[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 108 (Thursday, June 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32580-32582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13061]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0131]
Open Phase Condition in Electric Power System; Electric Power--
Introduction
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for public
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
public comment on a draft new Branch
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Technical Position (BTP) 8-9, ``Open Phase Conditions in Electric Power
System.'' The NRC also seeks public comment on a related draft Revision
5 to Section 8.1, ``Electric Power--Introduction,'' of NUREG-0800,
``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for
Nuclear Power Plants.''
DATES: Submit comments by July 21, 2014. Comments received after this
date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received
on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0131. 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.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan DeGange, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-6992, or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0131 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-2014-0131.
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 (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided
the first time that a document is referenced. The draft BTP 8-9,
Revision 0, ``Open Phase Conditions in Electric Power System,'' is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14057A433. The draft Standard
Review Plan (SRP) Section 8.1, Revision 5, ``Electric Power--
Introduction,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14114A430.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0131 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in you
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Further Information
The NRC staff is issuing this notice to request public comments on
the draft SRP Section 8.1, Revision 5 and on draft BTP 8-9. This BTP is
proposed guidance for the staff's safety review of licensing actions
associated with General Design Criteria (GDC) 17, ``Electric Power
Systems,'' in Appendix A to part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), related to coping with open phase electrical
conditions in power systems. The previous version of SRP Section 8.1
was published on February 28, 2012 (77 FR 12086), as Revision 4 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML113640121). The new BTP would be added as a reference
to Chapter 8 of the SRP. Specifically Table 8-1, ``Acceptance Criteria
and Guidelines for Electric Power Systems,'' of SRP Section 8.1 will be
updated to include the BTP 8-9 after resolution of any comments and
final issuance of BTP 8-9. This is reflected as the only change
included in draft Revision 5 of SRP Section 8.1. The NRC plans on
responding to the public comments and then issuing the updated SRP
Section 8.1 and BTP as final guidance. The NRC staff intends to
incorporate the final approved guidance into the next revision of
Chapter 8 of NUREG-0800.
The NRC intends to put these documents in ADAMS and post it on the
NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is
not a substitute for the NRC regulations, and compliance with the SRP
is not required.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
The purpose of draft BTP 8-9 is to provide guidance to the NRC
staff in reviewing various licensing actions related to an electric
power system design vulnerability due to open phase conditions in
offsite electric power systems in accordance with GDC 17 or principal
design criteria specified in the updated final safety analysis report,
and 10 CFR 50.36(c)(2) and (c)(3). Issuance of the BTP and draft SRP
Section 8.1, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined
in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) or otherwise be inconsistent with
the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The NRC's position is
based upon the following considerations.
1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
The SRP provides internal guidance to the NRC staff on how to
review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of
licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which
either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under
either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part
52.
2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the draft SRP positions
on holders of existing licensees or regulatory approvals either now or
in
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the future (absent a voluntary request for change from the licensee or
holder of a regulatory approval).
The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the draft BTP 8-9 or SRP to existing licenses and
regulatory approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final BTP 8-9 or SRP--
even if considered guidance within the purview of the issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52--would not need to be evaluated as if it
were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions.
If, in the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in the
draft BTP 8-9 or SRP (if finalized) on holders of already issued
licenses in a manner that does not provide issue finality as described
in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must make
the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or address the criteria
for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue
finality provision, as applicable.
3. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions
discussed below--protect current or future applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under 10 CFR part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions--were
intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the
expectations of current and future applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an
applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site
permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification
rule) with specified issue finality provisions. The NRC staff does not,
at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft
BTP 8-9 or SRP (if finalized) in a manner that is inconsistent with any
issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose
a position in the draft BTP 8-9 or SRP in a manner that does not
provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality
provision, then the staff must address the criteria for avoiding issue
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of May 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking,
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2014-13061 Filed 6-4-14; 8:45 am]
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