Regulatory Guide 1.167

(Draft Was DG-1035) Restart of a Nuclear Power Plant Shut Down by a Seismic Event

ML003740093
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Issue date:	03/31/1997
From:	Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
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DG-1035 RG-1.167
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGULATORY

March 1997 GUIDE

or-I

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH

REGULATORY GUIDE 1.167 (Draft was DG-1035)

RESTART OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SHUT DOWN BY A SEISMIC EVENT

A. INTRODUCTION

Paragraph IV(aX3) of Appendix S, "Earthquake Engineering Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants," to

10 CFR Part 50, "Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities," requires shutdown of the nuclear power plant if vibratory ground motion exceed ing that of the operating basis earthquake ground mo tion (OBE) occurs or if significant plant damage oc curs. 1 Prior to resuming operations, the licensee must demonstrate to the NRC that no functional damage has occurred to those features necessary for continued op eration without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.

This guide provides guidance acceptable to the NRC staff for performing inspections and tests of nu clear power plant equipment and structures prior to re start of a plant that has been shut down by a seismic event.

The information collections contained in this regu latory guide are covered by the requirements of 10 CFR

Part 50, which were approved by the Office of Manage ment and Budget, approval number 3150--0011. The lRegulatory Guide 1.166, "Pre-Earthquake Planning and Immediate Nuclear Power Plant Operator Postearthquake Actions," provides cri teria for plant shutdown.

USNRC REGULATORY GUIDES

Regulatory Guides are Wisued to describe ard make available to the public such Informa tIon as methods acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the Corn mission's reguiaelone, tedhfques used by the staff in evaluating specific problems or pos tulated accddents, and data needed by dhe NRC staff In its review of applications for per mlts an licenses. Regulatory guides ae not substitutes for regulations, and compliance with them Is not required. Methods end solutions different from those set Out in the guides will be acceptable 9 they provide a basis for te indings requisite to the Issuance or con.

tinuance of a permit or license by the Commission.

Tha guide was Issued after consideration of comments received from the public. Corn merts and suggestions for improvements In these guides we encouraged st all times, and guides win be revised, as apprpriate, to accommodate comments and to reflect new In fotnnion or eiperlence.

Written comments may be submitted to the Rules Review and Directives Branch, DFIPS,

ADM, U.S. Nuclear Regulatorq Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information un less it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

B. DISCUSSION

Data from seismic instrumentation 2 and a walkdown of the nuclear power plant1 are used to make the initial determination of whether the plant must be shut down after an earthquake, if the plant has not al ready shut down from operational perturbations result ing from the seismic event.

The Electric Power Research Institute has devel oped guidelines that will enable licensees to quickly identify and assess earthquake effects on nuclear power plants in EPRI NP-6695, "Guidelines for Nuclear Plant Response to an Earthquake," December 1989.3 This regulatory guide addresses sections of EPRI

NP-6695 that relate to postshutdown inspection and tests, inspection criteria, inspection personnel, docu mentation, and long-term evaluations.

2Regulatory Guide 1.12, Revision 2, "Nuclear Power Plant Instrumen tation for Earthquakes," describes seismic instrumentation acceptable to the NRC staff.

3EPRI reports may be obtained from the Electric Power Research Insti tute, EPRI Distribution Center, 207 Coggins Dr., RO. Box 23205, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523.

The guLides wre Issued In the following ten broad divisions:

1. Power Reactors

2. Research and Test Reactors

3. Fuels and Materials Faclities

4. Environmental msd Siting

5. Materials end Plant Protection

6. Products

7. Transportation a. o=upational Health

9. Antirust nd Financial Review

10. General Single copies of regulatory guides may be obtained free of charge by writing the Office of Administration, Attention: Distribution and Mall Services Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington. DC 20555-0001; or by fax at (301)415-2260.

Issued guides may also be purchased from the National Technical Infomation Service on a standing order basis. Details on this service may be obtained by writing NTIS, 5285 Port

"Royl Road, Springfield, VA 22161.

EPRI NP-6695 has been supplemented to add in spections and tests as a basis for acceptance of stresses in excess of Service Level C and to recommend that en gineering evaluations of components with calculated stresses in excess of service Level D focus on areas of high stress and include fatigue analyses.

C. REGULATORY POSITION

After a plant has been shut down by an earthquake, the guidelines for inspections and tests of nuclear pow er plant equipment and structures that are in EPRI

NP-6695, depicted in Figure 3-2 and specified in Sec tions 5.3.2, 5.3.3, and 5.3.4; the documentation speci fied in Section in 5.3.5 to be submitted to the NRC; and the long-term evaluations that are specified in Section

6.3, with the exceptions specified below, are acceptable to the NRC staff for satisfying the requirements in Para graph IV(a)(3) of Appendix S to 10 CFR Part 50.

1. EXCEPTIONS TO SECTION 6.3.4.1 OF

EPRI NP-6695

1.1 Item (1) should read:

If the calculated stresses from the actual seis mic loading conditions are less than the allow ables for emergency conditions (e.g., ASME

Code Level C Service Limits or equivalent) or original design bases, the item is considered acceptable, provided the results of inspections and tests (Section 5.3.2) show no damage.

1.2 The second dashed statement of Item (3)

should read:

-An engineering evaluation of the effects of the calculated stresses on the functionality of the item. This evaluation should address all lo- cations where stresses exceed faulted allow ables and should include fatigue analysis for ASME Code Class 1 components and systems.

2. LONG-TERM EVALUATIONS

Coincident with the long-term evaluations, the plant should be restored to its current licensing basis.

Exceptions to this must be approved by the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

D. IMPLEMENTATION

The purpose of this section is to provide guidance to applicants and licensees regarding the NRC staff's plans for using this regulatory guide.

Except in those cases in which the applicant pro poses an acceptable alternative method for complying with the specified portions of the Commission's regula tions, the method described in this guide will be used in the evaluation of applications for construction permits, operating licenses, combined licenses, or design certi fication submitted after January 10, 1997. This guide will not be used in the evaluation of an application for an operating license submitted after January 10, 1997, if the construction permit was issued prior to that date.

Holders of an operating license or construction per mit issued prior to January 10, 1997, may voluntarily implement the methods described in this guide in com bination with the methods in Regulatory Guides 1.12, Revision 2, "Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation for Earthquakes," and 1.166, "Pre-Earthquake Planning and Immediate Nuclear Power Plant Operator Post earthquake Actions." Other implementation strategies, such as voluntary implementation of portions of the cited regulatory guides, will be evaluated by the NRC

staff on a case-by-case basis.

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REGULATORY ANALYSIS

A separate regulatory analysis was not prepared for this regulatory guide. The regulatory analysis, "Revi sion of 10 CFR Part 100 and 10 CFR Part 50," was pre pared for these amendments, and it provides the regula tory basis for this guide and examines the costs and benefits of the rule as implemented by the guide. A

copy of the regulatory analysis is available for inspec tion and copying for a fee at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 LStreet NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC, as Attachment 7 to SECY-96-118.

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