NRC Updates Spent Fuel Inspection Playbook
Published Date: 2/14/2025
Rule
Summary
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission just released a new guide to help spent fuel storage folks follow inspection rules safely and smoothly. If you run or manage spent fuel storage sites, this guide shows you the best ways to check and maintain your equipment to keep everything secure. The guide is effective starting February 14, 2025, and helps avoid costly mistakes by clarifying inspection steps.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
New NRC guide for spent fuel inspections
If you operate or manage an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI), are a general licensee, or hold a certificate of compliance (CoC) for spent fuel storage systems, the NRC issued Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.78, Revision 0, on February 14, 2025. The guide provides methods the NRC staff considers acceptable for complying with NRC regulations for inservice inspection of confinement boundary components and for aging management activities associated with renewals of ISFSIs, general licenses, and CoC holders.
Endorsement of ASME Code Case N-860
RG 3.78 endorses the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Case N-860, titled "Inspection Requirements and Evaluation Standards for Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage and Transportation Containment Systems Section XI, Division 1; Section XI, Division 2," dated July 6, 2020. Licensees and applicants can use the endorsed Code Case as an NRC-acceptable approach for inservice inspection and related evaluations.
Guide is voluntary — no new mandate
The RG states that applicants and licensees would not be required to comply with the positions set forth in RG 3.78 and that issuance of the guide does not constitute backfitting or forward fitting. The revision became available on February 14, 2025.
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