[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 174 (Friday, September 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55230-55231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22066]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0068]


Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate Interim Staff Guidance 
JLD-ISG-2012-01; Compliance With Order EA-12-049, Order Modifying 
Licenses With Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for 
Beyond-Design-Basis External Events

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate interim staff 
guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing the Final Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate Interim 
Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-01, ``Compliance with Order EA-
12-049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for 
Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,'' 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. 
ML12229A174. 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 mitigate challenges 
to key safety functions. These requirements are contained in Order EA-
12-049, ``Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for 
Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12054A736).

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-
0068.
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0068. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     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 JLD-ISG-2012-01 is 
available under ADAMS Accession No. ML12229A174.
     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, MD 20852 NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Web 
Site: Go to http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/japan-lessons-learned.html and refer to JLD-ISG-2012-01.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steven D. Bloom, Japan Lessons-
Learned Project Directorate, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-2431; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

II. Background Information

    Interim staff guidance (ISG), Final Japan Lessons-Learned Project 
Directorate Interim Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-01, 
``Compliance with Order EA-12-049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard 
to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis 
External Events,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML12229A174) is being issued to 
describe to the public methods acceptable to the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) staff for complying with Order EA-12-049, ``Order 
Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation 
Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events (Effective 
Immediately)'' (Order EA-12-049), issued March 12, 2012. This ISG 
endorses the methodologies described in the industry guidance document, 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 12-06, Diverse and Flexible Coping 
Strategies (FLEX) Implementation Guide (NEI 12-06), Revision 0 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12242A378) submitted on August 21, 2012. The ISG is not 
a substitute for the requirements in Order EA-12-049, and compliance 
with this ISG is not required.
    The NRC issued Order EA-12-049 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-12-049 
requires all licensees and construction permit (CP) holders to develop 
a three-phase approach for mitigating beyond-design-basis external 
events. The initial phase requires the use of installed equipment and 
resources to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and SFP 
cooling. The transition phase requires providing sufficient, portable,

[[Page 55231]]

onsite equipment and consumables to maintain or restore these functions 
until they can be accomplished with resources brought from off site. 
The final phase requires obtaining sufficient offsite resources to 
sustain those functions indefinitely. Order EA-12-049 also specified 
that the NRC staff would issue final interim staff guidance in August 
2012 to provide additional details on an acceptable approach for 
complying with Order EA-12-049.
    Numerous public meetings were held to solicit stakeholder input on 
the proposed requirement for mitigation strategies prior to issuance of 
Order EA-12-049. Following issuance of Order EA-12-049, several more 
public meetings were held with representatives from the NEI task force 
and public stakeholders to discuss development of the guidance for 
compliance with Order EA-12-049. On June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33779), the NRC 
requested public comments on draft JLD-ISG-12-01. The staff received 
comments from eight stakeholders which were considered in the 
development of the final JLD-ISG-12-01. The questions, comments and 
staff resolutions of those comments are contained in ``JLD-ISG-2012-01, 
Comment Resolution Rev.1'' which can be found in ADAMS as Accession No. 
ML12229A253.

Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 
50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the 
issue finality provisions in Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' of 10 CFR. This ISG provides 
guidance on an acceptable method for implementing the requirements 
contained in Order EA-12-049, which was issued as ensuring adequate 
protection under the provisions of the backfit rule. Applicants and 
licensees may voluntarily use the guidance in JLD-ISG-2012-01 to 
demonstrate compliance with Order EA-12-049. Methods or solutions that 
differ from those described in this ISG may be deemed acceptable if 
they provide sufficient basis and information for the NRC staff to 
verify that the proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with Order 
EA-12-049.

Congressional Review Act

    This interim staff guidance is a rule as designated in the 
Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). OMB has found that this is 
a major rule in accordance with the Congressional Review Act.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of August 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John D. Monninger,
Associate Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate, Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-22066 Filed 9-6-12; 8:45 am]
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