[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 39 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10283-10284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04353]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0068]
Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the
final Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG),
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1, ``Compliance with Order EA-12-049, Order
Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation
Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events.'' This JLD-ISG
provides guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor
licensees with the identification of measures needed to comply with
requirements to mitigate challenges to key safety functions. These
requirements are contained in Order EA-12-049, ``Order Modifying
Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for
Beyond-Design-Basis External Events.''
DATES: This guidance is effective on February 29, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0068 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-2012-0068. 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
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
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1 is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML15357A163.
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.
NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/japan-lessons-learned.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Bowman, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-2963; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background Information
The original interim staff guidance (ISG), Final Japan Lessons-
Learned Project Directorate Interim Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-
2012-01, ``Compliance with Order EA-12-049, Order Modifying Licenses
with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-
Design-Basis External Events,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML12229A174) was
issued to describe to the public methods acceptable to the NRC for
complying with Order EA-12-049, ``Order Modifying Licenses with Regard
to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis
External Events'' (Order EA-12-049), issued March 12, 2012 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12054A736). This ISG endorsed the methodologies
described in the industry guidance document, Nuclear Energy Institute
(NEI) 12-06, ``Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies (FLEX)
Implementation Guide'' (NEI 12-06), Revision 0 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML12242A378) submitted on August 21, 2012. The staff is now issuing
Revision 1 to JLD-ISG-2012-01. This revision incorporates the NRC's
review strategy described in COMSECY 14-0037, ``Integration of
Mitigating Strategies for Beyond-Design Basis External Events and the
Reevaluation of Flooding Hazards'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML14238A616)
and endorses NEI 12-06, Revision 2 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16005A625).
The NRC issued Order EA-12-049 following evaluation of the Japan
earthquake and tsunami, and resulting nuclear accident, at the
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in March 2011. Order EA-12-049
requires all licensees and construction permit holders to develop a
three-phase approach for mitigating beyond-design-basis external
events. The initial phase requires the use of installed equipment and
resources to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and spent
fuel pool cooling. The transition phase requires providing sufficient,
portable, onsite equipment and consumables to maintain or restore these
functions until they can be accomplished with resources brought from
off site. The final phase requires obtaining sufficient offsite
resources to sustain those functions indefinitely. Order EA-12-049 also
specified that the NRC would issue final interim staff guidance in
August 2012, to provide additional details on an acceptable approach
for complying with Order EA-12-049.
The original version of this ISG which endorsed the original NEI
12-06 was issued on August 29, 2012. The NRC staff revised this ISG in
order to incorporate acceptable alternative approaches to compliance
proposed by licensees and after clarifying its position on the
interdependency of the Mitigating Strategies responses and the
responses to the seismic and flooding reevaluations. The staff's
clarified position was addressed in COMSECY-14-0037. This revised
guidance will be publicly available and used by members of the industry
to help develop their responses to Order EA-12-049, including impacts
of the reevaluated seismic and flooding information, and by the NRC
staff in its reviews of the
[[Page 10284]]
licensees' strategies. On November 10, 2015 (80 FR 69702), the NRC
requested public comments on draft JLD-ISG-12-01, Revision 1. The NRC
staff received comments from four stakeholders which were considered in
the development of the final JLD-ISG-12-01, Revision 1. The questions,
comments, and staff resolutions of those comments are contained in
``NRC Responses to Public Comments: Revision to Japan Lessons-Learned
Division Interim Staff Guidance JLD-ISG-2012-01: Compliance with Order
EA-12-049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for
Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15357A142).
II. Congressional Review Act
This ISG revision 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.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
This ISG provides guidance on an acceptable method for implementing
the requirements contained in Order EA-12-049. Licensees may
voluntarily use the guidance in JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1 to
demonstrate compliance with Order EA-12-049. Methods or solutions that
differ from those described in this ISG may be deemed acceptable if
they provide sufficient basis and information for the NRC to verify
that the proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with Order EA-12-
049. Issuance of this ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined in
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.109,
``Backfitting'' (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.''
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22 day of February 2016.
For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack R. Davis,
Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-04353 Filed 2-26-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P