[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 164 (Friday, August 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49711-49712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19635]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Regulatory Guide: Granting Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Granting of Request To Extend the Comment Period of 
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-1200, ``An Approach for Determining the 
Technical Adequacy of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Results for Risk-
Informed Activities.''

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Drouin, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-6675 or e-
mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued for public 
comment DG-1200, which was published in the Federal Register, 73 FR 
35170, on June 20, 2008. DG-1200 is proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory 
Guide 1.200 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.

II. Further Information

    The NRC staff requested receipt of comments on DG-1200 by August 
25, 2008, (including any implementation schedule) and its associated 
regulatory analysis or value/impact statement. By this action, the NRC 
staff is extending the comment period until September 24, 2008. 
Comments received after September 24, 2008, would be considered if 
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.

III. Request To Extend the Comment Period

Basis for the Request

    The NRC received the following extension request:

    ``There is currently work underway by the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to address many fundamental issues with 
the Joint ASME/American Nuclear Society (ANS) PRA [probabilistic 
risk assessment] Standard, many of which are items likely identified 
in the current RG revision. These changes are identified as Addendum 
A to the ASME/ANS Joint PRA Standard.'' ``ASME is currently 
balloting these changes for approval, with a closure of the ballot 
in late August 2008. Once balloted and approved, these changes to 
the Joint Standard will be made available to the general public. 
Availability of such information will be important for the public to 
make an informed review of the draft RG 1.200, Revision 2. As a 
result of this schedule mismatch, the PWROG [pressurized water 
reactor owners' group] requests that the review period for the draft 
RG 1.200, Revision 2 be extended to allow the industry to integrate 
the findings and conclusions of the ASME/ANS Joint PRA Standard 
revisions in preparing an informed review. The

[[Page 49712]]

PWROG views changes in Addendum A substantial enough to warrant an 
extension of the public review period. Accordingly, we request a 60-
day extension to the current review period.''

Response to Request

    The request for an extension to the comment period is approved for 
30 days.
    The staff understands that ASME/ANS is working on an initial 
addendum (i.e., Addendum A) to Revision 1 of the ASME/ANS PRA Standard 
(RA-S-2008). However, at this time, Addendum A has not been approved by 
ASME/ANS, and consequently is not available to the public. Since the 
ASME/ANS ballot period has not closed, it is not known if there will be 
sufficient positive ballots approving Addendum A. Consequently, it is 
uncertain if and when ASME/ANS will issue Addendum A, and therefore, be 
available to the public. A 60-day extension to the public comment 
period for DG 1200 will impact the December 2008 publication date of 
Revision 2 of RG 1.200. With the uncertainty associated with the 
issuance of Addendum A of the ASME/ANS PRA standard, the staff does not 
support an extension of the comment period to DG 1200 that would impact 
the schedule for publishing Revision 2 to RG 1.200. However, the staff 
agrees with the PWROG with regard to the importance of Addendum A. The 
staff understands from ASME that the ballot closes September 12, 2008, 
at which time the status of Addendum A will be known. A 30-day 
extension to the comment period of DG 1200 will enable the staff the 
meet the publication schedule of December 2008 for Revision 2 to RG 
1.200. Therefore, the staff is approving a 30-day extension to the 
public comment period, with the public comment period to end on 
September 24, 2008. Further, at that time, the status of Addendum A of 
the ASME/ANS PRA Standard will be known, and dependent on the content 
of Addendum A and the schedule for issuance, the staff may revisit the 
schedule for publishing Revision 2 of RG 1.200.
    Requests for technical information about DG-1200 may be directed to 
the NRC contact, Mary Drouin at (301) 415-6675 or e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Electronic copies of DG-1200 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. 
ML081200566.
    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 19th day of August 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen C. O'Connor,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E8-19635 Filed 8-21-08; 8:45 am]
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