[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 170 (Thursday, August 31, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53047-53050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22303]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Issuance, Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide, Draft Standard 
Review Plan, and Report; Announcement of Public Workshop

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of draft regulatory guide, draft standard review plan, 
and report; request for public comment; and announcement of public 
workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Draft 
Regulatory Guide DG-1104, ``Standard Format and Content for 
Applications To Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses''; a draft 
Standard Review Plan for License Renewal (SRP-LR), ``Standard Review 
Plan for the Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power 
Plants''; and a draft Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) report for 
public comment. These documents describe methods acceptable to the NRC 
staff for implementing the license renewal rule (10 CFR Part 54), as 
well as techniques used by the NRC staff in evaluating applications for 
license renewals. The NRC is also announcing a public workshop to 
facilitate gathering public comments on these draft documents. The NRC 
is especially interested in stakeholder comments that will improve the 
safety benefits, effectiveness, and efficiency of the license renewal 
process.

DATES: Commenters should submit comments on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
1104, the draft SRP-LR, and the draft GALL report, accompanied by 
supporting data, by October 16, 2000. 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.
    A public workshop will be held on Monday, September 25, 2000, from 
8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at NRC's headquarters. To ensure that adequate 
copies of handouts are available, persons planning to attend the 
workshop should call the contact designated below by

[[Page 53048]]

September 15, 2000. Also, to ensure there is adequate time allotted for 
presentations, persons who wish to make opening remarks or other formal 
presentations at the workshop should call the contact designated below 
by September 15, 2000, to indicate the time requested.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted to the Chief, Rules and 
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. You may also provide 
comments via the NRC's License Renewal web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/IRG/index.html>. This site provides the availability to 
upload comments as files (any format) if your web browser supports that 
function. For information about the web site, email [email protected]>.
    The public workshop will be held at the NRC Auditorium, Two White 
Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    Electronic copies of all the documents are available on NRC's 
License Renewal web site, at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/IRG/index.html>. Electronic copies are also available in NRC's Electronic 
Reading Room through the same web site: DG-1104 is under ADAMS 
Accession Number ML003736097, the draft SRP-LR is under ADAMS Accession 
number ML003742580, the GALL report is under ADAMS Accession number 
ML003742594, and NEI 95-10 (Revision 2) is under ADAMS Accession number 
ML003739319. All of these documents are available for inspection or 
copying for a fee at the NRC's 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). 
These license renewal guidance documents are not copyrighted, and 
Commission approval is not required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raj Anand, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, Mail Stop O-12G15, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone (301) 415-1146, or email 
[email protected]>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Draft Regulatory Guide for License Renewal

    Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1104 is being issued for public comment 
as part of the implementation of the license renewal rule. This draft 
regulatory guide is being developed to provide a uniform format and 
content acceptable to the NRC staff for structuring and presenting the 
information to be compiled and submitted in an application for renewal 
of a nuclear power plant operating license. DG-1104 proposes to endorse 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) guidance document NEI 95-10, ``Industry 
Guideline for Implementing the Requirements of 10 CFR Part 54--The 
License Renewal Rule,'' Revision 2, dated August 2000, as an acceptable 
method for complying with the requirements of the license renewal rule.
    DG-1104 supersedes Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1047, which was issued 
for public comment in August 1996 to propose endorsement of NEI 95-10, 
Revision 0, dated March 1, 1996. Comments were received from NEI, U.S. 
Department of Energy, and several licensees. Subsequent to receipt of 
the comments, the Commission agreed with an NRC staff recommendation 
contained in SECY-97-118, ``Activities Associated with Implementation 
of 10 CFR Part 54,'' dated June 5, 1997, to maintain DG-1047 in draft 
form to allow experience to be gained from its trial use and from 
plant-specific and owners group review activities. Since 1997, the 
license renewal process has evolved significantly, gaining experience 
from license renewal application reviews, owners group topical report 
reviews, and ongoing generic activities that involved addressing a 
number of the issues identified in the comment letters. This experience 
is reflected in the current versions of DG-1104, NEI 95-10, the SRP-LR, 
and the GALL report. Many previous comments are resolved by the current 
versions of these documents. Others are being resolved in the ongoing 
reviews, or are no longer applicable. Therefore, the NRC staff did not 
address the resolution of the previous comments separately. If a 
previous comment was not resolved to a commenter's satisfaction, the 
comment may be submitted again.
    DG-1104 and NEI 95-10 are being developed to provide guidance on 
the contents of an application for license renewal that includes--
    (1) Required general information concerning the applicant and the 
plant;
    (2) Information contained in the integrated plant assessment;
    (3) An evaluation of time-limited aging analyses (TLAAs);
    (4) A supplement to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR);
    (5) Technical specification changes and their justification; and
    (6) A supplement to the environmental report.
    Specifically, guidance is provided for--
    (1) Identifying the structures and components subject to aging 
management review;
    (2) Assuring that the effects of aging are managed;
    (3) Identifying and evaluating TLAAs;
    (4) Establishing the format and content of the license renewal 
application; and
    (5) Preparing an FSAR supplement.
    As indicated in Revision 2 of NEI 95-10, NEI intends NEI 95-10 to 
be consistent with the GALL report and the SRP-LR. Because the GALL 
report and the SRP-LR are evolving, NEI expects to make further changes 
to NEI 95-10 to ensure consistency with the regulatory documents before 
the NRC staff's final issuance of the regulatory guide. For example, 
the NEI guidance in Section 4.1.1 of NEI 95-10 on scoping of complex 
assemblies should be consistent with that in Section 2.1 of the SRP-LR.

Draft Standard Review Plan for License Renewal

    The NRC staff has also revised a draft SRP-LR that proposes 
guidance to NRC staff reviewers in performing safety reviews of 
applications to renew licenses of nuclear power plants in accordance 
with the license renewal rule. A previous working draft SRP-LR, dated 
September 1997, is in the NRC's Public Document Room. The draft SRP-LR 
is being revised to incorporate lessons learned from the review of the 
initial license renewal applications, as well as relevant information 
from the draft GALL report and DG-1104. The draft SRP-LR contains four 
major chapters: (1) Administrative Information; (2) Scoping and 
Screening Methodology for Identifying Structures and Components Subject 
to Aging Management Review, and Implementation Results; (3) Aging 
Management Review Results; and (4) Time-Limited Aging Analyses. In 
addition, three Branch Technical Positions are in an appendix to the 
draft SRP-LR.
    During the initial license renewal reviews, the NRC and the 
industry recognized that most of the existing programs at the plants 
could be adequate to manage aging effects for license renewal without 
change. By letter dated March 3, 1999, NEI documented the industry's 
views on how existing plant programs and activities should be credited 
for license renewal. The so-called ``credit'' issue was: To what extent 
should the NRC staff review existing programs relied on for license 
renewal, to conclude that an

[[Page 53049]]

applicant has demonstrated reasonable assurance that such programs will 
be effective in managing effects of aging on the functionality of 
structures and components in the period of extended operation? In an 
NRC staff paper dated June 3, 1999, SECY 99-148, ``Credit for Existing 
Programs for License Renewal,'' the NRC staff described options and 
provided a recommendation for crediting existing programs to improve 
the efficiency of the license renewal process. By a staff requirements 
memorandum (SRM) dated August 27, 1999, the Commission approved the NRC 
staff's recommendation and directed the NRC staff to focus the review 
guidance in the SRP-LR on existing programs that should be augmented 
for license renewal. The NRC staff developed the draft GALL report that 
evaluates existing programs generically to document the basis for 
determining when generic existing programs are adequate without change 
and when generic existing programs should be augmented for license 
renewal. The draft SRP-LR incorporates the draft GALL report by 
reference.

