A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years.
That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued Friday.
As of April 2019, the NRC counted 80 general and site-specific ISFSIs, nearly all built on-site for dry storage of used fuel at operational or retired nuclear power plants. They are spread across 35 states.
Inspections are conducted on a “two-year, not to exceed three years,” schedule for monitoring and recurring loading operations, and more frequently during construction, preoperational testing, and first loading, the final draft says.
“The working group used operating experience and subject matter expertise to review inspection results from inspections completed both every two years and every three years, as is currently allowed by the program,” according to the report. “The results did not show an increase of issues or violations for those inspections completed on the three-year periodicity versus the typical two-year frequency.”
The working group also setting a specific quarterly schedule for inspections of extended loading campaigns, rather than the current “as necessary” guideline. Extended loading campaigns generally are conducted after a power plant is permanently retired and the operator moves all remaining spent fuel from cooling ponds into dry storage.
Other recommendations cover qualifications for ISFSI inspectors, including establishing a “cross-qualification” program for inspectors already rated for reactor inspectors; placing funding for inspections fully under the NRC’s Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation business line; and conducting follow-on evaluations and preparing recommendations for eventual inspection readiness for used-fuel transports.
The final decision on the recommendations will be made by the director of the NRC’s Division of Fuel Management. With approval, the new inspection program would be in fully place by next year.
A public meeting and webinar on the draft final recommendations is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time Monday.
