[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26810-26811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10920]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0180]
Adequacy of Design Features and Functional Capabilities
Identified and Described for Withstanding Aircraft Impacts
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan section; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new
section of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety
Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition.'' The new
section, designated as Revision 0, is Section 19.5, ``Adequacy of
design features and functional capabilities identified and described
for withstanding aircraft impacts.''
DATES: The effective date of this Standard Review Plan (SRP) update is
June 7, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0180 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 is publicly available, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0180. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
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. Final Revision 0 to NUREG-0800 is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML12276A112.
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.
The NRC posts its issued staff guidance on the NRC's
external Web page (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Anna H. Bradford, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-1560, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 2, 2012 (77 FR 46128), the NRC
published for public comment the proposed Revision 0 to Section 19.5,
``Adequacy of design features and functional capabilities identified
and described for withstanding aircraft impacts,'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML12138A468). Three comment submissions were received on the proposed
revision (ADAMS Accession Nos.: ML12249A406, ML12237A139 and
ML12258A071). The staff made changes to the proposed revision after
consideration of the comments. A summary of the comments and the
staff's disposition of the comments are available in a separate
document, Response to Public Comments On Draft Standard Review Plan
(SRP) 19.5: Adequacy Of Design Features And Functional Capabilities
Identified And Described For Withstanding Aircraft Impacts (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12306A341). The staff has also prepared a redline
version of the SRP section showing the difference between the proposed
and final SRP section (ADAMS Accession No. ML12307A168).
The NRC staff will incorporate the positions reflected in Revision
0 of SRP Section 19.5 into the next revision of Regulatory Guide 1.206,
``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML070720184).
Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final SRP section does not constitute backfitting
as defined in Sec. 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in part 52 of 10 CFR.
The staff's position is based upon the following considerations:
The SRP positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch
as the SRP is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with respect
to their regulatory responsibilities.
The SRP positions represent the first internal NRC
guidance on a regulation for which the backfitting and issue finality
considerations have already been addressed.
The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions
on current licensees and regulatory approvals either now or in the
future.
Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited
exceptions not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
Each of these considerations is discussed in more detail below.
1. The SRP positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the
SRP is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with respect to
their regulatory responsibilities.
The SRP provides guidance to the staff on how to review an
application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing.
Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which either
nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under either
the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of part 52.
2. The SRP positions represent the first internal NRC guidance on a
regulation for which the backfitting and issue finality considerations
have already been addressed.
This SRP addresses compliance with the Aircraft Impact Assessment
(AIA) Rule, 10 CFR 50.150. The backfitting and issue finality issues
for this rulemaking were addressed as part of the original AIA
rulemaking (74 FR 28112, 28143-45; June 12, 2009).
[[Page 26811]]
Inasmuch as the SRP merely implements the AIA Rule, the SRP introduces
no new backfitting or issue finality matters apart from those addressed
in the underlying rulemaking. Therefore, the staff's position is that
the NRC's consideration of backfitting and issue finality matters for
the underlying AIA rulemaking also serves as the NRC's consideration of
the same backfitting and issue finality matters for the issuance of
this SRP.
3. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on
current licensees and regulatory approvals either now or in the future.
The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the SRP to existing (already issued) licenses and
regulatory approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final SRP--even if
considered guidance which is within the purview of the issue finality
provisions in part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a backfit or
as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the
future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders of
already issued holders of licenses SRP in a manner which does not
provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality
provision, then the staff must make the showing as set forth in the
Backfit Rule or address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as
described applicable issue finality provision.
4. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions
not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under part 52. This is because neither the Backfit Rule nor
the issue finality provisions under part 52--with certain exclusions
discussed below--were intended to apply to every NRC action which
substantially changes the expectations of current and future
applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an
applicant references a part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit)
and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with
specified issue finality provisions. The staff does not, at this time,
intend to impose the positions represented in the SRP in a manner that
is inconsistent with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future,
the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP in a manner which does
not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue
finality provision, then the staff must address the criteria for
avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality
provision.
Congressional Review Act
In accordance with the Congressional Review Act, the NRC has
determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified this
determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of
the Office of Management and Budget.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of April 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anna Bradford,
Acting Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and
Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-10920 Filed 5-7-13; 8:45 am]
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