[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6897-6898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02564]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0232]


Revision Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Severe Accident 
Evaluation for New Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Standard review plan--final section revision; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
final revision to the following section in Chapter 19 of NUREG-0800, 
``Standard Review Plan (SRP) for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports 
for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' Section 19.0, ``Probabilistic 
Risk Assessment and Severe Accident Evaluation for New Reactors.''

DATES: The effective date of this Standard Review Plan update is March 
10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0232 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access 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-2012-0232. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 
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 the SRP, Section 19.0, Revision 3, ``Probabilistic 
Risk Assessment and Severe Accident Evaluation for New Reactors,'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15089A068. A redline strikeout 
comparing the proposed revision to the final revision can be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML15089A115. The responses to public comments 
can be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15086A472.
     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, telephone: 301-415-3053, 
email: [email protected] or Nishka Devaser, telephone: 301-415-5196, 
email: [email protected], both are staff of the Office of New 
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 8, 2014 (79 FR 72709), the NRC published for public 
comment a proposed revision to this section of the SRP. The staff made 
changes to the proposed revision after consideration of comments 
received. 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 SRP Section 19.0'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15086A472).
    The changes to this SRP section reflect current staff review 
methods and practices based on lessons learned from NRC reviews of 
design certification (DC) and combined license (COL) applications 
completed since the last revision of this chapter. Changes include: (1) 
Incorporation of guidance previously published in Interim Staff 
Guidance (ISG) DC/COL-ISG-003 (ADAMS Accession No. ML081430087) 
concerning the review of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) 
information and severe accident assessments submitted to support DC and 
COL applications, (2) incorporation of guidance for DC and COL 
applicants previously published in ISG DC/COL-ISG-020 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML100491233) concerning review of information from PRA-based 
seismic margin analyses submitted in support of DC and COL 
applications, (3) incorporation of guidance previously published in ISG 
Digital Instrumentation and Controls (DI&C)/COL-ISG-003 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML080570048) concerning review of DI&C system PRAs, 
including treatment of common cause failure (CCFs) in PRAs and 
uncertainty analysis associated with new reactor digital systems, (4) 
incorporation of additional procedures for review of PRA information 
and severe accident assessments developed during NRC reviews of DC and 
COL applications completed after Revision 2 of SRP Section 19.0 was 
issued, (5) additional proposed acceptance criteria and review 
procedures for the staff's review of an applicant's assessment of

[[Page 6898]]

risk from accidents that could affect multiple modules in facilities 
with small modular integral pressurized water reactors (iPWRs), (6) 
additional review procedures for the staff's review of the results of 
the PRA for non-power modes of operation, and (7) several editorial 
changes to ensure that there is no confusion between text in this SRP 
section and text in the ASME/ANS PRA Standard currently endorsed by the 
NRC and referenced in this SRP section. The ISG DC/COL-ISG-003 and ISG 
DI&C/COL-ISG-003 have now been superseded by SRP 19.0, Revision 3 and 
should no longer be used. The ISG DC/COL-ISG-020 contains guidance for 
COL holders which has not been superseded by SRP 19.0, Revision 3 and 
should still be used by COL holders.

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final SRP does 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 SRP positions, does 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 draft SRP to existing licenses and regulatory 
approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final SRP--even if considered 
guidance within the purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a backfit or 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) and/or NRC regulatory 
approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with specified issue 
finality provisions.
    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 NRC staff does not, 
at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft 
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 draft SRP 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

    In accordance with the Congressional Review Act, the NRC has 
determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified this 
determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of 
the Office of Management and Budget.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of January, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tanya Smith,
Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Advanced 
Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2016-02564 Filed 2-8-16; 8:45 am]
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