Nuclear plant licensing requirements

However, once a nuclear plant is built, it can run quite cheaply. The main operating cost of nuclear power plants comes from the cost of uranium.

Uranium is not too expensive, but it has to be fabricated and enriched before it can be used for a nuclear power plant. Nevertheless, the nuclear plant's total operating expenses are a third less than that of gas turbine and fossil fuel plants. The construction of a building a new nuclear power plant includes in construction delays due to extremely expensive price, public opposition, and changes in the regulatory environment.

Moreover, nuclear energy continues to increase in cost while other technologies such as wind and solar energy are becoming more economical. This is because there is a lack of skilled engineers who can install the equipment in the nuclear power industry. If there is no change in the economics of nuclear energy, it will be hard to get a lot of investment in nuclear energy over other multiple alternatives that exist in today's energy industry.

The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. The application should include an explanation of the management controls for the design, construction, commissioning, operations and technical support functions including control of contractors and sufficient objective evidence to demonstrate how these controls have been and will continue to be exercised so as to promote and assure the safety aspects of work being performed.

The application should describe the measures taken to ensure the implementation of the management system procedures. The application should describe how management will make its high-level expectations clear to all workers, through formal and well-publicized statements on elements of its management system such as its vision, mission, core values, guiding principles, safety policy and commitment to foster a healthy safety culture.

The applicant should describe the procurement approach, process or governance for use in the licensed activity. The application should include the provisions to ensure that procurement documents are clear and complete.

The application should describe how the procurement and manufacturing are systematically controlled. The application should explain the steps to be taken and the measures implemented to assure that applicable specifications for goods and services to be procured are met. If the applicant plans to apply a different management system and organizational structure for operating the plant as compared to constructing and commissioning , the application should describe the arrangements including those for the transition from construction to commissioning to operations.

The applicant should document the organizational structure, including the titles of all key positions with responsibilities for the management and control of the licensed activity. The description of the corporate and site management structures should include information on major technical support organizations, designer, constructor, major contractors and subcontractors, and the internal allocation of functions, responsibilities and authority.

The application should describe:. The application should describe how management functions such as policy making, operating, support and review functions necessary for the safe operation of the plant are integrated into the management system.

The applicant should describe the programs covering performance assessment, improvement and management review. The applicant should provide sufficient objective evidence from the programs to demonstrate that the safety policy is implemented effectively.

The application should describe the provisions made for an independent and ongoing safety review, including an objective internal self-evaluation program supported by periodic external reviews and taking into account national and international experience and feedback from the nuclear industry.

The application should describe how organizational effectiveness and safety performance are measured, including the use of performance indicators to detect any shortcomings and deteriorations in safety. The application should describe how organizational changes are managed to prevent degradation of safety performance. The applicant should demonstrate that the analysis of the causes of significant incidents and events will consider technical, organizational and human factors aspects, and that the necessary arrangements have been made to report and analyze near-miss events.

The application should describe how the program has addressed the ways in which plant incidents and events are identified, recorded, investigated, trended and reported, both internally and to the regulator, including how these incidents and events will be used to promote enhanced safety performance of the workers and the plant.

The applicant should demonstrate that the program covers feedback of relevant operational experience from other plants, including the identification of generic problems and the implementation of measures for improvements as required.

The applicant should also explain how feedback from non-event-related operational feedback for example, observation of good practices, lessons learned from post-job briefings will be collected, analyzed and disseminated.

The application should describe the processes proposed to identify, review, approve, control, plan, execute, audit and document the activities related to modifications to the following elements:. The applicant should demonstrate that processes are in place to evaluate the safety significance of proposed modifications, including the requirements for seeking CNSC approvals or providing notification where necessary.

For pressure boundary SSCs, the application should describe the arrangements that have been made to ensure the related quality assurance requirements are established in governance and in implementation processes and procedures. The application should describe how the modification control processes cover the changes made to the physical plant, to safety-related software, to operating limits and to other important plant procedures.

The application should describe how the applicant ensures that the as-built configuration of the plant is aligned with the design and safety analysis. The application should demonstrate that the following items are addressed in support of a healthy safety culture:. The application should describe the strategy leading to the establishment and maintenance of a healthy safety culture for all workers performing licensed activities, including all levels of contractors.

For additional information, refer to the documents listed in appendix C. The application should clearly state how the principles of safety culture will be promoted and regularly assessed throughout the organization. In addition, the application should describe how the results of documented periodic self-assessments will be used in the overall strategy for improving safety performance.

The application should describe the provisions for maintaining all required documents and records, including the processes for identifying and categorizing controlled documents. The application should describe elements of record management control, such as retention periods, methods for indexing and placing records in proper locations, and provisions for security and access. The applicant should submit a business continuity plan.

