[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21275-21276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08216]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 69 / Wednesday, April 10, 2013 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 21275]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2011-0299]
RIN 3150-AJ08


Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory basis and draft rule concepts; request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting 
comment on the draft regulatory basis document to support the potential 
amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' 
station blackout mitigation strategies. Appendix A of the draft 
regulatory basis provides a discussion of rule language concepts that 
the NRC staff is considering for this potential rulemaking. In 
addition, Appendix A contains a set of questions soliciting stakeholder 
feedback in areas that would support the NRC staff in developing a 
proposed rule. The issuance of this draft regulatory basis document is 
one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts 
associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant 
accident in Japan.

DATES: Submit comments by May 28, 2013. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
only able to ensure consideration of comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: 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-2011-0299. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, contact us 
directly at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    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: Timothy A. Reed, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1462; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0299 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this notice. You may access 
information related to this document, which the NRC possesses and is 
publicly available, by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0299.
     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.
     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-2011-0299 in the subject line of your 
comment submission 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 in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment 
submissions at www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment 
submissions into ADAMS, and 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 into ADAMS.

II. Background

    As the NRC continues its ongoing proposed rulemaking effort to 
amend portions of parts 50 and 52 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) to incorporate requirements involving station 
blackout mitigation strategies, the NRC is making preliminary documents 
publicly available on the Federal rulemaking Web site, 
www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2011-0299. By making these 
documents publicly available, the NRC seeks to inform stakeholders of 
the current status of the NRC's rulemaking development activities and 
to provide preparatory material for future public meetings. The NRC is 
instituting a 45-day public comment period on these materials, and the 
public is encouraged to participate in any related public meetings.

[[Page 21276]]

III. Publicly Available Documents

    The NRC has posted on www.regulations.gov for public availability 
the draft regulatory basis to incorporate requirements involving 
station blackout mitigation strategies (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13077A453). The draft regulatory basis documents the reasons why the 
NRC determined that rulemaking is the appropriate course of action to 
remedy a regulatory shortcoming.
    In addition, in Appendix A, the draft regulatory basis provides a 
discussion of rule language concepts that the NRC staff is considering 
for this potential rulemaking. Appendix A also contains a set of 
questions soliciting stakeholder feedback in areas that would support 
the NRC staff in developing a proposed rule. The draft rule concepts 
provide the NRC's current thoughts about what requirements would be 
needed. The draft rule concepts do not represent a final NRC staff 
position nor have they been reviewed by the Commission. These concepts 
may undergo significant revision during the rulemaking process.
    The NRC is requesting formal public comments on the draft 
regulatory basis and the draft rule concepts. The NRC may post 
additional materials to the Federal rulemaking Web site at 
www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2011-0299. The Federal 
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe:
    (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2011-0299); (2) click the 
``Email Alert'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select how 
frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of April, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence E. Kokajko,
Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-08216 Filed 4-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P