Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and Spent Fuel Pools, 75009-75010 [2015-30355]

Download as PDF 75009 Proposed Rules Federal Register Vol. 80, No. 230 Tuesday, December 1, 2015 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 50 [Docket No. PRM–50–113; NRC–2015–0230] Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and Spent Fuel Pools Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a petition for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its ‘‘Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities’’ regulations to require ‘‘installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.’’ The petition, dated September 10, 2015, was submitted by Dr. Alexander DeVolpi (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by the NRC on September 21, 2015, and was assigned Docket Number PRM–50–113. The NRC is examining the issues raised in this petition to determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is not requesting public comment on PRM–50–113 at this time. DATES: The PRM is available on December 1, 2015. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2015–0230 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may obtain publicly-available information related to this petition by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2015–0230. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:04 Nov 30, 2015 Jkt 238001 section of this document. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions contact Jennifer Tobin, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–415–2328, email: Jennifer.Tobin@nrc.gov. For questions related to the petition for rulemaking process contact Anthony de ´ Jesus, Office of Administration, telephone: 301–415–1106, email: Anthony.deJesus@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: INFORMATION CONTACT I. The Petitioner The petitioner, Dr. Alexander DeVolpi, states that he ‘‘has had a substantial technical career starting in the late 1950s in reactor safety and engineering, having worked for and been funded by U.S. nuclear development and regulatory agencies.’’ The petitioner notes that he has carried out relevant research and development and published supportive technical papers and filed patent applications. II. The Petition The petitioner requests that the NRC amend part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities,’’ to require ‘‘installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.’’ The petition is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML15264A857. III. Discussion of the Petition The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10 CFR part 50 to require ‘‘installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.’’ The petitioner cites a 2014 National Research Council report titled, ‘‘Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants,’’ that gave high priority to recommendation 5.1A, which stated that greater ‘‘[a]ttention to availability, reliability, redundancy, and diversity of plant systems and equipment is specifically needed for . . . Instrumentation for monitoring critical thermodynamic parameters in reactors, containments, and spent fuel pools.’’ 1 In addition, the petitioner cites to section 5.1.1.4 of the report, ‘‘Instrumentation for Monitoring Critical Thermodynamic Parameters,’’ which states that ‘‘robust and diverse monitoring instrumentation that can withstand severe accident conditions is essential for diagnosing problems, selecting and implementing accident mitigation strategies, and monitoring their effectiveness.’’ The petitioner claims that requiring the ‘‘installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools’’ might prevent or mitigate potential accidents at reactors and spent fuel pools. The petitioner asserts that the Three Mile Island accident ‘‘might have been prevented if realtime uninterruptible exvessel reactor water-level monitoring had been in place.’’ Furthermore, the petitioner notes that one or both of the Fukushima meltdowns ‘‘might have been delayed or averted if uninterruptible ex-vessel real-time reactor water-level monitoring had been in place and operating on self-contained low-current battery supplies.’’ The petitioner states that ex-vessel instrumentation ‘‘would provide autonomous and redundant 1 The report can be accessed at https:// www.nap.edu/catalog/18294/lessons-learned-fromthe-fukushima-nuclear-accident-for-improvingsafety-of-us-nuclear-plants. E:\FR\FM\01DEP1.SGM 01DEP1 75010 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / Proposed Rules measurements of reactor water level and density at all times, irrespective of power level.’’ The petitioner asserts that amending the NRC’s regulations to require ex-vessel instrumentation would be ‘‘[c]onsistent with a more anticipatory defense-in-depth strategy’’ and would enhance strategies to mitigate beyond-design-basis accidents. In addition, the petitioner suggests that requiring ex-vessel instrumentation would ‘‘reduce potential financial risk and public apprehension’’ and that exvessel monitoring could ‘‘supply routine operational nuclear-process information that might enhance fuel-consumption efficiency.’’ Finally, the petitioner notes that ex-vessel instrumentation could be ‘‘designed to be functional and capable of providing data on fuel relocation’’ after a reactor shutdown and could ‘‘monitor post-accident reactor fuel reconcentration over a period of many years.’’ VI. Conclusion The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under 10 CFR 2.802, ‘‘Petition for rulemaking,’’ and the petition has been docketed as PRM–50– 113. The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM–50–113 to determine whether they should be considered in the rulemaking process. