[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49782-49784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19865]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0288]


Interim Staff Guidance on Changes During Construction

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this 
notice for use of, and to solicit public comment on the draft Interim 
Staff Guidance (ISG) COL-ISG-025 ``Interim Staff Guidance on Changes 
During Construction.'' This ISG provides guidance to the NRC staff on 
the Preliminary Amendment Request (PAR) review process available to the 
initial combined license (COL) licensees through a license condition 
for use as an elective precursor to the license amendment process.

DATES: Submit comments by October 29, 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 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-2011-0288. 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, 06A44M, 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: Earl Libby, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-0522, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0288 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0288.
     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 COL-ISG-025 ``Interim 
Staff Guidance on Changes during Construction under 10 CFR Part 52'' is 
available electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML13045A125.
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments and 
supporting materials related to this notice can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID NRC-2011-0288.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0288 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.

Background

    The NRC staff is issuing this second notice for use of, and to 
solicit public comments on, draft COL-ISG-025 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13045A125). Previously, on January 11, 2012, the NRC staff issued 
notice for the use of, and to solicit public comments on, the prior 
draft COL-ISG-025 (ADAMS Accession No. ML111530026) (Docket ID: NRC-
2011-0288). The NRC staff is revising COL-ISG-025 to update the PAR 
review process, clarify the information that should be included with a 
PAR submittal, and include the staff consideration of comments received 
on the prior version of the ISG.
    This ISG provides guidance to the staff on the PAR review process 
available to the initial Part 52 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), COL licensees through a license condition for use 
as an elective precursor to the license amendment process. The PAR 
process facilitates the installation and testing of plant changes 
during construction. The NRC staff continues to use and evaluate the 
PAR process during the construction of the nuclear power plants 
licensed under 10 CFR Part 52 and will finalize this ISG for inclusion 
in either in a new Regulatory Guide (RG) or in the next major revision 
of RG 1.187, ``Guidance for Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, Changes, 
Tests, and Experiments,'' November 2000 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML003759710).

Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Licensees may voluntarily follow the PAR process described in this 
draft ISG. Because the PAR process in this ISG is internal guidance to 
the NRC staff, it is not a matter for which either nuclear power plant 
applicants or licensees are

[[Page 49783]]

protected under the Backfit Rule in 10 CFR 50.109 or the issue finality 
provisions under 10 CFR Part 52. A more detailed discussion of backfit 
and issue finality is included in the ISG.

Comments on the Prior Draft Interim Staff Guidance

A. Overview of Public Comments

    The NRC issued the prior draft COL-ISG-025, Changes During 
Construction under 10 CFR Part 52, in the Federal Register on January 
11, 2012 (77 FR 1749). The period for submitting comments on the draft 
COL-ISG-025 closed 75 days later.
    The Commission received one comment submission containing seven 
comments on the Draft ISG from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML12089A019).
    The comment summaries and the NRC's response for this submission 
are addressed below:

Comment Identification Format

    All comments are identified uniquely by using the format [X]-[Y], 
where:
    [X] Represents the comment submission identification number; and,
    [Y] Represents the comment number, which the NRC assigned to the 
comment.

