NEI Submits Industry Approach on Used Fuel Pool Instrumentation Order

NEI Submits Industry Approach on Used Fuel Pool Instrumentation Order

by vbarq

The following story originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview.
NEI has asked the NRC to endorse the industry’s guidance for complying with the agency order requiring that nuclear energy facilities be equipped with instruments to reliably indicate used fuel storage pool water levels in an emergency.

In a July 5 letter to the agency, Adrian Heymer, NEI’s executive director for strategic programs, submitted for NRC review and endorsement the latest revision of the industry guidance document (NEI 12-02, Revision 0, Industry Guidance for Compliance with NRC Order EA-12-051, To Modify Licenses with Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation). The document incorporates NRC comments on a previous version that was endorsed by agency staff.
In its report last year, the NRC’s Fukushima task force said that equipping used fuel storage pools with reliable level instrumentation would “significantly enhance the knowledge of key decision makers,” allowing them to respond more effectively in the event of a very low-probability beyond-design-basis accident.
The agency in March turned the task force’s near-term recommendation into an order that all reactor operators should have reliable indications of water levels in used fuel pools.