[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 171 (Friday, September 4, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45884-45885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21470]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0385]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Issuance and Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide, 
DG-1226.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald Helton, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 251-7594 or e-
mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 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 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), titled, ``An Approach for Using 
Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-
Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' is temporarily identified by 
its task number, DG-1226, which should be mentioned in all related 
correspondence. DG-1226 is proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 
1.174, dated November 2002. The NRC's policy statement on probabilistic 
risk assessment (PRA) encourages greater use of this analysis technique 
to improve safety decisionmaking and

[[Page 45885]]

improve regulatory efficiency. A description of current risk-informed 
initiatives may be found in (1) recent updates to the NRC staff's Risk-
Informed and Performance-Based Plan (RPP) formerly known as the Risk-
Informed Regulation Implementation Plan, and (2) the agency Internet 
site at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/risk-informed.html.
    One significant activity undertaken in response to the policy 
statement is the use of PRA to support decisions to modify an 
individual plant's licensing basis (LB). This regulatory guide provides 
guidance on the use of PRA findings and risk insights to support 
licensee requests for changes to a plant's LB, as in requests for 
license amendments and technical specification changes under Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sections 50.90, 
``Application for Amendment of License, Construction Permit, or Early 
Site Permit,'' through 50.92, ``Issuance of Amendment.'' It does not 
address licensee-initiated changes to the LB that do NOT require NRC 
review and approval (e.g., changes to the facility as described in the 
final safety analysis report (FSAR), the subject of 10 CFR 50.59, 
``Changes, Tests, and Experiments'').

II. Further Information

    The NRC staff is soliciting comments on DG-1226. Comments may be 
accompanied by relevant information or supporting data and should 
mention DG-1226 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).
    Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying 
or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including any 
information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed. You may submit comments by any of the following 
methods:
    1. Mail comments to: Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Mail Stop: 
TWB-05-B01M, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    2. Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 
and search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2009-0385]. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 301-492-3668; e-mail 
[email protected].
    3. Fax comments to: Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 492-3446.
    Requests for technical information about DG-1226 may be directed to 
the NRC contact, Donald Helton at (301) 251-7594 or e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Comments would be most helpful if received by November 3, 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-1226 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. 
ML091200100.
    In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) 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 25 day of August 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E9-21470 Filed 9-3-09; 8:45 am]
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