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of November, 2015. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. 2015–30355 Filed 11–30–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 12 CFR Part 249 [Regulation WW; Docket No. 1525] RIN 7100 AE–39 Liquidity Coverage Ratio: Public Disclosure Requirements; Extension of Compliance Period for Certain Companies To Meet the Liquidity Coverage Ratio Requirements Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board). ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking with request for public comment. tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS AGENCY: The Board invites public comment on a proposed rule that would implement public disclosure requirements regarding the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of large, internationally active banking SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:04 Nov 30, 2015 Jkt 238001 organizations and certain smaller, less complex banking organizations. The proposed rule would apply to all depository institution holding companies and covered nonbank companies that are required to calculate the LCR (covered companies). A covered company would be required to publicly disclose on a quarterly basis quantitative information about its LCR calculation, as well as a discussion of certain features of its LCR results. The proposed rule also would amend the LCR Rule to provide a full year for certain companies to come into compliance. DATES: Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received by February 2, 2016. ADDRESSES: When submitting comments, please consider submitting your comments by email or fax because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Board may be subject to delay. You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. R–1525, RIN 7100 AE 39, by any of the following methods: • Agency Web site: https:// www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/ generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. • Email: regs.comments@ federalreserve.gov. Include docket number in the subject line of the message. • Fax: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452– 3102. • Mail: Robert de V. Frierson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20551. All public comments are available from the Board’s Web site at https:// www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/ foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted, unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper form in Room 3515, 1801 K Street NW. (between 18th and 19th Street NW.), Washington, DC 20006 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gwendolyn Collins, Assistant Director, (202) 912–4311, Peter Clifford, Manager, (202) 785–6057, Adam S. Trost, Senior Supervisory Financial Analyst, (202) 452–3814, J. Kevin Littler, Senior Supervisory Financial Analyst, (202) 475–6677, SoRelle Peat, Financial PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 Analyst, (202) 452–2543, Risk Policy, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation; Dafina Stewart, Counsel, (202) 452–3876, or Adam Cohen, Counsel, (202) 912–4658, Legal Division, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C Streets NW., Washington, DC 20551. For the hearing impaired only, Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD), (202) 263–4869. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. Overview of Proposed Rule A. LCR Rule B. Proposed LCR Disclosure Requirements II. Quantitative Disclosure Requirements A. Disclosure of Eligible HQLA B. Disclosure of Cash Outflows C. Disclosure of Cash Inflows D. Disclosure of HQLA Amount, Total Net Cash Outflow Amount, Maturity Mismatch Add-on, and Liquidity Coverage Ratio III. Qualitative Disclosure Requirements IV. Frequency of Disclosure V. Transition and Timing VI. Amendment to the Modified LCR VII. Plain Language VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act IX. Paperwork Reduction Act I. Overview of Proposed Rule A. LCR Rule On September 3, 2014, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) adopted a final rule (LCR Rule) to implement a quantitative liquidity requirement, the liquidity coverage ratio 1 (LCR), for certain companies. The LCR is designed to promote the short-term resilience of the liquidity risk profile of large and internationally active banking organizations, thereby improving the financial sector’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, and to further improve the measurement and management of liquidity risk. The LCR Rule requires a company subject to the rule to maintain an amount of high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) (the numerator of the ratio) 2 that is no less than 100 percent of its total net cash outflows over a 1 79 FR 61440 (October 10, 2014). The LCR is consistent with the liquidity coverage ratio standard established by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel III Liquidity Framework). See Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, ‘‘Basel III: The Liquidity Coverage Ratio and liquidity risk monitoring tools’’ (January 2013), available at https://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs238.htm. 2 A company’s HQLA amount is calculated according to 12 CFR 249.21. E:\FR\FM\01DEP1.SGM 01DEP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75009-75010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30355]


