[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55765-55766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22100]
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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: Draft NUREG/CR, reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: On July 29, 2013, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
published in the Federal Register (78 FR 45573) a request for public
comment on NUREG/CR-7135, ``Compensatory and Alternative Regulatory
Measures for Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection (CARMEN-FIRE).'' In
response to comments from members of the public, the NRC is reopening
the public comment period until September 25, 2013.
DATES: The comment period has been reopened and expires on September
25, 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.
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-
3442; 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: Felix E. Gonzalez, Division of Risk
Analysis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 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 publicly-available information related to this document 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]. 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.
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 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.
I. 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)
[[Page 55766]]
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 3rd day of September 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Henry Salley,
Chief, Fire Research Branch, Division of Risk Analysis, Office of
Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-22100 Filed 9-10-13; 8:45 am]
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