[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64027-64028]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25255]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0129]


Preoperational Testing of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for 
Pressurized-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 
revision to regulatory guide (RG), 1.79, ``Preoperational Testing of 
Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Pressurized-Water Reactors.'' This 
RG is being revised to incorporate guidance for preoperational testing 
of new pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0129 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-2011-0129. 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.
     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 2 of RG 1.79 is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML113540207. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML113540212.
     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 Talbot, telephone: 301-415-3145, 
email: [email protected], Office of New Reactors, or Mark P. Orr, 
telephone: 301-251-7495, email: [email protected], Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC'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 revision of RG 1.79 describes the general scope and depth the 
NRC staff considers acceptable for demonstrating compliance with the 
NRC regulations relating to preoperational testing of features in the 
emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) of pressurized water reactors 
(PWRs). This RG also describes methods the NRC staff finds acceptable 
for preoperational testing of ECCS structures, systems, and components 
(SSCs). Appendix A of RG 1.79 contains a discussion of the ECCS for the 
current fleet of PWRs as well as diagrams and descriptions of the ECCS 
for advanced PWR designs including the U.S. Advanced Pressurized-Water 
Reactor, U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor, and AP1000.
    This RG describes preoperational testing methods acceptable to the 
NRC staff specifically for ECCSs in PWRs. This RG is applicable to all 
PWRs

[[Page 64028]]

licensed under part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities'' or 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
    Nuclear power plant SSCs must be tested to quality standards 
commensurate with their importance to safety. Criterion XI, ``Test 
Control,'' of Appendix B, ``Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear 
Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants,'' to 10 CFR part 50 requires 
licensees to establish a testing program to identify and perform all 
tests needed to demonstrate that SSCs will perform satisfactorily in 
service. This testing program is to be conducted in accordance with 
written test procedures that incorporate the requirements and 
acceptance criteria in applicable design documents. The ECCS functions 
to be tested are those necessary to ensure that specified design 
functions of the ECCS are met during any condition of normal operation, 
including abnormal operating occurrences, or because of postulated 
accident conditions.

II. Additional Information

    Revision 2 of RG 1.79 was issued with a temporary identification as 
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG) 1253, ``Preoperational Testing of Emergency 
Core Cooling Systems for Pressurized-Water Reactors.'' Draft Regulatory 
Guide 1253, was published in the Federal Register on June 7, 2011 (76 
FR 32878), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment 
period closed on August 5, 2011, and no public comments were received. 
A companion guide, DG-1277, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core 
Cooling Systems for New Boiling-Water Reactors'' (proposed new RG 
1.79.1) was published for public comment on June 15, 2012 (77 FR 
36014). A total of 45 comments were received on DG-1277. Of these, 5 
comments were considered to be applicable to both DG-1253 and DG-1277. 
These 5 comments resulted in revisions to this guide. The comments and 
the NRC staff responses are available in ADAMS at Accession No. 
ML13007A389.

IV. Congressional Review Act

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

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final regulatory guide 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 
regulatory guide, the NRC has no current intention to impose this 
regulatory guide on holders of current operating licenses or combined 
licenses.
    This regulatory guide may be applied to applications for operating 
licenses and combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of 
issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications 
for operating licenses and combined licenses submitted after the 
issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) or is 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. 2013-25255 Filed 10-24-13; 8:45 am]
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