[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 185 (Wednesday, September 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57141-57143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22733]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0203]


Proposed Revisions to Conduct of Operations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is revising the 
following sections and soliciting public comment on the following 
sections in Chapter 13, ``Conduct of Operations,'' of NUREG-0800, 
``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for 
Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' Section 13.1.1, ``Management and 
Technical Support Organization''; Section 13.1.2-13.1.3, ``Operating 
Organization''; Section 13.2.1, ``Reactor Operator Requalification 
Program; Reactor Operator Training''; Section 13.2.2, ``Non-licensed 
Plant Staff Training''; Section 13.5.1.1, ``Administrative Procedures--
,General''; and Section 13.5.2.1, ``Operating and Emergency Operating 
Procedures.''

DATES: Submit comments by November 24, 2014. Comments received after 
this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is only 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

[[Page 57142]]

for Docket ID NRC-2014-0203. 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 ``Obtaining 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 to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0203 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-2014-0203.
     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]. For the convenience of the 
reader, instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this 
document are provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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-2014-0203 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 in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. 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 submissions. 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. Availability of Documents

    The ADAMS accession numbers for the current revisions, proposed 
draft revisions, and redline strikeouts comparing current revisions and 
the proposed revisions of individual sections are available in ADAMS 
under the following accession numbers:

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            SRP Section                 Current  revision          Draft revision          Redline  strikeout
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13.1.1............................  ML070460302               MB13311B662               ML13330B669
13.1.2-13.1.3.....................  ML070250009               ML13311B719               ML13330B690
13.2.1............................  ML070100636               ML13311B565               ML13330B645
13.2.2............................  ML070100637               ML14030A091               ML14051A028
13.5.1.1..........................  ML112730402               ML13115A067               ML13115A093
13.5.2.1..........................  ML070100635               ML13311B514               ML13311B773
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III. Further Information

    The NRC seeks public comments on the proposed revision of Standard 
Review Plan (SRP) Sections 13.1.1, 13.1.2-13.1.3, 13.2.1, 13.2.2, 
13.5.1.1, and 13.5.2.1. The changes to SRP Chapter 13 reflect the 
current staff reviews, methods and practices based on lessons learned 
from the NRC's reviews of design certification and combined license 
applications completed since the last revision of this chapter. The 
draft SRP sections, if finalized, would provide guidance to the staff 
for reviewing applications for a construction permit and an operating 
license under part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) with respect to conduct of operations. The draft SRP sections 
would also provide guidance for reviewing an application for a standard 
design approval, a standard design certification, a combined license, 
and a manufacturing license under 10 CFR part 52 with respect to those 
same subject matters.
    Following the NRC staff's evaluation of public comments, the NRC 
intends to finalize the revised SRP Sections 13.1.1, 13.1.2-13.1.3, 
13.2.1, 13.2.2, 13.5.1.1, and 13.5.2.1 in ADAMS and post the revised 
sections 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's regulations, and 
compliance with the SRP is not required.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of the draft SRP sections, 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, do not constitute 
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
    The SRP provides interim guidance to the 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 applicants 
or licensees are protected under 10 CFR 50.109 or issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
    2. Backfitting and issue finality--with certain exceptions 
discussed below--do not protect current or future applicants.

[[Page 57143]]

    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. This is because neither the Backfit 
Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with 
certain exclusions discussed below--was intended to apply to every 
NRC's action which 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 staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the draft SRP sections (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 SRP sections (if 
finalized) in a manner which 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.
    3. The staff has no intention to impose the draft SRP positions on 
existing nuclear power plant licenses or regulatory approvals either 
now or in the future (absent a voluntary request for change from the 
licensee, holder of a regulatory approval, or a design certification 
applicant).
    The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions 
described in the draft SRP sections to existing (already issued) 
licenses (e.g., operating licenses and combined licenses) and 
regulatory approvals. Hence, the draft SRPs--even if considered 
guidance which is within the purview of the issue finality provisions 
in 10 CFR part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as 
being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the future, 
the staff seeks to impose a position in the draft SRPs (if finalized) 
on holders of already issued licenses in a manner which 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 applicable issue finality provision, as applicable.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of September, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Advanced 
Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2014-22733 Filed 9-23-14; 8:45 am]
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