§ 53.1630 Immediate notification requirements for operating commercial nuclear plants.
(a) General requirements.
1
(1) Each holder of an OL under this part or a COL under this part after the Commission makes the finding under § 53.1452(g), must notify the NRC Headquarters Operations Center via the Emergency Notification System (ENS) of—
1 Other requirements for immediate notification of the NRC by licensed operating commercial nuclear plants are contained elsewhere in this chapter, in particular §§ 20.1906, 20.2202, 72.216, 73.77, and 73.1200 of this chapter.
(i) The declaration of any of the Emergency Classes specified in the licensee's approved Emergency Plan; or
(ii) Those non-emergency events specified in paragraph (b) of this section that occurred within 3 years of the date of discovery.
(2) If the ENS is inoperative, the licensee must make the required notifications via commercial telephone service, other dedicated telephone system, or any other method which will ensure that a report is made as soon as practical to the NRC Headquarters Operations Center at the numbers specified in appendix A to part 73 of this chapter.
(3) The licensee must notify the NRC immediately after notification of the appropriate State or local agencies and not later than 1 hour after the time the licensee declares one of the Emergency Classes.
(4) The licensee must activate the data links with the NRC as specified in their emergency plans after declaring an Emergency Class for events of actual or potential substantial degradation of plant safety or security, probable risk to site personnel life, or site equipment damage caused by hostile action. The data links may also be activated by the licensee during emergency drills or exercises if the licensee's computer system has the capability to transmit the exercise data.
(5) When making a report under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the licensee must identify—
(i) The Emergency Class declared; or
(ii) Paragraph (b)(1), “One-hour reports,” paragraph (b)(2), “Four-hour reports,” or paragraph (b)(3), “Eight-hour reports,” as the paragraph of this section requiring notification of the non-emergency event.
(6) In lieu of submitting a report required under paragraph (b)(2) or (b)(3) of this section through the Emergency Notification System, the licensee may submit the report using other methods, provided the licensee submits the report to the NRC Headquarters Operations Center within the required timeframe and confirms receipt of the report by the NRC.
(b) Non-emergency events—(1) One-hour reports. If not reported as a declaration of an Emergency Class under paragraph (a) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical and in all cases within one hour of the occurrence of any deviation from the plant's Technical Specifications authorized under § 53.740(h) of this part.
(2) Four-hour reports. If not reported under paragraphs (a) or (b)(1) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical, and in all cases within 4 hours of the occurrence of any of the following:
(i) The initiation of any commercial nuclear plant shutdown required by the plant's Technical Specifications.
(ii) Any event or condition that results in actuation of the reactor protection system when the reactor is critical except when the actuation results from and is part of a pre-planned sequence during testing or reactor operation.
(iii) [Reserved]
(iv) Any event or condition that results in an unplanned movement of, change of state in, or chemical interaction involving a significant amount of radioactive material within the commercial nuclear plant.
(v) [Reserved]
(3) Eight-hour reports. If not reported under paragraphs (a), (b)(1), or (b)(2) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical and in all cases within 8 hours of the occurrence of any of the following:
(i) Any event or condition that results in—
(A) The condition of the commercial nuclear plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded; or
(B) The commercial nuclear plant being in a condition not analyzed under § 53.450 that significantly degrades plant safety.
(ii)-(iv) [Reserved]
(v) Any event that results in a major loss of emergency assessment capability, offsite response capability, or offsite communications capability (e.g., significant portion of control room indication, ENS, or offsite notification system).
(c) Follow-up notification: With respect to the notifications made under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, in addition to making the required initial notification, each licensee, must during the course of the event—
(1) Immediately report:
(i) Any further degradation in the level of safety of the plant or other worsening plant conditions, including those that require the declaration of any of the Emergency Classes, if such a declaration has not been previously made; or
(ii) Any change from one Emergency Class to another; or
(iii) A termination of the Emergency Class.
(2) Immediately report:
(i) The results of ensuing evaluations or assessments of plant conditions,
(ii) The effectiveness of response or protective measures taken, and
(iii) Important information related to plant behavior that is not understood.
(3) Maintain an open, continuous communication channel with the NRC Headquarters Operation Center upon request by the NRC.