This plan should include contingency provisions for pandemics and for possible labour disruptions while maintaining staffing of key positions in support of the minimum shift complement. The human performance management SCA covers activities that enable effective human performance through the development and implementation of processes that ensure that a sufficient number of licensee personnel are in all relevant job areas and have the necessary knowledge, skills, procedures and tools in place to safely carry out their duties.

The application should describe the qualifications, adequate numbers, skills and competencies required by workers at the facility. The description should include the measures to ensure a sufficient number of workers in all job areas, and that workers have the necessary knowledge, skills, procedures and tools in place to safely carry out their duties.

The application should describe the measures to promote and support human performance at all levels in the organization. The application should demonstrate various measures to identify and monitor human performance weaknesses and to correct any organizational deficiencies to minimize human error.

The application should describe the workforce planning process — including measures for knowledge transfer — to ensure that workers are recruited and trained to fill each key role within the organization. The application should describe how the human performance program addresses and integrates the range of human factors that influence human performance, including but not limited to:.

The applicant shall submit a description of any proposed full-scope training simulator used for the facility and the manner in which the simulator will be used to support operation.

The application shall include descriptions of the initial and continuing training programs for all workers engaged in licensed activities, including workers employed as trainers and instructional staff. For positions requiring certification as set out in RD, Certification of Persons Working at Nuclear Power Plants Footnote 6 , the application shall include details on the program that will be implemented to achieve the specified requirements for certification training and testing.

The applicant shall submit roles and responsibilities of certified positions to support the training programs for certified workers at the plant. The application should describe the certification training and testing programs established for the certification of personnel for work relating to the safe operation and maintenance of the plant.

The application should describe how the certification training will be linked to, or build upon, the training programs that are common to other workers. The application should include any proposed alternate approaches that will be implemented to achieve certification and information on how the training and testing positions for the certification program will be staffed.

The application should include information on the qualifications of the examiners and training personnel required to conduct certification-related training and testing on the full-scope training simulator. The applicant should demonstrate that the training and testing of certified personnel ensure that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform the duties required to oversee and supervise operating activities.

The applicant should submit the certification exam results or provide references where appropriate. The applicant should demonstrate that the programs ensure that only personnel who hold a CNSC certification for a position are assigned to that position these positions are directly related to the safe operation of the plant; for example, responsible health physicist, shift manager, authorized nuclear operator.

The application shall describe an examination program to support workers certification in accordance with RD, Certification of Persons Working at Nuclear Power Plants Footnote 6. The application should describe the minimum number of workers with specific qualifications required for normal operations and accident conditions minimum shift complement , and the measures in place to mitigate the effect of any violations of the minimum shift complement until minimum complement is restored.

The application should state the minimum number and position of certified personnel at all times in the nuclear facility and in the main control room.

The applicant should demonstrate that the adequacy of the minimum shift complement has been determined through a systematic analysis to identify the required number of workers and their qualifications.

The applicant should demonstrate that the minimum shift complement can meet the performance requirements and support the safe operation of the plant. The application shall describe how the requirements for fitness for duty will be implemented for workers in accordance with RD, Certification of Persons Working at Nuclear Power Plants Footnote 6. The application should identify the oversight requirements for supervisors of certified and security personnel from the perspective of fitness for duty.

The operating performance SCA includes an overall review of the conduct of the licensed activities and the activities that enable effective performance. The application shall include information on how the applicant will ensure that normal plant operations:. The application shall describe the proposed measures, policies, methods and procedures for operating and maintaining the nuclear facility. The application should describe the means for preparation of equipment for maintenance and the monitoring of SSCs to confirm that they will continue to operate as required by the design.

The application should describe the principles, policies, programs, processes and procedures for operating and maintaining the plant.

The application should also describe how the applicant will:. The application should describe how the operating principles, policies, processes and programs will confirm that the SSCs, as an integrated unit, will perform and function in accordance with the design specifications and regulatory requirements, and as credited in the safety analysis.

The application should include information regarding the development, verification, validation and implementation of programs and procedures related to commissioning, reliability testing, maintenance and operation. For a new facility, the application should describe the processes used to ensure that the performance of the SSCs has been assured from construction to operation and when in the future major modifications are made to the facility.

The application should describe the development, verification, validation and implementation of operating procedures covering normal, abnormal, unplanned and emergency conditions including beyond-design-basis accidents and severe accidents.

