[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 26 (Thursday, February 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6011-6012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2089]
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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 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.200, ``An Approach for Determining
the Technical Adequacy of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Results for
Risk-Informed Activities,'' describes one acceptable approach for
determining whether the quality of a probabilistic risk assessment
(PRA), in total or the parts that are used to support an application,
is sufficient to provide confidence in the results, such that the PRA
can be used in regulatory decision-making for light-water reactors.
Specifically, Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.200 provides guidance in
four areas:
(1) A minimal set of requirements of a technically acceptable PRA.
(2) The NRC's position on PRA consensus standards and industry PRA
program documents.
(3) Demonstration that the PRA (in total or specific parts) used in
regulatory applications is of sufficient technical adequacy.
(4) Documentation to support a regulatory submittal.
This guidance is intended to be consistent with the NRC's PRA
Policy Statement, entitled ``Use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment
Methods in Nuclear Activities: Final Policy Statement,'' which the NRC
published in the Federal Register on August 16, 1995 (60 FR 42622) to
encourage use of PRA in all regulatory matters. That Policy Statement
states that ``* * * the use of PRA technology should be increased to
the extent supported by the state-of-the-art in PRA methods and data
and in a manner that complements the NRC's deterministic approach.''
Since that time, many uses have been implemented or undertaken,
including modification of the NRC's reactor safety inspection program
and initiation of work to modify reactor safety regulations.
Consequently, confidence in the information derived from a PRA is an
important issue, in that the accuracy of the technical content must be
sufficient to justify the specific results and insights that are used
to support the decision under consideration.
Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.200 is also intended to be
consistent with the more detailed guidance in Regulatory Guide 1.174,
``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed
Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' which the
NRC issued in November 2002. In addition, Revision 1 of Regulatory
Guide 1.200 is intended to reflect and endorse (with certain
objections) the following guidance provided by the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI):
ASME RA-S-2002, ``Standard for Probabilistic Risk
Assessment for Nuclear Power Plant Applications,'' dated April 5, 2002.
ASME RA-Sa7-2003, ``Standard for Probabilistic Risk
Assessment for Nuclear Power Plant Applications,'' Addendum A to ASME
RA-S-2002, dated December 5, 2003.
ASME RA-Sb-2005, ``Standard for Probabilistic Risk
Assessment for Nuclear Power Plant Applications,''
[[Page 6012]]
Addendum B to ASME RA-S-2002, dated December 30, 2005.
NEI-00-02, ``Probabilistic Risk Assessment Peer Review
Process Guidance,'' Revision A3, dated March 20, 2000, with its
supplemental guidance on industry self-assessment, dated August 16,
2002, Revision 1, dated May 19, 2006, and an update to Revision 1 dated
November 15, 2006.
NEI-05-04, ``Process for Performing Follow-on PRA Peer
Reviews Using the ASME PRA Standard,'' dated January 2005.
When used in support of an application, this regulatory guide will
obviate the need for an in-depth review of the base PRA by NRC
reviewers, allowing them to focus their review on key assumptions and
areas identified by peer reviewers as being of concern and relevant to
the application. Consequently, this guide will provide for a more
focused and consistent review process. In this regulatory guide, as in
Regulatory Guide 1.174, the quality of a PRA analysis used to support
an application is measured in terms of its appropriateness with respect
to scope, level of detail, and technical acceptability.
This regulatory guide was issued for trial use in February of 2004,
and five trial applications were conducted. The staff subsequently
revised Regulatory Guide 1.200 to incorporate the lessons learned from
those pilot applications. The NRC solicited public comment on this
guidance by publishing a Federal Register notice (71 FR 54530)
concerning Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1161. The public comment period
closed on October 14, 2006, and the staff has considered and
appropriately addressed all comments received. 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 ML070040474.
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: Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch,
Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Hand-deliver comments to: Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing
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: Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, Office
of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-
5144.
Requests for technical information about Regulatory Guide 1.200 may
be directed to Ms. Mary T. Drouin, at (301) 415-6675 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/. Regulatory Guide 1.200 is also available
for inspection or downloading through the NRC's Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under Accession ML070240001.
In addition, Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.200 and other related
publicly available documents, including public comments received, can
be viewed electronically on computers in the NRC's Public Document Room
(PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
The PDR reproduction contractor will make copies of documents for a
fee. 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].
Please note that the NRC does not intend to distribute printed
copies of Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.200, unless specifically
requested on an individual basis with adequate justification. Such
requests for single copies (which may be reproduced) 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 26th day of January, 2007.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E7-2089 Filed 2-7-07; 8:45 am]
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