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NRC proposes changes to its rules on nuclear materials
In response to Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” the NRC is proposing sweeping changes to its rules governing the use of nuclear materials that are widely used in industry, medicine, and research. The changes would amend NRC regulations for the licensing of nuclear byproduct material, some source material, and some special nuclear material.
As published in the May 18 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking public comment on this proposed rule and draft interim guidance until July 2.
R. S. May, J. M. Sorensen, R. E. Engel
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 103 | Number 1 | September 1989 | Pages 81-93
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE89-A23662
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plant transient calculations for reactor accidents and operational transient events must be performed and evaluated despite uncertainties in input data, empirical correlations, modeling assumptions, and evaluation criteria. The use of best-estimate analysis in conjunction with systematic evaluation of uncertainties provides an alternative to bounding analyses that may introduce unnecessarily large conservatisms. A methodology has been developed that combines established techniques for statistical analysis to deal with a general class of problems having uncertainties both in the evaluation criterion and the modeling parameters. Response surface and Monte Carlo sampling methods are used to determine the probability density function of the key output variable. This function is in turn combined with a probabilistic form of the evaluation criterion to estimate the probability that the criterion may be violated. The methodology is applied to an evaluation of the likelihood that high-pressure safety valves would be challenged by increasing pressure transient events in a boiling water reactor. Plant transient results are obtained from RETRAN-02 calculations, and safety valve characteristics are obtained from test data.