[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 160 (Friday, August 18, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43174-43176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-20514]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------


NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Proposed Generic Letter; Revised Contents of the Monthly 
Operating Report

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to issue 
a generic letter regarding revised monthly operating report (MOR) 
contents. The purpose of the proposed generic letter is to inform 
licensees of nuclear power reactors that the NRC is requesting the 
submittal, on a voluntary basis, of less information in a modified 
version of the monthly operating report.
    In a staff requirements memorandum (SRM) dated April 26, 1994, in 
which the Commission endorsed the NRC staff proposal in SECY-94-093 to 
assess the reporting requirements for power reactor licensees and 
initiate rulemaking or other appropriate actions consistent with the 
plan for implementing the recommendations of the Regulatory Review 
Group (SECY-94-003), the Commission cautioned NRC staff to ``consider 
the public's need for the information in assessing the body of 
reporting requirements.'' Therefore, the NRC is seeking comment from 
interested parties on the generic letter presented under the 
Supplementary Information heading, regarding the need to (1) retain 
information deleted from the monthly operating report identified in 
Draft Regulatory Guide 1.16/Revision 4, ``Reporting of Operating 
Information-Appendix A Technical Specifications,'' or (2) further 
restrict or more explicitly define the information to be reported in 
the monthly operating report. As an example, in focusing on the 
reporting of performance indicator data in the MOR, information needed 
to calculate unit availability will no longer be reported; this 
includes the unit reserve shutdown hours and the hours in the reporting 
period. While this statistic may be of interest to certain elements of 
the industry or public, it is not an essential part of the safety 
mission of the agency to continue to compile this information.
    This generic letter was endorsed by the Committee to Review Generic 
Requirements (CRGR) on August 1, 1995. The relevant information that 
was sent to the CRGR will be placed in the Public Document Room. The 
NRC will consider comments received from interested parties in the 
final evaluation of the proposed generic letter. The final evaluation 
by the NRC will include a review of the technical position and, as 
appropriate, an analysis of the value/impact on licensees. Should this 
generic letter be issued by the NRC, it will become available for 
public inspection in the Public Document Room.

DATES: Comment period expires on September 18, 1995. Comments submitted 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so; 
assurance of consideration can only be given for those comments 
received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Chief, Rules Review and 
Directives Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555. Written comments may also be delivered to 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 am to 4:15 pm, Federal workdays. Copies 
of written comments received may be examined at the NRC Public Document 
Room, 2120 L Street, NW, (Lower Level), Washington, DC.


[[Page 43175]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRC GENERIC LETTER 95-XX: REVISED CONTENTS 
OF THE MONTHLY OPERATING REPORT

Addressees

    All holders of operating licenses for nuclear power plants.

Purpose

    The purpose of this generic letter is to inform licensees that the 
NRC is requesting the submittal of less information in the monthly 
operating report. This generic letter requires no specific action or 
written response.

Discussion

Overview

    The assessment of NRC information gathering needs has been the 
subject of several staff reviews. These reviews have focused on 
identifying duplicative reporting, determining whether some reports 
could be reduced in scope or eliminated, and determining whether the 
frequency of reporting could be reduced. In this regard, the NRC staff 
concludes that the scope of the information requested in the operating 
report, which is called for in the Technical Specifications, may be 
reduced.