========================================================================
Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 75009]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-113; NRC-2015-0230]


Uninterruptible Monitoring of Coolant and Fuel in Reactors and 
Spent Fuel Pools

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM) requesting that the NRC amend its 
``Domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities'' 
regulations to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for 
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petition, dated September 10, 2015, was submitted by 
Dr. Alexander DeVolpi (the petitioner). The petition was docketed by 
the NRC on September 21, 2015, and was assigned Docket Number PRM-50-
113. The NRC is examining the issues raised in this petition to 
determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is 
not requesting public comment on PRM-50-113 at this time.

DATES: The PRM is available on December 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0230 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this petition by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0230. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions contact 
Jennifer Tobin, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-
415-2328, email: Jennifer.Tobin@nrc.gov. For questions related to the 
petition for rulemaking process contact Anthony de Jes[uacute]s, Office 
of Administration, telephone: 301-415-1106, email: 
Anthony.deJesus@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Petitioner

    The petitioner, Dr. Alexander DeVolpi, states that he ``has had a 
substantial technical career starting in the late 1950s in reactor 
safety and engineering, having worked for and been funded by U.S. 
nuclear development and regulatory agencies.'' The petitioner notes 
that he has carried out relevant research and development and published 
supportive technical papers and filed patent applications.

II. The Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC amend part 50 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic licensing of 
production and utilization facilities,'' to require ``installation of 
ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and 
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools.'' The petition is available in 
ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML15264A857.

III. Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10 
CFR part 50 to require ``installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for 
uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in reactors and spent-
fuel pools.'' The petitioner cites a 2014 National Research Council 
report titled, ``Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident 
for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants,'' that gave high priority 
to recommendation 5.1A, which stated that greater ``[a]ttention to 
availability, reliability, redundancy, and diversity of plant systems 
and equipment is specifically needed for . . . Instrumentation for 
monitoring critical thermodynamic parameters in reactors, containments, 
and spent fuel pools.'' \1\ In addition, the petitioner cites to 
section 5.1.1.4 of the report, ``Instrumentation for Monitoring 
Critical Thermodynamic Parameters,'' which states that ``robust and 
diverse monitoring instrumentation that can withstand severe accident 
conditions is essential for diagnosing problems, selecting and 
implementing accident mitigation strategies, and monitoring their 
effectiveness.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The report can be accessed at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18294/lessons-learned-from-the-fukushima-nuclear-accident-for-improving-safety-of-us-nuclear-plants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The petitioner claims that requiring the ``installation of ex-
vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and 
fuel in reactors and spent-fuel pools'' might prevent or mitigate 
potential accidents at reactors and spent fuel pools. The petitioner 
asserts that the Three Mile Island accident ``might have been prevented 
if realtime uninterruptible ex-vessel reactor water-level monitoring 
had been in place.'' Furthermore, the petitioner notes that one or both 
of the Fukushima meltdowns ``might have been delayed or averted if 
uninterruptible ex-vessel real-time reactor water-level monitoring had 
been in place and operating on self-contained low-current battery 
supplies.'' The petitioner states that ex-vessel instrumentation 
``would provide autonomous and redundant

[[Page 75010]]

measurements of reactor water level and density at all times, 
irrespective of power level.'' The petitioner asserts that amending the 
NRC's regulations to require ex-vessel instrumentation would be 
``[c]onsistent with a more anticipatory defense-in-depth strategy'' and 
would enhance strategies to mitigate beyond-design-basis accidents. In 
addition, the petitioner suggests that requiring ex-vessel 
instrumentation would ``reduce potential financial risk and public 
apprehension'' and that ex-vessel monitoring could ``supply routine 
operational nuclear-process information that might enhance fuel-
consumption efficiency.'' Finally, the petitioner notes that ex-vessel 
instrumentation could be ``designed to be functional and capable of 
providing data on fuel relocation'' after a reactor shutdown and could 
``monitor post-accident reactor fuel reconcentration over a period of 
many years.''

VI. Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold 
sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under 
10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition has been 
docketed as PRM-50-113. The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM-
50-113 to determine whether they should be considered in the rulemaking 
process.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of November, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-30355 Filed 11-30-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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