[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17582-17583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06888]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2011-0297]
General Site Suitability Criteria for Nuclear Power Stations
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 4.7, ``General Site Suitability Criteria
for Nuclear Power Stations.'' This guide describes a method that the
NRC staff considers acceptable to implement the site suitability
requirements for nuclear power stations. It is intended to assist
applicants in the initial stage of selecting potential sites for a
nuclear power station. Each site that appears to be compatible with the
general criteria discussed in this guide should be examined in greater
detail before it can be considered a ``candidate'' site (i.e., one of
the group of sites to be considered in selecting a ``proposed'' or
``preferred'' site).
ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0297 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 documents filed under Docket ID NRC-
2011-0297. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher,
telephone: 301-287-3422; email: [email protected].
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]. Revision 3 of Regulatory
Guide 4.7 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12188A053. The
regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML12188A052.
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: Jacob Philip, telephone: 301-251-7471,
email: [email protected]; or Edward O'Donnell, telephone: 301-251-
7455 or email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 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 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.
Revision 3 of RG 4.7 was issued with a temporary identification as
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-4021. This revision of the guide
incorporates references to Part 52 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), and to relevant sections in the NRC's standard
review plan (NUREG-0800)
[[Page 17583]]
that the staff uses to evaluate nuclear power plant license
applications and the standard review plan for environmental review of
nuclear power plants (NUREG-1555). In addition, the technical
references were updated.
II. Further Information
DG-4021 was issued for public comment in the Federal Register on
December 30, 2011 (76 FR 82201), for a 60-day public comment period.
The public comment period closed on February 25, 2012. Public comments
on DG-4021 and the staff responses to the public comments are available
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12188A054.
II. 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 and Issue Finality
Issuance of this 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. This
regulatory guide will not apply to any construction permits, operating
licenses, early site permits, limited work authorizations issued under
10 CFR 50.10 for which the NRC issued a final environmental impact
statement (EIS) preceded by a draft EIS under 10 CFR 51.76 or 51.75, or
combined licenses, any of which were issued by the NRC prior to
issuance of the final regulatory guide. The NRC has already completed
its siting determination for those construction permits, operating
licenses, early site permits, limited work authorizations, and combined
licenses. Therefore, no further NRC regulatory action on siting will
occur for those licenses, permits, and authorizations, for which the
guidance in the regulatory guide would be relevant.
This regulatory guide may be applied to applications for early site
permits, combined licenses, and limited work authorizations issued
under 10 CFR 50.10, which includes information under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or
(f), where the application is docketed by the NRC as of the date of
issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications
for construction permits, early site permits, combined licenses, and
limited work authorizations, which includes information under 10 CFR
51.49(b) or (f), where the application is submitted after the issuance
of the final regulatory guide. 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 provisions 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 24th day of March, 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-06888 Filed 3-27-14; 8:45 am]
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