[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54855-54856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19559]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0152]


Design, Inspection, and Testing Criteria for Air Filtration and 
Adsorption Units of Normal Atmosphere Cleanup Systems in Light Water 
Cooled Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory Guide; Issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.140, ``Design, Inspection, and 
Testing Criteria for Air Filtration and Adsorption Units of Normal 
Atmosphere Cleanup Systems in Light Water Cooled Nuclear Power 
Plants.'' This RG describes a method that the NRC staff considers 
acceptable to implement regulatory requirements with regard to the 
design, inspection, and testing of normal atmosphere cleanup systems 
for controlling releases of airborne radioactive materials to the 
environment during normal operations, including anticipated operational 
occurrences. This guide applies to all types of nuclear power plants 
that use water as the primary means of cooling.

DATES: Revision 3 to RG 1.140 is available on August 17, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0152 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document, 
using the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0152. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals 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 Document 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 that document 
is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. Revision 3 to RG 1.140, and the regulatory analysis are 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16070A277 and ML16082A538, 
respectively.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerome Bettle, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1314, email: 
[email protected]; and Stephen Burton, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-7000, email: [email protected]: Both 
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    Revision 3 of RG 1.140 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1280. Since the NRC issued Revision 2 of 
RG 1.140, in June 2001, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
(ASME) Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (CONAGT) has revised 
and expanded the scope of equipment covered by ASME-AG-1, ``Code on 
Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment,'' which the staff previously endorsed in 
RG 1.140. The revision to ASME-AG-1b consolidated some requirements 
from ASME-N509, ``Nuclear Power Plant Air Cleaning Units and 
Components''; ASME-N510, ``Testing of Nuclear Air-Treatment Systems''; 
and other documents previously endorsed by the staff in RG 1.140. In 
addition, CONAGT has developed and published a new standard, ASME N511-
2007, ``Inservice Testing of Nuclear Air Treatment, Heating Ventilation 
and Air Conditioning Systems.'' This new standard provides 
comprehensive test and inspection requirements and is written to 
complement the expanded ASME-AG-1b. Therefore, this guide was revised 
to address these changes to the referenced industry standards.

[[Page 54856]]

II. Additional Information

    The DG-1280, was published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2012 
(77 FR 38857), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment 
period closed on August 27, 2012. Public comments on DG-1280 and the 
NRC staff responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML16070A279.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This regulatory guide 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.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Revision 3 of RG 1.140 describes a method that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable to implement regulatory requirements with regard 
to the design, inspection, and testing of normal atmosphere cleanup 
systems for controlling releases of airborne radioactive materials to 
the environment during normal operations, including anticipated 
operational occurrences. Issuance of this RG does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not 
otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this RG, the 
NRC has no current intention to impose this RG on holders of current 
operating licenses or combined licenses.
    This RG may be applied to applications for operating licenses, 
combined licenses, early site permits, and certified design rules 
docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory 
guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of 
the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such 
applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities 
protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions 
in part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of August, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-19559 Filed 8-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P