Summary

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) major rule on emergency core cooling system evaluation models. GAO noted that the: (1) final rule amends the NRC's regulations to allow holders of operating licenses for nuclear power plants to reduce the assumed reactor power level used in evaluations of emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) performance; (2) final rule provides licensees the option to apply a reduced margin for ECCS evaluation or to maintain the value of reactor power that had been mandated in the regulation; and (3) NRC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule.