[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56939-56940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19446]
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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 14 of Regulatory Guide 1.147, ``Inservice Inspection Code
Case Acceptability, ASME Section XI, Division 1,'' lists the NRC-
approved Code Cases from Section XI, ``Rules for Inservice Inspection
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(g), of the Code of Federal
Regulations [10 CFR 50.55a(g)], ``Inservice Inspection Requirements.''
Specifically, 10 CFR 50.55a(g) requires, in part, that Class 1, 2, 3,
MC, and CC components and their supports must meet the requirements of
ASME Section XI (or equivalent quality standards). The ASME publishes a
new edition of the BPV Code (which includes Section XI) every 3 years,
new
[[Page 56940]]
addenda every year, and Code Cases every quarter.
Revision 14 of Regulatory Guide 1.147 identifies the Code Cases
that the NRC has determined to be acceptable alternatives to applicable
provisions of Section XI. For this revision, the NRC staff reviewed
Section XI 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 XI that the NRC
has approved for use. Code Cases approved by the NRC may be used
voluntarily by licensees without a request for NRC authorization,
provided that they are used with any identified limitations or
modifications. Section XI 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-1125. Following the closure of the public
comment period on September 2, 2004, the staff considered all
stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 14 of
Regulatory Guide 1.147.
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 14 of Regulatory
Guide 1.147 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 14 of
Regulatory Guide 1.147 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 ML052510117. 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 e-mail 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.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 05-19446 Filed 9-28-05; 8:45 am]
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