The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published its final Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim Staff Guidance (JLD–ISG) in the Feb. 29 Federal Register.
Publication of the document on “‘‘Compliance with Order EA–12–049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events’’ marks NRC’s latest work on preventing a major accident in the United States akin to the 2011 meltdown at the Tokyo Electric Power Fukushima complex in Japan.
The NRC issued Order EA–12–049 following evaluation of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and resulting nuclear accident, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.
The order requires all licensees and construction permit holders to develop a three-phase approach for mitigating beyond-design-basis external events.
The initial phase requires the use of installed equipment and resources to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and spent fuel pool cooling.
The transition phase requires providing sufficient, portable, onsite equipment and consumables to maintain or restore these functions until they can be accomplished with resources brought from off site.
The final phase requires obtaining sufficient offsite resources to sustain those functions indefinitely.
For more information, contact Eric Bowman, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–415–2963; email: Eric.Bowman@nrc.gov.
