[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 174 (Monday, September 9, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55118-55119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21848]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0202]
Seismic Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeks public
comments on the proposed revisions to the following section in Chapter
3, ``Design of Structures, Components, Equipment, and Systems'' and
soliciting public comment on NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the
Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR
Edition,'' Section 3.7.4, ``Seismic Instrumentation.''
DATES: Submit comments by October 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 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-2013-0202. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; 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, 06-44M, 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: Jonathan DeGange, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-6992, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0202 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-2013-0202.
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
3.7.4 Proposed Revision 3 (ML12304A031), Current Revision 2
(ML070460349) and Redline (ML12304A035).
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One
[[Page 55119]]
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0202 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. Further Information
The Office of New Reactors and Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
proposes to revise Section 3.7.4 in Chapter 3 of NUREG-0800, ``Standard
Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power
Plants: LWR Edition'' (SRP, from the current Revision 2 to a new
Revision 3).
The proposed changes to this SRP section reflect current staff
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. Changes included a
clarification that a transfer function is needed between elevation of
the definition of the operating basis earthquake and the location of
the seismic instrumentation, and a clarification that suitable seismic
instrumentation promptly evaluates the seismic response of safety-
related or risk-significant plant features after an earthquake.
The NRC staff requests public comments on the proposed revisions to
SRP Section 3.7.4 in Chapter 3. After the NRC staff considers any
public comments, it will make a determination regarding the issuance of
the proposed SRP Section 3.7.4 in final form.
Backfitting and Issue Finality
This draft SRP section, if finalized, would provide guidance to the
staff with respect to seismic instrumentation when reviewing future
applications for construction permits and operating licenses under part
50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The draft
SRP would also provide guidance for reviewing an and future
applications for standard design approvals, standard design
certifications, and combined licenses under 10 CFR part 52 with respect
to those same subject matters. The NRC staff does not intend to impose
the positions in the draft SRP sections, if finalized, on the two
existing OL applications, the current applications for design
certification rules, the current applications for early site permits,
the two current holders of combined licenses, or the current
applications for combined licenses. Issuance of this draft SRP section,
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 part 52.
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 NRC 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 NRC 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.
The NRC staff is issuing this notice to solicit public comments on
the proposed SRP Section in Chapter 3. After the NRC staff considers
any public comments, it will make a determination regarding the
proposed SRP Section in Chapter 3.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th 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. 2013-21848 Filed 9-6-13; 8:45 am]
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