[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]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P