[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 217 (Thursday, November 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 58324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27058]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0488]


Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 1.83.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John N. Ridgely, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-251-
7458 or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is 
withdrawing Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.83, ``Inservice Inspection of 
Pressurized Water Reactor Steam Generator Tubes,'' Revision 1, which 
was issued July 1975. RG 1.83 describes a program of periodic inservice 
inspection and nondestructive examination using a prescriptive sampling 
approach of steam generator tubing to detect defects and deterioration 
of the tubes in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The RG was developed 
to demonstrate compliance with portions of General Design Criterion 
(GDC) 14, ``Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary,'' GDC 15, ``Reactor 
Coolant System Design,'' GDC 31, ``Fracture Prevention of Reactor 
Coolant Pressure Boundary,'' and GDC 32, ``Inspection of Reactor 
Coolant Pressure Boundary.''
    RG 1.83 is being withdrawn because it no longer describes a 
preferred approach. It is a prescriptive regulatory guide which 
recommends the use of eddy current testing for the inspection of steam 
generator tubes. RG 1.83 may not ensure steam generator tube integrity 
as required by other rules/regulations. In addition, many of the 
methods/techniques discussed in the regulatory guide would not be 
considered acceptable, feasible, or practical given improvements in 
technology. Given the technological improvements and the recognition of 
the importance of maintaining tube integrity from a safety and economic 
perspective, the need for such prescriptive guidance has been 
superseded. In addition, simply following this guidance may not be 
sufficient to ensure tube integrity consistent with NRC regulations.
    The NRC now endorses a more risk-informed and performance-based 
approach to regulatory compliance. The performance-based approach 
relies upon measurable (or calculable) outcomes (i.e., performance 
results) to be met, but provides more flexibility to the licensee as to 
the means of meeting those outcomes.
    The high level requirements that must be met are contained in the 
standard technical specifications. These technical specifications are 
based on Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 97-06, ``Steam Generator 
Program Guidelines,'' and Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) 
Traveller, TSTF-449. This latter document has been reviewed and 
approved by the NRC staff as documented in Generic Letter 2006-01. In 
addition, the current version of this Standard Review Plan discusses 
the high level requirements which an acceptable steam generator program 
must meet. RG 1.83 is no longer needed since the NRC has adopted the 
performance-based approach. The use of a performance-based approach to 
steam generator tube inspection does not supplant or displace the 
requirement for compliance with NRC regulations.

II. Further Information

    Withdrawal of RG 1.83 does not, in and of itself, alter any prior 
or existing licensing commitments based on its use. The guidance 
provided in this regulatory guide is no longer necessary. Regulatory 
guides may be withdrawn when their guidance is superseded by 
Congressional action, the methods or techniques described in the 
Regulatory Guide no longer describe a preferred approach, or the 
Regulatory Guide does not provide useful information.
    Regulatory guides are available for inspection or downloading 
through the NRC's public Web site under ``Regulatory Guides'' in the 
NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections. Regulatory guides are also available for inspection at the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Room O-1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738. The PDR's mailing 
address is US NRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001. You can reach the 
staff by telephone at 301-415-4737 or 800-397-4209, by fax at 301-415-
3548, and by e-mail to [email protected].
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of November 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John N. Ridgely,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E9-27058 Filed 11-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P