[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45282-45285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18639]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2012 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 45282]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0179]
NRC Position on the Relationship Between General Design Criteria
and Technical Specification Operability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; public meeting and request for
comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission)
is holding a public meeting to discuss a draft regulatory issue summary
(RIS) that clarifies the NRC staff's position on the relationship
between the general design criteria (GDC) for nuclear power plants and
technical specification operability. In addition, the draft RIS
clarifies the process for addressing nonconformances with GDC as
incorporated into a plant's current licensing basis. The NRC is also
seeking public comment on the draft RIS.
DATES: Submit comments by September 14, 2012. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related
to this document, which the NRC possesses and is publicly available, by
searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-0179.
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0179. 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: Thomas Alexion, Senior Project
Manager, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and
Rulemaking, Office Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Mail Stop: OWFN-12-D-20,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-1326, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0179 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses
and is publicly available, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0179.
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 draft RIS ``NRC Staff
Position on the Relationship Between GDC Requirements and Technical
Specification Operability,'' is available electronically under ADAMS
Accession No. ML12137A346.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0179 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 that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely 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 that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
Addressees
All holders of, and applicants for, power reactor operating
licenses issued under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) Part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization
Facilities,'' except those that have permanently ceased operations and
have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor
vessel.
Intent
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this
regulatory issue summary (RIS) to clarify the relationship between
Appendix A, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to 10
CFR part 50, and 10 CFR 50.36, ``Technical Specifications.'' In
addition, the RIS is clarifying the process for addressing
nonconformances with general design criteria (GDC) as incorporated into
a plant's current licensing basis (CLB). This RIS does not transmit any
new requirements and does not require any
[[Page 45283]]
specific action or written response on the part of an addressee.
Background Information
Recently, the NRC has received questions about the relationship
between licensing basis design requirements, such as the GDC as
incorporated into the plant CLB, and technical specification (TS)
operability requirements. The relationship between CLB design
requirements and the TS was addressed in a memorandum from Thomas E.
Murley, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) to the NRR
staff, dated January 24, 1994 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12115A279). The
positions described in this memo were incorporated into the Inspection
Manual Part 9900 Technical Guidance, ``Operability Determinations &
Functionality Assessments for Resolution of Degraded or Nonconforming
Conditions Adverse to Quality or Safety (Operability Determination
Process),'' which was issued as the attachment to RIS 2005-20, Revision
1, ``Revision to NRC Inspection Manual Part 9900 Technical Guidance,
`Operability Determinations & Functionality Assessments for Resolution
of Degraded or Nonconforming Conditions Adverse to Quality or Safety'''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML073531473).
The GDCs or a plant-specific equivalent,\1\ as incorporated into
the CLB, have an important relationship to the operability requirements
of the TS. Comprehending this relationship is critical to understanding
how licensees should address nonconformances with CLB design
requirements. This RIS discusses these relationships to promote a more
comprehensive understanding of how the NRC requirements work in concert
with TS to ensure plant safety.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For example, plants with construction permits issued prior
to May 21, 1971, may have been approved for construction based on
the proposed General Design Criteria published by the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) in the Federal Register (32 FR 10213) on July 11,
1967, sometimes referred to as the AEC Draft GDC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relationship of the GDC to the Technical Specifications
The GDC and the TS differ in that the GDC specify NRC's
requirements for the design of nuclear power reactors, whereas the TS
are included in the license and specify requirements for the operation
of nuclear power reactors. Design requirements, such as GDCs or similar
requirements, are typically included in the licensing basis for every
nuclear power plant. GDCs, according to Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 50,
``establish the necessary design, fabrication, construction, testing,
and performance requirements for structures, systems, and components
(SSCs) important to safety.'' As such, the GDCs cover a broad category
of SSCs that are important to safety, including those SSCs that are
covered by TS. Both the design capability of the facility to meet the
GDC (or a plant-specific equivalent) and the operational restrictions,
which are to be included in the TS, are described in the final safety
analysis report (FSAR). The staff safety evaluation documents the
acceptability of these analyses, and it is the combination of the FSAR
analyses and the staff safety evaluation that forms the bases from
which the TS are derived. It is important to note that the GDCs cover a
broader scope of SSCs than the TS because the TS establish, among other
things, the limiting conditions for operations (LCOs). LCOs are the
``lowest functional capability or performance levels of equipment
required for safe operation of the facility.'' Section 182 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended and as implemented by 10 CFR
50.36, requires that those design features of the facility that, if
altered or modified, would have a significant effect on safety, be
included in the TS. Thus, TS are intended to ensure that the most
safety-significant design features of a plant, as determined by the
safety analysis, maintain their capability to perform their safety
functions.
