (interim) of Release of MELCOR                              Release of MELCOR MELCOR 2.2 with code                            MELCOR 2.3 with code 2.2 build 15254 with                          2.4 with improvements MELCOR Development    stability & robustness                          stability & robustness improvements to fission                        to fission product improvements for                                improvements for product models and                            models and code source term prediction                          source term prediction 51
 
code stability including including ATF and non-  stability including ATF ATF and non-LWRs        LWRs                    and non-LWRs Preparation of          Preparation of          Preparation of MELCOR user group        Conducted FY19 workshop materials and  workshop materials and  workshop materials and workshops and training    training workshop hands-on problems        hands-on problems        hands-on problems Conducted annual          Develop Presentations    Develop Presentations    Develop Presentations MELCOR technical technical exchange        and exchange technical  and exchange technical  and exchange technical review meetings meetings                  information to improve  information to improve  information to improve (MCAP/EMUG/AMUG)
MELCOR modeling          MELCOR modeling          MELCOR modeling Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Hossein Esmaili, Ph.D. (Hossein.Esmaili@nrc.gov), Sr. Reactor Systems Engineer, Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's              Research FY19 Actuals                FY20 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line            $K            FTE            $K            FTE        $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $2,044            2.8          $502            1.0      $250            1 Reactors Advanced
                          $728            0          $1,113            0.4      $800          0.4 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - Development and Maintenance of MELCOR computer code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Through the CSARP, RES provides MELCOR to international code users (about 1,000 users in over 25 member countries). NRC receives approximately $1M annually from fees collected from international organizations (not reflected in above amount).
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Severe Accident Verification and Validation Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This includes cooperative research to enable NRC to obtain experimental data and analyses for verification and validation of NRCs severe accident codes, mainly MELCOR, which are used to formulate a technical basis for regulatory decision-making.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Lead US coordination between Japan, DOE, and industry cooperation on Fukushima forensics.
* Rebuild severe accident phenomenology expertise due to losses associated with staff retirements.
Impact and Benefits
* Provides technical leadership and support to highly leveraged (often 10:1 benefit to cost ratio) international projects that reduce key uncertainties in severe accident code and knowledge (e.g., spent fuel pools, severe accidents, source terms).
* Provides access to the largest repository of severe accident verification and validation information.
* Cost for participation in cooperative experimental programs is offset by funding from the Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP).
Drivers
* Continue improvements in the predictive capability of MELCOR as a state-of-the-practice reactor safety analysis code to provide independent confirmatory reactor analysis capability.
Key Deliverables Year              FY19 FY20                  FY21                FY22 Project                  Accomplishments CSNI/NEA PreADES Published annual report  Publish annual report  Publish annual report
& ARC-F Published summary CSNI/NEA BIP experimental report Conducted final set of    Decide on STEM II CSNI/NEA STEM iodine experiments        follow-on (ESTER)
MEDEA steam/water      Synthesize of        MIDI test report spray penetration into  cladding oxidation Developed test report on IRSN DENOPI                                      bundle test; MIDI and  test results; Conduct Zr oxidation under air-experiment                                      ASPEC - spray          ASPEC spray steam conditions cooling test matrix    cooling development Preparation and test    Preparation and test Conducted test campaign in PANDA &    campaign in PANDA CSNI/NEA              campaign at the PANDA MISTRA. Prepare        &
HYMERES (2017-        & MISTRA facilities.
data evaluation and    MISTRA. Prepare 2020)                  Evaluate data and help reporting.              data evaluation and develop CSNI report.
reporting.
Launched experimental    Agree on the first test Conducts test (TBD),  Conducts test program. Aligned on a    to be carried out.      analysis and          (TBD), analysis CSNI/NEA ROSAU test matrix and needed    Carry out necessary    reporting            and reporting facility modifications. facility modification.
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
* OECD/NEA/CSNI Senior Expert Group on Safety Research Opportunity Post-Fukushima (SAREF) near term projects - Preparatory Study on Analysis of Fuel Debris (PreADES) and 53
 
Analysis of Information from Reactor Buildings and Containment Vessels of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (ARC-F).
* OECD/NEA/CSNI Behavior of Iodine Project (BIP) - containment iodine chemistry experiments conducted at the Canadian National Laboratory.
* OECD/NEA/CSNI Source Term Evaluation and Mitigation - containment iodine chemistry and ruthenium transport experiments performed at the Cadarache Nuclear Center in France.
* IRSN DENOPI experiment at Cadarache Nuclear Center - spent fuel pool related (e.g.,
spray droplets penetration into PWR bundle and air/steam oxidation of zirconium cladding).
* OECD/NEA/CSNI HYMERES project - Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) quality experiment data on hydrogen behavior in containment and pool scrubbing (of aerosols).
* Reduction of Severe Accident Uncertainties (ROSAU) project - Ex-vessel molten core concrete interaction (MCCI) experiments conducted at the Argonne National Laboratory.
CSNI/NEA is in the process of launching a new project on MCCI in 2019.
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Richard Lee, (Richard.Lee@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY2020 Enacted President's Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K            FTE          Trending Operating
                    $873            1.1          $200        1.0          $100          1.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support & Payment for International Projects
* Sandia National Laboratories - CSNI/Pre-ADES and ARC-F projects providing information on Reactor Building, Containment Vessel, and Water Sampling at Fukushima.
* NEA/CSNI BIP - Iodine separate effects experiments.
* NEA/CSNI STEM - Iodine and Ruthenium separate effects experiments.
* IRSN DENOPI - Cladding oxidation in air/steam and spray penetration into PWR bundle testing.
* NEA/CSNI HYMERES - CFD quality experiment data on hydrogen behavior in containment and pool scrubbing.
* NEA/CSNI ROSAU - MCCI experiments.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Nuclear Energy Agency/Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (NEA/CSNI).
* Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).
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Accident Progression and Source Term Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This covers independent plant safety and risk analyses using the MELCOR code to formulate a technical basis for risk-informed regulatory decision making.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintain state-of-the-practice severe accident and source term staff expertise and analytic capability for licensing and inspection applications.
Impact and Benefits
* Licensees continue use of RG 1.183 to request Technical Specifications (TS) changes to reduce operational cost and regulatory burden in maintaining equipment used to control and or mitigate radionuclides releases, such as o Relaxation of TS operability requirements allowing for a more efficient execution of reactor outage work with a resulting reduction in operator radiation exposure.
o Relaxation of TS allowable main steam isolation valve leak rate which reduces the need for refurbishing main steam isolation valves and commensurate operator radiation exposure.
* Analyses support updating Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) models, providing best-estimate thermal-hydraulic calculations to confirm or enhance specific success criteria.
for system performance and operator timing used in the Significance Determination Process.
* Analysis of the NEA-led Fukushima forensic analysis efforts will improve severe accident realism and more risk informed decisions.
Drivers
* User Need Request NRR-2013-011, which provides support for the SHINE Operating License licensing review.
* Regulations in 10 CFR Part 50 (Design Criteria), Part 51 (NEPA), and Part 100 (Siting) require source term analysis to support TS and License Amendment Requests.
* SECY papers that enables staff to keep abreast of the latest international severe accident phenomenological issues such as through Fukushima research.
o SECY-15-0065, Proposed Rulemaking: Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events, involves coordination of voluntarily Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs) and the integrated response capability under 10 CFR 50.155(b) for the Reactor Oversight Program.
o SECY-15-0137 Proposed Plans for Resolving Open Fukushima Tier 2 and 3 Recommendations which supports adding realism to MELCOR to support risk-informed decisions.
* Other drivers include on-call support to modify the Reactor Technical Tool for the Operation Center, for petitions for rulemakings and rulemaking support, and for SPAR model development.
* Note that drivers and resources for Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF), High Burnup, and High Enrichment analyses are covered by the Accident Tolerant Fuel research one pager.
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Key Deliverables Year                FY19 FY20                  FY21              FY22 Project                              Accomplishments Decide on the next Duane Arnold SPAR model Published NUREG-2236          NPP for SPAR development (RES/DRA led) development Site Level 3 analysis (reactor      Documented spent fuel        Publish draft NUREGs      Address public    Publish final and spent fuel pools                pool analysis                for public comments      comments          NUREGs.
Maintain state Maintain state of Maintained state-of-          Maintain state of                            of practice for Research and Technical                                                                      practice for FCI practice for FCI              practice for FCI                            FCI Assistance on SA -                                                                          phenomenology phenomenology and the        phenomenology and                            phenomenology University of Wisconsin                                                                    and the TEXAS TEXAS code§                  the TEXAS code                              and the TEXAS code code Re-evaluation of the Fission Provided fission product Product Release and assessment and FHA Transport for a Fuel Handling reports.
Accident [FHA]
Ad Hoc support to NRR staff Provided assistance as review of NPP licensing                                          As requested              As requested      As requested requested amendment TEPCO continues CSNI Analysis of Information                                                                to provide TEPCO provided latest        TEPCO continues to from Reactor Building and                                                                  Fukushima Fukushima forensic            provide Fukushima Containment Vessel and                                                                      forensic investigation and data to    forensic investigation Water Sampling in                                                                          investigation and continue forensics            and data to continue Fukushima Daiichi NPS                                                                      data to continue analysis and code            forensics analysis and (ARC-F) - MELCOR analysis                                                                  forensics analysis improvements                  code improvements of Fukushima accidents                                                                      and code improvements
        § TEXAS is a stand-alone code for fuel coolant interaction (FCI), a severe accident phenomenon that takes place in a very short time-scale that it is not feasible to incorporate into MELCOR.
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Richard Lee, Ph.D. (Richard.Lee@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's          Research FY19 Actuals                  FY20 Enacted Budget              Planning Business Line            $K            FTE            $K          FTE            $K          FTE        Trending Operating
                                $86              0.7          $275            2.2          $50          1.7 Reactors New Reactors            $305              0.2          $150            0.2          $0            0 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories - MELCOR Analysis Support.
* University of Wisconsin - Fuel coolant interaction and the TEXAS code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Through the CSARP, the NRC receives about $1M annually from fees collected from international organizations (not reflected in above amount).
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Dose Assessment Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes computer code development and maintenance for design-basis accidents (DBAs) using the Symbolic Nuclear Analysis Package/Radionuclide Transport, Removal And Dose Estimation (SNAP/RADTRAD) computer code and incident response using the Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis (RASCAL) dose assessment computer codes.
* Also includes computer code development and maintenance of Radiation Protection Computer Code Analysis and Maintenance Program (RAMP) codes that support licensing of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Examples include former Office of New Reactors (NRO)-
supported atmospheric codes (ARCON & PAVAN), siting and effluent codes (NRCDose &
the Gaseous and Liquid Effluent (GALE) code), and the control room habitability (HABIT) code.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintain a high level of technical and regulatory readiness for all RAMP NPP codes.
* Develop and maintain staff core capabilities in dose assessment.
* Identify resource savings and consolidation opportunities across dose projection and atmospheric codes. Examples include merging former NRO-supported atmospheric codes (ARCON & PAVAN), siting and effluent codes (NRCDose & GALE), and control room habitability (HABIT) into this research activity.
* Determine a baseline computer code development and maintenance budget for all RAMP NPP codes.
Impact and Benefits
* The RASCAL computer code is a key Protective Measures Team tool supporting the NRC incident response function. RASCAL is used to assess and confirm protective action recommendations of NRC-licensees (NPPs) to make informed protective action decisions.
* The SNAP/RADTRAD code allows users to efficiently and effectively perform confirmatory design basis accident radiological dose calculations to confirm compliance with the applicable criteria of 10 CFR 100.11 and 50.67 by applying either the TID-14844 source term or Alternative Source Term (AST). Analysis with the AST have resulted in more efficient execution of reactor operations and relaxation or deletion of various structures, systems and component operability and surveillance requirements in the Technical Specifications.
* The RAMP atmospheric computers codes of ARCON and PAVAN are used to calculate the relative ground-level air concentrations (X/Q) for the assessment of potential accidental releases of radioactive material from NPPs. The ARCON code is used in support of control room habitability assessments required by 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A, General Design Criterion (GDC) 19 and the PAVAN code is used in support of the exclusion area boundary and the outer boundary of the low population zone assessments required by 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 100.
* The NRCDose and GALE codes implement the NRCs current requirements for As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) for radioactive effluents from nuclear power plants required by 10 CFR Part 20 and RGs 1.109, 1.111 and 1.113.
* The HABIT code is used in support of control room habitability in the event of chemical release as required10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A, GDC 19 and RG 1.78.
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Drivers
* User Need Request NSIR-2015-002, User Need Request to Support and Enhance the RASCAL Computer Code for Use in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Emergency and Incident Response Centers, requests the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Researchs (RESs) assistance in addressing specific enhancements to the RASCAL computer code and the evaluation of other technical assessment tools used for assessing possible effects of a radiological incident.
* User Need Request NRR-2017-012, User Need Request to Support and Enhance the SNAP/RADTRAD Computer Code for Use in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Licensing Activities, requests RES assistance in addressing specific enhancements specific enhancements and continued code support for the SNAP/RADTRAD computer code.
Key Deliverables Year              FY19 FY20                      FY21                  FY22 Project                  Accomplishments Code maintenance Initialized RASCAL 5.0      Update RASCAL 5.0 with RASCAL 5.0                                                                    Final release of        and add user (Java) release for          all NPP Models for NSIR-2015-002                                                                RASCAL 5.0.            requested features testing.                    testing.
into RASCAL 5.0.
SNAP/RADTRAD 5.0 Refactored the Java              Release of the refactored Code Maintenance        Code Maintenance NRR-2017-012          code in RADTRAD-AC.        RADTRAD-AC (v5.0).
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Tomon (John.Tomon@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's              Research FY19 Actuals              FY20 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line            $K          FTE            $K        FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                        $906          1.1          $650          2.0        $372            2 Reactors New Reactors            $121          0.3          $300          0.5        $300          0.6 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Athey Consulting - RASCAL computer code and emergency response assessment tools and training for the NRC Operations Center.
* Sandia National Laboratories - Code development, updates, and maintenance for the source term models in the RASCAL computer code.
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Code development, updates, and maintenance for the atmospheric transportation and dispersion models in the RASCAL computer code.
* ISL - Code development, updates, and maintenance for the SNAP/RADTRAD computer code.
* Leidos, Inc. - RAMP Web site development and maintenances and the HABIT computer code development, updates, and maintenance.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Leverage the resources (both financial and technical) of the cooperative research agreements of RAMP.
58
* Leverage assets of the DOE developed for the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC) computer code (Turbo FRMAC) into RAMP. The Turbo FRMAC code is a tool used in conjunction with the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex (NRIA) to the National Response Framework (NRF) during the intermediate and late phase of a radiological event at an NPP facility.
59
 
