[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 98 (Thursday, May 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29350-29351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12292]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0209]


Nonmetallic Thermal Insulation for Austenitic Stainless Steel

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.36, ``Nonmetallic Thermal 
Insulation for Austenitic Stainless Steel.'' The RG describes methods 
and procedures that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) considers acceptable when selecting and using nonmetallic thermal 
insulation to minimize any contamination that could promote stress-
corrosion cracking in the stainless steel portions of the reactor 
coolant pressure boundary and other systems important to safety. This 
guide applies to light-water-cooled reactors.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0209 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publically-available information related to this document, 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0209. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals 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 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 referenced (if available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. 
Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.36 is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML15026A664. The regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML14079A669.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David W. Alley, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, 301-415-2178 email: [email protected] and Richard 
A. Jervey, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 301-251-7404, 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 and 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.
    Revision 1 of RG 1.36 was issued with a temporary identification as 
Draft

[[Page 29351]]

Regulatory Guide, DG-1312. RG 1.36, Revision 1, updates NRC guidance to 
approve for use current voluntary consensus standards (specifications) 
related to thermal insulation in contact with austenitic stainless 
steel. The standards have been revised and improved in recent years; 
thus they represent current best practices available for that purpose. 
Significantly, the current standards offer more than one test method to 
satisfy the objective of the standard. Additionally, several test 
methods identified in the previous RG 1.36 are no longer in use and the 
references to them have been removed.

II. Additional Information

    Draft Guide (DG)-1312, was published in the Federal Register on 
October 6, 2014 (79 FR 60188) for a 30-day public comment period. The 
public comment period closed on November 5, 2014. Public comments on 
DG-1312 and the staff responses to the public comments are available 
under ADAMS Accession Number ML15026A678.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional 
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and 
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the 
Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    RG 1.36, Revision 1, provides guidance on one acceptable way of 
meeting the requirements in GDC 1 and GDC 14 with respect to stress-
corrosion cracking in austenitic steel portions of the reactor coolant 
pressure boundary which are caused in part by contact with nonmetallic 
thermal insulation. This does not constitute backfitting as defined in 
Section 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
(the Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue 
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC's position is based upon 
the following considerations.
    Existing licensees, part 50 construction permit holders and part 50 
operating license holders, and applicants of final design certification 
rules would not be required to comply with the positions set forth in 
RG 1.36, Revision 1, unless the construction permit or an operating 
license holder makes a voluntary change to their licensing basis with 
respect to non-metallic thermal insulation in contact with austenitic 
stainless steel, and the NRC determines that the safety review must 
include consideration of the matters addressed in this regulatory 
guide.
    Existing design certification rules would not be required to be 
amended to comply with the positions set forth in RG 1.36 unless the 
NRC addresses the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 52.63(a).
    Existing combined license holders (referencing the AP1000 design 
certification rule in 10 CFR part 52, Appendix D) would not be required 
to comply with the positions set forth in RG 1.36 unless the NRC 
addresses the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 52.63(a).
    RG 1.36 may be applied to current applications for operating 
licenses, combined licenses, and certified design rules docketed by the 
NRC as of the date of issuance of the revision to the regulatory guide, 
as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of the 
revised regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in Sec.  50.109(a)(1) or be otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provision 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 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the Backfit 
Rule nor the issue finality provisions under part 52--with certain 
exclusions discussed below--were intended to apply to every NRC action 
which substantially changes the expectations of current and future 
applicants.
    The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever a 
combined license applicant references a 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 
does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in 
the RG, on combined license applicants in a manner that is inconsistent 
with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the NRC seeks to 
impose a position in the RG, in a manner which does not provide issue 
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then 
the NRC must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as 
described in the applicable issue finality provision.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of May 2015.

    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. 2015-12292 Filed 5-20-15; 8:45 am]
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