[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 94275-94276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30921]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2016 /
Proposed Rules
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[NRC-2016-0270]
Guidance for Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and
Experiments'
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1334, ``Guidance for
Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' ''
This draft regulatory guide provides licensees and applicants with a
method that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in
complying with the Commission's regulations on the process by which
licensees may make changes to their facilities and procedures, as
described in the safety analysis report, without prior NRC approval,
under certain conditions.
DATES: Submit comments by February 21, 2017. 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 improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specified subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0270. 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 accessing information and
submitting comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting
Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Harris, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2277; 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-2016-0270 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may
obtain publically-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-2016-0270.
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
draft regulatory guide is electronically available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML16089A381. The regulatory analysis for DG-1334 is
available in ADAMS under Accession number ML16089A379.
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-2016-0270 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 draft regulatory guide (DG-
1334) 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 draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Guidance for Implementation
of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' '' is a proposed
revision temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1334. DG-1334 is
proposed revision 1 of RG 1.187, ``Guidance for Implementation of 10
CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' '' The draft regulatory
guide provides licensees and applicants with a method that the NRC
staff considers acceptable for use in complying with the Commission's
regulations on the process by which licensees may make changes to their
facilities and procedures as described in
[[Page 94276]]
the safety analysis report, without prior NRC approval, under certain
conditions. The NRC has also prepared a regulatory analysis (ADAMS
Accession number ML16089A379) in support of DG-1334.
This draft regulatory guide clarifies potentially unclear
statements in Section 4.3.8 of Nuclear Energy Institute document 96-07,
Revision 1, ``Guidelines for 10 CFR 50.59 Implementation,'' (ADAMS
Accession number ML003771157) which was endorsed in RG 1.187, Rev 0,
(ADAMS Accession number ML003759710) as acceptable guidance for how to
comply with NRC regulations in section 50.59 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Because of the potentially unclear
statements in Section 4.3.8 of NEI 96-07, licensees may misinterpret
the definition governing the ``. . . departure from a method of
evaluation . . .'' described in the plant's final safety analysis
report (as updated).
The draft regulatory guide also adds clarification to statements in
Section 4.3.5 of NEI 96-07, Revision 1, whereby licensees may
misinterpret the last sentence in the second paragraph in Section 4.3.5
if considered in isolation of the statements earlier discussed in the
paragraph.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Draft regulatory guide DG-1334, if finalized as Regulatory Guide
1.187, Revision 1, would provide guidance on acceptable ways of
determining whether licensees may make changes to their facilities and
procedures as described in the safety analysis report, without prior
NRC approval, under the change process established in 10 CFR 50.59. The
draft regulatory guide, if finalized, would 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,
``Licenses, Certifications and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
The subject of this draft regulatory guide, as described above, is an
NRC-defined process which does not fall within the purview of subjects
covered by either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provision in
10 CFR part 52. Issuance of the draft regulatory guide, in final form,
would not constitute backfitting, and no further consideration of
backfitting is required in order to issue the draft or final regulatory
guide in final form.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December, 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. 2016-30921 Filed 12-22-16; 8:45 am]
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