Federal Register, Volume 74 Issue 57 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 57 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 13272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6757]



[[Page 13272]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0500]


Proposed Revisions to the License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance 
Process and Regulatory Issue Summary 2007-16; Request for Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The NRC requests public comment on a proposed draft License 
Renewal Interim Staff Guidance (LR-ISG) Process, Revision 1. This draft 
incorporates changes to the existing LR-ISG process, dated December 12, 
2003, and basic framework for developing and implementing LR-ISGs. The 
NRC also requests public comment on a proposed revision to NRC 
Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2007-16. This revision clarifies the 
role of the LR-ISG process for including ``newly identified'' systems, 
structures, and components in accordance with Sec.  54.37(b) of Title 
10, Part 54, ``Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 
54.37(b)). The proposed revisions to the LR-ISG process and RIS are 
available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS), under Accession Nos. ML082180346 and ML083500028, 
respectively.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than April 27, 2009. Comments 
received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do 
so, but the NRC staff is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made 
available to the public in their entirety on the Federal Government's 
rulemaking Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Personal information, 
such as name, address, telephone, e-mail address, etc., will not be 
removed from your submission.
    E-mail comments to: The Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov; search Docket ID NRC-2008-0500.
    Mail comments to: Michael Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking and Directives 
Branch, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Documents created or received after November 1, 1999, are available 
electronically at the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 
the public can gain entry into ADAMS. If you do not have access to the 
Internet or if there are any problems in accessing the documents 
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room reference staff 
at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Matthew Homiack, Division of 
License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-
1683; or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC posts its issued interim staff 
guidance on the NRC public Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg. The NRC staff requests public comment on draft LR-
ISG-2007-01 entitled, ``License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance Process, 
Revision 1'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML082180346). Once approved, this LR-
ISG will supersede the existing process entitled, ``Process for Interim 
Staff Guidance,'' issued December 12, 2003 (ML023520620). The NRC staff 
is proposing revisions to this process in order to address certain 
recommendations made in a report issued by the NRC's Office of the 
Inspector General, OIG-07-A-15, ``Audit of the NRC's License Renewal 
Program,'' dated September 6, 2007 (ML072490486). The revision also 
extends the LR-ISG process to include certain guidance documents 
associated with environmental reviews for license renewal applications. 
These documents are NUREG-1555, ``Environmental Standard Review Plan,'' 
Supplement 1, ``Operating License Renewal,'' dated March 2000 
(ML003702019), and NRC Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, 
``Preparation of Supplemental Environmental Reports for Applications to 
Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses,'' dated September 2000 
(ML003710495). The staff is also proposing to eliminate the previous 
``clarification'' and ``compliance'' LR-ISG designations. As an 
alternative, the staff will document the basis for applicability of 10 
CFR 54.37(b) or 10 CFR 50.109 in a proposed new backfitting discussion 
section of each LR-ISG. In addition, the draft LR-ISG process includes 
administrative changes, such as references to the NRC's organizational 
structure.
    The NRC staff also requests public comment on a proposed revision 
to RIS 2007-16. The NRC staff identified the need to revise this RIS to 
be consistent with the revision to the LR-ISG process. This revised 
RIS, once approved, will supersede the original version entitled, 
``Implementation of the Requirements of 10 CFR 54.37(b) for Holders of 
Renewed Licenses,'' issued August 23, 2007 (ML071080338).
    The NRC staff is issuing this notice to solicit public comments on 
draft LR-ISG-2007-01. After the NRC staff considers any public 
comments, it will make a determination regarding the draft LR-ISG.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of March 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian E. Holian,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E9-6757 Filed 3-25-09; 8:45 am]
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