[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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