[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23758-23760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09421]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0084]


Guidance for Closure of Activities Related to Recommendation 2.1, 
Flooding Hazard Reevaluation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim 
Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2016-01, ``Guidance for Activities 
Related to Near-Term Task Force Recommendation 2.1, Flooding Hazard 
Reevaluation; Focused Evaluation and Integrated Assessment.'' This 
draft JLD-ISG revision provides guidance and clarification to assist 
operating power reactor respondents and holders of construction permits 
under the NRC's regulations with the performance of the focused 
evaluations and revised integrated assessments for external flooding.

DATES: Submit comments by May 23, 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 on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless

[[Page 23759]]

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-2016-0084. 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: 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. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0084 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-2016-0084.
     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 is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. For the convenience of the reader, 
the ADAMS accession numbers for obtaining materials referenced in this 
document are provided in a table in the section of this notice 
entitled, Availability of Documents.
     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-2016-0084 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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering 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 submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background

    Following the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant 
on March 11, 2011, the NRC established a senior-level agency task force 
referred to as the Near-Term Task Force (NTTF). The NTTF was tasked 
with conducting a systematic and methodical review of the NRC 
regulations and processes, and determining if the agency should make 
additional improvements to these programs in light of the events at 
Fukushima Dai-ichi. As a result of this review, the NTTF developed a 
comprehensive set of recommendations, documented in SECY-11-0093, 
``Recommendations for Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st Century, the 
Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi 
Accident,'' dated July 12, 2011. These recommendations were enhanced by 
the NRC staff following interactions with stakeholders. Documentation 
of the staff's efforts is contained in SECY-11-0124, dated September 9, 
2011, and SECY-11-0137, dated October 3, 2011.
    As directed by the Commission's SRM for SECY-11-0093, the NRC staff 
reviewed the NTTF recommendations within the context of the NRC's 
existing regulatory framework and considered the various regulatory 
vehicles available to the NRC to implement the recommendations. In 
SECY-11-0124 and SECY-11-0137, the staff established the prioritization 
of the recommendations. After receiving the Commission's direction in 
SRM-SECY-11-0124 and SRM-SECY-11-0137, the NRC staff issued a request 
for information pursuant to section 50.54(f) of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Conditions of licenses,'' on March 12, 
2012, requesting licensees to reevaluate the seismic and flooding 
hazards at their sites using updated hazard information and current 
regulatory guidance and methodologies. For plants where the reevaluated 
hazard exceeds the plant's design basis, the licensee was to conduct an 
integrated assessment. The information gathering is considered to be 
Phase 1 and was requested to support Phase 2 decision-making and 
determine whether available or planned measures provide sufficient 
protection and mitigation capabilities or if further regulatory action 
should be pursued in the areas of seismic and flooding design, and 
emergency preparedness.
    In COMSECY-14-0037, dated November 21, 2014, the NRC staff 
requested that the Commission review and approve changes to revise the 
Recommendation 2.1 flooding assessments and integrate the Phase 2 
decision-making into the development and implementation of mitigating 
strategies in accordance with Order EA-12-049 and the related 
Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events rulemaking.
    In SRM-COMSECY-14-0037, the Commission disapproved this 
recommendation. Instead, the Commission instructed the staff to develop 
a closure plan for the flooding reevaluation activities and to reassess 
the existing guidance for performing a Phase 1 integrated assessment in 
order to focus on those plants with the most potential for safety 
benefits.
    In COMSECY-15-0019, the staff provided revised guidance for 
performing a Phase 1 integrated assessment and described a modified 
process for identifying the list of plants that would be required to 
perform an integrated assessment. The process proposed by the staff 
included the development of a graded, risk-informed and performance-
based approach consistent with Commission direction to focus on those 
plants with the greatest potential need for safety enhancements. 
Specifically, the process included consideration and evaluation of 
local intense precipitation by performing a focused evaluation of the 
impact of the

