[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 207 (Tuesday, October 27, 1998)] [Notices] [Page 57331] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-28744] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Use of PRA in Plant-Specific Reactor Regulatory Activities: Final Regulatory Guide and Standard Review Plan Section; Availability The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a new guide in its Regulatory Guide Series, Regulatory Guide 1.178, ``An Approach for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Inservice Inspection of Piping,'' along with its conforming section of the Standard Review Plan, Section 3.9.8, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Risk- Informed Inservice Inspection of Piping,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan.'' Regulatory Guide 1.178 augments the guidance presented in Regulatory Guide 1.174, ``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' by providing guidance specific to incorporating risk insights to inservice inspection programs for piping. The accompanying Standard Review Plan Section 3.9.8 conforms to the guide to provide guidance to the NRC staff in reviewing such changes. These documents are being issued for trial use, and there have been changes made from the draft versions of each. Regulatory Guide 1.178 now permits partial scope risk-informed inservice inspection. The NRC staff's position is that applications for partial scope will be dealt with on the merits of the submittals, conformance with the requirements of the regulations, and conformance with the guidelines in Regulatory Guide 1.174, ``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant- Specific Changes to the Current Licensing Basis,'' including defense in depth and margin considerations. The second change is in regard to some nondestructive examination of the primary coolant piping, even if the piping is categorized as low safety significant and of low failure potential. The NRC staff considers it appropriate, for defense in depth, to continue to require some level of monitoring to provide verification of assumptions in the risk-informed inservice inspection program regarding potential modes of degradation as plants age. The third change is that the appendices that were in the draft regulatory guide will be incorporated into a NUREG document, NUREG- 1661, ``Technical Elements of Risk-Informed Inservice Inspection Programs for Piping,'' which will be issued shortly. NUREG-1661 will also address the technical issues raised in the public comments on quantification of risk from piping. The documentation requested for inservice inspection program submittals has been significantly reduced and clarified. Comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time. Written comments may be submitted to the Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Single copies of regulatory guides, both active and draft, may be obtained free of charge by writing the Reproduction and Distribution Services Section, OCIO, USNRC, Washington, DC 20555-0001; or by fax to (301) 415-2289; or by email to [email protected]. Active guides may also be purchased from the National Technical Information Service on a standing order basis. Details on this service may be obtained by writing NTIS, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. Sections of NUREG-0800, the Standard Review Plan, may be purchased from the U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20402-9328 (telephone (202) 512-2249). Copies of active and draft guides and the Standard Review Plan are available for inspection or copying for a fee from the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC; the PDR's mailing address is Mail Stop LL-6, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (202) 634-3273; fax (202) 634-3343. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. (5 U.S.C. 552(a)) Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of October 1998. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Ashok C. Thadani, Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 98-28744 Filed 10-26-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P