60 Radiation Protection Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes computer code development and maintenance for the radiation protection assessment computer codes (i.e., VARSKIN, Phantom with Moving Arms and Legs [PiMAL], and Radiological Toolbox [RadToolbox]). These codes are used to evaluate radiation safety and protection of workers and members of the public from releases during normal and accident conditions and are within the NRCs Radiological Protection Code Analysis and Maintenance Program (RAMP).
Strategic Focus Areas
* Support regulatory decision making with respect to dose assessment, emergency response, decommissioning, and environmental assessments.
* Develop and maintain staff core capabilities in health physics and radiation protection topics of regulatory importance.
* Rebuild advanced dosimetry technical expertise.
* Continued focus on customer support improving ease of use and address bugs identified by staff or RAMP members.
Impact and Benefits
* RAMP, initiated by SECY-14-0117, is a growing program intended to leverage resources for the development and maintenance of a set of radiation protection related codes (e.g.,
radiological, dose assessment, emergency response, decommissioning, and environmental codes) such that they dont become technically and functionally obsolete.
* The VARSKIN computer code is used by inspection staff and NRC licensees to calculate skin dose and to perform confirmatory calculations of licensees' submittals regarding skin dose estimates at any skin depth or skin volume with point, disk, cylindrical, spherical, or slab sources and even enables users to compute doses from multiple sources.
* The PiMAL computer program is a graphical user interface (GUI) with pre-processor and post-processor capabilities to assist NRC staff and licensees in developing realistic worker doses for MCNP input decks and code execution. Users can generate realistic dose limits based upon actual scenario-based geometries (worker positioning) to more accurately calculate dose as compared to a box standing straight in a direct path to a source.
* The RadToolbox computer code provides ready access to data of interest in radiation safety and protection of workers and members of the public. The data include radioactive decay data, dose coefficients, bio kinetic data, and other tabular date of interest to radiation protection personnel.
Drivers
* The purpose, functions, and responsibilities of the RAMP cooperative research and code-sharing program are delineated in SECY-14-0117, The Radiation Protection Computer Code Analysis and Maintenance Program.
* The VARSKIN computer code is used by staff members and NRC licensees to calculate occupational dose to the skin resulting from exposure to radiation emitted from hot particles or other contamination on or near the skin as required by 10 CFR Part 20.1201(c). Health physicists from the NRC Regions have requested the addition of neutron dosimetry and an updated GUI to the VARSKIN computer code.
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Key Deliverables Year                      FY19 FY20                    FY21                  FY22 Project                      Accomplishments RAMP Website Updated to latest                                    Maintain and          Maintain and development and                                        Maintain and update version of website                                    update RAMP            update RAMP Technical Support                                      RAMP website pages.
software (Drupal).                                    website pages.        website pages.
SECY-14-0117 Continued support for development of VARSKIN Code VARSKIN 7.0 which                                    Code Maintenance      Code Maintenance Development                                            Release VARSKIN v7.0.
includes eye dosimetry,                              and Support.          and Support.
SECY-14-0117 neutron dosimetry, and alpha dosimetry.
Code Maintenance -      Code Maintenance      Code Maintenance PiMAL Computer Code        Code Maintenance - No No Development          - No Development      - No Development SECY-14-0117              Development Work.
Work.                  Work.                  Work.
Code Maintenance -      Code Maintenance      Code Maintenance RadToolbox                Code Maintenance - No No Development          - No Development      - No Development SECY-14-0117              Development Work.
Work.                  Work.                  Work.
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Tomon (John.Tomon@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's            Research FY19 Actuals                FY20 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K          FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                        $391            1.4        $220          2.0        $85          2.0 Reactors Advanced
                        $149              0          $200          0.4        $200          0.4 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - RAMP Support.
* Renaissance Code Development - VARSKIN Technical Support and Code Development.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - PiMAL.
* ORNL - Radiological Toolbox & ORNL - Advanced Radiation Dosimetry Technical Support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Leverage the resources (both financial and technical) of the cooperative research agreements of the RAMP.
* Leverage resources to incorporate the DCFPAK into RAMP.
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Radiation Protection Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes the evaluation of radiation protection and event data, development of dosimetry tools, and the monitoring of ongoing radiation health effects research to ensure NRCs system of radiation protection is adequately protecting public health and safety.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Develop, use, and maintain the epidemiological, radiation shielding, and radiation dosimetry skillsets to support regulatory activities, e.g., SHINE radioisotope production facility licensing application.
* Monitor and support national and international radiation health effects research especially low-dose research, to ensure the NRCs current system of radiation protection is still adequate and not overly burdensome.
* Increase REIRS database access efficiency through concept modernization, e.g., posting verified summary dose data on-line for public access before the NUREG is published, eventually moving the entire NUREG to an electronic format with supporting text.
Impact and Benefits
* Inform external stakeholders including Congress and the public of events that results in public health and safety and security concerns (i.e., Abnormal Occurrence (AO) Report),
and radiation exposures to the workforce at certain NRC licensed facilities (e.g., Radiation Exposure Information and Records System (REIRS)).
* Analyses performed support safety studies, updates to regulatory guidance, petitions for rulemaking, and new health physics or radiation protection questions that arise, e.g., low dose radiation, external and internal dosimetry coefficients.
Drivers
* Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended (Public Law 93 438),
requires that the NRC report abnormal occurrences to Congress.
* REIRS is based upon the statutory and regulatory reporting requirement of annual personnel exposure to ionizing radiation in 10 CFR Part 20.2206(b) by NRC-licensees.
* Petitions for rulemaking per 10 CFR 2.802 which require expertise and technical support for various subjects related to radiation dosimetry and health effects.
* User Need Request NRR-2013-011, Support from the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research in the Review and Evaluation of Chapter 4 and Chapter 13 of the Radioisotope Production Facility Applications Submitted by Shine Technologies, Inc.
Key Deliverables Year            FY19 FY20              FY21                FY22 Project                        Accomplishments NUREG-0713, Annual                                                      Publish Volume Publish Volume                      Publish Volume Occupational Radiation        Published Volume 38:                        40:
39:                                41:
Exposure at Commercial        2017: Fiftieth Annual                      2019: Fifty-2018: Fifty-First                  2020: Fifty-Third Nuclear Power Reactors        Report                                    Second Annual Annual Report                      Annual Report and Other Facilities                                                    Report NUREG-0090, Annual                                    Publish Volume    Publish Volume  Publish Volume Report to Congress on        Published Volume 41:    42:                43:              44:
Abnormal Occurrences        Fiscal Year 2018      Fiscal Year      Fiscal Year    Fiscal Year (FY19 - FY22)                                        2019              2020            2021 63
 
Year                FY19 FY20                  FY21                FY22 Project                            Accomplishments User Need Request NRR-            Provide technical supports and licensing review to Shine Technology Inc. licensing 2013-011 (Licensing              applications, including internal and external radiation dose assessments, radiation review support to the            shielding design validations, and accidental consequence analysis and surveillance Shine Technology Inc.)            requirements. Specific milestones and due dates are TBD by NRR.
Review RG 8.36        Complete DG for establish working RG 1.78, and RG Complete DG for Revised RG 8.29 and group to DG for      8.36. Prepare        RG 8.39 Phase Regulatory Guide Support          RG 8.36. Completed RG 8.36; and          revisions for DG    2. Complete RG DG for 8.39 Phase 1.
publish RG 8.39      for RG 8.39          8.36 and 1.78.
Phase 1.              Phase 2.
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* John Tomon (John.Tomon@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's            Research FY19 Actuals            FY20 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line              $K          FTE          $K          FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                              $270          1.9        $300          1.5        $240          1.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* ORAU - Radiation Exposure Information and Records System (REIRS) and the NRC Employee Database System (EEDS).
* North American Technical Center - Membership in the OECD/NEA and IAEA's Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE).
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Monitor, review and provide feedback/comments on the low dose research being performed by the Department of Energy - Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee, IAEA, NCRP, ANSI and ISO.
* Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) - ISOE.
64
 
Engineering Research Activities 65
 
66 Cable and Equipment Aging Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research on the aging-related degradation of electrical and power cables, including determinations of anticipated service life and methods to monitor the condition of cables.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Collaboration with industry efforts and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program for assessing cable performance including joint efforts on loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) tests.
* Assessing the power cable performance for long-term operations in light of the failure data from operating experience and collected industry data.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster additional collaborative research activities with industry and DOE.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art capabilities for cables condition monitoring techniques and equipment qualification.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify NRC acceptance criteria for assessment and aging management of cables to support long-term operations.
* Facilitate the review of industry guidance for managing the aging of cables in submerged environments.
* Confirm the adequacy of the most commonly used condition monitoring techniques to track the aging of cables.
* Shorten timeline for licensing decisions, including for subsequent license renewal application reviews.
* Endorse consensus codes and standards related to electrical cable qualification and condition monitoring.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-14-0016 to evaluate the aging of cables and cable systems during the subsequent license renewal period.
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) for assistance in enhancing regulatory guidance for electrical cable condition monitoring.
* Requests from NRR to update Regulatory Guides on cable condition monitoring, environmental qualification of electrical equipment, and qualification of safety related cables.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020        FY 2021          FY 2022 Project                            Accomplishments Cables UNR NRR 2011-014 (60 years)                                undergoing      Cables Assessment of Electrical Cables                          thermal and    undergoing  Conduct LOCA Condition Monitoring Methods                              radiation aging thermal and  Testing of National Cables began thermal at SNL          radiation    Institute of (FY13 - FY22) and UNR NRR          and radiation aging at followed by    aging at SNL Standards and 2016-012 (Extends NRR 2011-        Sandia National LOCA testing    followed by  Technology (NIST) 014 to 80 years) - Assessment of  Laboratories (SNL) at Oak Ridge    LOCA testing Aged Cables at Condition Monitoring Techniques                            National        at ORNL      ORNL for Electrical Cables                                      Laboratories (ORNL) 67
 
