POWER May 2012 - 40

NUCLEAR
that Jaczko's proposed COL conditions
would necessarily lack sufficient details
to impose meaningful design requirements
and would be largely symbolic. The commissioners
agreed that there was no compelling
reason to depart from the NRC's
existing regulatory processes and expressed
confidence that safety recommendations
made since the Japan crisis will be
properly implemented. Svinicki added that
NRC staff did not recommend nor support
Jaczko's idea of an across-the-board license
condition requiring implementation
of " all " Fukushima-related requirements
prior to operation of the Vogtle nuclear
plant, given the myriad regulatory tools
available to the NRC to implement postFukushima-related
requirements as they
emerge, including those applicable to new
plants like Vogtle.
Whereas the NRC's Operating Reactor
Oversight program focuses on monitoring
and evaluating the performance of existing
nuclear power plants, regulatory oversight
for new reactors is controlled by the
Construction Reactor Oversight Process
(cROP) that focuses on the construction
period between licensing and initial operation
of new reactors.
In the cROP, the staff determines the
scope and then implements the construction
inspection program (CIP) that consists
of four phases. The first and second phases
support a licensing decision for an ESP and
COL application. Inspections will initially
be conducted to verify effective implementation
of the quality assurance program, as
described in the application for an ESP
and/or COL, to provide reasonable assurance
of the integrity and reliability of the
application data or analyses that would affect
the performance of safety-related systems,
structures, and components (SSCs).
The third and fourth phases support construction
activities and preparations for
operation.
Prior to and during plant construction,
inspections will be conducted to review
vendor activities and licensee oversight
of these activities. During plant construction,
inspections will be conducted to verify
satisfactory completion of the ITAAC,
confirm adequate development and implementation
of construction and operational
programs, and review the transition to
power operations.
The core of the CIP is carried out by construction
resident on-site inspectors (CRIs)
assigned to the site by the Region II Center
for Construction Inspection (CCI). At least
two inspectors are assigned to each site
once significant construction activities are
under way. The CRIs will be supplemented
40
with additional personnel from CCI, other
regional offices, and headquarters technical
staff, as needed, to provide reasonable assurance
that the as-built facility conforms to
the conditions of the COL.
Safety Measures
In October 2011 the NRC directed staff
to begin implementing seven safety recommendations
from the Near-Term Task
Force on lessons learned from the Japanese
event. The recommendations affecting
all U.S. nuclear reactors are expected
to be completed by April 2014. The seven
nuclear power plant, all of Southern Co.'s
existing plants were designed, licensed, and
constructed to withstand a maximum credible
earthquake for their site location based
on historical seismic activity and tectonic and
geological data for that location, as will be
Units 3 and 4.
Plant Vogtle Units 1 through 4 are
equipped with seismic monitoring systems
that are set at extremely low triggering
levels, although there are no active faults
in the area. If a seismic event triggers the
seismic monitoring system, it would provide
seismic ground motion data to the
A plant's seismic design is based on a specified
ground motion that represents the
maximum credible earthquake for that particular
site location.
recommendations, in general, cover loss of
all AC power at a reactor that could prompt
a " station blackout " ; seismic and flooding
hazards; protection for equipment from
design-basis external events; emergency
equipment and severe accident management
guidelines; and training.
In addition to these new NRC requirements
derived from lessons learned from
Fukushima, U.S. nuclear plants are designed
to withstand seismic events, high winds-including
flying debris produced by tornadoes,
and flooding. The following information describes
how the AP1000 plant would react
when faced with each of these severe accident
conditions.
Seismic Events. As with every U.S.
control room so the operators could determine
the severity of the event and, in
accordance with established procedures,
make appropriate decisions concerning
plant safety. Physical inspections supplement
the recordings to evaluate the impact
of an earthquake and the condition of plant
structures, systems, and equipment. In the
event of an earthquake, plant staff will analyze
the recordings and inspection results
before restarting the reactor.
A plant's seismic design is based on a
specified ground motion that represents
the maximum credible earthquake for
that particular site location. This level of
ground motion is called the Safe Shutdown
Earthquake (SSE) and is set for 0.3g peak
Second Set of COLs Approved
On March 30, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) approved, in another 4-1
vote, the second set of combined construction
and operating licenses. These COLs
will go to two more Westinghouse AP1000
reactors for Units 2 and 3 at the V. C. Summer
Station in Jenkinsville, S.C., which is
operated by South Carolina Electric & Gas
Co. (SCE&G), a subsidiary of SCANA Corp.,
and Santee Cooper, South Carolina's stateowned
electric and water utility.
In its announcement of the decision,
the NRC noted that its " findings impose
two conditions on the COLs, with the
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first requiring inspection and testing of
squib valves, important components of
the new reactors' passive cooling system.
The second requires the development of
strategies to respond to extreme natural
events resulting in the loss of power at
the new reactors. The Commission also
directed [the NRC's Office of New Reactors]
to issue to SCE&G and Santee Cooper,
simultaneously with the COLs, an
Order requiring enhanced, reliable spent
fuel pool instrumentation, as well as a
request for information related to emergency
plant staffing. "
POWER | May 2012
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POWER May 2012

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