[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43092-43094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21165]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Updated Standard Review Plan and Related Documents: Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared an update 
to the Standard Review Plan for the review of safety analysis reports 
for light water reactor nuclear power plants (SRP) for review and 
comment. The updated SRP incorporates changes in

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the regulation of the nuclear power industry that have occurred since 
the last major revision of the SRP in 1981.
    The revisions were derived from three programmatic areas: NRC 
regulatory documents issued after the previous SRP revision; industry 
consensus codes and standards applicable to the SRP sections; and NRC 
staff positions related to evolutionary plant design reviews as 
presented in SECY-90-016, ``Evolutionary Light-Water Reactor (LWR) 
Certification Issues and Their Relationship to Current Regulatory 
Requirements;'' SECY-93-087, ``Policy, Technical, and Licensing Issues 
Pertaining to Evolutionary and Advanced Light-Water Reactor (LWR) 
Designs;'' and the design certification safety evaluation reports for 
the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Design and the ABB-CE System 
80+ (CE80+) Design. The updated SRP sections are currently under review 
by the NRC staff.

DATE: The comment period expires December 31, 1996. Comments received 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to assure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to: Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, 
Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services, Mail Stop 
T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Comments may be hand-delivered to 11545 Rockville Pike, Maryland 
between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Comments may be 
submitted electronically as specified in the supplementary information 
section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Armando Masciantonio, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Mail Stop 0-12E4, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-1290.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed revised text to NUREG-0800, 
``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for 
Nuclear Power Plants--LWR Edition,'' is the work of contractors. Its 
acceptance is contingent upon full NRC staff review and concurrence. 
Further NRC staff review and evaluation, including resolution of public 
comments, will be needed before a final revision to NUREG-0800 can be 
published.
    A significant number of the proposed revisions to the SRP are based 
on NRC staff positions developed during the design certification review 
of evolutionary plants and presented in the safety evaluation reports 
for the ABWR, and the CE80+. Final rulemaking for design certification 
is ongoing and may result in changes to these positions. The revised 
SRP will reflect the final NRC staff positions that result from design 
certification rulemaking for the ABWR and the CE80+ designs.
    Because the document has not received the benefit of NRC staff 
review and concurrence, it is considered a ``work in progress'' that 
may be revised. The NRC is soliciting public comments in parallel with 
the NRC staff's review in order to minimize review time and obtain 
early public and industry input.
    The documents available for public review consist of a redline/
strikeout copy of the revised SRP sections that shows all changes 
resulting from the update program with each text revision identified by 
a unique superscript, and supporting documentation that provides a 
traceable path back to the regulation or NRC staff position that forms 
the basis for the change to the SRP. The updated SRP also contains 
several new sections to address issues that are supported by 
established NRC staff positions or have been fully addressed in the 
certification review of evolutionary designs.
    The updated SRP is not a generic communication that proposes new 
NRC staff positions or seeks additional licensee commitments. It does 
not impose new or revised requirements but simply compiles and 
documents the requirements and NRC staff positions that have already 
been established elsewhere.
    Work activities related to updating the SRP were performed in 
accordance with the guidance in NUREG-1447, ``Standard Review Plan 
Update and Development Program--Implementing Procedures Document,'' 
dated May 1992. NUREG-1447 documents the results of developing the 
major work assumptions and work processes for completing the SRP 
revision process. The document provides information on the background, 
objectives, and performance of work in the Standard Review Plan Update 
and Development Program (SRP-UDP).
    The Implementing Procedures Document provides comprehensive 
guidance and procedures for SRP-UDP work activities, including 
identification and review of regulatory documents for new or changed 
NRC staff positions; revision of the SRP for future reactor license 
applications; review and approval of the revised SRP sections; and 
documentation requirements to ensure that program results are 
retrievable. The work procedures were also used in the development of a 
relational database to catalog and manage information used in revising 
each SRP section.
    NUREG-1447 was also prepared in anticipation of the need to control 
the work of various organizations involved in the SRP revision process, 
including the Primary Review Branches (technical branches in the Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)), contractors to the Primary Review 
Branches, the NRC Inspection Program Branch, and contractors to the 
Inspection Program Branch.
    Due to the priorities and work schedules within NRR, the large 
majority of the SRP-UDP work was performed by two contractor 
organizations (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories under JCN L-2013 
and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory under JCN J-2055) with 
contract administration and technical oversight by the NRC Inspection 
Program Branch and technical review by the Primary Review Branches. 
Given the reduced number of actual participants in the development 
phase of the SRP-UDP, changes and deviations from the procedures in 
NUREG-1447 were controlled through technical oversight of contractor 
work activities instead of formal revisions to NUREG-1447.
    Based on the above, the procedures in NUREG-1447 should be regarded 
as providing general guidance and direction for contractors in SRP 
revision activities, and as providing general information to industry 
and the public on work processes and assumptions used in the SRP-UDP. 
Significant departures from NUREG-1447 are:
    Completion of the detailed analyses of new or changed regulatory 
positions and the preparation of a revised SRP section draft were 
combined into one step, instead of the two step process described in 
sections 3.7 and 3.8 of NUREG-1447. This change was made on experience 
with revision work for pilot SRP sections that showed the two step 
process was not cost effective. As part of this change, ``Option 
Paper'' documentation and outlines discussed in sections 3.7 and 3.8 
were not developed in the revision of existing SRP sections.
    The sample format presented in Appendix A of NUREG-1447 was not 
used as the template for revising SRP sections. The format and wording 
of the current SRP sections were preserved to the extent possible. This 
change allowed the NRC staff review to focus on substantive technical 
changes and not on editorial changes to existing text. Two changes to 
the format of the current SRP sections were determined to be cost 
effective: (1) The review interfaces

