[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32614-32615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8706]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued 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.
    Regulatory Guide 1.205, ``Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Fire 
Protection for Existing Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants,'' provides 
guidance for use in complying with the requirements that the NRC has 
promulgated for risk-informed, performance-based fire protection 
programs that meet the requirements of Title 10, Sec.  50.48(c), of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.48(c)) and the referenced 2001 
Edition of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard, 
NFPA 805, ``Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light-
Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants.''
    In accordance with 10 CFR 50.48(a), each operating nuclear power 
plant must have a fire protection plan that satisfies General Design 
Criterion (GDC) 3, ``Fire Protection,'' of Appendix A, ``General Design 
Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to 10 CFR part 50, ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities.'' In addition, 
plants that were licensed to operate before January 1, 1979, must meet 
the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix R, ``Fire Protection 
Program for Nuclear Power Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 
1979,'' except to the extent provided for in 10 CFR 50.48(b). Plants 
licensed to operate after January 1, 1979, are required to comply with 
10 CFR 50.48(a), as well as any plant-specific fire protection license 
condition and technical specifications.
    Section 50.48(c), which the NRC adopted in 2004 (69 FR 33536, June 
16, 2004), incorporates NFPA 805 by reference, with certain exceptions, 
and allows licensees to voluntarily adopt and maintain a fire 
protection program that meets the requirements of NFPA 805 as an 
alternative to meeting the requirements of 10 CFR 50.48(b) or the 
plant-specific fire protection license conditions. Licensees who choose 
to comply with 10 CFR 50.48(c) must submit a license amendment 
application to the NRC, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.90. Section 
50.48(c)(3) describes the required content of the application.
    The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has developed NEI 04-02, 
``Guidance for Implementing a Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Fire 
Protection Program Under 10 CFR 50.48(c),'' Revision 1, dated September 
2005, to assist licensees in adopting 10 CFR 50.48(c) and making the 
transition from their current fire protection program (FPP) to one 
based on NFPA 805. This regulatory guide endorses NEI 04-02, Revision 
1, because it provides methods acceptable to the NRC for implementing 
NFPA 805 and complying with 10 CFR 50.48(c), subject to the additional 
regulatory positions contained in Section C of this regulatory guide 
and the approval authority that 10 CFR 50.48(c) grants to the authority 
having jurisdiction (AHJ). The regulatory positions in Section C 
include clarification of the guidance provided in NEI 04-02, as well as 
any NRC exceptions to the guidance. The regulatory positions in Section 
C take precedence over the NEI 04-02 guidance.
    All references to NEI 04-02 in this regulatory guide refer to 
Revision 1 of NEI 04-02. All references to NFPA 805 in this regulatory 
guide refer to the 2001 Edition of NFPA.
    The NRC previously solicited public comment on this new guide by 
publishing a Federal Register notice (69 FR 60192) concerning Draft 
Regulatory Guide DG-1139 on October 7, 2004. Following the closure of 
the public comment period on December 15, 2004, the staff considered 
all stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Regulatory Guide 
1.205. The NRC staff's responses to public comments received on the 
draft regulatory guide are available electronically in the NRC's 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under Accession 
ML061100235. In particular, the revisions in this new guide 
include additional guidance regarding the plant change process, 
including risk acceptance thresholds for changes that may be made 
without prior NRC review and approval. In addition, this new guide 
includes guidance for the fire probabilistic safety analyses that 
licensees use to risk-inform the fire protection program.
    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 Regulatory Guide 1.205 may 
be directed to Paul W. Lain at (301) 415-2346 or via e-mail to 
[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. Regulatory Guide 1.205 is also available 
electronically in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under 
Accession ML061100174.
    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

[[Page 32615]]

(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 26th day of May, 2006.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Brian W. Sheron,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
 [FR Doc. E6-8706 Filed 6-5-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P