NRC SEEKS COMMENT ON REACTOR ACCIDENT CONSEQUENCE RESEARCH; PUBLIC MEETINGS FEB. 21, 22 IN VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA

NRC SEEKS COMMENT ON REACTOR ACCIDENT CONSEQUENCE RESEARCH; PUBLIC MEETINGS FEB. 21, 22 IN VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on the draft report for the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) research study. The SOARCA team will meet in late February with residents near the two plants analyzed in the effort.

SOARCA analyzed the potential consequences of severe accidents at the Surry Power Station near Surry, Va. and the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station near Delta, Pa. The project, which began in 2007, combined up-to-date information about the plants’ layout and operations with local population data and emergency preparedness plans. This information was then analyzed using state-of-the-art computer codes that incorporate decades of research into severe reactor accidents.

SOARCA’s main findings fall into three basic areas: how a reactor accident progresses; how existing systems and emergency measures can affect an accident’s outcome; and how an accident would affect the public’s health. The project’s preliminary findings include:

• Existing resources and procedures can stop an accident, slow it down or reduce its impact before it can affect the public;

• Even if accidents proceed uncontrolled, they take much longer to happen and release much less radioactive material than earlier analyses suggested; and

• The analyzed accidents would cause essentially zero immediate deaths and only a very, very small increase in the risk of long-term cancer deaths.

  The SOARCA team will meet with the public on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Surry County Courthouse, 45 School St. in Surry, Va. The team will also meet with the public on Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, 6085 Delta Road in Delta, Pa. The team will present the project’s findings, answer questions and take comments on the draft report.

  The main SOARCA report, including an appendix discussing the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan, is available in the NRC’s electronic documents database, ADAMS, by entering ML120250406 in the ADAMS search engine. Supporting technical information regarding the Peach Bottom analysis is available by entering ML120260675, and supporting technical information regarding the Surry analysis is available by

entering ML120260681. A brochure that describes the research for a general audience is available by entering ML12026A470.

The NRC will take comments on the draft SOARCA report through March 1. Comments can be submitted using the regulations.gov website, using Docket ID NRC-2012-0022. Comments can also be mailed, referencing the Docket ID, to Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05- B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments can also be faxed to RADB at 301-492-3446, referencing the Docket ID.

Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be posted on the NRC Web site and on regulations.gov. The agency will not edit or remove any identifying or contact information; the NRC cautions commenters against including any information they wish to keep private.

The NRC staff will consider the comments in finalizing the SOARCA report for submission to the Commission later this year.

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