The application should include information on how the applicant will ensure that the normal operating procedures are conducted safely in all normal operational configurations including startup, power operation, shutting down, shutdown, cooldown, load changes, power transients and fuel handling , and that operation will be consistent with the safe operating envelope for the plant. The application should describe how all normal, abnormal, unplanned and emergency operating procedures will be validated.

The application should include a description of how the corresponding requirements for surveillance, maintenance and repair are specified, to ensure that these parameters remain within acceptable limits and that systems and components are operable.

Where appropriate, this information should be supported by means of a deterministic safety analysis and a probabilistic safety assessment. The application should state the safe operating limits and conditions pertaining to reactor core, channel and fuel bundle powers. The information submitted should describe how the applicant will comply with limits imposed by the design and safety analysis assumptions — for example, the total power generated in any one fuel bundle, the total power generated in any fuel channel, and the total thermal power from the reactor fuel.

The application should clearly describe the actions to be taken if the limits and conditions are not met. The information available on the set of limits and conditions and the accompanying design information for the plant should be sufficient to support the training, qualification and certification of plant workers.

The application should describe the approach and relevant arrangements that are proposed for conducting maintenance outages, as required by the operating cycle and other factors. The information submitted should demonstrate that an outage management program exists for the management of planned outages, including a review to ensure proper scoping, planning and execution of safety-related commitments such as for heat sinks and dose control.

The application should also describe the policies, programs, processes and procedures governing the various aspects of outages, including human resources aspects. The outage management program should describe the designated criteria that the licensee will follow to confirm that planned and discovery work has been satisfactorily completed. The application should also describe the emergency operating procedures EOPs for accident management.

The information submitted should demonstrate that these procedures and guidelines support the operator when responding to anticipated and unanticipated events. The application should describe the systematic approach, and the principles and data used to develop the EOPs and SAM guidelines. In the application, the description of the accident management program should include high-level information on:. The safety analysis SCA covers maintenance of the safety analysis that supports the overall safety case for the facility.

Safety analysis is a systematic evaluation of the potential hazards associated with the conduct of a proposed activity or facility and considers the effectiveness of preventive measures and strategies in reducing the effects of such hazards. The application shall include a safety analysis of the NPP. The safety analysis should include a deterministic safety analysis, a probabilistic safety assessment PSA and a hazards analysis.

Whenever operator action is taken into account, the application should demonstrate that the operators will have reliable information, sufficient time to perform the required actions, documented procedures to follow, and will have been trained. For new facilities, the application should demonstrate that the safety analysis has been updated to reflect all changes made during construction and fuel-out commissioning. The safety analysis shall identify postulated initiating events PIEs using a systematic methodology for example, failure modes and effects analysis.

The information provided should demonstrate that all foreseeable events with the potential for serious consequences or with a significant frequency of occurrence are anticipated and considered.

For a site with multiple units, the application should describe how the design and safety analyses have taken into account the potential for specific hazards simultaneously affecting several units on the site. The application shall include a deterministic safety analysis to evaluate and justify plant safety, conducted in accordance with REGDOC The level of conservatism of each deterministic safety analysis should be appropriate for the class of event analyzed and the analysis objectives.

The deterministic safety analysis should demonstrate that applicable dose limits under design-basis accidents DBAs are met. The application should describe a method of evaluating the significance of gaps identified such as applying a graded approach against REGDOC The applicant shall provide a hazard analysis that has been performed in accordance with the requirements of REGDOC Footnote The application should describe the analysis of all potential hazards internal and external , both natural and human-induced.

Some examples are:. The application should describe the analysis of any potential combinations of the external hazards. It should also consider the potential interaction of external and internal hazards, such as external events that initiate internal fires or floods, or interactions that may lead to missile generation.

For a site with multiple units, the application should describe how the potential for specific hazards simultaneously affecting several units has been taken into account. The application should describe how the results of the PSA have been used to identify any plant vulnerabilities.

With support from the PSA, the application should also:. The applicant shall demonstrate that a severe accident analysis has been performed in accordance with the requirements of:.

The format and content of the beyond-design-basis accident BDBA analyses should be consistent with the presentation of the analyses for anticipated operational occurrences and design-basis events.

In addition, the application should:. In addition, the information submitted should describe the evaluation that has been carried out on the capability of complementary plant design features to meet the design criteria. The application should demonstrate the capability of the design to mitigate certain BDBAs.

The applicant should explain the choice of the BDBAs to be analyzed and justified, indicating whether the choice was made on the basis of a PSA or according to another fault analysis that identifies potential vulnerabilities of the plant. Additionally, the applicant should describe, explain and justify the approach taken. The application should describe how the analysis:. Where this is not possible, reasonably conservative assumptions should be made. These assumptions should consider uncertainties in the understanding of the physical processes being modelled.

