[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 206 (Thursday, October 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63516-63517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24888]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0134]


Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for New 
Boiling-Water Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new 
regulatory guide (RG), 1.79.1, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core 
Cooling Systems for New Boiling-Water Reactors.'' This RG describes 
testing methods the NRC staff considers acceptable for demonstrating 
the operability of emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) for boiling-
water reactors (BWRs) whose licenses are issued after the date of 
issuance of this RG (new BWRs).

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0134 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-2012-0134. 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.
     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 notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. Revision 0 of Regulatory Guide 1.79.1, is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML12300A329. The regulatory analysis for 
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-1277 may be found in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML12300A328.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank X. Talbot, Office of New 
Reactors; telephone: 301-415-4146, email: [email protected], or Mark 
P. Orr, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research; telephone: 301-251-7495, 
email: [email protected], U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a new guide in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' 
series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the 
public information such as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff 
for implementing specific parts of the agency's regulations, techniques 
that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated 
accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    This new guide describes methods that the staff of the NRC 
considers acceptable for demonstrating compliance with the NRC 
regulations as they relate to preoperational, low power, and power 
ascension testing features of the ECCS for new BWRs. This RG also 
describes methods that the NRC staff finds acceptable for initial plant 
testing of ECCS structures, systems, and components (SSCs). 
Additionally, this RG describes methods the NRC staff finds acceptable 
for testing of the Isolation Condenser System (ICS) and the Reactor 
Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) System, which support functions for 
alternate water injection during station blackout.

[[Page 63517]]

II. Additional Information

    Regulatory Guide 1.79.1 was issued with a temporary identification 
as Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-1277, ``Initial Test Program of 
Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Boiling-Water Reactors.'' DG-1277, 
was published in the Federal Register on June 15, 2012 (77 FR 36014), 
for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period closed on 
August 15, 2012. Forty-five public comments were received during this 
period. The NRC staff's responses to the public comments on DG-1277 are 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12300A330.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional 
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and 
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the 
Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting Analysis

    Issuance of this revised RG does not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As 
discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this RG, the NRC has no 
current intention to impose this RG on holders of current operating 
licenses, early site permits or combined licenses. The NRC may apply 
this RG to applications for operating licenses, early site permits and 
combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the 
final RG, as well as to future applications for operating licenses, 
early site permits, and combined licenses submitted after the issuance 
of the RG. Such action does not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 
CFR 50.109(a)(1) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the applicable 
issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants 
or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities protected 
by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions in part 
52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of October, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-24888 Filed 10-23-13; 8:45 am]
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