UNR NRR 2011-014 (60 years)
Assessment of Electrical Cables                                PNNL Condition Monitoring Methods          Pacific Northwest        performs National Laboratory      testing on (FY13 - FY22) - Assessment of (PNNL) evaluated the    medium the Electric Power Research          data collected by EPRI  voltage cables Institute (EPRIs) Tan Delta          from the licensees      and issues Approach to Manage Cables in                                  final report Submerged Environments Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Ronaldo Jenkins (Ronaldo.Jenkins@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY21 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K            FTE              $K          FTE        $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                          $1129            1.9          $1757          2.0      $1691          2.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Assessment of Condition Monitoring Methods for Electrical Cables.
* PNNL - Assessment of EPRIs Tan Delta Approach to Manage Cables in Submerged Environments.
* ORNL - Conduct LOCA Test on NIST Aged Cables.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NRC and EPRI on Aging, Qualification, and Condition Monitoring of Electrical Cables.
* LWRS Program, where EPRI, DOE, and the NRC meet face-to-face twice a year to share and discuss ongoing research activities at each institution.
* Information Exchange Meetings with the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (JNRA),
where NRC and JNRA discuss and exchange information on ongoing research projects related to cable aging.
68
 
Electrical System Evaluation Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research on the evaluation of electrical power distribution systems at nuclear power plants including switchgear, batteries, and generators as well as for backup and emergency power scenarios.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Develop additional collaborative research activities with industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for critical components other than cables.
* Ensure effective representation of NRC in harmonizing industry standards and development activities for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Impact and Benefits
* Support the safety evaluation and updating of regulatory guidance concerning the use of IEEE and IEC consensus codes and standards.
* Address technical knowledge gaps related to the performance of electrical power system equipment.
* Contribute electrical engineering expertise to the assessment of emergent technical issues, such as high-energy arc faults (HEAF).
* Support knowledge management in the areas of power systems operations, motor-operated valve controls, and generator islanding.
Drivers
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) to update Regulatory Guides (RGs) addressing electrical power systems.
* Requests from NRR to represent the NRC on standards development activities for IEEE and IEC.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020        FY 2021    FY 2022 Project                              Accomplishments User Need Request (UNR) NRR-2018-002: UNR for Developing new    Draft RG prepared and RG and Final RG related to Degraded (DV)          comments being        Report Voltage and Loss of Voltage          discussed            issued Protection UNR NRR-2018-XXX-2: UNR identified to be developed for Developing a RG addressing IEEE Draft RG      Final RG Standard 946 and NUREG/CR 7229 (Battery/Charger Fault Calculations).
Draft RG developed by NRR and comments Revision of RG 1.89 to new          from the Office of Final RG IEC/IEEE Standard                    Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) provided Revision of RG 1.9 addressing new                          Draft RG revision to IEEE 387-emergency                            transmitted to Final RG diesel generator (EDG)                                    RES 69
 
HEAF Testing electrical engineering                              On-going        On-going staff  On-going On-going staff support input and review                                                staff support    support          staff support Environmental Qualification (EQ)
On-going        On-going staff  On-going Inspection, Training, and Issue        On-going staff support staff support    support          staff support technical consulting and instruction On-going        On-going staff  On-going IEEE Standards Support                  On-going staff support staff support    support          staff support Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Ronaldo Jenkins (Ronaldo.Jenkins@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents            Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line            $K          FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                          $423          2.3          $736            4          $792            4 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* None.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging:
* Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NRC and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for cooperative research concerning electrical system evaluation.
70
 
Safety of I&C Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research concerning the safety of instrumentation and controls (I&C) in NRC-licensed facilities. It includes both efforts related to I&C (in general), and efforts related to applications of digital technology in I&C in connection with the Digital I&C Integrated Action Plan (IAP).
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Increase the use of risk insights to inform the assessment of I&C technologies.
* Establish lessons learned from use of digital I&C in other technical sectors.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster additional collaborative research activities with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and international partners via Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and international agreements.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art capabilities for I&C technologies.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in standards development activities.
Impact and Benefits
* Enable upgrades in operating plans (RIS [Regulatory Issue Summary] 2002-22) and confirm the safety of industry proposals for the broader adoption of digital I&C in operating plants.
* Streamline licensing guidance and clarify acceptance criteria (ISG [Interim Staff Guidance]-
06).
* Develop and resolve issues for licensing, common-cause failure (CCF), Reactor Oversight Process (ROP), online monitoring, etc.
* Participate in standards development activities to facilitate the broader endorsement of consensus codes and standards in regulations and regulatory guidance.
* Support domestic and international collaborative agreements to leverage resources and enhance staff knowledge.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-15-0106 and SECY-16-0070 to develop an Integrated Action Plan to Modernize Digital Instrumentation and Controls Regulatory Infrastructure.
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) for research on specific topics to support the implementation of the IAP.
* Requests from NRR to regularly review and update Regulatory Guides pertaining to I&C in consideration of development of associated industry standards and of accumulated experience.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020      FY 2021 FY 2022 Accomplishments Project User Need Request (UNR) NRR-2018-001:
Investigate the implications of the use of embedded  Scoping Study Technical Final report digital devices and evolving technologies (FY18-        letter report issued FY20)
UNR NRR-2018-003: Investigate the implications of,    Task 1 Draft Technical and ways to mitigate, common-cause failures in        letter to staff for review Final report applications of digital technology (FY18-FY20)              and comment 71
 
Draft report on UNR NRR2018004: Investigate opportunities for the                                    approaches          Draft and    Draft and use of risk insights in the licensing of applications of                              outside US          Final        Final digital technology (FY19-FY23)                                                        nuclear and on      Reports      Reports development On-going    On-going Review of industry standards and participation in                                    On-going staff Staff support completed                      staff        staff standards development EPRI MOU & Halden Support                                      support support      support Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Ronaldo Jenkins (Ronaldo.Jenkins@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents            Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line              $K          FTE            $K            FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                            $2695            9.9          $2487            8.3        $2492            8.8 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) - Investigate Embedded Digital Devices.
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - Investigate CCF.
* A) NUMARK B) IESS - A) Investigate the use of risk insights; B) Estimate failure frequencies of DI&C Systems and Uncertainties.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU between the NRC and EPRI for cooperative research concerning applications of digital technology in I&C.
* Collaboration with Halden on applications of digital technology in I&C.
72
 
Security of I&C Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area primarily encompasses research on the cybersecurity of instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in NRC-licensed facilities.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Establish core capabilities and technical expertise in cybersecurity to support emerging needs.
* Increase the use of risk insights to inform cybersecurity assessments.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster additional collaborative research activities with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and international partners via Memoranda of Understanding and international agreements.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art for cybersecurity evaluations.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in standards development activities.
Impact and Benefits
* Enhance awareness of the threat environment for cybersecurity of I&C systems.
* Clarify staff guidance for addressing cybersecurity in licensing actions related to digital I&C (DI&C) modifications.
* Confirm the plant resilience against geomagnetic disturbances.
* Expand the use of risk information to inform cybersecurity evaluations.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-15-0106 and SECY-16-0070 to develop an Integrated Action Plan to Modernize Digital Instrumentation and Controls Regulatory Infrastructure.
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) for research concerning specific topics related to the support of the cybersecurity program and the evaluation of I&C measures to improve security, including cybersecurity approaches.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020          FY 2021        FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Research Assistance Request (RAR): Technical Assistance for Technical support an assessment of power completed reactors cybersecurity program (FY 2019)
User Need Request (UNR)                                                  Draft reports Research on NSIR-2019-XXX*: Use of Risk                                              on methods risk insights for                Draft and Information and Risk Analysis                                            for risk-assessing                        Final Reports Approach in the Security                                                informing cybersecurity Regulatory Program (future)                                              cybersecurity Review of industry standards and participation in standards    Staff support        On-going staff    On-going staff On-going staff development related to cyber      completed            support          support        support security / EPRI MOU Support Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Ronaldo Jenkins (Ronaldo.Jenkins@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
73
 
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $293            0.2          $184          1          $309          0.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - Assistance in Assessment of the Cybersecurity Program.
* TBD - Risk Informed Security (addressed both physical and cybersecurity).
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU between the NRC and EPRI for cooperative research concerning applications of digital technology in I&C, which covers cybersecurity.
74
 
Seismic Analysis and Evaluation Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research to support seismic hazard analyses for operating and new reactor applications.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Keep abreast of advances in technical knowledge and new methodologies developed by the technical community to modernize and risk-inform the NRCs seismic regulatory activities.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster collaborative activities with other government agencies to achieve efficiency in the NRCs regulatory research activities.
* Enhance fidelity and capability of tools used for seismic assessments.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in international activities through the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify and simplify the NRCs acceptance criteria for seismic hazard analyses of operational and new reactors and increase the efficiency of NRC licensing reviews and decisions.
* Reduce uncertainties and enhance the use of risk-information in determining seismic hazard estimates.
* Support situational awareness and incident response for seismic events that affect licensed facilities.
* Support the Process of Ongoing Assessment of Natural Hazard Information (POAHNI) activities.
Drivers
* Commission directions in SRM-SECY-16-0144 and SRM-SECY-16-0142.
* Seismic, Geotechnical, and Structural Engineering Research Plan 2017-2021 (SGSERP).
* User Need Requests (UNRs) to maintain capability for seismic event analysis to support safe operation of existing reactors and new reactor licensing applications.
Key Deliverables Year      FY 2019 Accomplishments            FY 2020            FY 2021      FY 2022 Project Technical letter UNR NRO-2015-006 -
Technical letter      reports on Research to develop the                                                Technical letter report on seismic site incorporating site                    Finalization technical bases to support                                            report on seismic response              response into                        of full draft revision to Regulatory Guide                                          hazard and ground calculations          Probabilistic                        of RG 1.208 (RG) 1.208                                                            motion models Seismic Hazard Analyses UNR NRO-2015-008 -          A liquefaction Technical letter Research to develop the      database developed Probabilistic      report on          Update of technical bases to support  and currently liquefaction model probabilistic      RG 1.198 revisions to RG 1.198 and    available via development        liquefaction model and SRP the Standard Review Plan    collaborators development (SRP)                        website 75
 
Initial research on the  Technical Letter differences of          Reports on seismic  Technical Letter SGSERP - Seismic source seismic hazard          hazards and        Report on updated    Updates to characterization, ground results between the      source              seismic hazard and    RGs and motion models, and seismic NRC and USGS            characterization in ground motion        SRP hazard calculations models                  the central and    models eastern US Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Dogan Seber (Dogan.Seber@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals                FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line            $K              FTE          $K          FTE        $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                          $1,022              2.6        $382          1.9      $576          1.9 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - Research to support the NRC's seismic hazard analyses.
* Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) - Technical assistance for geologic and seismic evaluations and guidance.
* SwRI - Liquefaction model development.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Leveraging resources of the USGS to jointly conduct research on seismic hazard issues of mutual interest.
* U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) resources are to be leveraged in the SwRI liquefaction model development contract as liquefaction model development is also a priority item for USBR.
76
 
Structural and Geotechnical Evaluations Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research to support nuclear power plant structural integrity, potential degradation mechanisms, and design and construction issues.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintain awareness of operating experiences to identify emergent degradation issues and/or performance trends that could affect plant safety.
* Increase the use of risk-informed decision making in seismic and structural safety assessments.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster collaborative research activities with industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) via the respective Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art capabilities for structural modeling and simulation using modern and efficient computational tools.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in international cooperative activities through the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify and simplify the NRCs acceptance criteria for assessment and aging management of safety-related structures to support long-term operations.
* Shorten timeline for licensing decisions, including subsequent license renewal application reviews.
* Improved understanding of risk-significance of structural issues to focus attention on those most important to safety.
* Reduce uncertainties in determining structural safety margins.
* Endorse consensus codes and standards for structural design, analysis, and inspection.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-14-0016 to evaluate the structural integrity of concrete during the subsequent license renewal period.
* User Need Requests (UNRs) for assistance in enhancing regulatory guidance for performing structural integrity calculations, analyzing structural degradation, and conducting periodic inspections or surveillances.
* Seismic, Geotechnical, and Structural Engineering Research Plan 2017-2021 (SGSERP).
Key Deliverables Year        FY 2019 Accomplishments        FY 2020            FY 2021            FY 2022 Project Beam specimens and Development of UNR NRR-2012-004 -            blocks tested.      Technical letter                      Publication of Draft Regulatory Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR)  Obtained extensive  reports on project                    Regulatory Guidance Guidance on ASR Research                      data on ASR        outcomes                              on ASR affected concrete expansion.
A draft NUREG was                      Accelerated testing UNR NRR-2015-007 -                                Development of                        Technical letter issued and reviewed                    and Research on the Effects of                        interim technical                      reports and needed by staff                              modeling/simulation Irradiation on Concrete                            documents                              updates to NUREG-of concrete Structures                                                                                1801 degradation 77
 
