[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