[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53902-53903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22555]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0204]


Quality Assurance Program Description--Design Certification, 
Early Site Permit and New License Applicants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Standard review plan-final section; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
final revision to NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of 
Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' 
Section 17.5, ``Quality Assurance Program Description--Design 
Certification, Early Site Permit and New License Applicants.''

DATES: The effective date of this Standard Review Plan (SRP) update is 
October 8, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0204 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-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-2014-0204. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual 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

[[Page 53903]]

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 it available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The 
final revision for Standard Review Plan (SRP) Section 17.5, ``Quality 
Assurance Program Description--Design Certification, Early Site Permit 
and New License Applicants,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML15037A441.
     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.
     The NRC posts its issued staff guidance on the NRC's 
external Web page (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Notich, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-3053; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On September 24, 2014 (79 FR 57143), the NRC published for public 
comment the proposed SRP Section 17.5, ``Quality Assurance Program 
Description--Design Certification, Early Site Permit and New License 
Applicants,'' in Chapter 17, ``Quality Assurance,'' of NUREG-0800. The 
staff received a total of nine comments on the draft section. A summary 
of the comments and the staff's disposition of the comments are 
available in a separate document, ``Response to Public Comments on 
Draft Standard Review Plan, Section 17.5, Quality Assurance Program 
Description--Design Certification, Early Site Permit and New License 
Applicants'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15037A303).

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The SRP Section 17.5 provides 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), 
``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' with 
respect to compliance with the ``Quality Assurance Program Description 
Design--Certification, Early Site Permit and New License Applicants,'' 
10 CFR 50.65 and the guidance in Nuclear Management and Resources 
Council 93-01 as approved for use by the NRC in Regulatory Guide 1.160, 
``Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at Nuclear Power 
Plants,'' SRP Section 17.5 also provides 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, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' with respect to those same subject matters.
    Issuance of this SRP section revision does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) nor is it 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The 
NRC's position is based upon the following considerations.
    1. The SRP positions would not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as 
the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
    The SRP provides internal guidance to the NRC 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 
either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under 
either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 
52.
    2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on 
existing licensees either now or in the future.
    The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions 
described in the SRP to existing licenses and regulatory approvals. 
Hence, the issuance of this SRP--even if considered guidance within the 
purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52--does not 
need to be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent 
with issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the NRC staff seeks 
to impose a position in the SRP on holders of already issued licenses 
in a manner that 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 in the applicable issue finality 
provision.
    3. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions 
not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
    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. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue 
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions--were 
intended to apply to every NRC action that 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) or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) 
with specified issue finality provisions. The NRC staff does not, at 
this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the SRP in a 
manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality provisions. If, in 
the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP section in 
a manner that 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.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This action 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.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of August, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carolyn Lauron,
Acting Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of 
Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015-22555 Filed 9-4-15; 8:45 am]
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