[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70076-70077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28069]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0068]


Aging Management of Internal Surfaces, Fire Water Systems, 
Atmospheric Storage Tanks, and Corrosion Under Insulation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the 
final License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance (LR-ISG), LR-ISG-2012-02, 
``Aging Management of Internal Surfaces, Fire Water Systems, 
Atmospheric Storage Tanks, and Corrosion Under Insulation.'' This LR-
ISG provides changes to NRC staff-recommended aging management programs 
(AMPs), aging management review (AMR) items, and definitions in NUREG-
1801, Revision 2, ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report,'' and 
the NRC staff's AMP Final Safety Analysis Report Supplement program 
descriptions, acceptance criteria for AMR items requiring further 
review, review procedure for AMR items requiring further review, and 
AMR items contained in NUREG-1800, Revision 2, ``Standard Review Plan 
for Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' 
(SRP-LR). These changes address new recommendations related to internal 
surface aging effects, fire water systems, atmospheric storage tanks, 
and corrosion under insulation.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0068 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0068. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the

[[Page 70077]]

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 document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The NRC published Revision 2 of the SRP-LR and the GALL 
Report in December 2010, and they are available in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML103490041 and ML103490036, respectively.
     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.
     NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Web site: LR-ISG documents 
are also available online under the ``License Renewal'' heading at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Holston, Division of 
License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
8573; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The NRC issues LR-ISGs to communicate insights and lessons learned 
and to address emergent issues not covered in license renewal guidance 
documents, such as the GALL Report and SRP-LR. In this way, the NRC 
staff and stakeholders may use the guidance in an LR-ISG document 
before it is incorporated into a formal license renewal guidance 
document revision. The NRC staff issues LR-ISGs in accordance with the 
LR-ISG Process, Revision 2 (ADAMS Accession No. ML100920158), for which 
a notice of availability was published in the Federal Register on June 
22, 2010 (75 FR 35510).
    The NRC staff has developed LR-ISG-2012-02 to address: (a) 
Recurring internal corrosion, (b) a representative minimum sample size 
for periodic inspections in the GALL Report AMP XI.M38, ``Inspection of 
Internal Surfaces in Miscellaneous Piping and Ducting Components,'' (c) 
flow blockage of water-based fire protection system piping, (d) 
revisions to the scope and inspection recommendations of the GALL 
Report AMP XI.M29, ``Aboveground Metallic Tanks,'' (e) corrosion under 
insulation, (f) external volumetric examination of internal piping 
surfaces of underground piping, (g) specific guidance for use of the 
pressurization option for inspecting elastomers in the GALL Report AMP 
XI.M38, and (h) key miscellaneous changes to the GALL Report and SRP-
LR.
    On April 12, 2013, (78 FR 21980) the NRC requested public comments 
on draft LR-ISG-2012-02 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12291A920). On May 23, 
2013, the NRC conducted a public meeting to discuss draft LR-ISG-2012-
02. A meeting summary was published on June 20, 2013 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML13149A401).
    The NRC received comments from the Nuclear Energy Institute by 
letter dated June 14, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13168A397). No other 
comments were submitted. The NRC considered these comments in 
developing the final LR-ISG. Detailed responses to the comments can be 
found in Appendix I of the final LR-ISG.
    The final LR-ISG-2012-02 is approved for NRC staff and stakeholder 
use and will be incorporated into NRC's next formal license renewal 
guidance document revision.

Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final LR-ISG 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, 
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' 
As discussed in the ``Backfitting Discussion'' section of the final LR-
ISG-2012-02, the LR-ISG is directed to holders of operating licenses or 
combined licenses who are currently in the license renewal process. The 
LR-ISG is not directed to holders of operating licenses or combined 
licenses until they apply for license renewal. The LR-ISG is also not 
directed to licensees who already hold renewed operating or combined 
licenses.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of November, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Melanie A. Galloway,
Deputy Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-28069 Filed 11-21-13; 8:45 am]
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