Need for the Monthly Operating Report

    The impetus for the operating report came from the 1973-1974 oil 
embargo. Draft Regulatory Guide 1.16, Revision 4, ``Reporting of 
Operating Information--Appendix A Technical Specifications,'' published 
for comment in August 1975, identifies operating statistics and 
shutdown experience information then desired in the operating report. 
Licensees have generally followed the guidance of the draft Regulatory 
Guide. The NRC previously compiled this information on a monthly basis 
and published it in hard copy form as NUREG-0020, ``Licensed Operating 
Reactors--Status Summary Report'' (referred to as the ``Gray Book''), 
but now publishes this information on an annual basis as an Idaho 
National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) report and also makes it 
available on diskette.
    The NRC staff assessed the information that is submitted in the 
operating report and determined that it is a unique source of 
information for two of the eight performance indicators approved by the 
Commission for the NRC Performance Indicator (PI) Program. Performance 
indicator data are fundamental tools used by the NRC staff to 
independently analyze nuclear power plant safety performance trends. 
The performance indicator data provided in the operating report include 
the number of reactor critical hours for the equipment forced outage 
indicator, the forced outage hours for the equipment forced outage and 
forced outage rate indicators, and the outage type (whether forced or 
scheduled) for the forced outage rate and equipment forced outage 
indicators. NRC will retain the operating report because the agency has 
a continuing need to receive this performance indicator data, and at 
the same frequency. Information reported in the operating report can be 
limited to that needed to support the PI Program because no safety 
argument has been presented to justify continuing to receive and 
compile the other information that is identified in Draft Regulatory 
Guide 1.16, Revision 4, Section C.1.c. Attachment 1 to this generic 
letter delineates the information that is needed for the PI Program.

Voluntary Response Requested

    Effective immediately, licensees of operating nuclear power plants 
submitting operating reports called for in the Technical Specifications 
may do so in accordance with the guidance provided in Attachment 1 to 
this generic letter. Implementation of this option by licensees is 
voluntary. However, licensees will have to take whatever means are 
appropriate to negate any prior commitments to provide operating 
reports which contain the information identified in Draft Regulatory 
Guide 1.16, Revision 4, Section C.1.c; this may include an amendment to 
the facility operating license to remove a license condition. Licensees 
who choose not to implement this option may continue to submit 
operating reports as they have in the past.

Backfit Discussion

    The NRC staff has determined that the backfit rule, Section 50.109 
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.109), does 
not apply to this generic letter because the submittal by licensees of 
a monthly operating report of the scope described in Attachment 1 is 
strictly voluntary.

Federal Register Notification

    (To be completed after the public comment period.)

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    The voluntary information collections contained in this request are 
covered by the Office of Management and Budget clearance number 3150-
0011, which expires July 31, 1997. The public reporting burden for this 
monthly collection of information was previously estimated to average 
50 hours per response. The NRC staff now estimates that the reporting 
burden will average 10 hours per response, including the time for 
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information, for those addressees who opt to submit 
modified operating reports that conform to the guidance contained in 
this generic letter. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or 
any other aspect of this voluntary collection of information, including 
suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information and Records 
Management Branch (T-6F33), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, and to the Desk Officer, Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, NEOB-10202 (3150-0011), Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503

Attachment 1--Monthly Operating Report Contents

Background

    As part of its mission to protect public health and safety, the 
NRC monitors the performance of licensees that operate the 
commercial nuclear power plants in the United States. This 
monitoring effort alerts the NRC to the necessity of adjusting 
plant-specific regulatory programs. One monitoring tool being used 
is a set of eight performance indicators (PIs). The PIs provide 
information about plant performance trends and assist NRC management 
to identify poor and/or declining safety performance, as well as 
good and/or improving performance. PI reports were produced 
quarterly from 1987 to June 1993, then semiannually until June 1995, 
and annually thereafter. The reports are provided to the Commission, 
NRC senior managers, licensee senior managers, and to the public 
through the NRC Public Document Rooms.
    The following eight indicators are currently evaluated to 
determine performance trends among the commercial nuclear power 
plants: (1) Unplanned automatic reactor trips while critical, (2) 
selected safety system actuations, (3) significant events, (4) 
safety system failures, (5) forced outage rate, (6) equipment-forced 
outages per 1000 commercial critical hours, (7) collective radiation 
exposure, and (8) cause codes.
    The NRC Performance Indicator (PI) Program has been improved and 
expanded since it was first introduced. Comparison with plant peer 
groups and the impact of operational conditions on plant PIs was 
included in the reports beginning with the first quarter of 1993. 
Plants have been categorized into nine peer groups based on the 
nuclear steam supply system vendor, the product line, the generating 
capacity, and the licensing date; a tenth peer group includes all 
new plants that received a low-power license since January 1, 1987. 
Calculations of PI trends and deviations are based on an operational 
cycle methodology; the operational cycle consists of a refueling 
outage, a plant startup, power operations, 

[[Page 43176]]
nonrefueling outages, and a prerefueling phase.