Technical Specification Operability Determinations and the GDC
Recently, the NRC staff learned that some licensees follow their
corrective action program for an identified nonconformance with a CLB
design requirement, such as a GDC, or a plant-specific equivalent, that
is part of the plant's CLB without consideration of the need to apply
the Part 9900 operability determination process. To the NRC staff it
appears that not every licensee understands the relationship between
CLB design requirements and TS requirements for nonconforming
conditions or that the Part 9900 operability determination process also
applies to nonconforming conditions.
As noted in the January 24, 1994, memo, not all GDCs that are
included in the CLB are explicitly identified in TS. However, those
that are not explicitly identified may still need to be considered when
either determining or to establish the basis for operability of TS
SSCs. It is the staff's position that any nonconformance with a GDC, or
a plant-specific equivalent included in the CLB should be evaluated to
determine if the nonconformance affects or alters the operability
status of a TS SSC.
As set forth in Part 9900, a documented determination is needed to
establish the basis for concluding that an SSC remains capable of
performing its safety function in the presence of the nonconforming
condition. Part 9900 states that a ``degraded condition is one in which
the qualification of an SSC or its functional capability is reduced.''
Similarly, Part 9900 defines a nonconforming condition as ``a condition
of an SSC that involves a failure to meet the CLB or a situation in
which quality has been reduced because of factors such as improper
design, testing, construction, or modification.'' Examples of
nonconforming conditions include: (1) An SSC that fails to conform to
one or more applicable codes or standards (e.g., the CFR, operating
license, TS, updated final safety analysis report, or licensee
commitments), (2) an as-built or as-modified SSC that does not meet the
current licensing basis, (3) operating experience or engineering
reviews that identify a design inadequacy, or (4) documentation
required by NRC requirements such as 10 CFR 50.54, ``Conditions of
licenses,'' or 10 CFR 50.59, ``Changes, Tests, and Experiments,'' that
is unavailable or deficient.
Section 3.8 of Part 9900 covers the definition of operability. The
definition includes the following statement:
In order to be considered operable, an SSC must be capable of
performing the safety functions specified by its design, within the
required range of design physical conditions, initiation times, and
mission times. [Emphasis added]
Section 4.0 of Part 9900 states the following:
Determinations of operability are appropriate whenever a review,
TS surveillance, or other information calls into question the
ability of SSCs to perform specified safety functions. The
operability determination process is used to assess operability of
SSCs and support functions for compliance with TS when a degraded or
nonconforming condition is identified for a specific SSC described
in TS, or when a degraded or nonconforming condition is identified
for a necessary and related support function. [Emphasis added]
Section 3.10 of Part 9900 further defines ``specified function/
specified safety function'' as follows:
The specified function(s) of the system, subsystem, train,
component, or device (required by the definition of operability) is
that specified safety function(s) in the CLB for the facility. In
addition to providing the specified safety function required by the
TSs definition of operability, a system is expected
[[Page 45284]]
to perform as designed, tested and maintained. When system
capability is degraded to a point where it cannot perform with
reasonable expectation or reliability, the system should be judged
inoperable, even if at this instantaneous point in time the system
could provide the specified safety function. [Emphasis added]
Thus, an operability determination (or functionality assessment) is
performed upon identification of a degraded or nonconforming condition,
including any nonconforming condition with a GDC included in either the
CLB for an SSC described in TS or for a necessary and related support
function required by the definition of operability. If the licensee
determination concludes that the TS SSC is nonconforming but operable
or the necessary and related support function is nonconforming but
functional, it would be appropriate to address the nonconforming
condition through the licensee's corrective action program. As stated
in Section 6.3 of Part 9900:
The purpose of an operability determination is to provide a
basis for making a timely decision on plant operation when a
degraded or nonconforming condition is discovered. Corrective
actions taken to restore full qualification should be addressed
through the corrective action process. The treatment of operability
as a separate issue from the restoration of full qualification
emphasizes that the operability determination process is focused on
safe plant operation and should not be impacted by decisions or
actions necessary to plan and implement corrective action (i.e.,
restore full qualification).
