(a) Requirements.

(1) Each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant licensed to operate under this part, each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant licensed under subpart C of 10 CFR part 52 after the Commission makes the finding under §52.103(g) of this chapter, and each design for a light-water-cooled nuclear power plant approved under a standard design approval, standard design certification, and manufacturing license under part 52 of this chapter must be able to withstand for a specified duration and recover from a station blackout as defined in §50.2. The specified station blackout duration shall be based on the following factors:

(i) The redundancy of the onsite emergency ac power sources;

(ii) The reliability of the onsite emergency ac power sources;

(iii) The expected frequency of loss of offsite power; and

(iv) The probable time needed to restore offsite power.

(2) The reactor core and associated coolant, control, and protection systems, including station batteries and any other necessary support systems, must provide sufficient capacity and capability to ensure that the core is cooled and appropriate containment integrity is maintained in the event of a station blackout for the specified duration. The capability for coping with a station blackout of specified duration shall be determined by an appropriate coping analysis. Licensees are expected to have the baseline assumptions, analyses, and related information used in their coping evaluations available for NRC review.

(b) Limitation of scope. Paragraph (c) of this section does not apply to those plants licensed to operate prior to July 21, 1988, if the capability to withstand station blackout was specifically addressed in the operating license proceeding and was explicitly approved by the NRC.

(c) Implementation—(1) Information Submittal. For each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant licensed to operate on or before July 21, 1988, the licensee shall submit the information defined below to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation by April 17, 1989. For each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant licensed to operate after July 21, 1988, but before September 27, 2007, the licensee shall submit the information defined in this section to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, by 270 days after the date of license issuance. For each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant operating license application submitted after September 27, 2007, the applicant shall submit the information defined below in its final safety analysis report.

(i) A proposed station blackout duration to be used in determining compliance with paragraph (a) of this section, including a justification for the selection based on the four factors identified in paragraph (a) of this section;

(ii) A description of the procedures that will be implemented for station blackout events for the duration determined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section and for recovery therefrom; and

(iii) A list of modifications to equipment and associated procedures, if any, necessary to meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, for the specified station blackout duration determined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, and a proposed schedule for implementing the stated modifications.

(2) Alternate ac source: The alternate ac power source(s), as defined in §50.2, will constitute acceptable capability to withstand station blackout provided an analysis is performed which demonstrates that the plant has this capability from onset of the station blackout until the alternate ac source(s) and required shutdown equipment are started and lined up to operate. The time required for startup and alignment of the alternate ac power source(s) and this equipment shall be demonstrated by test. Alternate ac source(s) serving a multiple unit site where onsite emergency ac sources are not shared between units must have, as a minimum, the capacity and capability for coping with a station blackout in any of the units. At sites where onsite emergency ac sources are shared between units, the alternate ac source(s) must have the capacity and capability as required to ensure that all units can be brought to and maintained in safe shutdown (non-DBA) as defined in §50.2. If the alternate ac source(s) meets the above requirements and can be demonstrated by test to be available to power the shutdown buses within 10 minutes of the onset of station blackout, then no coping analysis is required.

(3) Regulatory Assessment: After consideration of the information submitted in accordance with paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, will notify the licensee of the Director's conclusions regarding the adequacy of the proposed specified station blackout duration, the proposed equipment modifications and procedures, and the proposed schedule for implementing the procedures and modifications for compliance with paragraph (a) this section.

(4) Implementation Schedule: For each light-water-cooled nuclear power plant licensed to operate on or before June 21, 1988, the licensee shall, within 30 days of the notification provided in accordance with paragraph (c)(3) of this section, submit to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation a schedule commitment for implementing any equipment and associated procedure modifications necessary to meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section. This submittal must include an explanation of the schedule and a justification if the schedule does not provide for completion of the modifications within two years of the notification provided in accordance with paragraph (c)(3) of this section. A final schedule for implementing modifications necessary to comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section will be established by the NRC staff in consultation and coordination with the affected licensee.

[53 FR 23215, June 21, 1988, as amended at 63 FR 50480, Sept. 22, 1998; 72 FR 49501, Aug. 28, 2007]