Regulatory Requirements for Site Approval Permit of Nuclear Power Plants By Prof. Dr. Abdel-Hamid Nada Chairman of Radiation Control Division NRRA-EGYPT National Center for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control Nuclear and Radiation Regulatory Authority (2010) (NRRA)-Egypt
The establishment of a competent regulatory body in Egypt goes back to 1982. In 1982 the Nuclear Regulatory and Safety Committee was established. This committee was transferred to be the National Center of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control (NCNSRC) by the Decree of President No. 47 of 1991 which reorganized the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA). The NCNSRC was established for the aim to create adequate review and assessment expertise and technical capabilities to provide assurance for operating nuclear facilities safety without undue radiation risk to environment operators and the public.
The (NCNSRC) is one of the four centers that belong to Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA), while EAEA is one of three organizations operating within the nuclear field. Besides EAEA there are two other organizations, the Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA) and the Nuclear Materials Authority (NMA) Figure (1) shows the charts of the Egyptian nuclear organizations in Egypt, while fig. (2) shows the organization structure of EAEA.
Minister of Electricity & Energy Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA) Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) Nuclear Materials Authority (NMA) Fig. 1: Organization Structure of Nuclear Authorities in Egypt
The status of Development of Egyptian Legislation The origins of nuclear legislation and regulation in Egypt go back to the 1950s. Laws relating to atomic energy include the following:
Act No. 509 Of 1955, which established the Atomic Energy Commission; Decree of the President No. 288 of 1957, which established the Atomic Energy Establishment, which in 1977 became the Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA); Law No. 59 of 1960, which concerns the regulation of work with ionizing radiation and Protection against its dangers; Decree of the President No. 47 of 1991, which reorganized the EAEA and formally created the National Centre for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control (NCNSRC);
Law No. 4 of 1994 concerning protection of the environment, especially from the adverse effects of hazardous material and hazardous waste,including substances that emit ionizing radiation. Ministerial Decree No. 535 of 2004 concerning hazardous substances. Decree of the President No. 152 of 2006 and its executive Ministerial Decrees (No. 419, 420 and 421, 2006) concerning the Egyptian System of Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials.
Decree of the President No.7 of 2010 which concerns management of Nuclear and Radiation activates in Egypt. The law established an independent body, known as Nuclear and Radiation Regulatory Authority, to monitor and control nuclear and radiation facilities, activities and practices, reporting to the prime minister. The law covering safety, security, safeguards and liability for the whole peaceful application of atomic energy. The law concerns transfer all the staff members and employees of the NCNSRC to be the New Regulatory Body.
Activities of the regulatory body Notification and Authorization process Review and Assessment procedures; Inspection and Enforcement; Development and implementation of regulations Licensing of Nuclear and Radiation facilities Transportation of radioactive materials. Implementation of the Egyptian system of accounting and control of nuclear materials
Stages of the Licensing Process for Nuclear Power Plants for Nuclear Power Plants Site approval permit; Construction permit; Testing before operation permit; Fuel loading permit; Operating license; Decommissioning license.
The purpose of this regulatory document is: NRRA-EGYPT Explain to the applicant the process of issuing the site approval permit as part of the licensing process for NPP in Egypt. Criteria and required information to be applied in site survey, site evaluation stages. Evaluating the proposed site to ensure that the site related phenomena and characteristics are adequately taken into account; Analysis the characteristics of the population of the region and the capability of implementing emergency plans over the projected lifetime of the plant.
The information and documents to be presented by the applicant should include the following: NRRA-EGYPT A written application requesting site approval; Purpose of facility; Documents which indicate the legal rights of the applicant on the site. Preliminary data on the reactor type, power and design. Description of the site including the location, perimeters, areas. Design bases of the reactor. Complete report of the entire site survey. Site Evaluation Report (SER) which evaluate all the data information relevant to site characteristics. Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) Safety Analysis Report (SAR) (siting part)
Siting Process for Nuclear Power Plants Siting process includes three main stages: NRRA-EGYPT 1- Site survey: To identify one or more preferred candidate sites after both safety and non-safety criteria have been taken into consideration. This stage begins with delineating the region of interest and proceeds through three phases: Regional analysis to identify potential sites. Screening of potential sites to select candidate sites. Comparison and ranking of candidate sites to obtain the preferred candidate site.
Rejection Criteria that should be followed during site survey: NRRA-EGYPT Areas that show evidences or having potential for surface faulting in their vicinity (5 Km radius around the site) are excluded. Preference should be given to sites located at a sufficient safety distances from capable faults (at least the site and site vicinity must show the absence of capable faults). Areas close to major population centres and of high density population (more than 150 inhabitants/ acre where 1 acre = 4046.85 m2) based on General Organization for physical planning classification in Egypt, within a 20 Km radius around the facility site.
Areas covered with deep unsuitable soil, where soil having a potential for liquefaction or subsidence or karstic hazards. Areas that contain extensive and important ground or surface drinking water resources which are used by the public such as Nile Delta and its valley region. Areas subjected to high flood levels through prehistorically or historical information and records of the occurrences and severity levels, where no practical engineering solutions are available to mitigate their effect.
Requirements for site evaluation Site Characterization: (Site Reference Data) Site characteristics that may affect the safety of the plant or vice versa should be investigated with respect to the relevant items and the results should be evaluated and presented. Geography and Topography Meteorology Water and land use Hydrology (surface and subsurface hydrology) Geology and Seismology These reference data are the basics for site evaluation with respect to; Dispersion studies in air and water ; external natural and human induced events (Seismic hazards, flood hazards ); radiological and non radiological impacts, etc.
