[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 247 (Thursday, December 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80401-80402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32338]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0285]


Containment Shell or Liner Moisture Barrier Inspection

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public 
comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) to reiterate the NRC 
staff's position in regard to American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
(ASME) code-required inservice inspection requirements for moisture 
barriers. The NRC's regulations require, in part, that licensees 
implement the inservice inspection program for pressure retaining 
components and their integral attachments of metal containments and 
metallic liners of concrete containments in accordance with the ASME 
Code. If a material prevents moisture from contacting inaccessible 
areas of the containment shell or liner, especially if the material is 
being relied upon in lieu of augmented examinations of a susceptible 
location, the material must be inspected as a moisture barrier. The 
applicable ASME Code sections require licensees to inspect 100 percent 
of accessible moisture barriers during each inspection period.

DATES: Submit comments by January 25, 2016. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
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 for Docket ID NRC-2015-0285. 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.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryce Lehman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1626, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0285 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0285.
     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 in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. This RIS is available under ADAMS 
Accession Number ML15208A522.
     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-2015-0285 in your comment submission.
    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:/
/

[[Page 80402]]

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 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 into ADAMS.

II. Background

    The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad 
range of regulatory matters. This may include communicating staff 
technical positions on matters that have not been communicated to or 
are not broadly understood by the nuclear industry. The NRC staff has 
developed draft RIS 20YY-XX, ``Containment Shell or Liner Moisture 
Barrier Inspection,'' to reiterate NRC expectations for these 
inspections. The NRC staff has identified several instances in which 
containment shell or liner moisture barrier materials were not properly 
inspected in accordance with ASME Code Section XI, Table IWE-2500-1, 
Item E1.30. Note 4 (Note 3 in editions before 2013) for Item E1.30 
under the ``Parts Examined'' column states, ``Examination shall include 
moisture barrier materials intended to prevent intrusion of moisture 
against inaccessible areas of the pressure retaining metal containment 
shell or liner at concrete to metal interfaces and at metal to metal 
interfaces which are not seal welded. Containment moisture barrier 
materials include caulking, flashing, and other sealants used for this 
application.'' Examples of inadequate inspections have included 
licensees not identifying sealant materials at metal-to-metal 
interfaces as moisture barriers because they are not specifically 
depicted in Figure IWE-2500-1, and licensees not inspecting installed 
moisture barrier materials per Item E1.30 because the material was not 
included in the original design or was not identified as a ``moisture 
barrier'' in the design documents.
    The NRC staff expects licensees to inspect 100 percent of 
accessible moisture barriers during each inspection period, in 
accordance with Table IWE-2500-1, Item E1.30, as required by Sec.  
50.55a of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Items 
within the scope of E1.30 inspections shall be identified based on the 
function of the item as described in the Table IWE-2500 1 note. As 
noted previously, Figure IWE 2500 1 represents one typical moisture 
barrier geometry; however, it is not comprehensive. If a material 
prevents moisture from contacting inaccessible areas of the containment 
shell or liner, especially if the material is being relied upon in lieu 
of augmented examinations of a susceptible location per IWE-1241, the 
material shall be inspected as a moisture barrier, as also described in 
Information Notice 2014-07 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14070A114). 
Furthermore, if the Item E1.11 and Item E1.30 inspections are addressed 
in the same procedures, the inspection scope and acceptance criteria 
should identify the different surfaces. Items E1.11 and E1.30 address 
different materials with different geometries and acceptance criteria.
Proposed Action
    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. The NRC 
staff will make a final determination regarding issuance of the RIS 
after it considers any public comments received in response to this 
request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of December, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    /RA/
James T. Keene,
Acting Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and 
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-32338 Filed 12-23-15; 8:45 am]
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