[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 145 (Monday, July 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45573-45574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18168]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0103]


Compensatory and Alternative Regulatory Measures for Nuclear 
Power Plant Fire Protection (CARMEN-FIRE)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requests public 
comment on the proposed draft NUREG/CR-7135, ``Compensatory and 
Alternative Regulatory Measures for Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection 
(CARMEN-FIRE), Draft Report for Comment.''

DATES: Comments on this document should be submitted by August 30, 
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. To

[[Page 45574]]

ensure efficient and complete comment resolution, comments should 
include section, page, and line numbers of the document to which the 
comment applies, if possible.

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-
0103. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; 
telephone: 301-287-3422; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual 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 06-A44, 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: Felix Gonzalez, Fire Research Branch, 
Division of Risk Analysis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 
telephone 301-251-7596, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0103 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-2013-0103.
     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]. Draft NUREG/CR-7135 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13191A864.
     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-2013-0103 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. Background

    Employing appropriate compensatory measures, on a short-term basis, 
is an integral part of NRC-approved fire protection programs. However, 
compensatory measures are not expected to be in place for an extended 
period of time. The NRC staff expects that the corrective action(s) 
will be completed, and reliance on the compensatory measure eliminated, 
at the first available opportunity, typically the first refueling 
outage. Thus, a compensatory measure that is in place beyond the next 
refueling outage (typically 18--24 months) is considered to be a 
``long-term compensatory measure.''
    This report is intended to serve as a reference guide for agency 
staff responsible for evaluating the acceptability of alternative 
interim compensatory measures provided to offset the degradation in 
fire safety caused by impaired fire protection features at nuclear 
power plants. The report documents the history of compensatory measures 
and details the regulatory framework established by NRC to ensure they 
are appropriately implemented and maintained. This report also explores 
technologies that did not exist when the current plants were licensed 
such as video-based detection, temporary penetration seals and portable 
suppression systems which under certain conditions may provide an 
effective alternative to traditional measures specified in a plant's 
approved fire protection program.
    The NRC is seeking public comment in order to receive feedback from 
the widest range of interested parties and to ensure that all 
information relevant to the information contained within this document 
is correct and accurate. We are specifically interested in receiving 
feedback on the following questions:
    1. Do licensees differentiate between compensatory measures related 
to impaired structures, systems, and components (SSC) used for Reactor 
Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Protection vs. impaired classical Fire 
Protection (FP) systems? If so, please provide information on the 
differences between the two.
    2. Are there any other examples of Alternative Compensatory 
Measures (e.g. other new technology) not already discussed in the 
NUREG/CR that should be considered? If so, please provide information 
on these alternative compensatory measures.
    3. Are there any issues, concerns or better suggestions regarding 
the examples or technologies discussed in the NUREG/CR? If so, please 
provide your suggestions.
    This document is issued for comment only and is not intended for 
interim use. The NRC will review public comments received on the 
documents, incorporate suggested changes as necessary, and make the 
final NUREG-report available to the public.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of July 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Henry Salley,
Chief, Fire Research Branch, Division of Risk Analysis, Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-18168 Filed 7-26-13; 8:45 am]
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