[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 78856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30490]


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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-1190.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Khoi Nguyen, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 251-7453 or e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public 
comment a draft regulatory 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 specific problems or postulated 
accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide (DG), entitled, ``Manual Initiation of 
Protective Actions,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
1190, which should be mentioned in all related correspondence. This 
guide describes a method that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable 
for use in complying with the NRC's regulations with respect to the 
means for manual initiation of protective actions provided by otherwise 
automatically initiated safety systems. To meet these objectives, the 
means for manual initiation of protective actions must serve a safety-
related function to complete all required protective actions for the 
safety system.
    The regulatory framework that the NRC has established for nuclear 
power plants consists of a number of regulations and supporting 
guidelines applicable to manual initiation of protective actions, 
including, but not limited to, General Design Criterion (GDC) 1, 
``Quality Standards and Records,'' GDC 13, ``Instrumentation and 
Control,'' GDC 21, ``Protection System Reliability and Testability,'' 
and GDC 22, ``Protection System Independence,'' as set forth in 
Appendix A, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to 
Title 10, Part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50). GDC 
13 requires that appropriate controls shall be provided to maintain 
variables and systems that can affect the fission process, the 
integrity of the reactor core, the reactor coolant pressure boundary, 
and the containment and its associated systems within prescribed 
operating ranges. GDC 21 requires that the protection system shall be 
designed for high functional reliability. GDC 22 requires that design 
techniques, such as functional diversity or diversity in component 
design and principles of operation, shall be used to the extent 
practical to prevent loss of the protection function.

II. Further Information

    The NRC staff is soliciting comments on DG-1190. Comments may be 
accompanied by relevant information or supporting data, and should 
mention DG-1190 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. 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-1190 may be directed to 
Khoi Nguyen at (301) 251-7453 or e-mail to [email protected].
    Comments would be most helpful if received by February 20, 2009. 
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-1190 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. 
ML080720443.
    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 16 day of December, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
 [FR Doc. E8-30490 Filed 12-22-08; 8:45 am]
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