ABSTRACT
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the responsibility for licensing, regulating, and monitoring the operation of all the US commercial nuclear power plants. The Limited Work Authorization may be granted only after the licensing board has made all of the National Environmental Policy Act findings required by the Commission’s regulations for authorizing construction and has determined that there is reasonable assurance that, from a public health and safety standpoint, the proposed site is a suitable location for a nuclear power reactor of the proposed type and capacity. The applicant must submit a safety analysis report that contains the plant design information and criteria for the proposed nuclear reactor as well as comprehensive data on the proposed site. The intent of the peer review process can be described as follows: In addition to the Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) peer review process, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsored an initiative to develop the so-called ASME PRA Standard.
