[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 110 (Thursday, June 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33780-33782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13811]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0067]


Interim Staff Guidance JLD-ISG-2012-03; Compliance with Order EA-
12-051, Order Modifying Licenses With Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel 
Pool Instrumentation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate guidance; 
request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing the draft Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate Interim 
Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-03, ``Compliance With Order EA-
12-051, Order Modifying Licenses With Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel 
Pool Instrumentation.'' This JLD-ISG provides guidance and 
clarification to assist nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees 
with the identification of measures needed to comply with requirements 
to install enhanced spent fuel pool monitoring capability.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than July 7, 2012. 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.

[[Page 33781]]


ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-
0067. You may submit comments by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0067. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. Lisa M. Regner, Japan Lessons 
Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-1906; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0067 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0067.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The draft JLD-ISG-2012-03 is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML12144A323.
     NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Web Site: JLD-ISG documents 
are also available online under the ``Japan Lessons Learned'' heading 
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/#int.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
     Public Meeting: Information on the draft ISG will be 
provided at a public meeting on June 21, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 
a.m. in the Commissioner's Hearing Room at NRC Headquarters, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12146A025).

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0067 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS, and the NRC does not edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background Information

    This draft interim staff guidance (ISG) is being issued to describe 
to the public methods acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with 
Order EA-12-051, ``Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Reliable 
Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation (Effective Immediately)'' (Order EA-12-
051), issued March 12, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12056A044). This 
draft ISG endorses, with exceptions, the methodologies described in the 
industry guidance document, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 12-02, 
Industry Guidance for Compliance with NRC Order EA-12-051, ``To Modify 
Licenses with Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation'' (NEI 
12-02), Revision B. The draft ISG is not a substitute for the 
requirements in Order EA-12-051, and compliance with the ISG not 
required. This ISG is being issued in draft form for public comment to 
involve the public in development of the implementation guidance.
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued Order EA-12-051 
following the NRC staff's evaluation of the earthquake and tsunami, and 
resulting nuclear accident, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power 
plant in March 2011. Order EA-12-051 requires all licensees and 
construction permit (CP) holders to provide safety enhancements in the 
form of reliable spent fuel pool instrumentation for beyond-design-
basis external events. Order EA-12-051 also requires the NRC staff to 
issue final interim staff guidance in August 2012 to provide additional 
details on an acceptable approach for complying with Order EA-12-051.
    Following the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, 
the NRC established a senior-level agency task force referred to as the 
Near-Term Task Force (NTTF). The NTTF conducted a systematic and 
methodical review of the NRC regulations and processes, and determined 
if the agency should make additional improvements to these programs in 
light of the events at Fukushima Dai-ichi.
    As a result of this review, the NTTF developed a comprehensive set 
of recommendations, documented in SECY-11-0093, Near-Term Report and 
Recommendations for Agency Actions Following the Events in Japan, dated 
July 19, 2011. These recommendations were modified by the NRC staff 
following interactions with stakeholders. Documentation of the NRC 
staff's efforts is contained in SECY-11-0124, Recommended Actions To Be 
Taken Without Delay From the Near Term Task Force Report, dated 
September 9, 2011, and SECY-11-0137, Prioritization of Recommended 
Actions To Be Taken in Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned, dated 
October 3, 2011. SECY-11-0124 and SECY-11-0137 established the NRC 
staff's prioritization of the recommendation based upon the potential 
for each recommendation to enhance safety.
    As discussed in the Staff Requirements Memorandum associated with 
SECY-12-0025, Proposed Orders and Requests for Information in Response 
to Lessons Learned from Japan's March 11, 2011, Great Tohoku Earthquake 
and Tsunami, dated March

[[Page 33782]]

9, 2012, the Commission determined that the additional requirements in 
Order EA-12-051 represent ``a substantial increase in the protection of 
public health and safety.'' Consequently, the Commission decided to 
administratively exempt this Order from applicable provisions of the 
Backfit Rule, Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
50.109, and the issue finality requirements in 10 CFR part 52.
    As required by Order EA-12-051, the NRC staff is issuing a draft 
version of JLD-ISG-12-03 to provide additional details on an acceptable 
approach for complying with Order EA-12-051 requirements. The staff 
intends to issue the final ISG in August 2012 following consideration 
of public comments.
    Numerous public meetings were held to receive stakeholder input on 
the proposed requirement for spent fuel pool instrumentation 
enhancements prior to issuance of Order EA-12-051. Following issuance 
of Order EA-12-051, several more public meetings were held with 
representatives from the NEI task force to discuss development of the 
guidance for compliance with Order EA-12-051. By letter dated May 11, 
2012, the NEI task force submitted a guidance document for the 
implementation of Order EA-12-051 and requested the NRC endorsement.

Proposed Action

    By this action, the NRC is requesting public comments on draft JLD-
ISG-2012-03. This ISG proposes guidance related to requirements 
contained in Order EA-12-051, Reliable Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation. 
The NRC staff will make a final determination regarding issuance of the 
JLD-ISG after it considers any public comments received in response to 
this request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of May 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Skeen,
Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-13811 Filed 6-6-12; 8:45 am]
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