[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70898-70899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28063]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0253]


Fitness-for-Duty Programs for New Nuclear Power Plant 
Construction Sites

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-5036, ``Fitness-for-Duty 
[FFD] Programs at New Reactor Construction Sites.'' This DG provides 
new guidance for implementing fitness for duty requirements at nuclear 
power plant construction sites.

DATES: Submit comments by January 27, 2015. 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-2014-0253. 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 06A-A44M, 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: Wesley W. Held, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-415-1583, email: 
[email protected], or Richard A. Jervey, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-251-7404, email: [email protected]. 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-2014-0253 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-2014-0253. 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]. The draft regulatory guide 
is available electronically in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14205A141.
     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-2014-0253 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.

[[Page 70899]]

    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 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. 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, ``Fitness-for-Duty Programs at New Reactor 
Construction Sites,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
5036. This guidance is provided to ensure the effective and consistent 
implementation of the requirements in subpart K, ``FFD Programs for 
Construction,'' of part 26, ``Fitness-for-Duty Programs,'' in Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Part 26 requires certain 
individuals involved in the construction of nuclear power plants to be 
fit-for-duty. The requirements in part 26 are prescriptive in a number 
of areas, such as drug and alcohol testing; however, in other areas, 
such as those associated with subpart K, ``FFD Program for 
Construction,'' the regulations contain less prescriptive, performance-
based requirements. The performance-based regulations in subpart K 
enable licensees, applicants, and other entities to develop, implement, 
and/or maintain site-specific (or fleet-wide) FFD programs in a manner 
that best suits their needs while still meeting regulatory 
requirements. However, this flexibility, without regulatory guidance, 
can challenge consistent and effective rule implementation. For 
example, a licensee can implement sanctions for FFD policy violations 
that are markedly more or less severe than sanctions for an equivalent 
violation at another licensee's construction site. This DG endorses the 
methodologies described in industry guidance document Nuclear Energy 
Institute (NEI) 06-06, ``Fitness for Duty Program Guidance for New 
Nuclear Power Plant Construction Sites,'' revision 6, dated April 2013 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13093A340).

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This DG, if finalized, would provide guidance on the methods 
acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC's regulations 
associated with FFD programs of licensees or other entities during 
construction of new power reactors. The guide would apply to certain 
current and future applicants for, and holders of, power reactor 
licenses and construction permits under 10 CFR part 50 and power 
reactor licenses and early site permits under 10 CFR part 52. Issuance 
of DG-5036, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting under 10 CFR 
part 50 and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' 
section of DG-5036, the NRC has no current intention to impose the DG, 
if finalized, on current holders of 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses 
or 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses.
    This DG, if finalized, could be applied to applications for certain 
10 CFR part 50 operating licenses or construction permits and 10 CFR 
part 52 combined licenses and early site permits. Such action would not 
constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise 
inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR 
part 52, inasmuch as such applicants are not within the scope of 
entities protected by 10 CFR 50.109 or the relevant issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of November, 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. 2014-28063 Filed 11-26-14; 8:45 am]
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