REGDOC-2.5.2, Design of Reactor Facilities, Version 2 - Consultation

Acknowledging the draft nature of this document, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is seeking a preliminary assessment of the potential impacts of draft REGDOC-2.5.2, Design of Reactor Facilities, Version 2 should it receive Commission approval. 

Comments could include additional information on potential impacts should the regulatory document be approved by the Commission and subsequently implemented, Should stakeholders decide to submit impact estimates, the CNSC encourages them to clearly state assumptions and provide enough detail to allow an independent observer to understand how the estimate was derived. Stakeholders could also propose potential alternative approaches that meet the document’s safety objectives.

In fulfilling its mandate as a federal regulator, the CNSC must also consider values and principles that are difficult to quantify with a dollar value. In all cases, safety is the CNSC’s top priority.

For more information on how the CNSC considers cost-benefit analyses, see REGDOC-3.5.3, Regulatory Fundamentals.

If you have comments on the overall changes to the content, structure, and approach of this draft regulatory document, please provide them here. 

Comments on specific sections should be submitted through the links provided in the draft document.

Throughout REGDOC-2.5.2, Version 2, the phrase "new water-cooled nuclear power plants" has been replaced with the phrase "new water-cooled reactor facilities".

This change in terminology allows more flexibility; the applicant may use this regulatory document for small reactors and for new reactor technologies. The information in this regulatory document should be applied in a graded approach.

To the extent practicable, this document is technology-neutral with respect to water-cooled reactor facilities.

It is recognized that specific technologies may use alternative approaches. If a design other than a water-cooled reactor is to be considered for licensing in Canada, the design is subject to the safety objectives, high-level safety concepts and safety management requirements associated with this regulatory document. However, the CNSC's review of such a design will be undertaken on a case-by-case basis.

REGDOC-2.5.2, Version 2 has been expanded to include requirements and guidance for sites that include more than one reactor. 

Information related to multi-reactor sites has been added throughout the draft regulatory document.

This draft version 2 of REGDOC-2.5.2 includes specific updates to a few sections of the currently published regulatory document. At this time, the CNSC is seeking feedback on those specific updates.

However, the CNSC welcomes feedback on any regulatory document at any time. If you have comments on any other sections of the document, please provide them here.

Note that comments on other sections of the document may or may not be included in the revisions. Any comments that are not included in this revision will be considered in a future major revision.

If you are providing a comment on another section, please include the section number and the subtitle, along with your comment on the content.

Submit your comments on the new paragraph in section 1.2 of REGDOC-2.5.2:

Submit your comments on the use of the term "reactor facility" in sections 1.3, 2, 4.6, and 5.5 of REGDOC-2.5.2:

Submit comments on the new text in section 2.2.2, subsection "Quantitative application of the safety goals".

Submit your comments on the proposed new section 2.4, Graded Approach.

Submit your comments on the use of the term "plant design" in section 5.2 of REGDOC-2.5.2: