Advancing the Use of Risk-Informed Decision Making

in Regulatory Activities

Mike FranovichDirector, Division of Risk Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationU.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Session TH33 What is Risk-Informed Decision-Making?

Topics• Organizational Goals • NRR Risk-Informed Decision Making

(RIDM) Action Plan • Recent examples of RIDM in practice • Future direction

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The NRC is Committed to Modernize Our Decision-Making

• Staff goal to increase use of risk insights to decide and guide the quality and level of effort appropriate for a given activity

• Staff has articulated a strategic vision for addressing RIDM challenges and created a sustainable approach for the reactor program.

• The NRC Transformation Initiative recognized the importance of scaling the scope and level of depth of licensing reviews according to risk and safety insights.

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Risk-Informed Approach*

A "risk-informed" approach to regulatory decision-making represents a philosophy whereby risk insights are considered together with other factorsto establish requirements that better focus licensee and regulatory attention on design and operational issues commensurate with their importanceto health and safety.

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* NRC STAFF REQUIREMENTS - SECY-98-144 - White Paper On Risk-informed And Performance-based Regulationhttps://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/srm/1998/1998-144srm.pdf

Risk-Informed Decision Making*An approach to regulatory decision making, in which insights from probabilistic risk assessment are considered with other engineering insights

NUREG-1855

5* NRR RIDM Action Plan Phase 2 Report (https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1900/ML19007A339.html)

Advancing Risk-Informed Decision Making

• SECY-17-0112 enumerated challenges• NRR RIDM Action Plan strategies

– Evaluate/Update guidance– Develop graded licensing approach– Enhance mandatory training– Advance risk-informed initiatives– Enhance communication

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Operating Reactors - Addressed RIDM Licensing Challenges Through an Action Plan

• Comprehensive action plan with two phases• Action Plan completed December 30, 2018

with additional recommendations and actions

• Key Outcomes– Use of Integrated Review Teams– Sustainable guidance and expectations– Communicating with stakeholders

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Working Together ThroughIntegrated Review Teams

• Improved teamwork among staff on licensing actions• Risk insights provide confidence to the traditional

engineering reviewers• Risk insights shape scope and depth of the

deterministic reviews• Improved integration of the Safety Evaluation front

end coordination among the reviewers. It minimizes duplications in complex reviews. Interdependencies identified early and addressed during the review

• Excellent workload management tool

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Progress on Risk-Informed Initiatives• 20 applications for 50.69 received

• 8 completed (includes 2 for Vogtle)• 9 under review; 3 withdrawn

Risk-Informed Licensing Actions

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FY16 FY17 FY18

TMRE

NTTFR2.150.69

Misc

AOT

TSTF-505, 4B

1 High Winds, External Flooding PRA2 Tied to NFPA-805 review3 Lead plant for new seismic approach

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CRDM Thermal Sleeve WearA recent operational application of RIDM

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• New Reactor Reviews− Regulations require description of PRA and results− Risk information used to meet Commission objectives

• Enhanced Safety Focused Review Approach− Developed for small modular reactors− Includes tools and strategies to help formulate scope and

depth of review

• Licensing Modernization Project− Industry developed technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and

performance-based guidance for licensing non-LWRs− Staff considering for potential endorsement

RIDM Applied in New Reactor Licensing

Interactions of the NRC and Industry Risk-Informed Steering Committees

• The executive committees meet periodically to advance risk-informed initiatives

• Revisions to the NRC RISC charter – Factor the RIDM Action Plan activities– Steer NRC efforts in view of regulatory perspectives

on margins to NRC Safety Goals– Advance RIDM across the entire reactor program

(i.e., operating and new reactors, safety and security)

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• ANS: American Nuclear Society• AOT: Allowed Outage Time• ASME: The American Society of

Mechanical Engineers• CDF: Core Damage Frequency• CFR: Code of Federal Regulations• CRDM: Control Rod Drive Mechanism• FLEX: Diverse and Flexible Coping

Strategies • F&O: Fact/Finding and Observation• IRT: Integrated Review Team • LAR: License Amendment Request• LERF: Large Early Release Frequency• LWR: Light Water Reactor• NEI: Nuclear Energy Institute• NFPA: National Fire Protection Association• NOED: Notice of Enforcement Discretion• NRR: Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

• NTTF: Near Term Task Force• PM: Project Manager• PRA: Probabilistic Risk Assessment• QHOs: Quantitative Health Objectives• RAI: Request for Additional Information• RG: Regulatory Guide• RI: Risk-Informed • RIDM: Risk-Informed Decision Making • RICT: Risk-Informed Completion Time• RISC: Risk-Informed Steering Committee• RITS: Risk-Informed Technical Specifications • SE: Safety Evaluation• SSC: Structure, System, or Component• SOARCA: State-of-the-Art Consequence

Analysis• TIAs: Task Interface Agreements• TS: Technical Specification• TSTF: Technical Specification Task Force

Acronyms

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