SGSERP - Aging and                                      Review of creep                            Technical letter VERCORS 1/3 Degradation of Post-                                    and shrinkage of                          reports and needed scale containment tensioned Concrete                                      post-tensioned                            updates to NUREG-testing Containments                                            containment                                1801 Regulatory Regulatory              Regulatory Guide on SGSERP - Risk-Informed,                                  pathways for pathways for RIPB      RIPB approaches in Performance-Based (RIPB)                                RIPB seismic seismic safety          seismic safety safety Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Dogan Seber (Dogan.Seber@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $2437            6.9          $2580          6.9        $2546          6.8 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - ASR degradation in concrete .
* Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) - Radiation effects on concrete.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Bond strength in irradiated concrete.
* Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) - Risk-informed seismic safety.
* ORNL - Fluence calculations in concrete.
* Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) - Aging and Degradation of post-tensioned concrete.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* MOU Between NRC and DOE on Cooperative Nuclear Safety Research Related to Long Term Operations.
* MOU Between NRC and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on Long Term Operations Beyond 60 Years.
* Committee on Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) Assessment of Structures Subjected to Concrete Pathologies (ASCET).
* CSNI Observatory of Durability of Reinforced Contrete Structures (ODOBA).
* MOU between NRC and the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (JNRA).
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Aging and Materials Research Activities 79
 
80 Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Action Plan Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes regulatory research tasks on the use of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) for safety-related applications in operating nuclear power plants and advanced reactors.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Support the Agency Action Plan for AMTs.
* Keep aware of developments in pertinent AMTs and of applications for the use of AMT-made Structures, Systems, and Components (SSCs).
* Ensure AMT knowledge base is adequately captured for regulatory use.
* Participate in codes and standards development in the area of AMTs.
* Perform gap analysis in the areas of modeling and simulation and non-destructive examination (NDE).
* Develop an interagency agreement (IAA) with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support development of data package requirements.
Impact and Benefits
* Develop revision to and implement the Agency Action Plan for AMTs.
* Implement the External Interaction Plan.
* Develop and implement the Knowledge Management Plan.
* Establish a knowledge base for AMTs using U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory contracts and external interactions.
* Provide support to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) and Regional Offices for the independent evaluation of licensee applications of AMTs in safety significant components.
Driver
* Agency Action Plan for AMTs.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020          FY 2021    FY 2022 Accomplishments Project Revised external  NDE for AMTs External Interaction Plan; interaction plan; Modeling and AMT Action Plan                NUREG/CP-0310, Knowledge        Simulation for published July 2019 Management Plan  AMTs Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY) 81
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Steve Frankl (Istvan.Frankl@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $560              0          $526          1.5          $547          1.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) - Modeling and Simulation for AMTs.
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - NDE for AMTs.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) - AMTs.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Finalized Memorandum of Understanding Addendum with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for AMT Research in July 2019.
* Ongoing quarterly meetings with the EPRI and DOE, Office of Nuclear Energy on Advanced Methods for Manufacturing.
* Working towards agreement with NIST/EWI Additive Manufacturing Consortium.
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Evaluation Techniques (NDE)
Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area supports research on nondestructive examination (NDE) of nuclear plant systems and components as well as the effects of human performance issues on NDE reliability.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Increase in-house capability for NDE modeling and simulation.
* Continue to identify areas for improvement in NDE performance via the research on human performance for NDE.
* Enhance information exchanges and foster additional collaborative research activities with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and international partners via Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and international agreements.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art capabilities for nondestructive examination.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code activities.
Impact and Benefits
* Confirm the performance of new NDE technologies and methodologies proposed by industry for more effective in-service inspections (ISI).
* Provide support to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) and Regional Offices to efficiently disposition in-service inspection findings.
* Identify and develop a resolution path for key knowledge gaps related to NDE performance, such as human factors.
* Participate in ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code) activities to facilitate the endorsement of standards in regulations and regulatory guidance.
* Support domestic and international collaborative agreements to leverage resources and enhance staff knowledge.
Drivers
* Requests from NRR for assistance in evaluating the accuracy and reliability of NDE methods used by industry for the inspection of plant components including the efficacy of modeling, the implications of incomplete examination coverage, and human performance issues.
* Emergent requests from NRR and Regional Offices to assist with the analysis of findings from ISI of plant components.
* Requests from NRR to represent the NRC on Committees of the ASME Code related to NDE and ISI.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019              FY 2020        FY 2021 FY 2022 Project                            Accomplishments Pacific Northwest National    Technical letter User Need Request (UNR)        Laboratory (PNNL)-27712.      report on CASS NRR-2013-009, Evaluating        Interim Analysis of the EPRI  round robin the Reliability of NDE for      CASS Round Robin Study. Nov  analysis with Vessels and Piping, Task 5 -    2018.                        specimen data Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel NUREG/CR-7263. NDE            revealed (on hold (CASS) Examination Wrap-Up      Reliability Issues for the    pending release (FY1978 - FY19)                Examination of CASS          of flaw true state Components. Sep 2019.        by EPRI) 83
 
PNNL-28362. Ultrasound          (1) Technical Modeling and Simulation: Status letter report for Update. Dec 2018.              modeling and          NUREG/CR empirical            documenting    Regulatory validation studies    standard        Guide on various flaw      method to      describing UNR NRR-2013-009, Task 1 -                                        types in CASS        evaluate        standard and issimilar        modeling        method for Ultrasonic Modeling &                                              metal (DM)            results from    licenses to Simulation (FY15 - FY22)                                          Welds; (2)            commercially    perform and Technical letter      available      present report                software        modeling summarizing the      packages.      data results of NDE modeling round robin exercise TLR summarizing the empirical and NUREG/CR UNR NRR-2013-009, Task 2 -                                        modeling work to documenting determine the Incomplete Examination                                            sizes of the effects of Coverage (FY18 - FY22)                                                                                  limited detectable flaws coverage.
in austenitic welds and CASS DMWs PNNL-28090. Analysis of                              Technical UNR NRR-2013-009, Task 8-          Empirical Probability of                              letter report Detection Data for Dissimilar                        summarizing Probability of Detection (POD)    Metal Welds. Jul 2019.                                results of Analysis (FY18 - FY21)                                                                  POD analysis Technical letter User Need Request to Explore                                      report describing the Effects of Human                                              the results of a literature survey Performance Issues on NDE                                          examining the Reliability- Training and                                          effects of training Practice (FY19)                                                    and practice (draft received FY19)
PNNL-29113. Baseline Assess the capabilities of        Evaluation of Eddy Current Eddy Current Testing for          Testing for Primary Water partial penetration weld          Stress-Corrosion Cracking examinations                      (PWSCC) Susceptible Materials. Sep 2019.
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Raj Iyengar (Raj.Iyengar@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents                Research FY 2019 Actuals                FY 2020 Enacted Budget                    Planning Business Line            $K            FTE              $K        FTE              $K            FTE              Trend Operating
                          $2,393          2.7          $1,898        3.0          $2,344          3.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Evaluating the Reliability of NDE of Vessels and Piping.
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Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* NDE Addenda for NRC/EPRI MOU addressing several topics including ultrasonic modeling and simulation. Recently completed topics include human factors for NDE, visual testing, and CASS round robin.
* Program for Investigation of NDE by International Collaboration (PIONIC) - International collaborative research program with six countries and EPRI participating. Research topics include NDE modeling and simulation, flaw relevance evaluation, material degradation monitoring and probability of detection analysis.
* NRC/French Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucle- aire (IRSN) Specific Topic of Cooperation Sheet No. 01, Modeling and Simulation.
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86 Integrity Analysis Tool (IAT) Development and Guidance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research to develop probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analytical tools to evaluate the structural integrity of reactor piping systems and pressure boundary components.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Closure of development/documentation and public release of Extremely Low Probability of Rupture (xLPR) code, Version 2.
* Probabilistic integrity analysis tools and methodologies.
* Develop Regulatory Guide to enhance quality in PFM applications.
* Enhance staff capabilities in reviewing probabilistic submittals.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify NRC acceptance criteria for the use of PFM analyses on piping systems with active degradation mechanisms.
* Develop and maintain PFM analysis in-house capabilities of xLPR.
* Reduce conservatisms associated with deterministic submittals by enhancing staff capabilities in the area of probabilistic integrity assessment.
* Use risk-insights to make further enhancements and expand the use of PFM tools.
Drivers
* Request from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) to develop and implement probabilistic methods to evaluate leak-before-break of nickel-based alloys exposed to primary water environments.
* Request from NRR to develop supporting regulatory guidance to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of PFM analyses used for licensing actions and in consensus codes and standards.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020          FY 2021        FY 2022 Project                        Accomplishments User Need Request (UNR)        Draft Technical letter    NUREG on xLPR    Draft regulatory Regulatory NRR-2014-004,                  report on Sources and    Version 2 code    guide to assist  guide comment Implementation of Probabilistic Treatment of              development      licensees with  resolution and Uncertainty              Draft technical  appropriate use  publication Methods for Evaluating Leak-Draft technical letter    report on        of xLPR Version Before-Break (FY14 - FY22)      report on Sensitivity    applying xLPR    2 code; Draft Studies                  Version 2 code to technical report past leak-before- assessing break analyses    current leak-before-break requirements UNR NRR-2016-004,              Final publication of      Final draft of    PFM regulatory Development of Regulatory      Technical letter report  PFM regulatory    guide comment Guidance on PFM Best-          on Important Aspects    guide and        resolution and of PFM Analyses          technical basis  publication Practices (FY16 - FY20)
(including pilot study);
Interactions with public for PFM regulatory guide Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY) 87
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Raj Iyengar (Raj.Iyengar@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                        $1,411          2.5        $2,210        3.0        $2,043          3.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) - Development of PFM regulatory guide, technical basis, and pilot study.
* SNL - Development of PFM regulatory guide, technical basis, and pilot study.
* Numark - Support leak-before-break regulatory guide technical basis development using the xLPR code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between the NRC and EPRI on xLPR code documentation and leak-before-break applications.
* MOU between the NRC and EPRI on xLPR code maintenance, support, and distribution.
* Engagement with domestic and international stakeholders to receive feedback on development of the PFM regulatory guidance.
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Materials Degradation, Analysis and Mitigation Techniques Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area covers research on the degradation of primarily metallic reactor materials by corrosion, irradiation, cracking, and other forms of physically and chemically induced damage.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintain awareness of operating experience to identify emergent degradation issues or materials performance trends that could affect plant safety.
* Pursue information sharing and cooperative research with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and industry counterparts.
* Identify opportunities to harvest ex-plant materials for analysis and testing.
* Remain cognizant of new materials and manufacturing technologies that may be used for plant components.
* Engage with DOE, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and international counterparts to identify alternatives to the Halden Reactor Project (Halden/HRP) for ex-plant materials irradiation and irradiated materials testing.
* Develop long-term plans for use of NRC-funded materials testing infrastructure at DOE laboratories.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify NRC acceptance criteria for assessment and aging management of safety-related structures, systems, and components (SSCs) for continued and long-term operations.
* Shorten timeline for licensing decisions including for subsequent license renewal (SLR) application reviews.
* Improve understanding of risk significance of materials degradation issues to focus attention on those most important to safety.
* Identify and develop a resolution path for key knowledge gaps related to the adoption of new materials and manufacturing technologies.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-14-0016 to evaluate the aging-related degradation of SSCs including irradiation-assisted degradation of reactor internals during the SLR period.
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) for assistance in independently confirming industry tests and analyses that support licensing actions related to materials degradation including primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) and neutron absorbing materials degradation.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021      FY 2022 Accomplishments Project NRR-2017-006:        NRC/industry Metals Workshop  Cables Workshop (Jan.        NUREG/
Research              (May 2019), Pacific Northwest  2020); Joint Harvesting      Conference National Laboratory (PNNL) -  Workshop at the Nuclear      Proceedings Assistance on 27120 Rev. 1, Criteria and    Energy Agency (NEA) (Jan. and summary Potential Significant Planning Guidance for Ex-Plant 2020); Develop              reports on four Technical Issues      Harvesting to Support          documentation evaluating    Staff During the SPEO      Subsequent License Renewal    significant technical issues Requirements 89
 