Draft Generic Aging Lessons Learned Report

    The draft GALL report builds on a previous report, NUREG/CR-6490, 
``Nuclear Power Plant Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL),'' dated 
December 1996, which is a systematic compilation of plant aging 
information. The NRC staff held a public workshop on December 6, 1999, 
to invite early public participation in the development of license 
renewal guidance documents. The NRC staff made an early draft GALL 
report publicly available at the public workshop. Subsequent to the 
public workshop, NEI submitted significant industry comments that were 
discussed in public meetings. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) 
also submitted 5 technical reports for NRC's consideration in preparing 
the draft GALL report.
    The draft GALL report presents results in a table format. The 
adequacy of the generic aging management programs in managing certain 
aging effects for particular structures and components are evaluated 
based on the review of these 10 program attributes: scope of program, 
preventive actions, parameters monitored or inspected, detection of 
aging effects, monitoring and trending, acceptance criteria, corrective 
actions, confirmation process, administrative controls, and operating 
experience. If the evaluation determines that a program is adequate to 
manage certain aging effects for particular structures and components 
without change, the draft GALL report would indicate that no further 
NRC staff evaluation is recommended for license renewal. Otherwise, it 
would recommend areas in which the NRC staff should focus its review.
    The GALL report is a technical basis document for the SRP-LR. The 
GALL report should be treated in the same manner as an approved topical 
report that is applicable generically. An applicant may reference the 
GALL report in a license renewal application to demonstrate that the 
applicant's programs at its facility correspond to those reviewed and 
approved in the GALL report, and that no further NRC staff review is 
required. If the material presented in the GALL report is applicable to 
the applicant's facility, the NRC staff would find the applicant's 
reference to the GALL report acceptable. In making this determination, 
the NRC staff should consider whether the applicant has identified 
specific programs described and evaluated in the GALL report. However, 
the NRC staff should not repeat its review of the substance of the 
matters described in the GALL report. Rather, the NRC staff should 
ensure that the applicant verifies that the approvals set forth in the 
GALL report for generic programs apply to the applicant's programs. The 
focus of the NRC staff review should be on augmented programs for 
license renewal. The NRC staff should also review information that is 
not addressed in the GALL report, or is otherwise different from that 
in the GALL report.

Solicitation of Comments

    The NRC is particularly interested in comments that will focus on 
the fundamental question of the extent to which existing programs 
adequately manage aging effects for the structures and components 
within the scope of license renewal. To that end, we encourage 
individuals and organizations to comment on (1) how well the improved 
guidance articulates the attributes of existing programs that 
adequately manage applicable aging effects and (2) how well the 
improved guidance identifies those areas where existing programs should 
be augmented. The comments should include supporting justification in 
enough detail for the NRC staff to evaluate the need for changes in the 
guidance, as well as references to operating experience, industry 
standards, or other relevant reference materials that provide a sound 
technical basis for such changes. The NRC is also interested in 
comments that will improve the clarity of the documents so that the 
improved guidance will ensure a stable and predictable evaluation 
standard for future renewal applications. Editorial and style comments 
are not necessary because we expect that the guidance documents will 
need to be reformatted and edited before they are issued in final form. 
The NRC also intends to incorporate formatting changes that result from 
further improvements to the standard form and content for renewal 
applications.

Questions for Public Comments

    Although the NRC invites public comments on all information 
contained in these draft documents, responses to the following 
questions are particularly solicited.
    1. The draft GALL report evaluates many existing programs for their 
adequacy to manage aging for license renewal. In many cases, the draft 
GALL report concludes that the existing programs are adequate without 
change. Did the NRC staff provide sufficient credit for existing 
programs in the draft GALL report? The commenter should provide 
justification to support its view.
    2. As a complement to Question 1, did the NRC staff provide too 
much credit without a sufficient technical basis in the draft GALL 
report? Again, the commenter should provide justification to support 
its view.
    3. Many existing programs are based on national codes and standards 
that are updated as industry and technology evolve. The Commission has 
a process to periodically incorporate updated versions of the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code 
into the regulations in 10 CFR 50.55a. The draft GALL report evaluation 
of existing programs for their adequacy as aging management programs 
for license renewal is based on the specifics of the 1989 edition of 
Section XI of the ASME code for inservice inspection and the 1992 
edition of Subsections IWE and IWL of Section XI of the ASME code for 
containment inspections. These specific editions were the editions 
incorporated into the regulations by the Commission at the time when 
the bulk of the draft GALL report was being prepared. Since then, the 
Commission has incorporated the 1995 edition of the ASME code into the 
regulations (64 FR 51370, September 22, 1999). Before final issuance of 
the GALL report, the staff plans to review changes to the ASME code 
between the 1989 and 1995 editions to determine if the conclusions in 
the draft GALL report remain valid. Should the changes affect any 
conclusions in the draft GALL report, the affected conclusions will be 
re-evaluated and modified, as appropriate. By an April 13, 2000, staff

