NRC Asks Areva For More Information On US EPR Systems
Written by NucNet
Monday, 26 July 2010
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has told Areva that the company has yet to demonstrate how some aspects of its US Evolutionary Power Reactor (US EPR) digital instrumentation and control system meet NRC requirements.
In a letter to Areva the NRC acknowledged progress in resolving the issues, particularly a discussion during a public meeting last month and a recent letter from Areva proposing revisions to the system. But the NRC staff said that additional information is needed to determine the system’s acceptability.
The NRC said Areva needs to “better demonstrate” that each safety division in the system can perform its function without relying on information originating from outside the safety division and is protected from adverse influence from outside the division.
Areva also needs to show that data exchanged between safety and non-safety divisions are processed in a manner that does not adversely affect the function of the safety division.
The NRC staff said it is continuing its work on the remainder of the US EPR design certification application. Areva submitted the application on 11 December 2007.
