[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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