[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 28 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6620-6622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2372]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Final Regulatory Guides: Impending Issuance, Availability, and
Applicability to New Reactor Licensing
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance, Availability, and Applicability of Final Regulatory
Guides for New Reactor Licensing.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is currently
reviewing and revising numerous guides in the agency's Regulatory Guide
(RG) Series. This series has been developed to describe, and make
available to the public, 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.
Availability And Dates
The NRC will make each new or revised RG publicly available through
the following electronic distribution channels:
The NRC's Electronic Reading Room on the agency's public
Web site, in the Regulatory Guides document collection, at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/.
The NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System
(ADAMS), at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (using the ADAMS
accession number specified in the footer on the first page of each
regulatory guide).
Please note that the NRC does not intend to distribute printed
copies of these revised RGs unless specifically requested on an
individual basis with adequate justification. Requests for single
copies 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. In
addition, the NRC does not intend to issue separate notices of issuance
and availability. Consequently, interested parties should regularly
peruse the previously specified electronic distribution channels to
identify newly revised RGs.
RGs are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to
reproduce them. Copies of each RG 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 One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland, Room O-1 F21, and is open to the public on Federal
workdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. The PDR reproduction contractor
will make copies of documents for a fee. Selected documents, including
public comments on the DGs, can also be viewed and downloaded
electronically via ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/reading-rm/adams.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if you encounter
problems in accessing the documents stored in ADAMS, contact the PDR
Reference Staff at (800) 397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The revised versions of the RGs will not be
used as a backfit to any previously issued staff position for existing
nuclear power reactors. The purpose of the ongoing revision of the
NRC's RGs is to ensure that prospective applicants have complete,
accurate, and current guidance for use in preparing early site permit
(ESP), design certification (DC), and combined license (COL)
applications for proposed new reactors. In particular, the NRC staff
ensures that the agency's regulatory guidance is
[[Page 6621]]
consistent with the rulemaking, ``Licenses, Certifications, and
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants'' (Title 10, Part 52, of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 52)). The proposed rule was published
in the Federal Register on March 13, 2006 (71 FR 12781).
Over the past several months, the NRC has issued drafts of the
revised RGs for a 45-day public comment period. The NRC staff is
currently addressing the stakeholder comments received on these RGs.
Discussion
The NRC regulates the siting, construction, and operation of
commercially owned nuclear power facilities in the United States
through a combination of regulatory requirements, licensing, and
oversight (including inspection). These activities enable the agency to
fulfill its mission to license and regulate the Nation's civilian use
of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate
protection of public health and safety, promote the common defense and
security, and protect the environment.
In late 2000, the NRC became aware that some electric companies
were exploring the option of building new nuclear power plants in the
United States. As a result, in February 2001, the Commission issued a
staff requirements memorandum (SRM COMJSM-00-0003) directing the staff
to (1) assess its technical, licensing, and inspection capabilities, as
well as its readiness to review new license applications and inspect
new nuclear power plants; (2) examine the regulatory infrastructure for
10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, as well as other applicable regulations; and
(3) identify any enhancements needed to ensure that the agency is
prepared to review ESP, DC, and COL applications for new nuclear power
plants.
In response to the Commission's SRM, the staff issued SECY-01-0188,
``Future Licensing and Inspection Readiness Assessment'' (FLIRA), in
October 2001. In addition, although the FLIRA stated that the staff
considers the agency's current regulatory infrastructure adequate to
support new reactor licensing, the staff has undertaken major
infrastructure changes to make new licensing reviews more effective and
efficient, and to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden on future
applicants. The staff's ongoing review and revision of the NRC's RGs is
one significant aspect of these infrastructure changes.
Through the years, the NRC has established 10 broad divisions of
RGs, of which the following are the subject of the staff's particular
efforts to support new reactor licensing.
Division 1, Power Reactors
Division 4, Environmental and Siting
Division 8, Occupational Health
Of these Divisions, the NRC identified a select group of RGs that
required revision and are currently being updated to (1) ensure
consistency with the rulemaking to update 10 CFR Part 52; (2) ensure
coherence with NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of
Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants'' (SRP), which is also
undergoing staff review and revision; and (3) provide prospective
applicants with complete, accurate, and current guidance for use in
preparing ESP, DC, and COL applications for proposed new reactors.
Following is a list of RGs along with the Draft Guide (DG) numbers used
during the public comment period.
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RG DG title
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1.7 DG-1117.......................... Control of Combustible Gas
Concentrations in Containment
Following a Loss-of-Coolant
Accident.
1.9 DG-1172.......................... Application and Testing of Safety-
Related Diesel Generators in
Nuclear Power Plants.
1.13 DG-1162......................... Spent Fuel Storage Facility
Design Basis.
1.20 DG-1163......................... Comprehensive Vibration
Assessment Program for Reactor
Internals During Preoperational
and Initial Startup Testing.
