[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41434-41436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16585]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0147]
Proposed Revisions to Design of Structures, Components, Equipment
and Systems
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for
comment.
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[[Page 41435]]
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is revising and
soliciting public comment on Section 3.12, ``ASME Code Class 1, 2 and 3
Piping Systems, Piping Components and their Associated Supports,'' of
NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis
Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition.''
DATES: Submit comments by August 9, 2013. Comments received after this
date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received
on or before this date.
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-2013-0147. 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: 3WFN 6-A56, 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: Mr. Jonathan DeGange, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone at 301-415-6992 or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0147 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-2013-0147.
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 numbers
for the redline document comparing the current revision and the
proposed revision are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos.: Section
3.12, Proposed Revision 1 (ML12334A376), Current Revision 0
(ML070040002), Redline (ML12341A132).
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-2013-0147 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 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. Further Information
The Office of New Reactors is revising Section 3.12 from the
current version (ADAMS Accession No. ML070040002). In respect of this
proposed revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12334A376), details of
specific changes are included at the end of the proposed section, and
are shown in the description of changes.
The changes to Chapter 3 of this Standard Review Plan (SRP) reflect
the current staff's review methods and practices based on lessons
learned from NRC reviews of design certification and combined license
applications completed since the last revision of this chapter.
These sections have been updated to reflect the requirements of
``Resolution of Generic Safety Issues: Issue 89, Stiff Pipe Clamps,''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML101720320), and Regulatory Guide 1.207,
``Guidelines for Evaluating Fatigue Analyses Incorporating the Life
Reduction of Metal Components due to the Effects of the Light-water
Reactor Environment for New Reactors,'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML070380586). The ADAMS accession number for the redline document
comparing the current revision with the proposed revision is included
in Section I.A of this document.
The NRC staff is issuing this notice to solicit public comments on
the proposed SRP Section 3.12 in Chapter 3. After the NRC staff
considers any public comments, it will make a determination regarding
the revised SRP Section 3.12 in Chapter 3.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
This draft SRP, if finalized, would provide guidance to the staff
for reviewing applications for a construction permit and an operating
license under Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) with respect to the structural integrity of pressure-retaining
components, their supports, and core support structures which are
considered to be ASME Code Class 1, 2 and 3. The draft SRP would also
provide guidance for reviewing an application for a standard design
approval, a standard design certification, a combined license, and a
manufacturing license under 10 CFR part 52 with respect to those same
subject matters.
Issuance of this draft SRP, if finalized, would not constitute
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, or otherwise be inconsistent
with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The staff's
position is based upon the following considerations.
1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, do not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
The SRP provides interim 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 applicants
or licensees are protected under 10 CFR 50.109 or issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR Part 52.
[[Page 41436]]
2. Backfitting and issue finality--with certain exceptions
discussed below--do not 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 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the Backfit
Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR 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 10 CFR 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 draft SRP
section (if finalized) in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue
finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a
position in the draft SRP section (if finalized) 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.
3. The staff has no intention to impose the draft SRP positions on
existing nuclear power plant licenses or regulatory approvals either
now or in the future (absent a voluntary request for change from the
licensee, holder of a regulatory approval, or a design certification
applicant).
The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the draft SRP section to existing (already issued)
licenses (e.g., operating licenses and combined licenses) and
regulatory approvals--in this case, design certifications. Hence, the
draft SRP--even if considered guidance which is within the purview of
the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 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 draft SRP (if finalized) on holders of already issued licenses 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, as applicable.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of June 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking,
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-16585 Filed 7-9-13; 8:45 am]
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