[[Page 23760]]

hazard and implementing any necessary programmatic, procedural, or 
plant modifications to address the hazard, taking into account 
available warning time. The process also considered flood protection 
and available physical margin, where licensees will confirm the 
capability of existing flood protection to address the hazard 
exceedance by performing a focused evaluation. For licensees where the 
reevaluated hazard cannot be addressed via existing or planned flood 
protection, the process also includes the performance of an integrated 
assessment, using revised guidance, in order to conduct more detailed 
evaluations of plant response capability. This revised integrated 
assessment will capture, among other information, quantitative 
characteristics about the reliability of various aspects of plant 
response (e.g., reliability of equipment and manual actions), and risk 
insights with a focus on cliff-edge effects. The results will be used 
by the NRC to determine whether additional regulatory action, such as a 
plant-specific backfit, are warranted.
    In SRM-COMSECY-15-0019, the Commission approved the staff's plans 
to modify the approach for integrated assessments to implement a graded 
approach for determining the need for, and prioritization and scope of, 
plant-specific integrated assessments. As discussed in COMSECY-15-0019, 
the majority of sites with reevaluated flooding hazards exceeding the 
design-basis flood are expected to screen out from the integrated 
assessment process. The licensees will instead provide focused 
evaluations to ensure appropriate actions are taken and that these 
actions are effective and reasonable.
    The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) submitted guidance NEI 16-05, 
``External Flooding Assessment Guidelines,'' Revision 0, on April 12, 
2016. The guidance is an industry-developed methodology that describes 
the flooding impact assessment process, which is intended to meet the 
requested information of an integrated assessment, as described in the 
document titled, ``Request for Information Pursuant to Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(f) Regarding Recommendations 
2.1, 2.3, and 9.3, of the Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from 
the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident,'' and to incorporate the changes 
described in COMSECY-15-0019.
    Draft ISG JLD ISG 2016-01 is being issued to describe to 
stakeholders methods acceptable to the staff for performance of the 
focused evaluations and revised integrated assessments and describe 
some exceptions and clarifications to NEI 16-05, Revision 0.
    This guidance is not intended for use in design-basis applications 
or in regulatory activities beyond the scope of performing the focused 
evaluations and integrated assessment part of NTTF Recommendation 2.1 
flooding activities. This ISG is being issued in draft form for public 
comment to involve the public in development of the implementation 
guidance. Compliance with the ISG is not required.

III. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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              Document title                    ADAMS  accession No.
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Request for Information Pursuant to Title  ML12053A340
 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
 (10 CFR) 50.54(f) Regarding
 Recommendations 2.1, 2.3, and 9.3, of
 the Near-Term Task Force Review of
 Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi
 Accident, dated March 12, 2012.
SECY-11-0093, ``Recommendations for        ML11186A950
 Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st
 Century, the Near-Term Task Force Review
 of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi
 Accident,'' dated July 12, 2011.
Commission's staff requirements            ML112310021
 memorandum (SRM) for SECY-11-0093, dated
 August 19, 2011.
SECY-11-0124, ``Recommended Actions to be  ML11245A158
 Taken Without Delay from the Near-Term
 Task Force Report,'' dated September 9,
 2011.
SRM-SECY-11-0124, dated October 18, 2011.  ML112911571
SECY-11-0137, ``Prioritization of          ML11272A111
 Recommended Actions to be Taken in
 Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned,''
 dated October 3, 2011.
SRM-SECY-11-0137, dated December 15, 2011  ML113490055
COMSECY-14-0037, ``Integration of          ML14238A616
 Mitigating Strategies for Beyond-Design-
 Basis External Events and the
 Reevaluaton (sic) of Flooding Hazards,''
 dated November 21, 2014.
SRM-COMSECY-14-0037, dated March 30, 2015  ML15089A236
COMSECY-15-0019, ``Closure Plan for the    ML15153A104
 Reevaluation of Flooding Hazards for
 Operating Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated
 June 30, 2015.
SRM-COMSECY-15-0019, dated July 28, 2015.  ML15209A682
NEI 16-05, ``External Flooding Assessment  ML16105A327
 Guidelines,'' Rev. 0, dated April 12,
 2016.
Draft JLD-ISG-2016-01 ``Guidance For       ML16090A140
 Activities Related To Near-Term Task
 Force Recommendation 2.1, Flooding
 Hazard Reevaluation; Focused Evaluation
 and Integrated Assessment,'' Revision 0.
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    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2016-0084. The Federal 
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2016-0084); (2) click the ``Sign up for Email 
Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select how 
frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

Proposed Action

    By this action, the NRC is requesting public comments on draft ISG 
JLD-ISG-2016-01. This draft JLD-ISG proposes guidance related to the 
performance of a focused evaluation and integrated assessment as part 
of NTTF 2.1 flooding activities. The NRC staff will make a final 
determination regarding issuance of the JLD-ISG after it considers any 
public comments received in response to this request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of April, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory Bowman,
Acting Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-09421 Filed 4-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P