[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54854-54855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19562]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0203]


Conduct of Operations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing final 
revisions to the following sections in Chapter 13, ``Conduct of 
Operations,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of 
Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition'': 
Section 13.1.1, ``Management and Technical Support Organization''; 
Section 13.1.2-13.1.3, ``Operating Organization''; Section 13.2.1, 
``Reactor Operator Requalification Program; Reactor Operator 
Training''; Section 13.2.2, ``Non-licensed Plant Staff Training''; and 
Section 13.5.1.1, ``Administrative Procedures--General.''

DATES: The effective date of this Standard Review Plan (SRP) update is 
September 16, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0203 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-2014-0203. 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 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.
     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 D. Notich, Office of New 
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-3053; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On September 24, 2014 (79 FR 57141), the NRC published for public 
comment the proposed revisions to Chapter 13 of the SRP. A summary of 
the comments and the NRC staff's disposition of the comments are 
available in a separate document, ``Public Comment Response Table SRP 
Section 13.1.1 through 13.5.1.1'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15008A024).
    The Office of New Reactors is revising these sections from their 
current versions. Details of specific changes in the proposed revisions 
are included at the end of each of the proposed sections.
    The changes to this SRP chapter reflect NRC staff's current review 
methods and practices based on lessons learned from the NRC's reviews 
of design certification and combined license applications completed 
since the last revision of this chapter.

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of these revised SRP sections does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in Sec.  50.109 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' (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 would not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as 
the SRP is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with respect to 
their regulatory responsibilities.
    The SRP provides guidance to the NRC staff on how to review an 
application for NRC's 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 staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions 
described in the SRP to existing (already issued) licenses and 
regulatory approvals. Therefore, the issuance of a final SRP--even if 
considered guidance that is within the purview of the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a 
backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in 
the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders 
of already issued licenses in a manner which 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. This is because neither the Backfit 
Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with 
certain exclusions discussed in the next paragraph--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 staff does not, at 
this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the 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 SRP in a manner 
that does not provide issue finality as

[[Page 54855]]

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. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons.

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                      SRP Section                         Current version     Final revision   Redline strikeout
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13.1.1.................................................        ML13311B662        ML15005A449        ML16078A165
13.1.2-13.1.3..........................................        ML13311B719        ML15007A296        ML16081A063
13.2.1.................................................        ML13311B565        ML15006A035        ML16081A014
13.2.2.................................................        ML14030A091        ML15006A129        ML16081A022
13.5.1.1...............................................        ML13115A067        ML15006A205        ML16078A352
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IV. 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 11th day of August, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Infrastructure, and Advanced Reactors, Office of New 
Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2016-19562 Filed 8-16-16; 8:45 am]
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