[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 149 (Monday, August 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45223-45224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18303]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0183]
Laboratory Investigations of Soils and Rocks for Engineering
Analysis and Design of Nuclear Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1256, ``Laboratory
Investigations of Soils and Rocks for Engineering Analysis and Design
of Nuclear Power Plants.'' This guide describes a method that the NRC
staff considers acceptable for use in the laboratory testing of soils
and rocks needed to confirm the design and safety of nuclear power
plants.
DATES: Submit comments by October 3, 2014. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.
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-2014-0183. 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.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: 3WFN 6A-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: Scott Stovall, telephone: 301-251-
7922, email: [email protected] or Edward O'Donnell, telephone: 301-
251-7455, email: [email protected]. Both of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory
[[Page 45224]]
Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0183 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
obtain publicly-available information related to this document by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0183.
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 draft regulatory guide
is available electronically in ADAMS under Accession Number
ML13186A032. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML13186A034.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0183 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 your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 will not edit comment submissions to remove such
information before making the comment submissions available to the
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and
make available to the public such information as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
NRC'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 DG, entitled, ``Laboratory Investigations of Soils and Rocks
for Engineering Analysis and Design of Nuclear Power Plants,'' is
proposed revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.138, dated December 2003, and
it is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1256. This DG
describes laboratory investigations and testing practices acceptable to
the NRC staff for determining soil and rock properties and
characteristics needed for engineering analysis and design of
foundations and earthworks for nuclear power plants. The DG was revised
to reflect changes in standards for testing procedures developed since
2003, and at the same time, the guide was re-formatted. The most
significant change is in Section C.6.3, ``Resonant Column Tests,''
which provides an alternative method for resonant column and torsional
shear testing of soil and rock samples.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this DG in final form 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
DG would not apply to any construction permits, operating licenses,
early site permits, limited work authorizations already 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 DG would be relevant, absent voluntary action by the
licensees (e.g., license amendment, exemption request). Testing of
soils and rocks for engineering analysis and design activities may be
performed consistent with the licensing basis for each permit and
license with respect to such testing; and need not comply with this
regulatory guide. However, when a licensee or holder of an NRC
regulatory approval voluntarily seeks a change to its license or
regulatory approval for which new soils or rock testing is necessary
and essential consideration of the NRC's evaluation of the change's
acceptability, then the NRC may condition its approval on the
licensee's or holder's agreement to conduct the soil or rock testing in
accordance with the guidance in the DG (if finalized).
Once finalized, the guidance in this regulatory guide may be
applied to applications for early site permits, combined licenses, and
limited work authorizations issued under 10 CFR 50.10 (including
information under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or (f)), any of which are docketed
and under review by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final
regulatory guide. The guidance in this regulatory guide may also be
applied to applications for construction permits, early site permits,
combined licenses, and limited work authorizations (including
information under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or (f)), any of which are 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. Applicants and potential applicants are not, with
certain exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue
finality provisions under part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the
issue finality provisions under part 52--with certain exclusions
discussed below--were intended to every NRC action which substantially
changes the expectations of current and future applicants.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of July, 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-18303 Filed 8-1-14; 8:45 am]
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