B. Comment Identification and Comment Response

    NEI Comment 1-1: Editorial and Clarification. Insert on page 1, 
para. 2, second sentence, an apostrophe in ``licensee's.'' 
Additionally, to be clear about how the process works, revise the end 
of the same sentence as follows, ``. . . including ((strikeout) an 
applicability determination evaluation), the safety-security interface 
evaluation, the construction impacts evaluation and the 10 CFR 50.59-
like review (including applicability determination, screening, and 
evaluation, as applicable).''
    NRC Response: The NRC staff agrees in part with this comment to 
group and sequence the licensee's plant change review processes as they 
are generally conducted by licensees. The ISG-025 was changed on page 
1, second paragraph to read as follows: ``The licensee's evaluation 
process comprises several successive steps, including the safety-
security interface evaluation, the construction impacts evaluation and 
the 10 CFR 50.59 and 10 CFR 50-59-like evaluation (including 
applicability determination, screening, and evaluation, as 
applicable).''
    NEI Comment 1-2: When not referring to a specific element of the 10 
CFR 50.59-like process (such as applicability determination, screening 
or evaluation), the ISG should refer to the 10 CFR 50.59-like process 
``review'' process. Revise on page 2, para. 1, the first sentence as 
follows: ``When the licensee's ((strikeout) screening evaluation) 10 
CFR 50.59-like review process determines . . .''
    NRC Response: The staff does not agree with this comment. The 10 
CFR 50.59-like process is an evaluation as established in the 
appendices of 10 CFR Part 52 at Section VIII.B.5.b which is invoked 
from Section VIII.B.5.a which states ``. . . [W]hen evaluating the 
proposed departure . . .''
    NEI Comment 1-3: This paragraph discusses the use of the PAR and 
LAR processes to describe proposed plant changes or modifications that 
are solely due to a change in Tier 1 or Tier 2* information and are not 
because the change represents a potential safety issue. Like 10 CFR 
50.59, the 10 CFR 50.59-like process is not a ``safety'' evaluation, 
but rather a review to determine if prior NRC approval is required. Re-
word on page 2, para. 3, the last part of the first sentence of 
paragraph three as follows: ``. . . and not because the change 
((strikeout) represents a potential safety issue) has been determined 
to require prior NRC approval.''
    NRC Response: The NRC staff agrees with this comment that the 10 
CFR 50.59 process and the 10 CFR 50.59-like process of 10 CFR Part 52, 
Appendices Section VIII are to determine if prior NRC approval of a 
plant change is required before implementing that change. The ISG-025 
was changed on page 2, paragraph 3 to read as follows. ``The PAR and 
related LAR requests may describe proposed plant changes or 
modifications that require a license amendment (and possible exemption) 
because they describe a change to Tier 1 or Tier 2* information and, as 
part of the certification of the referenced design, such changes were 
determined to require prior NRC approval. This is analogous to 
Technical Specification changes under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, which 
always require a license amendment.''
    NEI Comment 1-4: Clarification. Insert on page 3, para. 2, 
``Appendix C,'' after ``NEI 96-07.''
    NRC Response: The NRC staff agrees with this comment because the 
change specifically identifies the applicable industry guidance for the 
preparation and submittal of PAR submissions to the NRC. The ISG-25 was 
changed on page 3, paragraph 2 to read as follows: ``NEI 96-07, 
Appendix C provides guidance on the preparation and submittal of PAR 
submissions.''
    NEI Comment 1-5: Given the similar preliminary nature of the ``no 
significant hazards consideration'' determination and the preliminary 
determination of categorical exclusion from environmental review, we 
recommend the focus of the staff's PAR review be on the reasonableness 
of the preliminary determinations, not their adequacy. Adequacy of 
these licensee (final) determinations is determined as part of the 
[license amendment request] LAR review. Modify ISG-025 page 4, para. 4 
and page 5, para. 1 & 2, to reflect that the PM [Project Manager] shall 
review the reasonableness of the PAR's preliminary ``no significant 
hazards consideration'' determination.
    NRC Response: The NRC staff removed the provision for including a 
no significant hazards consideration determination (10 CFR 50.92) as 
well as a categorical exclusion from environmental review (10 CFR 
51.22(c)) from the PAR submission; therefore this comment is no longer 
relevant. These two analyses, the no significant hazards consideration 
determination and the basis for categorical exclusion from 
environmental review, are both contained within the related LAR and are 
reviewed by the staff during the acceptance review of the related LAR. 
This action lowers the aggregate reporting burden on a licensee that 
elects to use the PAR process.
    NEI Comment 1-6: It may be determined later that it might be best 
to endorse NEI 96-07, Appendix C via a separate regulatory guide for 
new plants, so that RG 1.187 remains focused on 10 CFR Part 50 
licensees. We expect that the best approach will be determined based on 
further discussions of Appendix C. Modify page 6, para. 3, ISG-25 under 
Final Resolution Method to allow the option for a separate regulatory 
guide to be used to endorse NEI 96-07, Appendix C.
    NRC Response: The NRC staff agrees with this comment that a 
separate RG may be developed in the future that is specific to 10 CFR 
Part 52 licensees and could maintain the RG 1.187 applicability to 10 
CFR Part 50 licensees. The ISG-025 was changed on page 6, paragraph 3 
to read as follows: ``Final Resolution Method: This issue will be 
resolved either in a new RG or in the next revision to RG 1.187, 
``Guidance for Implementation for 10 CFR 50.59, Changes, Tests, and 
Experiments'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML003759710).''
    NEI Comment 1-7: In various NRC-industry meetings on ISG-025, the 
NRC staff has said that licensees should use the PAR process when 
approval of the LAR is needed within one year of

[[Page 49784]]

submittal of the LAR. It is recommended that this timing aspect be 
addressed in ISG-025.
    NRC Response: The NRC staff does not agree with this comment. A PAR 
may be voluntarily submitted by a licensee at any time prior to, 
concurrent with or after the submittal of the related LAR (although the 
NRC cannot issue a PAR notification until the LAR is submitted). The 1-
year time frame discussed is the expected processing time allocated to 
the staff's detailed technical review of a LAR. No change was made to 
the ISG as a result of this comment.

Other Changes to Draft Interim Staff Guidance

    In addition to the changes made in response to public comments, as 
discussed above, this draft ISG-025 contains one substantial change 
which was derived from the lessons learned from the NRC staff's 
administrative practices during the past year of processing PARs and 
LARs for the new nuclear power plants under construction.
    The criteria for issuing a PAR notification are dependent upon the 
staff's acceptance of the related LAR for detailed technical review. 
The staff will not issue the determination on the PAR until after the 
staff has accepted the related LAR for detailed technical review. This 
repositioning of the staff's determination reduces the regulatory 
burden on licensees by recognizing that the licensee's proposed basis 
for the no--significant hazards determination and the categorical 
exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act evaluation is 
contained in the related LAR.
    Because these two aspects are evaluated by the staff during the 
acceptance review of the related LAR, the provision for the licensee to 
submit this information in the PAR, and the staff's examination of this 
information during its consideration of the PAR were removed from COL-
ISG-025.
    This draft COL-ISG-025 clarifies that the staff will not issue a 
determination on the PAR until two conditions are satisfied; (1) The 
licensee submits the related LAR and, (2) the staff has accepted the 
related LAR for detailed technical review.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of August 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, 
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-19865 Filed 8-14-13; 8:45 am]
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