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presented in the ``Areas of Review'' subsection of each SRP section 
were converted to a numbered paragraph format with reference to 
specific Primary Review Branches and (2) a ``Technical Rationale'' 
discussion was added to the ``Acceptance Criteria'' subsection of each 
SRP section. ``Technical Rationale'' discussions are addressed in 
sections 3.7 and 3.8 of NUREG-1447.
    The treatment of NRC staff positions in the safety evaluation 
reports related to certification of evolutionary designs have been 
treated as Type I revisions as defined in section 3.7 of NUREG-1447. 
These positions have been approved and have undergone public review as 
part of rulemaking.
    The new SRP sections developed in the SRP-UDP address NRC staff 
positions that are fully established and are, therefore, considered 
Type I revisions to the SRP as defined in section 3.7 of NUREG-1447.
    Responsibility for updating each SRP section was maintained in the 
NRC Inspection Program Branch with technical review and concurrence by 
the Primary Review Branch.
    Some of the activities and specific topics discussed in NUREG-1447, 
such as 60-year design life acceptance criteria, did not result in 
generic changes or additions to the SRP. These activities and topics 
are still under development or did not meet project criteria to be 
considered established regulatory positions. As these positions are 
finalized, they will be captured in future SRP revisions. Other 
activities discussed in NUREG-1447 determined to be of low priority in 
the current revision cycle, such as incorporation of Branch Technical 
Positions into the body of associated SRP sections, will be considered 
for future SRP revisions.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit specific public comment on 
whether the revised text accurately and fully reflects established NRC 
staff positions and existing regulations. The updated SRP and the 
supporting documentation that provides traceability back to the source 
of the change constitutes the SRP currently in effect. The SRP is made 
available to the public as part of the NRC's policy to inform the 
nuclear industry and the general public of regulatory procedures and 
policies. Standard review plans are not substitutes for regulatory 
guides or NRC regulations. Compliance with SRPs is not required. 
Published standard review plans will be revised periodically, as 
appropriate, to accommodate comments and to reflect new information and 
experience. The NRC encourages comment from all interested parties; 
however, public review is not intended to reopen a dialogue on the 
merits of the requirements themselves but should be focused on the 
purpose stated above.