[[Page 53050]]

requirements memorandum (SRM), the Commission directed the staff to 
maintain the current requirements that licensees update their inservice 
inspection and inservice testing programs every 10 years to the latest 
edition of the ASME Code that is incorporated by reference in NRC 
regulations. Therefore, the requirements of 10 CFR 50.55a will result 
in future changes to those aging management programs that rely on the 
ASME Code. To ensure that the GALL report conclusions will remain valid 
when future editions of the ASME code are incorporated into the NRC 
regulations by the 10 CFR 50.55a rulemaking, the staff will perform an 
evaluation of these later editions for their adequacy for license 
renewal using the 10-element program evaluation described in the GALL 
report as part of the 10 CFR 50.55a rulemaking.
    There are other national codes and standards that are referenced in 
the draft GALL report, such as those published by the American Concrete 
Institute (ACI), that are not subject to the Commission's approval 
process in 10 CFR 50.55a. How should the GALL report reference editions 
of such national codes and standards? Should specific code editions be 
cited, and then, an applicant using a different edition would have to 
verify that the applicant's edition is equivalent to the specific 
edition cited in the GALL report before the applicant can reference the 
GALL report evaluation?
    4. The draft GALL report identifies specific aging effects, based 
on operating experience or technical expertise, that should be managed 
for particular structures and components. The NRC staff expects an 
applicant to discuss, in its application, any aging effects identified 
in the draft GALL report for a particular structure or component that 
the applicant has determined to be not applicable to its plant. 
However, NEI suggests that an applicant need not address aging effects 
that were determined not to be applicable. NEI suggests instead that 
the NRC staff should review the applicant's process for identifying 
aging effects that should be managed for license renewal. However, the 
NRC staff believes that such a process is too general and operating 
experience has shown that aging effects are often system, structure, or 
component-specific. Although the NRC staff does not expect all aging 
effects identified in the draft GALL report would be applicable to a 
particular plant, the draft GALL report does not identify unlikely 
aging effects and evaluate the associated aging management programs. 
Thus, the NRC staff believes that any such exception taken by an 
applicant for its plant should be justified as part of the application. 
Should an applicant be required to justify, in its application, the 
omission of any aging effects identified in the GALL report, that the 
applicant has determined not to be applicable?

Public Workshop

    A public workshop is scheduled during the public comment period on 
Monday, September 25, 2000, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. The workshop will 
provide the participants an opportunity to obtain further information, 
ask questions, make comments during the discussion, or otherwise 
facilitate the public in formulating and preparing written comments for 
NRC consideration on draft DG-1104, draft SRP-LR, and the draft GALL 
report.
    To ensure that all of the ideas raised are recorded, the workshop 
will be transcribed and the NRC staff will prepare a summary report to 
categorize the comments. This one-day session attempts to cover a wide 
range of views and aging management programs. The NRC staff is planning 
an open forum for the workshop to better solicit public comments. The 
agenda and format of the workshop have not been finalized. However, a 
tentative agenda for the workshop follows:
     Registration
     Open Remarks
     License Renewal Rule and Guidance Development Overview
     Draft Regulatory Guide and Industry Guideline (DG-1104 and 
NEI 95-10)
     Draft Standard Review Plan for License Renewal (SRP-LR)
     Draft Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) report
     Discussion of Federal Register Notice Questions
     Questions and Closing Remarks

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of August, 2000.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David B. Matthews,
Director, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-22303 Filed 8-30-00; 8:45 am]
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