germane to the review of      Memoranda SLR applications              topics Results from Cooperative NRR-2017-001:                                            Zorita Plate Materials Request for                                                                            Final Results Testing at Studsvik; Initial Assistance to                                                                          from Zorita Results from Zorita Plate                      Further Materials Evaluate Irradiation-                                    Materials Testing at Testing at ANL Irradiation of Assisted                                                  Argonne National                              Zorita Welds and NRC Degradation of Rx                                        Laboratory (ANL); Results Analysis Vessel Internals                                          from Cooperative Zorita Welds Testing NRR-2013-005: To Develop the Technical Bases for Technical letter report (TLR) on TLR on the evaluation of the Evaluation of      the evaluation of Boral Boral surveillance programs Neutron Absorbing      performance in SFPs Materials in Spent Fuel Pools (SFPs)
NRR-2017-010,          NUREG/CR-7103, Volume 4,                                                          TLR on Task 1: Flaw          PNNL Investigation of Stress                                    TLR on          PWSCC Corrosion Cracking in Nickel-      NUREG/CRs of PWSCC            PWSCC            Initiation of Evaluation, Repair Base Alloys: Behavior of Alloy    Crack Growth Rate Testing    Initiation of    Alloy and Mitigation        152 and 52 Welds (April 2019);    (ANL/PNNL)                    Alloy            690/52/152 Techniques for        TLR on PWSCC Initiation                                          690/52/152      dilution zones PWSCC                  testing results for Alloy 600/182                                                and defects Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Steve Frankl (Istvan.Frankl@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents              Research FY 2019 Actuals                FY 2020 Enacted Budget                  Planning Business Line            $K              FTE            $K            FTE            $K          FTE              Trend Operating
                          $5,028            6.1          $5,649            8.5        $2,721          4.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Halden - HRP International Agreement.
* EPRI/Studsvik - Zorita Internals Research Project.
* EPRI/Studsvik - Irradiation-Assisted Degradation of Vessel Internals Materials.
* ANL - Ex-Plant Materials Testing.
* ANL - PWSCC Crack Growth Testing.
* PNNL - PWSCC Crack Growth Testing.
* PNNL- Ex-plant Harvesting.
* PNNL - PWSCC Initiation Testing.
* Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) - Zion Boral Evaluation.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory - BADGER Measurement Uncertainty.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Halden Reactor Project - supports irradiation assisted degradation research on irradiated stainless-steel welds and creep/relaxation of baffle bolt materials.
90
* Zorita Internals Research Project - multinational cooperative research program led by EPRI on harvested reactor internals materials.
* Zorita welds testing at Studsvik - NRC-EPRI cooperative agreement for testing on irradiated stainless-steel welds.
* Memorandum of Understanding Addenda with EPRI for PWSCC Expert Panel Activities, PWSCC Crack Initiation Testing, Neutron Absorber Materials from Zion, Long Term Operations (LTO) research.
* MOU Addendum with DOE on cooperative nuclear safety research related to LTO.
Component Operational Experience Degradation and Ageing Program (CODAP) - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Thirteen participating countries renewed for Phase 3 (2018-2020).
91
 
92 Piping and Other Components Integrity Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research and codes and standards activities related to in-service inspection (particularly, flaw evaluation), repair/replacement of safety-related components in operating reactors and evaluations of component integrity criteria and methods.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintain core capabilities for conducting component integrity assessments using in-house analytical tools.
* Ensure consistency, efficiency, and transparency for participatory roles in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.
* Enhance interactions with international counterparts to support information exchanges on best practices for the use of probabilistic fracture mechanics.
Impact and Benefits
* Provide technical support for the evaluation of proposed changes to Section XI of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which is incorporated by reference into Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50.55a.
* Develop modeling guidelines aimed at increasing the efficiency of staff reviews of licensing actions related to leaking and cracked piping welds.
* Develop and maintain in-house software tools and analytical methods used by the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) staff to review industry submittals (e.g., ABAQUS capabilities and flaw evaluation software).
* Conduct research to support the NRR staff in establishing regulatory positions related to new repair techniques and materials proposed by industry (e.g., carbon fiber and high-density polyethylene).
Drivers
* Requests from NRR to represent the NRC and communicate staff positions on subcommittees and working groups of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.
* Requests from NRR to develop regulatory guidance for the use of probabilistic fracture mechanics in licensing actions.
* Requests from NRR for emergent support on component integrity evaluations for operating plants.
* Requests from NRR to review and update the criteria and associated technical basis for postulating pipe ruptures in fluid system piping at nuclear power plants.
Key Deliverables Year          FY 2019 FY 2020        FY 2021      FY 2022 Project                          Accomplishments Memo from the Developed and Office of Nuclear              TLR documenting NRR 2019-001, User Need        implemented contracts with Regulatory                    the results of Numark and EMC2 to Request for Confirmatory                                  Research (RES) to              Carbon Fiber support required Testing of Carbon Fiber        mechanical and durability NRR providing a                Reinforced Reinforced Polymer                                        literature survey and          Polymer (CFRP) testing.
recommended path              confirmatory testing forward.
NRR-2017-010, Flaw Flaw evaluation software  Final publication of Evaluation, Repair and          was updated                NUREG-2228 on Mitigation Techniques for 93
 
Primary Water Stress-Corrosion                                weld residual stress Cracking (PWSCC)                                              validation Four technical letter reports (TLRs),
Developed and including a NRR-2017-010, Extended Finite      implemented technical validation plan of Element Method (xFEM) Project      support contract to help xFEM applications develop xFEM capabilities and limitations for regulatory use.
TLR documenting currently NRR-2015-015, User Need            available background on break location criteria and Request on Acceptance Criteria licensing submittals                TBD1                TBD            TBD for Pipe Ruptures in Fluid        involving departure from System Piping                      the current Standard Review Plan 3.6.2 criteria Although this UNR was previously placed on hold, the RES was requested to issue the TLR associated with Task 1 in FY 2019. Future coordination with NRR will inform whether the remaining tasks are to be completed. Acronyms:
Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Raj Iyengar (Raj.Iyengar@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents    Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget            Planning Business Line            $K            FTE              $K        FTE            $K        FTE          Trend Operating
                          $1,449          3.5            $745          3.0          $746        2.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE).
Contractor Support
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - orderly close-out of previous research project on peening effectiveness; crack initiation testing.
* Numark/Emc2 - Carbon fiber repair: confirmatory testing.
* Emc2 - Carbon fiber repair: durability testing.
* Numark/Emc2 - xFEM Technical Support: PWSCC Crack Growth.
* TBD - Carbon Fiber Repair: Non-destructive evaluation of adhesion zone (if needed based on literature review).
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Close communications with industry stakeholders for carbon fiber repair testing campaign, to avoid duplication of efforts.
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Steam Generator Integrity Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes regulatory research on the inspection and structural integrity of existing and new steam generators (SGs), particularly SG tubes.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Maintain awareness of SG operating experience to identify emergent degradation issues or materials performance trends that could affect safety.
* Keep abreast of advancing technologies in SG inspections.
* Continue leadership roles in international cooperative activities.
Impact and Benefits
* Confirm the effectiveness of new SG tube examination methodologies proposed by industry to improve inspection times.
* Provide support to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) and Regional Offices for the independent evaluation of licensee SG tube inspection data.
* Enhance the efficiency of licensing actions by assessing the risk significance and structural safety margins for SG tubes.
* Support domestic and international collaborative agreements to leverage resources and enhance staff knowledge.
Driver
* User Need Request from NRR for assistance to enhance regulatory guidance for performing SG tube structural integrity calculations, analyzing structural degradation, and conducting periodic inspections or surveillances.
Key Deliverables Year FY 2019 FY 2020              FY 2021          FY 2022 Accomplishments Project NUREG/Contractor Reports-Inspection NRR-2018-007                          NUREG/CR - Detection    and Structural        Software to predict of cracking near        Integrity of U-bend  structural / leakage Steam Generator Tube Integrity        volumetric defects      tubes with Primary    integrity of SG and Inspection Issues                  issued                  Water Stress-        tubes Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC) flaws Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Steve Frankl (Istvan.Frankl@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY21 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K          FTE            $K              FTE        Trend Operating
                        $1,091            0.9          $788          1.5          $897              1.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE) 95
 
Contractor Support
* Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) - Steam Generator Tube Integrity Program including inspection and pressure testing.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* International agreement for the International Tube Integrity Program (TIP-6) - Canada, South Korea, France, and possibly Germany.
* Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Addendum with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for SG Tube Base Research Program.
96
 
Vessel Integrity Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This program area includes research on the structural integrity of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), including the effects of irradiation-induced embrittlement and flaw analyses.
Strategic Focus Areas:
* Develop and maintain staff core capabilities in RPV integrity assessments and performance of fluence analyses.
* Increase use of risk-information for RPV regulatory issues via enhancements to FAVOR
[Oak Ridge National Laboratory Software] and increase use of FAVOR by staff and stakeholders.
* Develop, maintain, and use powerful and efficient state-of-the-art computational tools for RPV integrity assessments (FAVOR, GRIZZLY [software]).
* Enhance information exchanges and foster additional collaborative research activities with industry, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and foreign counterparts on the topics of RPV analysis computational tools and of neutron fluence and embrittlement assessments.
Impact and Benefits
* Clarify NRC acceptance criteria for assessment and aging management of the RPV to support plant operations, including high fluence material properties and RPV nozzle support embrittlement.
* Enhance the technical bases for regulatory guidance and rulemaking related to RPV surveillance requirements and pressurized thermal shock, including potential revision of Regulatory Guide 1.99, Revision 2.
* Reduce uncertainties in determining structural safety margins, including for the evaluation of shallow surface-breaking flaws.
* Increase the use of risk insights to inform deterministic and probabilistic RPV integrity analyses.
* Maintain in-house expertise in the use, maintenance, and development of analytical software tools critical to independent safety reviews (e.g., Flaw Analysis of Vessels -
FAVOR).
* Engage the technical community in the development of consensus codes and standards related to RPV inspection and structural analyses.
Drivers
* Response to Commission direction in SRM-SECY-14-0016 to evaluate the aging-related degradation of the RPV during the subsequent license renewal period.
* Requests from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) for assistance in enhancing regulatory guidance for performing structural integrity calculations of the RPV, such as fluence calculation methodologies.
* Requests from NRR to maintain independent analytical capabilities.
* Requests from NRR for support in updating regulations and regulatory guidance for RPV analyses and to represent NRC in the development of associated consensus codes and standards.
97
 