Contents of the Monthly Operating Report

    Routine reports of operating statistics and shutdown experience 
are needed to support the NRC Performance Indicator Program. 
Therefore, the following information should continue to be provided 
in the monthly operating report:
     Docket Number, Unit Name, Date, Name and Telephone 
Number of Preparer, and Reporting Month
    This information is needed for administrative, tracking, and 
data entry purposes for the PI Program.
     Unit Shutdowns, including:
--Sequential number of shutdown for calendar year
--Date of start of shutdown
--Type (Forced or Scheduled)
--Duration (hours)--to the nearest tenth of an hour
--Reason for shutdown
--Method of shutting down the reactor
--Corrective actions/comments
--Narrative summary of monthly operating experience

    This information is needed to calculate the following 
performance indicators in the PI report: forced outage rate and 
equipment-forced outages per 1000 commercial critical hours. The 
information is also used to confirm the operational phase of each 
event. The operational phase is identified in the PI report for 
various initiators: automatic trip while critical, safety system 
actuation, significant event, safety system failure, and cause 
codes.
     Number of Hours the Reactor Was Critical
    This information is needed to calculate the equipment forced 
outage indicator and to tabulate critical hours in the PI report.
     Number of Hours the Generator Was On Line (Service 
Hours)
    This information is needed to calculate the forced outage rate 
indicator in the PI report.
    Appendices A and B of this attachment provide further guidance 
concerning the information that should continue to be submitted. 
Appendices A and B may also be used as a guide for the format of the 
information submitted in the monthly operating report. The completed 
operating report should be submitted by the tenth of the month 
following the calendar month covered by the report to Document 
Control Desk, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 
20555-0001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of August, 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian K. Grimes,
Acting Director, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Appendix A--Operating Data Report

Docket No.-------------------------------------------------------------

Unit Name--------------------------------------------------------------

Date-------------------------------------------------------------------

Completed By-----------------------------------------------------------

Telephone--------------------------------------------------------------

(This report should continue to be furnished on a monthly basis by 
licensees.)

Reporting Period: (Month/Year)-----------------------------------------

MONTH YEAR-TO-DATE CUMULATIVE

1. Number of Hours the Reactor Was Critical. The total number of 
hours during the reporting period that the reactor was critical.
2. Number of Hours the Generator Was On Line. (Also called Service 
Hours.) The total number of hours during the reporting period that 
the unit operated with breakers closed to the station bus.

Appendix B--Unit Shutdowns

Docket No.-------------------------------------------------------------

Unit Name--------------------------------------------------------------

Date-------------------------------------------------------------------

Completed By-----------------------------------------------------------

Telephone--------------------------------------------------------------

Reporting Period: (Month/Year)-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Method of          Cause/Corrective Actions       
  No.    Date    Type F: Forced   Duration     Reason (1)     Shutting  ----------------------------------------
                  S: Scheduled     (Hours)                    Down (2)                   Comments               
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         (1) Reason                             
                                                                           A--Equipment Failure (Explain)       
                                                                           B--Maintenance or Test               
                                                                           C--Refueling                         
                                                                           D--Regulatory Restriction            
                                                                           E--Operator Training/License         
                                                                          Examination                           
                                                                           F--Administrative                    
                                                                           G--Operational Error (Explain)       
                                                                           H--Other (Explain)                   
                                                                         (2) Method                             
                                                                           1--Manual                            
                                                                           2--Manual Trip                       
                                                                           3--Automatic Trip                    
                                                                           4--Continuation                      
                                                                           5--Load Reduction                    
                                                                           6--Other (Explain)                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

[FR Doc. 95-20514 Filed 8-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P