Oconee inspections eased,Robinson-2's tightened

摘要

On January 31, Duke Energy's three-reactor Oconee plant was officially reclas-sified in the action matrix of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Reactor Oversight Process (ROP), with the extra scruti­ny resulting from earlier inspection findings having been lifted as of the end of Decem­ber. This moved the Oconee reactors from the third column (Degraded Cornerstone) of the matrix to the first column (Licensee Response). The following day, however, the NRC announced that Progress Energy's Robinson-2 power reactor has been placed in the third column, indicating a substantial increase in forthcoming NRC inspections. Oconee's elevation continued a recent trend in which the NRC has issued more "yellow" inspection findings (indicating substantial safety significance) but has al­lowed licensees' corrective actions to be recognized more quickly. The yellow find­ing, resulting from Duke's discovery that a reactor coolant makeup subsystem letdown line in the standby shutdown facility failed to pass the required flow, was imposed in the first quarter of 2010 and was in effect for less than a year. ;RIS requests SMR plans;two INs also issued Continuing what is becoming an annual process, on February 2 the Nuclear Regu­latory Commission issued a regulatory issue summary (RIS) asking developers of small modular reactors (SMR) to provide information on their plans and schedules for submitting applications to the NRC. It ap­plies not only to possible applications for design certification, but to other actions al­lowed under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, in­cluding design approvals and manufactur­ing licenses for vendors, and construction permits, early site permits, and combined operating licenses for electricity providers. RIS 2011-02, Licensing Submittal Infor­mation and Design Development Activities for Small Modular Reactor Designs, does not require SMR developers to submit this information, but it makes it clear that the NRC's budget planning process and re­source allocation will be based on the re­sponses received.