[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62935-62937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21956]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0192]


Service Level I, II, III, and In-Scope License Renewal Protective 
Coatings Applied to Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG)-1331, ``Service Level I, II, 
III, and In-Scope License Renewal Protective Coatings Applied to 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' This DG is proposed Revision 3 of Regulatory 
Guide (RG) 1.54, ``Service Level I, II, and III Protective Coatings 
Applied to Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC proposes to revise the guide 
to update the latest American Society for Standards and Testing (ASTM) 
International standards approved for use in the prior revision of this 
guide. In addition, the NRC proposes to expand the scope of the 
regulatory guide to address aging management of internal coatings and 
linings on components within the scope of the NRC's license renewal 
regulations.

DATES: Submit comments by November 14, 2016. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or

[[Page 62936]]

improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0192. 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.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, 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: Matthew G. Yoder, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-4017, email: 
[email protected]; and Mark Orr, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-6003, email: [email protected]. Both are 
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0192 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding 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-2016-0192.
     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 
DG is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16097A448. The 
regulatory analysis for this DG is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML16070A091.
     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-2016-0192 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 enters 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Service Level I, II, III, and In-Scope License 
Renewal Protective Coatings Applied to Nuclear Power Plants,'' is 
proposed Revision 3 of RG 1.54, ``Service Level I, II, and III 
Protective Coatings Applied to Nuclear Power Plants.'' The DG is 
temporarily identified by its task number,DG-1331. This revision 
(Revision 3) of RG 1.54 approves, with certain clarifications and 
exceptions, the use of ASTM International Standard D 5144-
08[egr]\1\, ``Standard Guide for Use of Protective Coating 
Standards in Nuclear Power Plants,'' \1\ and multiple sub-tier ASTM 
International standards as identified in the RG. In addition, the NRC 
proposes to expand the scope of the RG to address aging management of 
internal coatings and linings on components within the scope of license 
renewal under part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The ``[egr]\1\'' symbol at the end of ASTM 
International Standard D 5144-08[egr]\1\ is used by ASTM 
to identify an ASTM International standard that was revised to 
correct an editorial error. The copyright date of the edited 
standard is April 2016 which differs from the original 2008 
publication date of the standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Draft regulatory guide-1331 is proposed Revision 3 of RG 1.54. It 
proposes to approve, with certain clarifications and exceptions, the 
use of ASTM International Standard D 5144-08[egr]\1\, 
``Standard Guide for Use of Protective Coating Standards in Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' and multiple sub-tier ASTM International standards as 
identified in Figure 1 of DG-1331 and described below. The ASTM 
International Standard D 5144-08[egr]\1\ was issued to 
provide a common basis on which protective coatings for the surfaces of 
nuclear power generating facilities may be qualified and selected 
through reproducible evaluation tests. This revision also expands the 
scope to include internal coatings and linings on components within the 
scope of license renewal. Copies of the ASTM International standards 
identified in DG-1331 are available for purchase from ASTM 
International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, 
Pennsylvania 19428-2959; telephone: 610-832-9585. Purchase information 
is also available through the ASTM Web site at http://www.astm.org.
    In addition, the NRC made some clarifications and format changes 
that did not change the intent of the guidance.
    If DG-1331 is finalized, it may be applied to current 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 RG, as well as future applications submitted after the 
issuance of the RG. Such action would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) or be otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52. Neither the 
Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52, 
with certain exclusions discussed below, were intended to apply to 
every NRC action that substantially changes the expectations of current 
and future applicants.
    The exceptions to this general principle are applicable whenever a 
combined license applicant references a

[[Page 62937]]

10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit) or NRC regulatory 
approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with specified issue 
finality provisions. The NRC does not, at this time, intend to impose 
the positions represented in Revision 3 of RG 1.54 on combined license 
applicants in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality 
provisions. If, in the future, the NRC seeks to impose a position in 
Revision 3 of RG 1.54 in a manner that does not provide issue finality 
as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the NRC 
must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in 
the applicable issue finality provision.
    Proposed Revision 3 of RG 1.54 updates the ASTM International 
standards the NRC staff has approved for use when qualifying and 
testing protective coatings and linings used in nuclear power plants.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of September, 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. 2016-21956 Filed 9-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P