[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 27, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30422-30423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11748]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of issuance and availability of Draft Regulatory Guide 
(DG)-1175.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ching H. Ng, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-8054 or e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public 
comment a draft guide in the agency's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. This 
series was 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 technical information related to specific 
problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in its 
review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Seismic Qualification of 
Electric and Active Mechanical Equipment and Functional Qualification 
of Active Mechanical Equipment for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1175, which should be 
mentioned in all related correspondence.
    The NRC issued Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 1.100, titled 
``Seismic Qualification of Electric and Mechanical Equipment for 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' in June 1988. With a few exceptions and 
clarifications, it endorsed the Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers (IEEE) Std 344-1987, ``IEEE Recommended Practice for Seismic 
Qualification of Class 1E Equipment for Nuclear Power Generating 
Stations,'' and extended the application of that standard to the 
seismic qualification of mechanical equipment. In extending the 
application of IEEE Std 344-1987 to mechanical equipment, the NRC staff 
recognized differences in seismic qualification methods for electric 
equipment (including instrumentation and control (I&C) components) and 
mechanical equipment. Specifically, Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 
1.100 stated that seismic qualification of mechanical equipment by 
analysis is permitted when such equipment can be modeled to adequately 
predict its response. The IEEE has updated IEEE Std 344-1987 and issued 
it as IEEE Std 344-2004 in June 2005.
    Revision 2 also stated that the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers (ASME) was developing a standard for seismic qualification of 
mechanical equipment and, upon publication of that standard, the NRC 
staff would review it for suitability for endorsement by a revision of 
Regulatory Guide 1.100. In 1994, the ASME issued a standard, ASME QME-
1-1994, ``Qualification of Active Mechanical Equipment Used in Nuclear 
Power Plants.'' The ASME QME-1 covers both seismic qualification and 
functional qualification of active mechanical equipment. The ASME 
subsequently revised and reissued the standard in 1997, 2000, and 2002, 
with the last

[[Page 30423]]

revision issued in November 2007 as ASME QME-1-2007. This is the first 
time the NRC is endorsing ASME QME-1.
    The NRC developed this regulatory guide (i.e., Revision 3) to 
endorse, with exceptions and clarifications, IEEE Std 344-2004 and ASME 
QME-1-2007. Specifically, Regulatory Position C.1 of this regulatory 
guide endorses, with exceptions and clarifications, the entire IEEE Std 
344-2004 and Section QR, ``General Requirements,'' and Nonmandatory 
Appendix QR-A, ``Seismic Qualification of Active Mechanical 
Equipment,'' of ASME QME-1-2007 for the seismic qualification of 
electric and active mechanical equipment, respectively. Position C.2 of 
this regulatory guide endorses, with exceptions and clarifications, 
Section QR and the remaining sections of ASME QME-1-2007 (except 
Nonmandatory Appendix QR-A) for the functional qualification of active 
mechanical equipment.

II. Further Information

    The NRC staff is soliciting comments on DG-1175. Comments may be 
accompanied by relevant information or supporting data, and should 
mention DG-1175 in the subject line. Comments submitted in writing or 
in electronic form will be made available to the public in their 
entirety through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS). Personal information will not be removed from your 
comments. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    1. Mail comments to: Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, 
Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    2. E-mail comments to: [email protected].
    3. 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.
    4. 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 DG-1175 may be directed to 
the NRC Program Manager, Ching H. Ng at (301) 415-8054 or by e-mail at 
[email protected].
    Comments would be most helpful if received by July 11, 2008. 
Comments received after that date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, 
comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in 
guides currently being developed or improvements in all published 
guides are encouraged at any time.
    Electronic copies of DG-1175 are available through the NRC's public 
Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the ``Regulatory Guides'' 
collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies are also available in 
ADAMS (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html), under Accession No. 
ML072620346.
    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].
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is 
not required to reproduce them.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20 day of May, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E8-11748 Filed 5-23-08; 8:45 am]
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