1.23 DG-1164......................... Meteorological Monitoring
Programs for Nuclear Power
Plants.
1.26 DG-1152......................... Quality Group Classifications and
Standards for Water-, Steam-,
and Radioactive-Waste-Containing
Components of Nuclear Power
Plants.
1.29 DG-1156......................... Seismic Design Classification.
1.37 DG-1165......................... Quality Assurance Requirements
for Cleaning of Fluid Systems
and Associated Components of
Water-Cooled Nuclear Power
Plants.
1.57 DG-1158......................... Design Limits and Loading
Combinations for Metal Primary
Reactor Containment System
Components.
1.61 DG-1157......................... Damping Values for Seismic Design
of Nuclear Power Plants.
1.68 DG-1166......................... Initial Test Programs for Water-
Cooled Nuclear Power Plants.
1.71 DG-1167......................... Welder Qualification for Areas of
Limited Accessibility.
1.76 DG-1143......................... Design Basis Tornado and Tornado
Missiles for Nuclear Power
Plants.
1.92 DG-1127......................... Combining Modal Responses and
Spatial Components in Seismic
Response Analysis.
1.93 DG-1153......................... Availability of Electric Power
Sources.
1.97 DG-1128......................... Criteria for Accident Monitoring
Instrumentation for Nuclear
Power Plants.
1.112 DG-1160........................ Calculation of Releases of
Radioactive Materials in Gaseous
and Liquid Effluents from Light-
Water-Cooled Power Reactors.
1.124 DG-1168........................ Service Limits and Loading
Combinations for Class 1 Linear-
Type Component Supports.
1.128 DG-1154........................ Installation Design and
Installation of Vented Lead-Acid
Storage Batteries for Nuclear
Power Plants.
1.129 DG-1155........................ Maintenance, Testing, and
Replacement of Vented Lead-Acid
Storage Batteries for Nuclear
Power Plants.
1.130 DG-1169........................ Service Limits and Loading
Combinations for Class 1 Plate-
and-Shell-Type Component
Supports.
1.136 DG-1159........................ Design Limits, Loading
Combinations, Materials,
Construction, and Testing of
Concrete Containments.
1.189 DG-1170........................ Fire Protection for Nuclear Power
Plants.
1.196 DG-1171........................ Control Room Habitability at
Light-Water Nuclear Power
Reactors.
1.200 DG-1161........................ An Approach for Determining the
Technical Adequacy of
Probabilistic Risk Assessment
Results for Risk-Informed
Activities.
1.205 DG-1139........................ Risk-Informed, Performance-Based
Fire Protection for Existing
Light-Water Nuclear Power
Plants.
4.15 DG-4010......................... Quality Assurance for
Radiological Monitoring Programs
(Inception through Normal
Operations to License
Termination)--Effluent Streams
and the Environment.
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[[Page 6622]]
The staff is also currently developing the following new RGs to provide
prospective applicants with complete, accurate, and current guidance
for use in preparing ESP, DC, and COL applications for proposed new
reactors:
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1.206 DG-1145........................ Combined License Applications for
Nuclear Power Plants (LWR
Edition).
1.207 DG-1144........................ Guidelines for Evaluating Fatigue
Analyses Incorporating the Life
Reduction of Metal Components
Due to the Effects of the Light
Reactor Water Environment for
New Reactors.
1.208 DG-1146........................ A Performance-Based Approach to
Define the Site-Specific
Earthquake Ground Motion.
1.209 DG-1142........................ Guidelines for Environmental
Qualification of Safety Related
Computer-Based Instrumentation
and Control Systems in Nuclear
Power Plants.
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The NRC finalized and published Revision 2 of RG 1.92 (July 2006),
Revision 4 of RG 1.97 (July 2006), Revision 1 to RG 1.196 and Revision
1 of RG 1.200 (January 2007), and RG 1.205 (June 2006). The NRC plans
to issue the remaining revised RGs as they are finalized between
February and March of 2007. The staff has determined that the RGs
listed previously may be uniformly applied (consistent with the staff
guidance provided in the SRP) to the ESP, DC, and COL applications
submitted for proposed new reactors.
Comment Procedures
The NRC staff encourages and welcomes comments and suggestions in
connection with improvements to published RGs, as well as items for
inclusion in RGs 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 (MS T-6 D59).
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.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Contact Information: Contact information for use in obtaining
printed or electronic copies of the revised RGs is provided in the
section on Availability And Dates. Contact information for use in
submitting comments is provided in the section on Comment Procedures.
Comments or questions about the NRC's revision of RGs to support new
reactor licensing should be addressed to Jimi T. Yerokun at (301) 415-
0585 or by e-mail to [email protected].
(5 U.S.C. 552(a))
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of February, 2007.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Farouk Eltawila,
Director, Division of Risk Assessment and Special Projects, Office of
Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E7-2372 Filed 2-9-07; 8:45 am]
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