Site evaluation report covers criteria, requirement and required information of the following topics: 1- Geography and topography; 2- Uses of land and water in the region, 3- Population distribution; 4- External natural and human induced events; 5- Meteorological events; 6- Dispersion studies in air and water; 7- Flood hazards studies; 8- Seismological Hazards assessment; 9- Environmental monitoring of contamination; 10- Radioactive dose limits for normal and accidental conditions; 11- Social and economic aspects, 12- Quality assurance programme; 13- Emergency plan for a proposed site.
Site Reference Data 1- Geography and Topography: NRRA-EGYPT Site location of the NPP should be described, investigated and evaluated. Area and region including housing, industrial, agricultural and tourist development. Transportation routes that traverse or adjacent to the site such as, highways, roads, water ways, and rail lines or electrical routes. Infrastructure routes in and around the site and this should include electrical, communication lines, gas and oil pipes and main drinking water pipes, etc. Topographical details and features in and around the site.
Site Reference Data NRRA-EGYPT 2- Meteorology: - Regional Climatology - Site Meteorological Measurements Program Meteorological measurements should provide data for an adequate time period (at least one full year) as representative of the site before the start of the plane construction and should continue for the lifetime of the plant. Precipitation, air temperature, wind velocity, wind direction, and solar radiation or net radiation levels, atmospheric pressure and humidity
Water and land use Uses of land and water shall be characterized in order to assess the potential effects of the nuclear installation in the region and particularly for the purposes of preparing emergency plans. The investigation should cover land and water bodies that may be used by the population or may serve as a habitat for organisms in the food chain (drinking, irrigation, industry, fishing..). Hydrology (surface and subsurface hydrology) Dispersion studies in air and water ; external natural and human induced events (Seismic hazards, flood hazards ); radiological and non radiological impacts, etc. Surface water investigation should include : Seas, rivers, estuaries, surface stream, springs, seepage, lakes, and ponds over an area around the site large enough that could affect the plant design and to take account of potential contamination into and out of the surface waters bodies.
Data Evaluation External Natural and Human Induced Events The proposed site of NPP is examined with regards to the frequency and severity of external natural and human induced events with consideration to: the potentional of direct and indirect effects of the event that could affect the safety and security of the NPP systems and the environment. External Natural Induced Events: 1- Seismic hazard assessment: to define the design basis ground motion levels and site-specific response spectra, determining if the site having known capable fault, potential for surface faulting, potential earthquake, liquefaction, slope instability, subsidence, etc 2- Meteorological events: - The extreme values of meteorological variables such as temperature, strong wind speed, heavy precipitation (rain and snow), ice storms and seawater level.
- Rare meteorological phenomena that occur infrequently such as tornadoes, tropical cyclones, thunderstorms (lightning and thunder), dust and sand storms, and flooding, etc. 3- Flood hazard studies : - Due to Precipitation and other Causes; maximum flood waves resulting from; run off or on site precipitation, water structure or dam failure, increasing groundwater level. And runoff floods from water courses, reservoirs, adjacent drainage areas and site drainage system. Induced flood by Earthquakes or Other Geological Phenomena ; Flood waves resulting from seismically generated water based effect on and off the site. For coastal and estuary sites all information (long records) related to tsunami and seiches and combined effect of tides and strong winds should be collected and evaluated. 4- Climate change: The evaluation report should consider the change across the projected lifetime of the NPP.
5- Geotechnical Hazards: The stability of the foundation material under dynamic, static, and seismic loading is assessed. The investigation should cover if there is a potential site instability (collapse, subsidence, surface uplift, liquefaction..). NRRA-EGYPT External Human Induced Events: Mobile sources :i.e. by road, rail, waterways, air, pipelines, aircraft crashes (air Traffic), surface transport (ports, harbours, canals etc. Stationary sources : industrial waste, fire cause by explosion from hazardous materials, chemical and radiological, electromagnetic interference hazards, nearby industrial facility, military and transportation facilities. etc.
Potential Effects of the NPP on the site -Dispersion of radioactive releases that is either routinely discharged or accidentally released from NPP where they may reach the public either through air or water. Dispersion in air ( long and short term- diffusion) Dispersion in surface and ground waters and their effect on :- - Population distribution (Exclusion area, LPZ, emergency planning, etc.) Uses of land and water in the region
Environmental Monitoring of Contamination Pre-operational studies should be performed for practices to establish baseline environmental radiation levels and activity concentrations for the purpose of subsequently determining the impacts of the source Social- economical aspects in the site - Evaluation of the Social and economic issues. - Impacts on the socioeconomic structure of a community after construction, and operation of a nuclear power station. Radiological and Non- Radiological Impacts The background level of radioactivity shall be covered at the beginning. Then the radiological impacts to the public and the environment should be carefully monitored, documented and compared to the appropriate standards.
Quality Assurance (QA) : QA for Site evaluation process shall be done inall siting processes which considered as a part of the overall QA program for the NPP. (Quality assurance program shall cover the organization, planning, control, personal qualification and training.. ) Emergency Plan: The feasibility of an emergency plan should be demonstrated. There should be no adverse site conditions which could hinder the sheltering or evacuation of the evacuation of the population in the region.
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