[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 23 (Monday, February 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7816-7818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02349]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0021]
Quality Assurance Program Requirements (Operations)
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1300, ``Quality
Assurance Program Requirements (Operations).''
DATES: Submit comments by April 1, 2013. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed
or
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improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.
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-2013-
0021. 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-2013-0021. 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 Additional Information Contact: Paul Prescott, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-3026 or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0021 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access information related to this document by any of the following
methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0021.
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. The draft regulatory guide is available in ADAMS under
Accession Number ML12276A071. The regulatory analysis may be found in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML12276A072.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
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-2013-0021 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 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. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a draft guide in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' (RG) series. This series was developed to describe
and make available to the public such information as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
NRC'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.
This RG describes methods that the NRC staff considers acceptable
for complying with the provision of part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' 10 CFR 50.34(b)(6)(ii), Contents of
applications; technical information, and 10 CFR Part 52 ``Licenses,
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' 10 CFR
52.79(a)(27), Contents of applications; technical information in final
safety analysis report. Both sections require compliance with 10 CFR
Part 50, Appendix B, ``Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear power
Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants,'' which, in part, requires the
establishment of Quality Assurance (QA) controls for the implementation
of managerial and administrative controls to assure safe operation.
The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Quality Assurance Program
Requirements (Operations),'' is temporarily identified by its task
number, DG-1300. The DG-1300 is proposed revision 3 of Regulatory Guide
1.33, dated Febuary 1978.
This revision (Revision 3) of RG 1.33 endorses ANSI/ANS 3.2-2012,
``Managerial, Administrative, and Quality Assurance Controls for
Operational Phase of Nuclear Power Plants,'' which is an update to the
standard that was endorsed in Revision 2, ANS 3.2/ANSI N18.7-1976,
``Administrative Controls and Quality Assurance for the Operational
Phase of Nuclear Power Plants.'' The updated standard incorporates
operational experience since the original standard was developed, and
is better focused on QA of plant operations because information on QA
of design and construction was moved to another standard. The NRC staff
has reviewed ANSI/ANS 3.2-2012 and determined that the revised standard
provides acceptable guidance on QA of plant operations. The staff's
review is documented in the ANS 3.2 Side-By-Side Comparison
(ML12276A076).
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
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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 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 25th day of January 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-02349 Filed 2-1-13; 8:45 am]
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