Example: Operability Determination for a Nonconformance with
GDC 2 for Natural Phenomenon
The following example discusses a nonconforming condition that
involves a failure to meet the current licensing basis because of
improper construction:
As indicated in the January 24, 1994, memo, the design bases for
protection against natural phenomena (GDC 2), when included in the CLB,
are inherently considered in the operability of safety-related SSCs
that satisfy the criteria for inclusion in the TS. The Part 9900
operability determination process should be entered when a licensee
identifies any nonconformance with GDC 2 or its equivalent, as
incorporated into a plant licensing basis (e.g., nonconformance with
the CLB for protection against flooding, seismic events, tornadoes,
etc.). Criterion 2 of the GDC states:
Design bases for protection against natural phenomena.
Structures, systems, and components important to safety shall be
designed to withstand the effects of natural phenomena such as
earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tsunami, and seiches
without loss of capability to perform their safety functions. The
design bases for these structures, systems, and components shall
reflect: (1) Appropriate consideration of the most severe of the
natural phenomena that have been historically reported for the site
and surrounding area, with sufficient margin for the limited
accuracy, quantity, and period of time in which the historical data
have been accumulated, (2) appropriate combinations of the effects
of normal and accident conditions with the effects of the natural
phenomena and (3) the importance of the safety functions to be
performed.
Licensees can implement GDC 2 in the design by specifying design
bases for combinations of normal and accident conditions to protect
SSCs from the effects of natural phenomena. Failure to meet GDC 2, as
described in the licensing basis should be treated as a nonconforming
condition and is an entry point for an operability determination for
any impacted TS-required SSC or a necessary and related support
function.
For example, if a licensee with GDC 2 in its CLB identified that
the exhaust stacks for the emergency diesel generators (EDGs) were not
protected from the impact of tornado missiles, then this condition
would call into question the operability of the EDGs. EDG operability
is called into question because the exhaust stacks are an integral
component of the EDGs, which, if crimped by a missile, could prevent
the EDGs from performing their specified safety function. Accordingly,
the licensee should then enter the operability determination process to
evaluate the impact of not meeting the CLB requirement for tornado
missile protection. If the licensee's evaluation concludes that the
EDGs are inoperable, then the licensee must enter its TS and follow the
applicable required actions. As stated in Section 7.3 of Part 9900, the
licensee may implement compensatory measures to restore ``inoperable
SSCs to an operable but degraded or nonconforming status. In general,
these measures should have minimal impact on the operators or plant
operations and should be relatively simple to implement.'' If the
licensee successfully implements compensatory measures to restore the
inoperable EDGs to an operable but nonconforming status; or if the
licensee's operability determination evaluation concludes that the EDGs
are operable and nonconforming, then the licensee should use its
corrective action program to bring the EDGs back into conformance with
the CLB.
Summary
In summary, TS SSCs must be capable of performing their specified
safety function (i.e., be operable or have operability) whenever a
plant is operating in the modes and other specified conditions of the
applicability of TS limiting conditions for operation. In addition to
providing the safety function, a system is expected to perform as
designed, tested, and maintained. Any nonconformance with a GDC in the
CLB has the potential to negatively impact the operability of a TS SSC
and must be evaluated to determine if the nonconforming condition has
rendered any TS SSC inoperable. When system capability is degraded to a
point in which it cannot perform with reasonable expectation or
reliability, the system should be judged inoperable, even if the system
could provide the specified safety function at this instantaneous point
in time.
Backfit Discussion
This RIS provides information concerning the NRC staff position on
the relationship between Appendix A to 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR 50.36
so that the stakeholders may understand the requirements of the
regulations more broadly. This RIS is identical to earlier NRC
positions on the relationship of the GDC and the TS and, therefore, is
not a backfit under 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting.'' Consequently, the
NRC staff did not perform a backfit analysis.
Federal Register Notification
[Discussion to be provided in final RIS]
Congressional Review Act
[Discussion to be provided in final RIS]
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This RIS does not contain any new or amended information collection
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.). Existing collection requirements under 10 CFR part 50
were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, control number
3150-0011.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, an information collection unless the requesting document
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
III. Public Meeting
The NRC plans to hold a public meeting on August 8, 2012, to
discuss the draft RIS and to obtain feedback from members of the
public. The public meeting notice is available electronically under
ADAMS Accession No. ML12188A402. In addition, the meeting agenda will
be posted on the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://
www.nrc.gov/public-
[[Page 45285]]
involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. Information regarding topics to be
discussed, changes to the agenda, whether the meeting has been
cancelled or rescheduled, and the time allotted for public comments can
be obtained from the Public Meeting Schedule Web site.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of July 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Pelton,
Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-18639 Filed 7-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P