The application should include information concerning the integrated review of the plant design and operational safety, carried out to complement the results of the deterministic analyses already performed and to give an indication of the success of the design in achieving the design objectives.

The application shall provide the results of a review of event mitigation measures in accordance with the requirements of REGDOC The physical design SCA relates to activities that affect the ability of SSCs to meet and maintain their design basis, given new information arising over time and taking changes in the external environment into account. The application should include a general description of the overall conceptual physical design of the NPP, the design practices and the safety concepts.

The application should also describe the approach followed for the general design of the SSCs. For existing NPPs, the application should address the information in this section to the extent practicable. Any alternative approaches selected or mitigating measures applied should be identified. The application may refer to information that was submitted previously for example, in the application for a licence to construct.

The set of documents that address the requirements in this section should be submitted only once for the initial application , with few subsequent revisions. The application should demonstrate that normal plant operations can be carried out safely such that radiation doses to workers and members of the public, and any planned discharges or releases of radioactive material from the plant, will be within authorized limits.

In addition, the application should demonstrate that the dose acceptance criteria and safety goals are met. For each SSC, the application should describe in detail the characteristics, major components and design basis requirements such as the functional and performance requirements associated with the definition of design basis , including the following information:.

The design information should reflect all design modifications and changes made during previous licensing periods or phases. The application should refer to, or summarize, the information previously submitted in any relevant environmental assessment or licensing documentation, such as environmental impact statements and any previous licence application.

This information includes:. The application should describe the design principles and requirements that cover the processes for the overall conceptual design of the facility, and the operation and interaction of all of the SSCs to be addressed. To ensure that the NPP will be reliable, robust and maintainable, the applicant should ensure that the design:. When aspects of the design are based on conservative deterministic principles, such as those outlined in international codes and standards or in regulatory documents, the application should describe the use of such principles.

If the design of the plant does not fully comply with a specific deterministic principle in a regulatory document, the applicant should demonstrate that the overall level of safety is not impaired. The application should identify the criteria used for determining the level of acceptable risk, and should show that the criteria meet general safety objectives and concepts. The application should describe how the safety objectives and goals have been met in the design of SSCs.

Where there is some redundancy of information requested in various sections, the application may include cross-references to detailed information in other sections as appropriate. Safety objectives include general nuclear safety objectives, radiation protection objectives, technical safety objectives and environmental protection objectives. Safety goals include qualitative and quantitative safety goals, core damage frequency, and small and large release frequencies.

The application should identify the design authority responsible for the overall design. If the design authority has been transferred from another organization, the applicant should provide the formal relationships including roles and responsibilities and the prerequisites that had to be met prior to the transfer.

The applicant should evaluate these documents for their applicability, sufficiency and adequacy, and provide the results in the application. If necessary, the standards used should be supplemented with additional requirements that should also be identified in the application.

The applicant should provide an assessment, such as a gap analysis, if the codes and standards differ from those used in Canada. The application should include information pertaining to cases where requirements contained in any of the applicable regulations or codes and standards are not met.

The application should include an assessment of the safety significance of any deviations from applicable codes and standards. Where necessary, a separate and complete justification should be provided for each deviation.

This justification should be included wherever applicable in the licence application or in documents referenced in the licence application. The applicant should demonstrate that a systematic process has been applied throughout the design phase to ensure that the design meets all relevant safety requirements, and that the plant design process has followed proven engineering practices.

The applicant should ensure that the plant design meets all other applicable safety and regulatory requirements. This section should provide the following information for each system that is credited or that supports a credited system in the safety analysis:. For operational states normal operation and anticipated operational occurrences AOOs , the information should cover configurations such as start-up, normal power operation, shutting down, shutdown, refuelling and any other normal operating configuration.

The application should identify the key parameters and unique characteristics of each operational configuration, including the specific design provision for maintaining the configuration. The application should also provide the permissible periods of operation at different conditions for example, power level in the event of a deviation from normal operating conditions.

The application should include a cross-reference to the plant design envelope, which includes all plant states. The applicant should demonstrate that the design authority has established the plant design envelope. The applicant should provide, in general terms, the approach taken to incorporate the defence-in-depth concept into the design of the NPP. The design approach adopted should ensure that multiple and to the extent practicable independent levels and barriers for defence are present in order to provide protection against AOOs and accidents, regardless of their origin.

The application should describe the selection of the main barriers, with particular emphasis placed on SSCs important to safety. The application should describe any proposed operator actions to mitigate the consequences of events and to assist in the performance of important plant safety functions. The application should describe how the fundamental safety functions have been incorporated into the design of the NPP.

