[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 54 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 13833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6907]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued for public comment a 
draft of a guide planned for its Regulatory Guide Series. This series 
has been developed to describe and make available to the public such 
information as methods acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing 
specific parts of the Commission's regulations, techniques used by the 
staff in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data 
needed by the staff in its review of applications for permits and 
licenses.
    The draft guide, temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1083 
(which should be mentioned in all correspondence concerning this draft 
guide), is ``Content of the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report in 
Accordance with 10 CFR 50.71(e).'' The guide will be in Division 1, 
``Power Reactors,'' of the Regulatory Guide Series. This regulatory 
guide is being developed to provide guidance to licensees to ensure 
that Updated Final Safety Analysis Reports are updated to reflect 
changes to the design bases and to reflect the effects of other 
analyses performed since the original licensing.
    During its review of NEI 98-03, ``Guidelines for Updating Final 
Safety Analysis Reports'' (October 1998), the staff noticed that the 
voluntary guidance in Appendix A to NEI 98-03 could be interpreted to 
allow the removal of all information that is not required to be 
incorporated into an updated FSAR (UFSAR), regardless of whether that 
information is associated with risk-significant structures, systems, 
and components (SSCs). This could occur for SSCs that are not (1) 
addressed by technical specifications, (2) necessary for the facility 
to meet its design basis or safety analyses, (3) part of the UFSAR 
description, as defined in Section 3.7 of NEI 98-03, or (4) otherwise 
required to be incorporated into the UFSAR in accordance with 10 CFR 
50.34(b), 10 CFR 50.71(e), or other NRC requirements including license 
conditions and orders.
    The staff's concern is that the removal of this information was 
intended by neither the proposed generic letter nor NEI 98-03. The 
staff is proposing that a statement such as the following be 
incorporated into Appendix A of NEI 98-03, most likely as a fourth 
bullet in Section A2, ``Controlling Modifications to the Updated 
FSAR.''

    It is the intent of this guideline to help licensees remove 
unimportant information from UFSARs such as excessive detail, 
obsolete information, or redundant information. This guideline is 
not intended to be used to remove information from UFSARs regarding 
SSCs that insights from operating experience or probabilistic risk 
assessments would indicate are risk significant.

    It should be understood that this limitation is voluntary; i.e., 
licensees who choose to take out information regarding risk-significant 
SSCs would be free to do so, absent an order or other legally binding 
requirement (e.g., a rule) directing the licensee not to remove the 
information.
    The staff is specifically requesting comments on the above language 
and on the appropriateness of retaining information associated with 
risk-significant SSCs in UFSARs, even when a specific requirement to do 
so does not exist.
    The draft guide has not received complete staff review or approval 
and does not represent an official NRC staff position.
    Public comments are being solicited on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
1083. Comments may be accompanied by additional relevant information or 
supporting data. Written comments may be submitted to the Rules and 
Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Copies of comments received may be 
examined at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., 
Washington, DC. Comments will be most helpful if received by April 30, 
1999.
    You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking 
website through the NRC home page (http://ruleforum.llnl.gov/cgi-bin/
library?source=*&library=rg__lib&file= *). This site provides the 
availability to upload comments as files (any format), if your web 
browser supports that function. For information about the interactive 
rulemaking website, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-5905; e-mail 
[email protected]. For information about the draft guide and the related 
documents, contact Mr. T.A. Bergman, (301) 415-1021, e-mail 
[email protected].
    Although a time limit is given for comments on this draft guide, 
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.
    Regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC's Public 
Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC. Requests for single 
copies of draft or final guides (which may be reproduced) or for 
placement on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future 
draft guides in specific divisions should be made in writing to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: 
Reproduction and Distribution Services Section; or by fax to (301)415-
2289; or by email to . Telephone requests cannot 
be accommodated. 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 4th day of March 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John W. Craig,
Director, Division of Regulatory Applications, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 99-6907 Filed 3-19-99; 8:45 am]
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