[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40795-40796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16297]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0166]


Design Response Spectra for Seismic Design of Nuclear Power 
Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.60, ``Design Response Spectra for 
Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC is issuing this 
revision without a public-comment period because there are only minor 
modifications with no substantive changes in the staff regulatory 
positions. This guide describes an approach that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable for defining response spectra for the seismic 
design of nuclear power plants.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0166 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain 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-2014-0166. 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 obtain 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 2 of RG 1.60 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13210A432.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, 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: Sarah Tabatabai, Office of New 
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-1381, email: [email protected]; or 
Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 
301-251-7455, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
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. Regulatory guides were developed to 
describe and make available to the public information 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. The NRC 
typically seeks public comment on a draft version of a regulatory guide 
by announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register. 
However, as explained in section III F of the Handbook for NRC 
Management Directive 6.6, ``Regulatory Guides,'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML110330475) the NRC may directly issue a final regulatory guide 
without a draft version or public comment period if the changes to the 
regulatory guide are non-substantive.
    The NRC is issuing Revision 2 of RG 1.60 directly as a final 
regulatory guide because the changes between Revision 1 and Revision 2 
are non-substantive. The main reason for this revision was to update 
the reference materials, along with adding the ADAMS accession numbers, 
for the key technical basis documents in the reference section to 
facilitate public access to those documents.

II. 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. The changes in Revision 2 of RG 1.60 are limited to editorial 
changes to improve clarity, to update references, and to facilitate 
public access to key technical basis documents. These changes do not 
fall within the kinds of agency actions that constitute backfitting or 
are subject to limitations in the issue finality provisions of part 52. 
Accordingly, the NRC did not address the Backfit Rule or issue finality 
provisions of part 52.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This action is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review 
Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808).

IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    Revision 2 of RG 1.60 is being issued without public comment. 
However, you may at any time submit suggestions to the NRC for 
improvement of existing regulatory guides or for the development of new 
regulatory guides to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted 
by the form available online at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-

[[Page 40796]]

rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be 
considered in future updates and enhancements of the regulatory guide.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of July, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Harriet Karagiannis,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-16297 Filed 7-11-14; 8:45 am]
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