[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 223 (Monday, November 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69507-69508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28078]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Project No. 753; NRC-2012-0280]
Proposed Model Safety Evaluation for Plant-Specific Adoption of
Technical Specifications Task Force Traveler TSTF-535, Revision 0,
``Revise Shutdown Margin Definition To Address Advanced Fuel Designs''
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
public comment on the proposed model safety evaluation (SE) for plant-
specific adoption of Technical Specifications (TS) Task Force (TSTF)
Traveler TSTF-535, Revision 0, ``Revise Shutdown Margin Definition to
Address Advanced Fuel Designs.''
DATES: Comment period expires on December 19, 2012. Comments received
after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but
the Commission is able to ensure 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 are publically available,
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-
0280. 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-2012-0280. 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: Ms. Michelle C. Honcharik, Senior
Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-
1774 or email at [email protected]. For technical questions
please contact Mr. Ravinder Grover, Reactor Systems Engineer, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-2166 or email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0280 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-2012-0280.
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]. TSTF-535, Revision 0,
includes a model application and is available under ADAMS Accession
Number ML112200436. The proposed model SE for plant-specific adoption
of TSTF-535, Revision 0, is also available under ADAMS Accession Number
ML12219A145.
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-2012-0280 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.
Background
TSTF-535, Revision 0, is applicable to all boiling water reactor
(BWR) power plants. The proposed change revises the Standard Technical
Specification (STS), NUREG-1433, ``Standard Technical Specifications
General Electric Plants BWR/4,'' and NUREG-1434, ``Standard Technical
Specifications General Electric Plants, BWR/6.'' Specifically, the
proposed change revises the STS definition of shutdown margin (SDM) to
require calculation of SDM at the reactor moderator temperature
corresponding to the most reactive state throughout the operating cycle
(68[emsp14][deg]F or higher). The purpose is to address newer BWR fuel
designs, which may be more reactive at shutdown temperatures above
68[emsp14][deg]F. This STS improvement is part of the consolidated line
item improvement process (CLIIP).
Additional Details
This notice provides an opportunity for the public to comment on
proposed changes to the STS after a preliminary assessment and finding
by the NRC staff that the agency will likely offer the changes for
adoption by licensees. This notice solicits comment on proposed changes
to the STS, which if implemented by a licensee will modify the plant-
specific TS. The NRC staff will evaluate any comments received for the
[[Page 69508]]
proposed changes and reconsider the changes or announce the
availability of the changes for adoption by licensees as part of the
CLIIP. Licensees opting to apply for this TS change are responsible for
reviewing the NRC staff's SE, and the applicable technical
justifications, providing any necessary plant-specific information, and
assessing the completeness and accuracy of their license amendment
request (LAR). The NRC will process each amendment application
responding to the notice of availability according to applicable NRC
rules and procedures.
The proposed change does not prevent licensees from requesting an
alternate approach or proposing changes other than those proposed in
TSTF-535, Revision 0. However, significant deviations from the approach
recommended in this notice or the inclusion of additional changes to
the license require additional NRC staff review. This may increase the
time and resources needed for the review or result in NRC staff
rejection of the LAR. Licensees desiring significant deviations or
additional changes should instead submit an LAR that does not claim to
adopt TSTF-535, Revision 0.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of November 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sheldon D. Stuchell,
Acting Chief, Licensing Processes Branch, Division of Policy and
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-28078 Filed 11-16-12; 8:45 am]
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