[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46970-46972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17047]


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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: Interim staff guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the 
final 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.'' The JLD-ISG provides guidance 
and clarification to assist operating power reactor licensees 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: This guidance is effective on July 19, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0084 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-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.
     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]. For 
the

[[Page 46971]]

convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided in 
a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this document.
     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

    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 opportunity for safety enhancements. 
Specifically, the process included consideration and evaluation of 
local intense precipitation by performing a focused evaluation of the 
impact of the 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 effectiveness of various aspects of plant 
response (e.g., reliability of equipment and feasibility of 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 1, on June 10, 
2016. The revised 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. This revised guidance will be 
publicly available and used by members of the industry to help develop 
their responses to the Sec.  50.54(f) letter, including the performance 
of focused evaluations and integrated assessments, and by the NRC staff 
in its reviews of the licensees' evaluation.
    On April 22, 2016 (81 FR 23758), the NRC requested public comments 
on draft JLD-ISG-2016-01. The NRC staff received comments from two 
stakeholders which were considered in the development of the final JLD-
ISG-16-01. 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- 2016-
01: Guidance for

[[Page 46972]]

Activities Related to Near-Term Task Force Recommendation 2.1, Flooding 
Hazard Reevaluation; Focused Evaluation and Integrated Assessment'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16165A103).

II. Congressional Review Act

    This JLD-ISG 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. 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       ML12053A340
 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, 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    ML11245A158
 be 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,      ML113490055
 2011.
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,      ML15089A236
 2015.
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            ML16165A176
 Assessment Guidelines,'' Rev. 1, dated
 June 10, 2016.
JLD-ISG-2016-01 ``Guidance For            ML16162A301
 Activities Related To Near-Term Task
 Force Recommendation 2.1, Flooding
 Hazard Reevaluation; Focused Evaluation
 and Integrated Assessment,'' Revision 0.
``NRC Responses to Public Comments:       ML16165A103
 Revision to Japan Lessons-Learned
 Division Interim Staff Guidance JLD-ISG-
 2016-01: Guidance for Activities
 Related to Near-Term Task Force
 Recommendation 2.1, Flooding Hazard
 Reevaluation; Focused Evaluation and
 Integrated Assessment''.
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of July, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mohamed Shams,
Deputy Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-17047 Filed 7-18-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P