- 18 - 3. Reactor Vessel Probes A reactor vessel probe measures the water level in a nuclear reactor core. A reactor vessel probe is custom made and takes up to 45 weeks to obtain. FPL claims ITCs for the reactor vessel probes in the 1988 taxable year.23 As a result of an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility (TMI),24 the NRC imposed “Action Plan Requirements”, known as “NUREG-0737”, to prevent similar accidents at other nuclear plants. One of the regulatory guidelines25 that resulted from the TMI accident was the requirement that nuclear plants monitor coolant inventory. FPL’s nuclear plants were designed before this guideline and did not have reactor vessel probes; as a result, FPL installed reactor vessel level monitoring instrumentation. On July 18, 1986, FPL sent a letter to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, which detailed the technical specifications concerning its proposed reactor vessel monitoring system. On December 5, 1986, the NRC sent FPL a 23 In the taxable years 1989 and 1990, petitioner claims reductions in the amount of the ITC, which resulted from reductions in the amount of the qualified costs (tax basis) of the property. 24 The TMI nuclear plant failed to maintain the proper water level in the nuclear reactor, which resulted in a partial meltdown in its core. 25 Many of the guidelines were embodied in Regulatory Guideline 1.97, Instrumentation for Light-Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Plants to Assess Plant and Environs Conditions During and Following an Accident, issued by the NRC and dated May 1983.Page: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011