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NRC Perspectives on a U. S. Nuclear Renaissance The Honorable Peter B. Lyons Commissioner U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 19 th Annual RETS-REMP Workshop South Bend, Indiana June 23, 2009 . Some U.S. Statistics. Number of Plants Operating 104
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NRC Perspectives on a U. S. Nuclear Renaissance The Honorable Peter B. Lyons Commissioner U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 19th Annual RETS-REMP Workshop South Bend, Indiana June 23, 2009
Some U.S. Statistics • Number of Plants Operating 104 • Number of Plants Under Construction 1 • (Watts Bar Unit 2) • Number of Plant Orders Canceled 120 • (following TMI and Chernobyl) • Last Industry Order for a New Plant 1973 • Last Construction Permit Issued 1978 • Today • COL Applications with NRC for Review 17 • Number of New Plants 26 • Number of New Plant Designs 5
Nuclear Renaissance ? Favorable Outlook for Increased Safe and Secure Utilization of Nuclear Energy…… Depends on a foundation of…. Demonstrated Continued Safe Operations
Significant Events Can and Do Still Occur Significant Events
Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head Corrosion Photos: Davis-Besse Head Corrosion Model at USNRC HQ, Rockville, MD
Some Images Don’t Instill Confidence in Nuclear Plant Maintenance and Aging Management
Minor Issues Also Erode Public Confidence • Groundwater Contamination Events • Oyster Creek • Indian Point • Braidwood • Callaway • Dresden • Byron • Palo Verde • Quad Cities
Selected Challenges NRC Faces • License Application Reviews • New Construction Techniques • Construction Inspection • Technology Changes • Global Supply Chain • Safety and Security • Communications • Workforce
Design-Centered Reviews • NRC staff’s parallel review of multiple standardized COL applications • Dependent on extent of industry standardization of COL applications • Principle: One Issue One Review One Position
Module Fabrication and Assembly Facility Shaw – Lake Charles Facility
Digital Technology ABWR EPR AP1000 APWR
Global Environment • Global marketplace a reality – ABWR, EPR, AP1000, APWR • International partnerships of regulators • Multi-National Design Evaluation Program (MDEP) • International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA) • Need for research: • International Test Facilities • Provide sound technical bases for decisions • Limited United States manufacturing base • U.S. dependence on global marketplace • Global renaissance challenges global production
Safety and Security Security Features Emergency Planning Improved Passive Designs Trained Guard Force
To be Seen as a Strong, Consistent, and Credible Regulator by our Stakeholders…. • Effective Communication is the Key • External Stakeholders • Internal Stakeholders
The Strength of Open Discussion “One must create the ability in his staff to generate clear, forceful arguments for opposing viewpoints as well as for their own. Open discussions and disagreements must be encouraged, so that all sides of an issue will be fully explored.” H. G. Rickover
The Challenge of Informing the Public “The professional person’s standing in the community depends, in the final analysis, on the public’s insight of his work, that is, on the educational level of the man in the street. When specialized knowledge of professional people is incomprehensible to the average man, he is apt to flounder between frustrated suspicion and excessive awe, leading him either to interfere unduly with professional independence or to accept naively every claim made by anyone who calls himself a professional.” H. G. Rickover
Public Openness • Essential to Regulatory Strength • Opportunities for Public Comment • Public Comments Addressed Openly • Opportunities for Public Hearings • Licensing New Reactors • Amending Licenses for Existing Reactors • Balanced with Security Needs
“Risk” is perceived in many different ways We must COMMUNICATE how NRC requirements adequately MANAGE the risk to acceptable levels – and how NRC ensures licensees are meeting those requirements We must communicatewith both internal and external stakeholders the assumptions underlying our risk analyses We must communicate risk concepts to the publicin understandable terms
Types of “risk” evaluated at NRC • Public radiation exposure and health effects • Occupational radiation exposure • Reactor safety core damage • Release to environment of damaged core • Inadvertent criticality of materials • Medical events • Environmental contamination
Radiation Doses in Perspective 1000 millirem (1 rem) 900 CT Chest NRC Annual limit for the public 800 100 millirem 90 Transpolar flight 700 Nuclear brain scan Annual terrestrial dose in Denver 80 10 600 Annual dose from building materials 9 70 Apollo XVI astronauts & NRC requires dosimeter 8 Annual dose from medical exams 1980 500 60 previous 7 Annual dose from natural background 50 400 6 From your body 40 5 Annual cosmic rays 300 Chest x-ray 4 30 Trans-Atlantic flight Annual dose from medical exams 2006 Annual terrestrial dose in Maryland 3 200 20 Dental x-ray 2 1-week dose in US-all sources Leg/Arm x-ray 10 1 millirem 100
ANOTHER EXTERNAL CHALLENGE-THE NATION’S TECHNICAL WORKFORCE WORKING TOGETHER, WE NEED TO COMMUNICATE THE SATISFACTION AND EXCITEMENT OF A TECHNICAL CAREER
Societal Importance of Education “If you can solve the education problem, you don’t have to do anything else. If you don’t solve it, nothing else is going to matter all that much.” ALAN GREENSPAN, 2006
INTERNATIONAL MATH SCORE RANKINGS • Top Five performers with the US ranking • Grade 4 • Hong Kong • Singapore • Taiwan • Japan • Kazakhstan • 11th United States • Grade 8 • Taiwan • South Korea • Singapore • Hong Kong • Japan • 9th United States Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007
ENGINEERINGFirst University Degree Thousands Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2008
Goal – Retain Qualified Staff NRC Hiring Trends Accomplishments
NRC’s Challenge Maintain recognition as one of the best U.S. Federal agency workplaces! 2007 2008 Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI) at American University Best Places to Work in Federal Government
Keys to the Future ContinuedSafe Operation Strong Regulator Qualified Workforce Open Communications Security Culture of Safety Quality Design and Construction Global Cooperation Appropriate use of New Technologies
NRC Oversight Uranium Mining Uranium Conversion Uranium Enrichment Power Reactors Transportation Storage Waste Disposal Medical/Industrial New Reactors
NRC Commissioners Commissioner Kristine Svinicki Commissioner Peter Lyons Chairman Gregory Jaczko Commissioner Dale Klein Sworn In: 3/28/08 Term Ends: 6/30/12 Sworn In: 1/21/05 Term Ends: 6/30/13 Sworn In: 7/01/06 Term Ends: 6/30/11 Sworn In: 1/25/05 Term Ends: 6/30/09
COL Applications Expected & Received Valid as of May, 2009
Regulatory Issuesof Interest • For New Reactor Designs • Aircraft Crash Assessment • Digital Instrumentation and Controls • Small Reactors • For Operating Reactors • Inattentive Security Guards • Underground Pipe Failures and monitoring • Fire Protection Closure • Digital Instrumentation and Controls • Materials Licensing • Medical Isotope Supply • Cesium-137 Chloride continued use • Spent Fuel Management Policy • Waste Confidence Policy/Rule • Repository Licensing • Security