The application should provide information on the SSCs used to perform necessary safety functions at various time intervals following a PIE. The application should also identify and provide a description of any additional plant safety functions; for example, heat removal from irradiated fuel in fuel handling and storage systems.

The application should describe the approach adopted in the design for the safety classification of the SSCs. It should include criteria for deciding on the appropriate design requirements for each class, such as:. The applicant should demonstrate that all SSCs important to safety have been designed with sufficient quality and reliability to meet the design limits.

The applicant should provide a reliability analysis for each of these SSCs. The application should include considerations of:. The application should describe how the plant design takes into account human factors.

It should describe the systematic process that has been followed, for all systems, to incorporate considerations of human factors into the specification, definition and analysis of requirements; design activities; and verification and validation activities. The application should describe the interfaces of human factors in design with other areas for example, as inputs to the development of operating and other procedures and training.

The application should also describe the considerations of human factors that apply to the design of specific SSCs, including:. The application should include a list of human factors analyses and activities that were used in developing the design.

The applicant should demonstrate that human factors engineering and human-machine interface considerations have been applied to all operational states and accident conditions, and for all plant locations where such interactions are anticipated. The applicant should also provide a human factors engineering program plan. For additional information on human factors design requirements, refer to:.

The application shall include a description of the design approach adopted that demonstrates the facility design meets the requirements of the Radiation Protection Regulations. The information submitted shall demonstrate that, in all operational states, radiation doses within the plant or any planned release of radioactive material from the plant are kept below regulatory limits and are as low as reasonably achievable ALARA.

The information submitted should demonstrate that the design includes considerations of both physical protection concerns and transportation routes, in accordance with the requirements of the Nuclear Security Regulations and RD, Site Evaluation for New Nuclear Power Plants Footnote The application should describe both the general design approach and the approach and provisions followed to ensure the physical protection of the plant including control areas against internal and external sabotage.

These measures should take into account the selection of specific materials, the physical separation of redundant systems, the performance requirements of the equipment, and the use of barriers to segregate redundant safety trains. Note: Applicant submission and resultant review correspondence related to this topic is considered to be prescribed information under the NSCA and must be submitted in a secure manner. Refer to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Policy on Government Security Footnote 17 for further details on handling, submitting and transmitting assets considered security-sensitive.

With respect to the design and design process, the information submitted should demonstrate that the design and design process comply with the obligations arising from the safeguards agreement between Canada and the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.

For additional information on safeguards, see section 4. The application should describe the control of design modifications such that the NPP is maintained and modified within the limits prescribed by the design, analysis and once established licensing basis.

To ensure adequate configuration management, the application should describe the design basis. The application should also describe the processes for maintaining the design basis, taking into account new information, operating experience, safety analyses, resolution of safety issues or correction of deficiencies. The application should describe how design changes are assessed, addressed and accurately reflected in the safety analyses or analysis of record prior to implementation.

Feedback into the design and design process from operating experience and safety research. The application should describe how lessons learned from the operation of other plants or results of new research have been incorporated into the submitted plant design. With respect to the design and design process, the application should describe how feedback from operating experience OPEX and safety research takes into account:. The application should describe how, in general, the design process and its outputs support the design for system and equipment operability and maintainability.

The application should demonstrate that the design provides for the detection, exclusion and removal of all foreign material and corrosion products that may have an effect on safety. The application should specify, describe and explain the appropriateness of any other safety requirements or criteria that have been respected in the design to reduce the effect of failures and enhance the safety of the design. The description should include, but not be limited to:.

The application should include considerations of future plant decommissioning and dismantling activities. The application should also include considerations of the requirements for storage of radioactive waste after the end of commercial operation. You're almost there! Just enter your email below and get instant access to the nuclear electrical engineer's trap-avoidance handbook.

By signing up you agree to our terms. The NRC explained this in the background information published in association with the rule change: This extensive use of technical specifications was due in part to a lack of well-defined criteria in either the body of the rule or in some other regulatory document for what should be included in technical specifications.

A process variable, design feature, or operating restriction that is an initial condition of a design basis accident or transient analysis that either assumes the failure of or presents a challenge to the integrity of a fission product barrier. A structure, system, or component that is part of the primary success path and which functions or actuates to mitigate a design basis accident or transient that either assumes the failure of or presents a challenge to the integrity of a fission product barrier.

A structure, system, or component which operating experience or probabilistic risk assessment has shown to be significant to public health and safety. The NRC explained: LCOs that do not meet any of the criteria, and their associated actions and surveillance requirements, may be proposed for relocation from the technical specifications to licensee- controlled documents, such as the FSAR.

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