Plant parameter envelopes for early site permit evaluations

In 1991, the US Department of Energy and the US nuclear industry initiated a cost-shared Early Site Permit Demonstration Program (ESPDP) to demonstrate the practical implementation of new regulations concerning early site permits (ESPs). The ESPs are expected to contribute to regulatory stability for future nuclear plant orders by addressing site-related issues before an organization makes a major financial investment in committing to build a new plant. The new licensing process increases an organization's ability to respond to future base-load electricity generation needs by open-quotes bankingclose quotes suitable sites and by resolving safety and environmental issues for those sites well before new plants are needed. The objective of the ESPDP is to successfully demonstrate the use of 10CFR52 to obtain ESP(S) for US site(s) for one or more advanced light water reactor (ALWR) nuclear power plants. Certain specific plant-site information is generally not expected to be available at the time of application for an ESP because an ESP applicant may not have made a final decision on which ALWR design may be built on the site because the applicant can wait up to nearly 20 yr after obtaining an ESP before applying for a plant construction permit. To satisfy National Environmental Policy Act requirements, information on the potential environmental impact of the unspecified future plant must be provided with the ESP application. Therefore, an enveloping approach, called plant parameter envelopes (PPEs), was developed to provide required plant information. This paper provides a description of the PPE concept and explains why it is a prudent approach to use for performing safety and environmental impact assessments in support of an ESP application