[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 223 (Monday, November 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69508-69509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28075]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0096]


Inservice Inspection of Prestressed Concrete Containment 
Structures With Grouted Tendons

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.90, ``Inservice Inspection of 
Prestressed Concrete Containment Structures with Grouted Tendons.'' 
This guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable 
for use in developing an appropriate surveillance program for 
prestressed concrete containment structures with grouted tendons.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0096 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 are publicly-available, using any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0096. 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 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. Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 1.90 is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML11249A008. The regulatory analysis may be found 
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML11249A009.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-251-7489; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information such as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency'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.
    Revision 2 of RG 1.90 was issued with a temporary identification as 
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1197. The recommendations described in this 
guide constitute an approach that the NRC staff finds acceptable for 
satisfying the requirements of General Design Criterion (GDC) 53, 
``Provisions for Containment Testing and Inspection,'' of Appendix A, 
``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' part 50 of Title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' and 10 CFR 50.55a'' Codes and 
Standards'' Paragraph (g)(4) ``Inservice Inspection Requirements.''
    The previous Revision 1 of this RG was published in 1977. Since 
this publication, the industry and the NRC have been involved in 
research and testing to determine and evaluate the effectiveness of 
containment inservice inspection (ISI) programs, particularly the 
reliability of installed instrumentation and the use of periodic 
pressure tests. In addition, the NRC has reviewed containment tendon 
ISI programs as part of license applications. Revision 2 of RG 1.90 is 
a result of these efforts. It provides an ISI program that is based on 
a real-time, multiple-strategy approach (i.e., appropriate grout design 
and installation, installed instrumentation, periodic pressure tests, 
and visual examination).

II. Further Information

    DG-1197 was published in the Federal Register on April 28, 2011 (76 
FR 23845) for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period 
closed on June 26, 2011. Public comments on DG-1197 and the NRC staff 
responses to the public comments are available under ADAMS Accession 
No. ML11249A010.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final regulatory guide 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 10 CFR 
part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this 
regulatory guide, the NRC has no current intention to impose this 
regulatory guide on holders of current operating licenses or combined 
licenses.
    This regulatory guide may be applied to applications for operating 
licenses and combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of 
issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications 
for operating licenses and combined licenses submitted after the 
issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CRF 50.109(a)(1) or is otherwise 
inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR 
Part 52, inasmuch as such

[[Page 69509]]

applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities 
protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions 
in Part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November, 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-28075 Filed 11-16-12; 8:45 am]
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