Creation of licensing criteria accelerates

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 04:00:00 EST 1977 · Electr. World; (United States)

OSTI ID:7318730

Naft, B N

The development of licensing criteria for nuclear power plants, always in a state of evolution, has rapidly accelerated during the last five years. In the days of the earliest commercial plants, guidance from AEC was based on direct communication and what ''the last applicant had been through.'' Throughout this early period, AEC began to formalize its in-house procedures in Branch Technical Positions and in a limited series of Safety Guides. The development of these positions was somewhat individualistic, depending on the branch in question, and not subject to a uniform review procedure. Part 50, Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations remained the fundamental source of regulatory criteria, albeit very general in nature. During 1972, AEC began to initiate a standardized Regulatory Review Series, with the objective of documenting staff positions as to acceptable design procedures and standards. Since that time, the number of guides has grown very rapidly. Officially, they are to be used as ''suggested guides''; however, deviation from their content or intent has historically proved very difficult. Several years ago, AEC recognized that too much emphasis on licensing criteria was being placed in Branch Positions, and initiated a program to develop Standard Review Plans. In July 1975, the last of these was written, and, in December of the same year, the complete set was issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which replaced the regulatory arm of AEC. Standardization has been shown to be obtainable, but the promise of shortened licensing times has not been realized--and will not be until the problem of nonfederal site review are resolved. This problem of duplication among Federal, state, and local review is rapidly becoming a major obstacle in the licensing process. (MCW)

• Research Organization: NUS Corp., Rockville, MD
• OSTI ID: 7318730
• Journal Information: Electr. World; (United States), Journal Name: Electr. World; (United States) Vol. 187:6; ISSN ELWOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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