[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37848-37849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15018]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0133]


ASME Code Cases Not Approved for Use

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-1233, ``ASME Code Cases 
not Approved for Use.'' This regulatory guide lists the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Cases that the NRC has 
determined not to be acceptable for use on a generic basis.

DATES: Submit comments by September 9, 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 improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 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-2013-0133. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals 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.
    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: Wallace E. Norris, telephone: 301-251-
7650, email: [email protected]; or Hector Rodriguez-Luccioni, 
telephone: 301-251-7685 or email: [email protected]. 
Both of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0133 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-2013-0133.
     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 document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The DG-1233 is available in ADAMS Accession under Accession 
No. ML13114A948.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0133 in the subject line of your

[[Page 37849]]

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 you 
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'' 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.
    The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``ASME Code Cases not 
Approved for Use,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
1233 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13114A948). The DG-1233 is proposed 
Revision 4 of Regulatory Guide 1.193. Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 
1.193 was published in October 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML101800540).
    The purpose of RG 1.193 is to provide information for applicants 
and licensees regarding the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPV) 
and Operation and Maintenance (OM) of nuclear power plants Code Cases 
that the NRC has determined not to be acceptable for use on a generic 
basis.
    Regulatory Guide 1.193 lists the Code Cases that the NRC has 
determined not to be acceptable for use on a generic basis. A brief 
description of the basis for the determination is provided with each 
Code Case. There are three other RGs that list the Code Cases that the 
NRC has found to be acceptable alternatives to requirements in the ASME 
BPV and OM Codes.
    In the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal 
Register, a notice of issuance and availability addresses the RGs 
listing the ASME BPV and OM Code Cases that the NRC has approved for 
use by applicants and licensees: RG 1.84, Revision 36, ``Design, 
Fabrication, and Materials Code Case Acceptability, ASME Section III''; 
RG 1.147, Revision 17, ``Inservice Inspection Code Case Acceptability, 
ASME Section XI, Division 1''; and RG 1.192, Revision 1, ``Operation 
and Maintenance Code Case Acceptability, ASME OM Code.'' The 
aforementioned notice is available at www.regulations.gov by searching 
on Docket ID NRC-2009-0359.
    Regarding draft Revision 4 of RG 1.193, the NRC reviewed the Code 
Cases listed in Supplements 1 through 10 of the 2007 Edition of the BPV 
Code and the 2002 through 2006 Addenda of the OM Code. Licensees may 
submit a request to implement one or more of the Code Cases listed in 
RG 1.193 through Sec.  50.55a(z) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), which permits the use of alternatives to the Code 
requirements referenced in 10 CFR 50.55a provided that the proposed 
alternatives result in an acceptable level of quality and safety. 
Licensees must submit a plant-specific request that addresses the NRC's 
concerns about the Code Case at issue.
    In the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal 
Register, a proposed rule that would incorporate by reference RGs 1.84, 
1.147, and 1.192 into 10 CFR Part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities'' (RIN 3150-AI72; NRC-2009-0359). 
The statement of considerations for the proposed rule lists the 
acceptable and conditionally acceptable Code Cases, and discusses the 
bases for the proposed conditions.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The purpose of this section is to provide information to applicants 
and licensees regarding the NRC staff's plans for using this regulatory 
guide. This regulatory guide does not approve the use of the Code Cases 
listed herein. Licensees may submit a plant-specific request to 
implement one or more of the Code Cases listed in this regulatory 
guide. The request must address the NRC's concerns about the Code Case 
at issue.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of June 2013.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-15018 Filed 6-21-13; 8:45 am]
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