[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 166 (Monday, August 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43794-43795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21726]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Interim-Use and Comment Document: Criteria for Preparation and
Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in
Support of Nuclear Power Plants (Criteria for Protective Action
Recommendations for Severe Accidents)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) have developed the interim-use and comment
document entitled: Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of
Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of
Nuclear Power Plants (Criteria for Protective Action Recommendations
for Severe Accidents). The document has been published as Draft
Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Revision 1, and is available for
interim use, public review, and comment.
Studies of severe reactor accidents and their consequences since
the publication of emergency planning guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1
in 1980 clearly indicate that the preferred initial protective action
is to evacuate promptly rather than shelter the population that is near
the plant. Although the original guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 was
never intended to imply that the appropriate protective action for
severe accidents was to only shelter the population that is near the
plant, the guidance was not explicit on this point. Thus, the NRC and
FEMA have updated and simplified the guidance for the development of
protective action recommendations for severe accidents in Draft
Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 to emphasize that evacuation is
the preferred initial protective action for severe accidents, barring
any constraints for evacuation. Nuclear power plant licensees and State
and local offsite response organizations may use the updated and
simplified guidance in Supplement 3 or, alternately, they may continue
to follow the original guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 to develop the
appropriate protective actions for the public for severe reactor
accidents utilizing the insights gained as a result of the NRC's severe
accident studies.
During the first few hours of an accident at a nuclear power plant,
critical decisions may be necessary concerning protective actions for
the public. Plant conditions are the major determining factors in
developing early protective action recommendations. The licensee is
responsible for mitigating the consequences of an accident and for
recommending protective actions to offsite officials. State and local
officials are responsible for making decisions on the actions necessary
to protect the public and for implementing these decisions. The
guidance contained in Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1
applies to the development of protective actions for the public for
severe reactor accidents involving actual or projected core damage with
the potential for loss of containment integrity.
Comments on Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 may be
submitted for consideration by the NRC and FEMA staffs. Comments should
be submitted within 90 days of the date of this Federal Register notice
to: Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Mail Stop T-6D59, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Comments may also be delivered to 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland, between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal
workdays.
For a copy of Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, write:
Distribution Services, Printing and Mail Services Branch, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. A copy of Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 is
available for inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public
Document Room, Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC
20555.
For further information contact: Falk Kantor, Division of Reactor
Program Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 415-2907;
or O. Megs Hepler, Director, Exercises Division, Preparedness,
Training, and Exercises Directorate, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20472. Telephone: (202) 646-
2867.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of August 1996.
[[Page 43795]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian K. Grimes,
Acting Director, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
For the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Kay C Goss,
Associate Director for Preparedness, Training, and Exercises Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 96-21726 Filed 8-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