Key Deliverables Year        FY 2019 Accomplishme                    FY 2020                  FY 2021        FY 2022 Project                                          nts User Need Request (UNR) NRR                                  Technical letter report 2015-002: RPV Fluence Evaluation                              documenting displacement per Methodology Guidance (FY15-                                  atom damage for the RPV active core region up to and including FY20) the nozzle region; NUREG that provides a discussion of the various factors that influence the RPV and Reactor Vessel Internals (RVI) neutron flux calculations UNR NRR 2017-007: RPV Integrity        FAVOR Software and FAVOR Support (FY17-FY19)          Quality Assurance and Verification and Validation (V&V) assessment; FAVOR Training for code users and code developers UNR NRR 2019-###: RPV and                                    Shallow Flaw issue disposition;    FAVOR SQA  FAVOR Internals Materials, Fluence, and                            FAVOR software quality              and V&V;    enhancements; FAVOR Support (FY19-FY22, being                              assurance and V&V; FAVOR            FAVOR      Independent V&V Users Group; Reactor              enhancemen  of FAVOR; REAP developed)
Embrittlement Archive Project-      ts; REAP    maintenance modernization and integration      maintenance with NRC information technology infrastructure Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Resarch Contact
* Raj Iyengar (Raj.Iyengar@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Engineering.
Resources FY 2021 Presidents        Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget              Planning Business Line            $K            FTE              $K          FTE              $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                          $1,149          1.8          $1,058          2.0          $1,146          2.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Numark - RPV Integrity Analysis and FAVOR Support.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Fluence Evaluation Methodology Guidance.
* TBD - FAVOR Maintenance and RPV Integrity Support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* International agreement with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) for exchange of information on materials and component integrity research.
* International agreement with the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucle- aire (IRSN) exchange of information on integrity assessment and mechanical modeling computational tools.
* Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between NRC and DOE on Cooperative Nuclear Safety Research Related to LongTerm Operations.
98
 
Systems Analysis Research Activities 99
 
100 Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF)
Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* The ATF Project Plan was developed jointly between NRR, RES, NMSS, and NRO staff to ensure efficient and timely licensing of near-term ATF concepts.
* This research includes computer code development, literature reviews/information gathering, conducting of phenomena identification and ranking table activities (PIRTs),
technical assistance, and stakeholder engagement needed to support the NRCs Accident Tolerant Fuels Project Plan (ML19301B166).
Strategic Focus Areas
* Develop staff core capabilities in ATF, high burnup and high enrichment fuel performance phenomena.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art in modeling due to the industry focus of tying ATF to benefits, reduced margins.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in international (CSNI/NEA, SCIP) projects to remain aware of international activities related to ATF, burnup, and enrichment.
Impact and Benefits
* Confirmatory tools are expected to play a critical role in topical reviews, as limited data has the potential to increase uncertainties in the phenomena of ATF concepts.
* Literature reviews and information gathering will help develop staff core capabilities, as well as provide a basis for developing interim staff guidance (ISG) to supplement NUREG-0800.
* The PIRT exercise(s) will serve as an additional, independent resource of expertise that will aid in the development of ISGs.
* Staff and contractors will support licensing reviews and confirmatory analysis on an as-needed basis.
* Stakeholder engagement will ensure that staff and industry are properly aligned with expectations of timelines, data, and testing generation, as well as the licensing approach to take benefits from ATF.
Drivers
* This research supports the ATF NRR-2019-010 user-need, as well as the high burnup and enrichment (near-term) user needs NRR-2019-009. This research also supports two sibling user-needs for NMSS for both high burnup and enrichment and ATF.
* ATF related activities support the Agencys Accident Tolerant Fuel Project Plan.
* Industry is on an aggressive schedule to license and reload ATF concepts, with the first topical reports expected in Q4 2019, with the request of a shortened review period.
* In conjunction with ATF, the industry is now pursuing higher burnups and enrichments that have their own unique set of new phenomena that need to be understood.
Key Deliverables Year          FY19 FY20                  FY21                    FY22*
Project            Accomplishments
* FAST with updates for
* FAST with ATF updates as
* FAST-1.0 with ability to doped fuel, coated
* FAST with ATF        data becomes available model coatings claddings, FeCrAl        updates as data
* Assessment of
* TRACE with ability to Code
* Assessment of nuclear    becomes available    SCALE/PARCS for ATF, use ATF properties via Development                                    data library for SCALE
* Nuclear data review  high burnup and FASTs Material Library
* Source term updates for  and assessment for    enrichment
* MELCOR updated with coated claddings in      SCALE
* Source term updates for FeCrAl models MELCOR                                          high burnup in MELCOR Cr-coated Fresh Fuel Code updates Technical      Cr-coated Report            Transport Report                                Code updates Confirmatory Analysis Reports        High burnup Report          FeCrAl Fresh Fuel                              Confirmatory Analysis Transport Report 101
 
Year            FY19 FY20                      FY21                    FY22*
Project              Accomplishments Cr-coated / FeCrAl Spent    Increased Enrichment Fuel Transport / Storage    Fresh Fuel Report Report Cr-coated PIRT              Severe accident PIRT        High enrichment PIRT FeCrAl PIRT PIRTs                                                                                            HBU/EE Crit/Shielding PIRT ATF Transport and Storage PIRT Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
FY22 Key Deliverables are based on preliminary planning activities Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Richard Lee, Ph.D. (Richard.Lee@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis Resources FY 2021 Presidents          Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Budget                Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K            FTE            $K        FTE            Trend Operating
                        $2,115          0.0        $5,405*          4.5*        $4,900        5 Reactors Spent Fuel Storage and            $0            0.0          $500            1.0          $1,500        1.0 Transportation Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support & International Projects
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - FAST Code Development.
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory - SCALE Code Development.
* Sandia National Laboratories - MELCOR Code Development.
* ISL - TRACE Code Development.
* University of Michigan - PARCS Code Development.
* PNNL - Literature Reviews / PIRT Exercises.
* Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project Phase IV (SCIP-IV) - Focus on high burnup effects on FFRD.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* NRC-DOE Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on ATF - DOE is to provide NRC access to data and information gathered through the ATF test program.
* NRC involvement in OECD/NEA TOPATF - Working with international regulators and utilities to identify the applicability of existing fuel safety criteria to ATF concepts.
* SCIP-IV Total cost - 180.9mSEK (~$18.9 million); NRC cost of $850K.
102
 
Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This topic includes maintenance of thermal-hydraulic analysis technical expertise to provide consultation to various NRC organizations in this specialized area to inform reliable and technically sound regulatory decisions (e.g., confirmatory analysis).
Strategic Focus Areas
* Leverage cooperative international research programs to gain reactor safety insights.
* Develop and utilize internal expertise in reactor safety research topics.
* Modernize and maintain TRACE plant decks so that they are ready, on-demand, for licensing decision-making.
Impact and Benefits
* Shortens timeline for licensing decisions and generate fewer requests for additional information.
* Offers insights into the relative importance of reactor safety phenomena to aid in the informed allocation of NRC resources.
* Provides foresight into new reactor system behaviors and phenomena.
Drivers
* Requests from NRR for assistance in reactor accident and stability analyses, support for RTR license renewal (i.e., SHINE), and rulemaking activities.
Key Deliverables Year                  FY19 FY20            FY21            FY22 Project                          Accomplishments Complete Complete three    Complete four Plant Decks                                                                                    five plant Completed three plant          plant models      plant models Development and                                                                                models models Maintenance                                                              Maintain Plant Models Maintain TRACE Applicability to Plant Models ATWS-I Performed ATWS-I                confirmatory confirmatory analysis of        analysis of MELLLA+
Browns Ferry MELLLA+ with      Brunswick ATRIUM 10XM fuel                MELLLA+ with ATRIUM 11 fuel Supported License Renewal      1) Support for License Renewal and HEU to LEU Test Reactors              and HEU to LEU Core            Core Conversion Conversion                      2) Support for SHINE operating license permit
: 1) Completed Diablo Full Spectrum              Canyon TRACE model              3) Complete LOCA                      2) Ran specified test cases    final report and sensitivity studies Supported NRR in CE GSI-191                    Analysis and ACRS Meetings Acronym: Fiscal year (FY) 103
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget          Planning Business Line            $K            FTE          $K          FTE            $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                        $389            5.4          $300        6.0          $500          5.1 Reactors New Reactors          $381            6.1          $150        1.0            $0          0 Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Energy Research, Inc. - TRACE Analysis and Plant Deck Modernization support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* RES and IRSN are collaborating on the PERFROI project, an international program that carries out experimental programs on fuel deformation and core coolability following a LOCA.
* Leveraged the assistance of a foreign assignee from KINS to develop models for the ATLAS integral test facility.
* RES is participating in the PERSEO benchmark, an international collaborative effort to benchmark and evaluate code performance in the area of passive safety systems using experimental data from the PERSEO facility.
104
 
Fuels and Neutronics Analysis Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This includes research for NRC to perform independent safety analyses for fuels and neutronics, supported by the SCALE, PARCS, and FAST codes, to support a technical basis for risk-informed regulatory decision making.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Enhancing readiness for next generation fuel licensing actions through analytical tool development and support for audits.
* Develop and utilize internal expertise in fuels and neutronics research topics including:
o fuel performance phenomena and modeling, uncertainty quantification.
o criticality and shielding modeling and uncertainty quantification.
Impact and Benefits
* Potential for shortening licensing review times by having expertise available to perform confirmatory analyses and on-call expertise such as through audit support.
* Neutronics and fuels codes (e.g., SCALE, PARCS, and FAST) are ready to support amendments and topical report reviews for:
o MELLLA+
o loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs) analyses o new fuel designs and evaluation methods o plant life extension fluence calculations o source term evaluations for siting and NEPA analyses
* Analyses performed support safety studies, updates to regulatory guidance, rulemaking regulatory bases, and generic issue resolution.
Drivers
* Neutronics and fuels codes analyses are inputs to thermal hydraulics (e.g., LOCA, MELLLA+) analyses.
Key Deliverables Year                    FY19 Project                                                                FY20    FY21          FY22 Accomplishments Site Level 3 analysis Completed associated Level 3 (reactor and spent fuel analysis pools (2018-2022)
Developed AC3M+ methodology for MELLLA+ reviews; Final results Brunswick MELLLA+
SCALE/PARCS SCALE/PARCS analyses analyses Preliminary results                Final results New version of FAST with ANS-5.4 DG-1327                      2011 fission gas release model for radioactive isotopes FAST inputs for Fuel thermal-mechanical all currently reviews; Full-core used fuel confirmatory studies designs Acronym: Fiscal year (FY) 105
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contacts
* Richard Lee, Ph.D. (Richard.Lee@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                    $523            1.0          $56        1.0          $500          0.5 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Support for MELLLA+ activities.
* ORNL - Support on providing technical bases for vessel and concrete fluence calculations.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* SCALE leverages ~8,000 users, including 33 foreign regulators, who exercise all areas of the code and thus are integral to stress testing.
106
 
Advanced Non-LWR Support Using the Comprehensive Reactor Analysis Bundle (CRAB)
Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes development of tools to address Strategy 2 of the Implementation Action Plan (IAP) for advanced non-light water reactors (non-LWR).
* Specifically, this involves the development of codes suitable for confirmatory analysis of heat pipe cooled micro-reactors, molten salt cooled reactors (FHRs), gas-cooled reactors (GCRs), sodium fast reactors (SFRs), and molten salt fueled reactors (MSRs).
Strategic Focus Areas
* Initial efforts have been directed at understanding requirements for modeling and simulation of these new designs and identifying codes that could be used to support confirmatory analyses or perform safety studies.
* Leverage cooperative domestic and international research programs to gain reactor safety insights.
* Develop and utilize internal expertise in advanced non-LWR safety research topics.
Impact and Benefits
* Codes used by the NRC for confirmatory analyses have been largely designed and assessed for light water reactors (LWRs) and are not immediately extendable to future advanced reactor designs.
* Although development and modification of NRC codes is one means to extend the applicability of NRC codes to non-LWRs, codes developed by DOE under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program will be used and are being modified for NRC regulatory purposes at a substantial cost savings to the NRC (as compared to NRC developing its own new codes).
* NEAMS codes possess unique and advanced modeling capabilities that are directly applicable for non-light water reactor analyses.
* Analyses with these tools offer the potential to shorten timelines for licensing especially if safety studies can be performed in advance of developers submittals. These studies can be used to help focus the technical reviews on the most safety significant aspects.
Drivers
* The primary objective of Strategy 2 of the Implementation Action Plan (IAP) for advanced non-light water reactors is the development of codes suitable for confirmatory analysis of these advanced designs.
Key Deliverables Year        FY19 Project                                                          FY20            FY21          FY22 Accomplishments Reference plant model for gas-cooled Dec. 2018 pebble bed reactor.
Initial reference plant model for heat Sept. 2019 pipe cooled micro-reactor.
Vendor specific model for heat pipe cooled micro-reactor. Draft UNR from                          May 2020 DANU.
Draft report including assessment of the applicability of point kinetics to October 2020 control drum mis-operation for micro-reactors. Draft UNR from DANU.
107
 
