96-29164. Individual Plant Examination Program: Perspectives on Reactor Safety and Plant Performance, Summary Report, Draft

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 221 (Thursday, November 14, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58429-58430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29164]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Individual Plant Examination Program: Perspectives on Reactor 
Safety and Plant Performance, Summary Report, Draft

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Availability of NUREG, draft for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published a draft of 
``Individual Plant Examination Program: Perspectives on Reactor Safety 
and Plant Performance, Summary Report,'' NUREG-1560, Volume 1, Part 1. 
This volume summarizes the insights and findings from a review of the 
Individual Plant Examinations (IPE) submitted to the agency in response 
to Generic Letter 88-20.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Draft NUREG-1560 (Volume 1, Part 1) is 
available for inspection and copying for a fee at the NRC Public 
Document Room, 2120 L Street N.W. (Lower Level), Washington D.C. 20555-
0001. A free single copy of Draft NUREG-1560 (Volume 1, Part 1), to the 
extent of supply, may be requested by writing to Distribution Series, 
Printing and Mail Services Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Draft NUREG-1560 provides perspectives gained from the review of 
the IPEs submitted in response to Generic Letter 88-20. Five major 
objectives were pursued in documenting perspectives from the reviews:
    (1) The impact of the IPE program on reactor safety--
     The number and type of vulnerabilities or other safety 
issues that have been identified, and the related safety enhancements 
that have been implemented,
     The impact that the improvements have had on plant safety, 
and
     Whether any of these improvements have ``generic'' 
implications for all or a class of plants.
    (2) Plant-specific features and assumptions that play a significant 
role in the estimation of core damage frequency (CDF) and the analysis 
of containment performance--
     Important design and operational features that affect CDF 
and containment performance, with regard to the different reactor and 
containment types,
     The influence of the IPE methodology and assumptions on 
the results, with regard to the different reactor and containment 
types, and
     Significant plant improvements to reduce CDF and increase 
containment performance, with regard to the different reactor and 
containment types.
    (3) The importance of the operator's role in CDF estimation and 
containment performance analysis--
     Operator actions that are consistently important in the 
IPEs,
     Operator actions that are important because of plant-
specific characteristics, and
     Influence of modeling assumptions and different 
methodologies on the results.
    (4) IPEs with respect to risk-informed regulation--
     Quality of the IPEs, given the limited scope of the 
staff's review, compared to a quality probabilistic risk assessment, 
and therefore, the potential role of the IPEs in risk-informed 
regulation.
    (5) General Perspectives--
     The implication of the IPE results relative to the current 
risk level of U.S. plants compared with the Commission's Safety Goals,
     The improvements that have been identified as a result of 
the Station Blackout Rule and analyzed as part of the IPE, and the 
impact of these improvements on reducing the likelihood of station 
blackout,
     The results of the IPEs compared with the perspectives 
gained from NUREG-1150.
    Draft NUREG-1560 also documents the staff's preliminary overall 
conclusions and observations gained from the perspectives of each of 
the above noted areas. These conclusions and observations address the 
following:
     Generic Letter 88-20 objective (including improvement of 
plant safety).
     Regulatory follow-up activities:

--Plant safety enhancements,
--Containment performance improvements,
--Additional review of IPE/PRA,
--Plants with relatively high CDF or conditional containment failure 
probability.


[[Page 58430]]


     Safety issues:

--Unresolved safety issue (USI) A-45,
--Other USIs and generic safety issues (GSIs),
--Potential GSIs.

     Plant inspection activities.
     Areas for research.
     Commission's Safety Goals.
     Use of NUREG-1560:

--Accident management,
--Maintenance rule,
--Risk-informed regulation,
--Miscellaneous issues.

     Probabilistic risk analysis (PRA).
    Draft NUREG-1560 is comprised of two volumes. Volume 1 (Part 1) 
provides an overall summary of the key perspectives. Volume 2 (Parts 2 
through 5) provides a more in-depth discussion of the perspectives 
summarized in Part 1. Volume 2 of Draft NUREG-1560 will be published 
and available in approximately 30 days.
    The staff recognizes that licensees have updated their IPEs/PRAs 
which may have an impact on the perspectives discussed in the draft 
NUREG, and therefore, the preliminary conclusions and observations 
noted by the staff. Accuracy of the reported results in the IPEs and 
the appropriateness of the interpretation of these results will also 
have a potential impact on the staff's perspectives, conclusions and 
observations. Consequently, this NUREG is published as a draft for 
comment. All interested parties are encouraged to submit comments.
    Mail comments on Draft NUREG-1560 (Volumes 1 and 2) by February 14, 
1997 to Mary Drouin, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Mail Stop 
T-10 E50, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
    A 3-day workshop will be held on April 7, 8 & 9, 1997 in Austin, 
Texas to address comments and answer questions. Information on the 
workshop location, agenda, registration, etc. will be published with 
notification of Volume 2, Parts 2 through 5, of Draft NUREG-1560. 
Indication of workshop attendance by January 15, 1997 is requested so 
that adequate space for the workshop can be arranged. Workshop 
attendance information should be directed to Martha Lucero, Sandia 
National Laboratories, phone [phone], fax [phone], e-mail 
[e-mail].
    Persons other than NRC staff and NRC contractors interested in 
making a presentation at the workshop should notify Mary Drouin, US 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, MS T10E50, Washington DC 20555, phone 
[phone], fax [phone], e-mail [e-mail] or Edward Chow, 
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, MS T10E50, Washington DC 20555, phone 
[phone], fax [phone], e-mail [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward Chow, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, MS T10E50, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555, [phone].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this eleventh day of October, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Cunningham,
Chief, Probabilistic Risk Analysis Branch, Division of Systems 
Technology, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 96-29164 Filed 11-13-96; 8:45 am]
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