[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39373-39374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10908]
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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 4 of Regulatory Guide 1.97, entitled ``Criteria for
Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Plants,''
describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in
complying with the agency's regulations with respect to satisfying
criteria for accident monitoring instrumentation in nuclear power
plants. Specifically, the method described in this regulatory guide
relates to General Design Criteria 13, 19, and 64, as set forth in
Appendix A to Title 10, Part 50, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR part 50), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization
Facilities.'' In addition, Subsection (2)(xix) of 10 CFR 50.34(f),
``Additional TMI-Related Requirements,'' requires operating reactor
licensees to provide adequate instrumentation for use in
[[Page 39374]]
monitoring plant conditions following an accident that includes core
damage.
This revision of Regulatory Guide 1.97 represents an ongoing
evolution in the nuclear industry's thinking and approaches with regard
to accident monitoring systems for nuclear power plants. Specifically,
this revision endorses (with certain clarifying regulatory positions
specified in Section C of the revised guide) the ``Criteria for
Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Generating
Stations,'' which the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) promulgated as IEEE Std. 497-2002.
This revised regulatory guide is intended for licensees of new
nuclear power plants.\1\ Previous revisions of this regulatory guide
remain in effect for licensees of current operating reactors,\1\ who
are unaffected by this proposed revision. (See regulatory position
1 in Section C of the revised guide for information regarding
the applicability of IEEE Std. 497-2002 for current operating
reactors.)
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\1\ The terms ``new nuclear power plant'' and ``new plant''
refer to any nuclear power plant for which the licensee obtained an
operating license after the NRC issued Revision 4 of Regulatory
Guide 1.97. The terms ``current operating reactor'' and ``current
plant'' refer to any nuclear power plant for which the licensee
obtained an operating license before the NRC issued Revision 4 of
Regulatory Guide 1.97.
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The NRC previously solicited public comment on this revised guide
by publishing a Federal Register notice (70 FR 49953) concerning Draft
Regulatory Guide DG-1128 on August 25, 2005. Following the closure of
the public comment period on October 14, 2005, the staff considered all
stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 4 of
Regulatory Guide 1.97. The staff's responses to all comments received
are available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under
Accession ML061580516.
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 4 of Regulatory
Guide 1.97 may be directed to Barry S. Marcus at (301) 415-2823 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 4 of
Regulatory Guide 1.97 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 ML061580448.
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 19th day of June, 2006.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E6-10908 Filed 7-11-06; 8:45 am]
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