Year                        FY19 Project                                                                                                              FY20                              FY21            FY22 Accomplishments Final report on vendor specific heat pipe cooled micro-reactor and January 2021 sensitivity studies. Draft UNR from DANU.
Reference plant model for molten salt Dec. 2020 cooled pebble bed reactor.
Reference plant model for sodium March 2021 cooled fast reactor.
Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY21 President's                            Research FY19 Actuals                                FY20 Enacted Budget                          Planning Business Line          $K                  FTE                    $K                      FTE                        $K                      FTE              Trend Advanced
                      $805                  2.7                  $400                        4.0                    $600                        2.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory - Advanced Reactor Support.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Use of DOE funded NEAMS program codes (MOOSE, BISON, SAM, GRIFFIN, PROGHORN, Nek5000) were developed to support non-light water reactor analyses.
Adoption, modification, and use of these codes for NRC regulatory purposes represents a substantial (many millions of dollars) NRC savings since NRC did not possess the analytic capability for non-LWR accident analyses.
Comprehensive Reactor Analysis Bundle BlueCRAB SCALE                  SERPENT                                                              FLUENT Cross-sections            Cross-sections                                                            CFD PARCS                    GRIFFIN                        PRONGHORN                            Nek5000 Neutronics                Neutronics                          Core T/H                            CFD TRACE                                                        MOOSE System and Core T/H                                        Coupling, Tensor Mechanics FAST                                      BISON                                SAM Fuel Performance                          Fuel Performance                  System and Core T/H Planned          Completed Coupling          Coupling      Input/BC Data NRC Code            Intl Code    Commercial          DOE Code Slide 1                                  Current View; Jan 2020 108
 
Thermal-Hydraulic Verification and Validation Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research represents the maintenance of and participation in domestic and international experimental research programs that directly support the technical basis for reactor safety code development and license application reviews.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintain an independent confirmatory analysis capability at the NRC.
* Expand the robust assessment and validation framework for ensuring the applicability of TRACE to reactor safety analysis.
* Continue to refine the analysis capabilities of TRACE when applied to SMRs and non-LWRs.
* Leverage experimental research programs as necessary for confirmatory analysis and expansion of the capabilities and applicability range for the TRACE code.
Impact and Benefits
* Ensures that the NRC will continue to have available audit tools that are sufficiently sophisticated to confirm industry plant modification applications and updates.
* Expands the range of phenomena and designs that are within the capability of the TRACE code.
* Ensures a robust assessment base and validation framework for demonstrating TRACE applicability.
Drivers
* Continue developing TRACE as a state-of-the-practice reactor safety analysis code.
* Maintain independent confirmatory reactor analysis capability at the NRC.
* Continuous improvement of the predictive capability of the TRACE reactor safety code.
Key Deliverables Year                      FY 19 Project                                                            FY20                  FY21            FY22 Accomplishments Initiated a bridge contract to extend the period of performance and completed        Lead OECD/NEA International Activity that evaluates RBHT          10 reflood tests, including 4 oscillatory, reflood rate and core heat transfer rate.
1 constant, 1 variable rate reflood, and  Perform 11 open tests and 5 blind tests.
3 level swell tests.
: 1) LBLOCA T/H Performed 3 experiments: 1) Boron Phenomena Precipitation, 2) upper-head voiding PKL          during cooldown, and 3) extended loss
: 2) the program will end and the final report will of AC power be delivered Performed 5 tests: 1) Open test chosen ATLAS-3          ATLAS-3 by NRC, SBLOCA with total failure of Last test of ATLAS-2 will  tests will be    tests will be high-pressure injection and actuation of be performed- SBLOCA        performed        performed the passive auxiliary feedwater system; with passive emergency      according to    according to
: 2) Direct vessel injection line break; 3)
ATLAS        Steam line break with steam generator core cooling system.        the              the Joint workshop with        schedule        schedule tube rupture; 4) Shutdown coolability PKL. ATLAS-2 wrap-up.      agreed upon      agreed upon without the residual heat removal ATLAS-3 Kickoff.            by the          by the system; 5) Counterpart test small vessel participants. participants.
head break 109
 
Year                        FY 19 Project                                                                FY20                    FY21          FY22 Accomplishments Completion of final Completed KATHY experimental                                                  Completion experimental program KATHY        program.
report, and preparing a of TRACE Continued assessment of TRACE                                                assessment NUREG/CR Continued development and testing for                                        COAL the COAL experimental program                                                Preliminary COAL Preliminary (cladding deformation in a 7x7 rod                                            Report 2 PERFROI      bundle) and COCAGNE experimental Report 1, COCAGNE and 3, Final Report program (single rod cladding                                                  COAL Final deformation).                                                                Report Continued development and testing of          1) Merge PERSEO the PERSEO code benchmark as part              results into the state-of-of OECD/WGAMA passive system                  the-art report of the PERSEO        reliability workgroup. PERSEO is a test        OECD/WGAMA passive facility which generates high-pressure        system reliability condensation data for system code              workgroup validation.                                    2) Program ends Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                      $413            1.3          $513        2.9          $300          2.9 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Pennsylvania State University - Rod Bundle Heat Transfer program (RBHT).
* IRSN - PERFROI.
* Purdue University - Thermal Hydraulics Institute.
* Information Systems Laboratories (ISL) - Large System Code Performance Evaluation and Uncertainty Quantification.
* Orano (previously Areva) - KATHY experiments.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* The RBHT program has been transformed into an international cooperation effort with the OECD.
* Participate in international research programs, such as KATHY and PERFROI, that provide valuable assessment and validation data for confirmatory codes and analysis.
110
 
FAST Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes computer code development, maintenance, and research related to obtaining experimental data and analyses used to support the NRCs thermal-mechanical fuel performance code FAST, which is used in support of formulating a technical basis for regulatory decision making.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintain staff core capabilities in steady-state, anticipated operational occurrences (AOO),
and Design-Basis Accident (DBA) fuel performance.
* Develop staff core capabilities in Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF), high burnup (HBU) and high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel performance.
* Keep abreast of advances in state-of-the art in fuel performance modeling and phenomena.
* Continue participatory and leadership roles in international (CSNI/NEA, SCIP) projects to obtain experimental data and analyses to further fuel performance code modeling and to maintain state-of-the-art modeling capabilities.
Impact and Benefits
* FAST is used to support confirmatory studies for new fuel designs, methods and fuel vendor code updates, including ATF and HBU activities for NRR.
* FAST is used to support technical bases, such as DG-1327 and 10CFR50.46(c) which support safety analysis methods and requirements.
* FAST provides the input conditions used to support plant licensing decisions, such as MELLLA+ and loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs).
* FAST maintains the material library (MatLib) used by other NRC tools, such as TRACE.
* Experimental programs provide independent data used to validate FAST, as well as serve as an independent data source used to compare to fuel vendor topical reports (TRs).
Drivers
* The RES FAST Code Development and Maintenance program supports a variety of user needs from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) and the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), such as NRR-2019-TBD for ATF, HBU / HALEU, NMSS-2019-TBD for ATF and HBU activities, and the NMSS/RES Super User Need.
* FAST is used to perform confirmatory calculations to support the review of new fuel designs and updates to codes/methods for vendor thermal-mechanical codes.
* FAST provides inputs to TRACE for full-core NRR reviews, such as LOCA and MELLLA+.
* RES provides FAST to both domestic and international users, including regulators and technical support organizations (TSOs).
Key Deliverables Year        FY19 Project                                              FY20                  FY21              FY22 Accomplishments Release of FAST-1.0; Release of FAST-    Release of End of FRAPCON /
1.1 with            FAST-1.2 with FAST Development,                          FRAPTRAN improvements to    improvements to Maintenance and                            development, updates ATF, non-LWRs,      ATF, non-LWRs, Assessment                                  include support of ATF code stability and  code stability and and improved FGR assessment          assessment modeling FAST User Group        Presentations of Code updates Meeting 111
 
Year              FY19 Project                                                      FY20                      FY21                  FY22 Accomplishments Hands on training to NRC staff; Updated training materials FAST Training Version of FAST that      Updated FAST with      FAST solver supports ability to non-  improved support        updates to speed cylindrical geometries    for new file formats,  up code Parallel FAST that        additional fuel-FAST 3-D Physics                                    supports 3D modeling      related phenomena for both structured (cylinders) and unstructured geometries Ability to analyze        Assessment / updates      Assessment /            Assessment /
coated claddings;          for near-term ATF          updates for near-      updates for near-FAST for ATF            Preliminary                concepts                  term ATF concepts      term ATF assessment for                                                                concepts doped UO2 Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Richard Lee, Ph.D. (Richard.Lee@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K          FTE          $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                      $1,472            1.4            $0          2.0        $300          1.5 Reactors Advanced
                        $258            0.0          $200          0.3        $200          0.3 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support & International Projects
* Pacific Northwest National Lab - FAST Code Development, Assessment and Maintenance.
* GuideStar Engineering D Physics, Code architecture updates.
* Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project Phase IV (SCIP-IV) - Focus on high burnup effects on Fuel Fragmentation, Relocation and Dispersal (FFRD).
* CABRI - In-pile Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) testing.
* FIDES Framework, including P2M in-pile power ramp testing, under development.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* SCIP-IV Total cost - 180.9mSEK (~$18.9 million); NRC cost of $850K.
112
 
SCALE Neutronics Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This area includes research to enable the NRC to develop, validate, and maintain the state-of-practice with the SCALE computer code, which is used to develop capability and understanding in neutronics-related phenomena (e.g., nuclear data processing and libraries, depletion and activation, criticality and shielding, and sensitivity uncertainty analysis methods) in support of safety issue resolution and risk-informed decision making.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Support regulatory decision making with respect to core reactor physics phenomena, criticality, and shielding.
* Understand the impact of changes to nuclear cross section data including ENDF/B-VIII
* Expand review capabilities to support accident tolerant fuel (ATF), high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), high burnup (HBU) fuel, and non-light water reactors (non-LWRs).
* Improve methods and modeling enhancements to help the NRC better understand advanced applications that involves more sophisticated operation of the existing LWR fleet (ATF and MELLLA+).
Impact and Benefits
* SCALE analyses capabilities to enable accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concepts, including support of HALEU and HBU efforts.
* Provides staff and contractors with a core physics tool to support independent regulatory decision making.
* SCALE is coupled with PARCS, TRACE, MELCOR, MACCS, and FAST to solve integrated and complex simulations.
* SCALE supported a number of formal studies (e.g., Spent Fuel Pool study) that provide the technical basis for agency risk informed decision making.
Drivers
* Licensed SCALE userbase of ~75 NRC staff and 9,600 users globally, including 33 foreign regulators.
* Used extensively to provide Part 50, 70, 71, and 72 safety analysis calculations, core physics, source term, criticality, and shielding calculations.
o SCALE capabilities underpin 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A GDC Criteria 26-28, 50.68 spent fuel pool analyses, Appendix G and 50.61, Part 100 requirements with Regulatory Guide 1.183 and Technical Specifications Amendments that reduce operational cost and regulatory burden.
* SCALE capabilities are used to inform staff review of core designs and operating regimes, shutdown margin, reactivity control etc. (10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A, GDC Criteria 26 through 28).
o Provide MELCOR and MACCS with inventory, reactor kinetics data, decay heat, etc.
o Support FAST by providing radial power distribution data.
o Support criticality and shielding applications.
* SCALE supports the MELCOR Code Development and Maintenance program, which supports a variety of research projects and user needs and requests from NRR -
International research potential impact on RG 1.183, Independent Review/Update of Regulatory Guide 1.183, Alternative Radiological Source Term for Evaluating Design Basis Accidents at Nuclear Power Reactors.
* Supports MELCOR confirmatory source term analysis capabilities for 10 CFR Part 50 (Design Criteria), Part 51 (NEPA), and Part 100 (Siting) reviews.
113
 