Electronic Submission of Comments

    The updated SRP can be downloaded in WordPerfect 5.1 format and 
comments can be submitted electronically, in either ASCII text or 
WordPerfect 5.1 format by calling toll free to the NRC Online 
Electronic Bulletin Board (BBS). The BBS may be accessed using a 
personal computer, a modem, and one of the commonly available 
communications software packages, or directly via the Internet.
    If using a personal computer and modem, the NRC Online BBS can be 
accessed directly by dialing the toll-free number: 1-800-303-9672. 
Communication parameters should be set as follows: parity to none, data 
bits to 8, stop bits to 1 and ANSI terminal emulation (N,8,1,ANSI). 
From the NRC Online Main Menu, select ``NRC Conferences'' then select 
``NUREG-0800 April 1996 Revision'' option to access the updated SRP. 
For more information about options available for NRC Online BBS consult 
the ``Help/Information Center'' from the ``NRC Online Main Menu''. 
Callers will find the ``FEDWORLD Online User's Guides'' particularly 
helpful. Many NRC conferences also have a ``Help/Information Center'' 
option that is tailored to that particular area.
    The NRC Online BBS can also be accessed by a direct dial phone 
number from the main FEDWORLD BBS: 703-321-3339; Telnet via Internet: 
fedworld.gov (192.239.92.3); File Transfer Protocol (FTP) via Internet: 
ftp.fedworld.gov (192.239.92.205); and the World Wide Web using: http:/
/www.fedworld.gov (this is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL)).
    When accessing FedWorld, the NRC Online BBS can be accessed from 
the main FEDWORLD menu by selecting the ``Regulatory, Government 
Administration and State Systems'', then selecting ``Regulatory 
Information Mall''. At that point, a menu will be displayed that has 
the option ``U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission'' that will take you to 
the NRC Online BBS. The NRC Online BBS can also be accessed directly by 
typing ``/go nrc'' at the FEDWORLD Main Menu command line. If you 
access the NRC from FEDWORLD's Main Menu, you may return to FEDWORLD by 
selecting the ``Goodbye'' option from the NRC Online Main Menu. 
However, if you access NRC Online BBS by using NRC's toll-free number, 
you will have full access to all NRC conferences but you will not have 
access to the main FEDWORLD system.
    If you contact FEDWORLD using Telnet, you will see the NRC Online 
BBS Menus, including the Rules Menu. You will be able to download 
documents, upload files (comments) and prepare comments online. If you 
contact FEDWORLD using FTP, all files can be accessed, but uploads are 
not allowed; all you will see is a list of files without descriptions. 
An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with 
descriptions, is available.
    Although FEDWORLD can be accessed through the World Wide Web, like 
FTP, that mode provides access for downloading files and does not 
display the NRC Online BBS Menus. For more information on NRC Bulletin 
Boards contact Mr. Arthur Davis, Systems Development and Integration 
Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, 
telephone (301) 415-5780; email AXD[email protected].
    The updated SRP in printed paper, 3.5-inch disks and CD-ROM 
versions, and related supporting documents are available for inspection 
and copying for a fee at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW 
(Lower Level), Washington DC 20555.
    A limited number of copies of the updated SRP in printed paper and 
CD-ROM versions are available free, to the extent of supply, upon 
written request to the Office of Information Resources Management, 
Distribution Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555.
    Please note that the compact disk (CD) version of the updated SRP 
uses a font and format that is slightly different from the WordPerfect 
and printed versions. As a result, specific text in the CD version may 
be located on a different page than the corresponding text in the 
WordPerfect and printed versions. To prevent any possible 
misunderstanding, comments which are submitted should reference the SRP 
section, not the page number.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of August, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R. W. Borchardt,
Chief, Inspection Program Branch, Division of Inspection and Support 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 96-21165 Filed 8-19-96; 8:45 am]
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