[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 97 (Monday, May 20, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29392-29393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11935]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0098]
Embedded Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems, Systems
Important to Safety, and Items Relied on for Safety
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment Draft Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2013-XX, ``Embedded
Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems, Systems Important to Safety,
and Items Relied on For Safety.'' The NRC staff has developed the draft
RIS to clarify the NRC's technical position on existing regulatory
requirements for the quality and reliability of basic components with
embedded digital devices.
DATES: Submit comments by July 19, 2013. Comments received after this
date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the NRC staff
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comment by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0098. 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.
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: Mr. Eugene Eagle, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; Telephone: 301-415-3706; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0098 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 the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0098.
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,
[[Page 29393]]
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 draft RIS is available
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12248A065.
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-2013-0098 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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering 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. Background
The RIS discusses, and clarifies, the NRC's technical position on
existing regulatory requirements for the quality and reliability of
basic components with embedded digital devices. Further, the purpose is
to also raise awareness that there may be potential safety issues from
a postulated common cause failure (CCF) if an undetected software error
should occur in embedded digital devices located in multiple trains of
redundant safety equipment in nuclear facilities.
The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to discuss this RIS and the
issues associated with embedded digital devices. All comments that are
to receive consideration in the final RIS must still be submitted
electronically or in writing as indicated below. Additional details
regarding the meeting will be posted at least 10 days prior to the
public meeting on NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.
The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad
range of matters. This may include communicating staff technical
positions on matters that have not been communicated to, or, are not
broadly understood by the nuclear industry.
Proposed Action
The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. The NRC
plans to hold a public meeting in the near future to discuss Draft
Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2013-XX, ``Embedded Digital Devices in
Safety-Related Systems, Systems Important to Safety, and Items Relied
on For Safety,'' and to obtain feedback from members of the public. The
meeting agenda will be posted at least 10 days prior to the public on
the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. Information regarding topics
to be discussed, changes to the agenda, whether the meeting has been
cancelled or rescheduled, and the time allotted for public comments can
be obtained from the Public Meeting Schedule Web site.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of May 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Ian C. Jung,
Chief, Instrumentation, Controls and Electronics Engineering Branch 2
Division of Engineering, Office of New Reactor.
[FR Doc. 2013-11935 Filed 5-17-13; 8:45 am]
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