[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56938-56939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19444]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Final Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a revision 
to an existing 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.
    Revision 33 of Regulatory Guide 1.84, ``Design, Fabrication, and 
Materials Code Case Acceptability, ASME Section III,'' lists the NRC-
approved Code Cases from Section III, ``Rules for Construction of 
Nuclear Power Plant Components,'' of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel 
(BPV) Code promulgated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
(ASME). In so doing, this guide identifies the Code Cases that nuclear 
power plant applicants and licensees can use to comply with the NRC's 
requirements in Title 10, Section 50.55a(c), of the Code of Federal 
Regulations [10 CFR 50.55a(c)], ``Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary.'' 
Specifically, 10 CFR 50.55a(c) requires, in part, that components of 
the reactor coolant pressure boundary must be designed, fabricated, 
erected, and tested in accordance with the ASME Section III 
requirements for Class 1 components (or equivalent quality standards). 
The ASME publishes a new edition of the BPV Code (which includes 
Section III) every 3 years, new addenda every year, and Code Cases 
every quarter.
    Revision 33 of Regulatory Guide 1.84 identifies the Code Cases that 
the NRC has determined to be acceptable alternatives to applicable 
provisions of Section III. For this revision, the NRC staff reviewed 
Section III Code Cases listed in Supplement 12 to the 1998 Edition of 
the ASME BPV Code through Supplement 6 to the 2001 Edition.
    The newly approved Code Cases and revisions to existing Code Cases 
will be incorporated by reference into 10 CFR 50.55a(b), which 
identifies the latest editions and addenda of Section III that the NRC 
has approved for use. Code Cases approved by the NRC may be used 
voluntarily by licensees as an alternative to compliance with ASME Code 
provisions that have been incorporated by reference into 10 CFR 
50.55a(b). Section III Code Cases not yet endorsed by the NRC may be 
implemented through 10 CFR 50.55a(a)(3), which permits the use of 
alternatives to the Code requirements referenced in 10 CFR 50.55a, 
provided that the proposed alternatives result in an acceptable level 
of quality and safety, and their use is authorized by the Director of 
the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
    On August 3, 2004, the NRC staff published a draft of this guide as 
Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1124. Following the closure of the public 
comment period on September 2, 2004, the staff considered all 
stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 33 of 
Regulatory Guide 1.84.
    The NRC staff encourages and welcomes comments and suggestions in 
connection with improvements to published regulatory guides, as well as 
items for inclusion in regulatory guides that are currently being 
developed. 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.
    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 Revision 33 of Regulatory 
Guide 1.84 may be directed to Wallace E. Norris, at (301) 415-6796 or 
[email protected].
    Regulatory guides are available for inspection or downloading 
through the NRC's public Web site in the Regulatory Guides document 
collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies of Revision 33 of 
Regulatory Guide 1.84 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 ML052130562. 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 
email 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 15th day of August, 2005.

[[Page 56939]]

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 05-19444 Filed 9-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P