Independent Verification of the Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Results for the Pilot Plants

In its Reactor Oversight Process (ROP), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently uses performance indicators to quantify safety system unavailability (SSU) for four important nuclear power plant systems. Over time, the NRC staff has identified a number of concerns related to the use of these indicators, including the use of short-term unavailability to approximate unreliability, the use of generic performance thresholds irrespective of variations in risk significance, and potential double-counting as a result of support system failures cascading onto front line systems. Moreover, the way the SSU indicators currently measure unavailability is inconsistent with the definition in the NRC's Maintenance Rule, as well as the indicators promulgated by the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.