ML22172A135

NEI Presentation for Public Meeting Industry Perspectives on Rulemaking for Greater than 5 Percent Enrichment

ML22172A135
Person / Time
Site:	Nuclear Energy Institute
Issue date:	06/21/2022
From:	Nuclear Energy Institute
To:	Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Joseph, Stacy
References
NRC-2020-0034
Download: ML22172A135 (7)

Text

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES ON RULEMAKING FOR GREATER THAN 5%

ENRICHMENT June 22, 2022

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute

Historical LWR Fuel Efficiency Gains Courtesy of ORNL

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 2

Industry ATF/LEU+/HBU Strategic Aspirations Develop and deploy fuel technologies that enhance accident tolerance as well as fuel reliability and operational margins while enabling sustained economic performance through minimizing cost and improving efficiency Achieve fuel licensing infrastructure to support burnup and enrichment extensions (LEU+) beyond legacy limits in the mid-2020s Modernize global supply chain to support LEU+ reloads in the mid-2020s Safely and economically enable 24-month cycle operation for the entire fleet of existing light water reactors: [Burnups up to ~75 GWd/MTU]

Commercialization and economies of scale of these advanced fuel technologies through sustainable volumes to meet the global demand

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 3

Industry LWR Perspectives for >5% U235 Improve regulatory clarity, consistency, and certainty Extend enrichment limit to the maximum 20%:

• Advanced reactors are being licensed and will be deployed with enrichments up to 20% and new LWR fuel concepts may use enrichments up to 20%

• LEU+ for LWR fleet is currently expected to <10% U235 to meet the current industry strategic aspirations, but why not futureproof to potential possibilities Licensees currently using the exemption process for ATF/LEU+ LTAs:

• Proposed schedule for the new final rule (June 2026) would not impact the existing submittal schedules for ATF/LEU+ LTAs to be loaded in fall 2023

• Current exemption requests and licensing submittals for the ATF/LEU+ LTAs to be effective operational experience to inform the proposed rulemaking

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 4

Industry LWR Perspectives for >5% U235 Proposed rule should provide regulatory clarity and efficiencies:

• Not prescriptive to Zr/UO2 to allow potential LWR fuel innovations

• Not limited to a mid-level enrichment limit for LEU+ and move directly to 20%

Proposed rule should be technology and fuel form neutral:

• Existing regulatory example: 10 CFR Part 71

• Reactivity based and technology/fuel form independent

• Proposed rule to allow for variety of LWR fuel innovations Opportunities exist for enhanced regulatory efficiencies:

• Minimizes regulatory burden of exemption requests for NRC and licensees

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 5

Industry AR Perspectives for >5% U235 New rule must be set to 20% enrichment:

• Most, but not all, advanced reactors will use enrichments up to 20% with a number of reactors using enrichments up to a nominal 19.75% (less than 20 to ensure not going over with uncertainty)

Neutral to technology and fuel form Storage configurations for spent fuel will vary by design and may or may not include a pool type configuration and may include more than one storage location; e.g.:

• TRISO pebbles may be discharged into canisters that will be moved once full

• Molten salt reactors may discharge a portion of the core or the entire core to a storage location

©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 6

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©2022 Nuclear Energy Institute 7

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