[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 37 (Friday, February 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9393-9394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3626]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public 
comment a draft of a new guide in the agency's Regulatory Guide Series. 
This series has been developed to describe and make available to the 
public such information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff 
for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques 
that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated 
accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    The draft Regulatory Guide, entitled ``Guidelines for Lightning 
Protection for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is temporarily identified by its 
task number, DG-1137, which should be mentioned in all related 
correspondence. This proposed regulatory guide offers guidance for NRC 
licensees and applicants to use in developing and implementing 
practices that the staff finds acceptable for complying with the 
agency's regulatory requirements in Criterion 2, ``Design Bases for 
Protection Against Natural Phenomena,'' as it appears in Appendix A, 
``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to Title 10, Part 
50, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50). Specifically, 
Criterion 2 requires, in part, that nuclear power plant (NPP) 
structures, systems, and components (SSCs) that are important to safety 
must be designed to withstand the effects of natural phenomena without 
losing their capability to perform their respective safety functions.
    While the regulations address lightning protection for safety-
related electrical equipment, they do not explicitly provide guidance 
concerning the design and installation of lightning protection systems 
(LPSs) to ensure that electrical transients resulting from lightning 
phenomena do not cause spurious operation safety-related systems or 
render them inoperable. As proposed, DG-1137 would augment the 
regulations by establishing explicit guidance that is consistent with 
LPS

[[Page 9394]]

design and installation practices that are currently applied throughout 
the commercial power industry.
    Toward that end, the NRC staff has selected for endorsement a total 
of four standards issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers (IEEE), which taken together, provide comprehensive lightning 
protection guidance for nuclear power plants. Specifically, the four 
standards are IEEE Std. 665-1995 (2001 revision), IEEE Guide for 
Generating Station Grounding, IEEE Std. 666-1991, IEEE Design Guide for 
Electrical Power Service Systems for Generating Stations, IEEE Std. 
1050-1996, IEEE Guide for Instrumentation and Control Equipment 
Grounding in Generating Stations, and IEEE Std. C62.23-1995 (2001 
revision), IEEE Application Guide for Surge Protection of Electric 
Generating Plants.
    The NRC staff is soliciting comments on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
1137, and comments may be accompanied by relevant information or 
supporting data. Please mention DG-1137 in the subject line of your 
comments. Comments on this draft regulatory guide submitted in writing 
or in electronic form will be made available to the public in their 
entirety through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS). Personal information will not be removed from your 
comments. You may submit comments by any of the following methods.
    Mail comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    E-mail comments to: [email protected]. You may also submit comments 
via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address 
questions about our rulemaking Web site to Carol A. Gallagher (301) 
415-5905; e-mail [email protected].
    Hand-deliver comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on 
Federal workdays.
    Fax comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-5144.
    Requests for technical information about Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
1137 may be directed to Christina E. Antonescu at (301) 415-6792 or via 
e-mail to [email protected].
    Comments would be most helpful if received by April 20, 2005. 
Comments received after that date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, 
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.
    Electronic copies of the draft regulatory guide are available 
through the NRC's public Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the 
Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading 
Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic 
copies are also available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, 
under Accession ML050480101. Note, however, that the NRC has 
temporarily suspended public access to ADAMS so that the agency can 
complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove 
potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for 
updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS.
    In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at 
(301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548, and by e-
mail to [email protected]. 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 20555-0001, Attention: Reproduction and 
Distribution Services Section; by email to [email protected]; or by 
fax to (301) 415-2289. 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 17th day of February, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael E. Mayfield,
Director, Division of Engineering Technology, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 05-3626 Filed 2-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P