Key Deliverables Year                FY19 FY20                  FY21                FY22 Project                            Accomplishments Release of SCALE Release of 6.3 beta with          SCALE 6.2.4 updated nuclear        Release of new data libraries, MC      validation report Release of                Release of SCALE Development                based nodal data that covers the        SCALE 6.3          SCALE 7 capabilities, code stability &            range of robustness              SCALE improvements            capabilities SCALE user group                  Preparation of workshop materials and hands-on problems workshops and training Develop assessments, SCALE code modeling                                      methods updates, and            Develop and development of assessments, source term and                                          review for methods reactor physics                  Reviewed available      validation data        updates, and capability, for Accident          benchmark data          gaps                    review for Tolerant Fuel designs validation data and NonLWR Initial data for        gaps applications MELCOR and MACCS calculations Develop                Develop SCALE code modeling assessments            assessments and development of                Reviewed available and review for          and review for source term for HALEU            benchmark data validation data        validation data and HBU gaps                    gaps Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Don Algama, (Don.Algama@nrc.gov), in the Division of Systems Analysis Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE          $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                    $1,059            0.4        $450        0.6        $450          0.5 Reactors Advanced
                      $722            0.0        $1,100        0.5        $800          0.3 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Maintenance and Development of SCALE computer code.
114
 
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* RES/DSA actively collaborates with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) to have the code assessed by international regulators.
115
 
116 PARCS Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research supports regulatory decision making through the development of the Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) code as software to be used in safety reviews of power plant operator actions, power uprates, license amendments, and the design certification of advanced reactors.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Support regulatory decisionmaking with respect to core reactor physics phenomena.
* Improving methods and modeling enhancements to help the NRC better understand more advanced applications that involves more sophisticated operation of the existing LWR fleet (ATF and MELLLA+), and advanced non-LWRs.
* Core reactor physics directly supports thermal-hydraulic analysis by providing three-dimensional power feedback during transients as well as by providing cycle specific edits (burnup and history) from which to execute the transient calculations.
* Making PARCS easier to use for NRC staff, contractors, and international collaborators (Code Applications and Maintenance Program [CAMP]).
Impact and Benefits
* Robust core physics tool for staff and contractors to perform independent analysis.
* Simulation and visualization with TRACE/PARCS that inform BWR operating behavior during anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) and MELLLA+ scenarios.
o These types of calculations will become more important as fuel vendors, licensees, and reactor designers move towards more complex, optimized, and heterogeneous fuel designs with the expectation that they will operate with reduced thermal hydraulic margins to fuel damage.
* Capabilities to perform complex coupled simulations including control rod ejection, multicycle core depletion, and reload calculations.
Drivers
* NRC/RES develops and assesses independent simulation tools to confirm the safety of nuclear power plant designs.
* PARCS models are used to inform staff review of core designs and operating regimes with respect to shutdown margin and reactivity control at all points in the cycle (10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A, GDC Criteria 26 through 28) and with respect to nuclear power plant (NPP) transients (Chapter 4 and Chapter 15 of the Standard Review Plan for LWRs [NUREG-0800]).
* Recently, PARCS analysis was central to fulfilling RES support to the MELLLA+ License Amendment Requests for Brunswick and Browns Ferry.
Key Deliverables Year              FY19 FY20            FY21      FY22 Project                              Accomplishments PARCS models compared to      Final Models and MPACT (CASL) predictions of  Completion Report boron letdown and power PARCS Watts Bar Unit 1 shapes, and to KENO-VI Assessment predictions in terms of multiplication factor and rod worth 117
 
Year                    FY19 FY20                  FY21          FY22 Project                                      Accomplishments Portions of coding complete        Final PARCS distribution for part of decay chains -        (SDID/Completion PARCS micro-depletion model            being tested                      Report, manuals, code Transition to compact storage      version, and test format for isotopes and data      problems)
Training materials and PARCS Training                                                            instruction v3.3.2 beta used to support for MELLLA+ LARs of                PARCS                          PARCS          PARCS Brunswick Steam Electric          v3.3.2                          v3.3.4        v3.3.5 PARCS versions in response to Plant with ATRIUM11 fuel          v3.3.3 identified bugs, updates, and for Browns Ferry Nuclear assessments, and international Plant with ATRIUM10XM fuel collaborations - ongoing support for Brunswick MELLLA+ ATRIUM v3.3.2 beta distributed to staff 11 fuel transition and international counterparts for testing (Spain/NFQ and France/IRSN)
Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) and                                          Code improvements, assessments, and scoping High Burnup/High Assay fuel                                                studies to support the review of Accident Tolerant Fuel concepts                                                                  (ATF) and High Burnup/High Assay fuel concepts Un-anticipated PARCS upgrades and documentation due to                                                  Specific tasks to be developed modeling advanced NPP operation in expanded domains Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                  Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE            $K            FTE            $K          FTE            Trend Operating
                          $150            0.9          $200            1.0          $200          1.0 Reactors Advanced
                          $50            0.0          $180            0.5          $100          0.2 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* University of Michigan - Maintenance and Development of PARCS computer code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Several PARCS code assessment activities and methodology improvements are conducted through the NRC bi-lateral (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire - IRSN) and the multi-party (CAMP) code safety programs. PARCS assessments have been completed against operational plants in Europe, Asia, and Canada, and these are documented in NUREG/IAs.
118
 
SNAP Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes the planning, development, and management of the Symbolic Nuclear Analysis Package (SNAP) computer code. SNAP provides user interface for input and output for the following NRC codes: TRACE, PARCS, FRAPCON, FRAPTRAN, FAST, RADTRAD, MELCOR, and SCALE.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Maintain current the SNAP User Interface with NRC code suite.
* Expand SNAP capabilities for modeling fuel performance and uncertainty analysis.
* Adding capability to run jobs on the cloud and couple simulations across codes.
Impact and Benefits
* Provides a common user interface for many NRC codes.
* Provides capability for uncertainty and sensitivity studies with an uncertainty plug-in that supports an interface to the DAKOTA code.
* Supports the organization and simplification of complex, multi-code analysis with an engineering template plug-in that allows for codes to be coupled via input and output files in one SNAP model.
* Provides post-processing capabilities to allow for manipulating and analyzing code results, plotting outputs, and animating/visualizing data and code results.
Drivers
* Supports User Need requests that require the use of computer code for confirmatory analysis and uncertainty quantification.
* Supports most of the TRACE, FAST, MELCOR, PARCS, and SCALE analyses performed by RES staff in support of the agency mission.
Key Deliverables Year            FY19 Project                                          FY20                    FY21                FY22 Accomplishments
* Graphics integration and improvements
* Improved FAST
* UQ toolbox support development
* MELCOR 2.2 fully
* MELCOR 2.3
* MELCOR 2.4 SNAP
* DAKOTA Support supported                                      support              Support Development                                Improvements
* Version 3.0.2
* Plugin updates
* Plugin updates
* Plugin updates released
* Adding MACCS (openJRE) support
* MELLLA+ wizard
* Preparation of
* Preparation of
* Preparation of workshop            workshop workshop materials materials and        materials and and hands-on Total of 7 training                                hands-on            hands-on SNAP training                              problems videos created                                    problems            problems
& videos
* Preparation of training
* Preparation of
* Preparation of videos training videos      training videos
* NRC staff and
* NRC staff and
* NRC staff and contractor support contractor support  contractor support Acronym: Fiscal year (FY) 119
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning CS&T                        CS&T                    CS&T Business Line                        FTE                    FTE                          FTE            Trend
($K)                        ($K)                    ($K)
Operating
                    $383            1.0          $200        0.8          $300          0.8 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Applied Programming Technologies (APT) - Maintenance and Development of SNAP computer code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* The CAMP program provides some funding in support of features that benefit CAMP members.
* Naval Reactors provides considerable code development on SNAP core and the MELCOR plug-in independently, but mutually benefit for both organizations.
* SNAP supports the RADTRAD/RAMP program as well as the fuels code development program in RES.
* Some funding for SNAP is provided by the fuels code development program ($50K/yr).
120
 
RSICC Distribution of NRC Codes Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes the planning, development, and management of the NRC legacy code distribution services provided by the Radiation Safety Info Computational Center (RSICC).
Strategic Focus Areas
* Continue migration of NRC codes not actively used for regulatory applications to RSICC to ensure the code is properly archived and maintained.
Impact and Benefits
* Ensure that NRC codes used for regulatory purposes in the past are readily available if needed.
* Ensure that NRC employees and contractors are able to request software from RSICC easily.
* Ensure that software distributed to the public is in compliance with export control regulations.
Drivers
* The NRC uses RSICC to help with code distribution, minimally maintain legacy codes, and support university activities.
Key Deliverables Year                FY19 Project                                                      FY20                      FY21                  FY22 Accomplishments Process Annual Participation Completed FY19              FY20                  FY21                    FY22 Contracting Procurement                  Procurement            Procurement              Procurement Package with ONRL Acronym: Fiscal year (FY)
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals            FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                          $0            0.0          $200        0.2          $200          0.2 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - RSICC Participation.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Program is heavily leveraged with ORNL and other participants.
121
 
122 TRACE Code Development and Maintenance Fiscal Year 2020 Program Overview Overview
* This research includes the planning, development, and management of the TRACE computer code for evaluating coupled neutronic and thermal-hydraulic transient behavior of nuclear reactor and plant systems under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions for current and advanced reactors.
Strategic Focus Areas
* Implementing features for specialized applications (e.g., accident tolerant fuel [ATF]
designs, advanced reactors, test reactors, code uncertainty).
* Improving robustness of advanced modeling features to aid solution stability/convergence, improve code run time, and ensure physics are being modeled correctly (e.g., implicit numerics, droplet field, fuel rod models, etc.).
* Continued focus on customer support improving ease of use and address bugs identified by staff or Code Application and Maintenance Program (CAMP) members.
Impact and Benefits
* Ensures that NRC simulation tools match vendor code capabilities.
* Enable effective licensing reviews and analysis.
* Shorten timeline for licensing decisions and generate fewer requests for additional information.
* Support the resolution of regulatory safety issues.
Drivers
* Support for User Needs (e.g. MELLLA+, ATF, Plant Models, Uncertainty, NuScale, High Burnup/High Enrichment Uranium Fuel, Test Reactors).
* Preparation for advanced reactor design certification review.
* Improving staff effectiveness when performing confirmatory analyses.
* Improving robustness and runtime performance of TRACE and TRACE/PARCS calculations.
Key Deliverables Year      FY19 Project                          Accomplishm            FY20                  FY21                        FY22 ents Add new ATF fuel properties to TRACE Coupled TRACE ATF Research Plan (see ATF with            Implement new models for HBU and HEU research summary)
MOOSE/BISON Couple TRACE with FAST Improve robustness and run      Released time performance of            TRACE versions TRACE V5.0 Patch TRACE/PARCS calculations        which improved  TRACE V5.0 Patch 6                              TRACE V5.0 Patch 8 7
(driven by T/H Analysis        TRACE/PARCS research)                      robustness Uncertainty Quantification Release TRACE version with improved modeling of uncertainty parameters using TRACE Improving staff effectiveness when performing confirmatory    Release TRACE version with improved modeling for flat plate heat transfer and rectangular analysis in support of test    ducts reactors Acronym: Fiscal year (FY) 123
 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Contact
* Chris Hoxie, Ph.D. (Chris.Hoxie@nrc.gov), Branch Chief in the Division of Systems Analysis.
Resources FY 2021                Research FY 2019 Actuals              FY 2020 Enacted Presidents Budget            Planning Business Line          $K            FTE          $K        FTE            $K            FTE            Trend Operating
                    $959            1.8          $300        3.0          $400          3.0 Reactors Total Resources = $K (which includes contract support and travel) + FTE (staffing at approximate $200k per year)
Acronyms: Fiscal year (FY), full-time equivalent (FTE)
Contractor Support
* Information Systems Laboratories Inc. - Maintenance and Development of TRACE Thermal-Hydraulic Computer Code.
Collaboration and Resource Leveraging
* Through the CAMP, the NRC receives about $1M annually from fees collected from international organizations (not reflected in above amount).
* Working with DOE to couple TRACE to BISON and TRACE to FAST using the MOOSE framework to support future ATF license reviews.
124
 
125 www.nrc.gov March 2020}}

Revision as of 20:00, 30 March 2020

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Fy 2020-22 Planned Research Activities
ML20065K906
Person / Time
Issue date: 03/31/2020
From: Nicholas Difrancesco
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
To:
DiFrancesco N
References
Download: ML20065K906 (126)
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