The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving ahead with a set of updates to its oversight of storage pads for spent nuclear fuel, including downshifting the frequency for standard inspections to once every three years.
The agency intends this year to complete the revisions to its independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) inspection program, with all measures implemented beginning in 2021, according to a March 19 memo to staff from Andrea Kock, director of the NRC Division of Fuel Management.
The memo was circulated just days after the final recommendations from the working group for the ISFSI inspection enhancement effort. It was made public on May 6.
“Successful implementation of the working group’s recommendations will ensure that the NRC maintains focus on its mission while supporting the NRC’s vision of becoming a modern, risk-informed regulator by embracing improvements in our decision-making and a graded approach to safety,” Kock wrote.
Kock signed off on all five recommendations submitted by the working group formed in June 2019 with staff from NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., and the agency’s regional offices. They include establishing a “cross-qualification” program for ISFSI oversight by agency personnel already rated to inspect reactors and paying for inspections strictly from the regulator’s Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation account. The working group also urged continued evaluation of opportunities to strengthen inspection readiness for transportation of used fuel and preparation of inspection guidance and resources for consolidated interim storage facilities.
The Department of Energy is legally required to dispose of spent fuel from nuclear power plants, though it is more than two decades past the Jan. 31, 1998, deadline to begin that process. In the continued absence of a federal repository, two corporate teams are seeking NRC licenses to build and operate centralized storage sites for spent fuel in Texas and New Mexico. Those operations could open within a matter of years.
The intent of the NRC working group work, according to last year’s project guidance, was to establish “a clearer, risk-informed, comprehensive, and consistent approach to ISFSI inspections across the NRC four regions.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January counted 65 ISFSIs on the grounds of nuclear power plants, plus nine “away from reactor” installations. Together they hold more than 80,000 metric tons of radioactive used fuel.
Routine inspections examine dry-storage casks for cracks, along with evaluating their overall operational security and protection. Prior to loading, inspectors examine a site’s preparations, personnel training, radiation protections, and other safety measures. During actual loading, the agency wants to confirm procedures are properly carried out.
Spent-fuel inspections are currently performed 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 standard inspections will now be conducted on a dedicated triennial basis. During extended loading projects, inspections would be conducted each quarter.
The working group determined there was no higher count of regulatory infractions among sites inspected every three years instead of on a biannual basis.
“As more commercial power reactors transition to decommissioning over the next few years, fuel will be completely transferred to the ISFSI and the inspection resources needed to complete the program will decrease,” according to its report. “All but two operating reactors have an existing ISFSI. Inspection resources to perform construction, preoperational testing, and initial loading inspections are expected to taper in the future.”
The agency’s Inspection and Oversight Branch will make revisions to the ISFSI inspection manual and procedures, with input from one working group member from each region.
The Nuclear Energy Institute had in 2018 recommended full cessation of ISFSI inspections.
“NEI welcomes NRC’s implementation of the working group’s recommendations,” Rod McCullum, senior director for decommissioning and used fuel at the Washington, D.C.-based nuclear industry policy group, said in a statement Friday. “NRC will now be able to apply the risk insights gained from decades of experience as part of a more safety focused regulatory framework.”
One advocacy organization had a different take on the decision.
