[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24996-24997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11223]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2017-0130]
Qualification of Safety-Related Vented Lead-Acid Storage
Batteries for Nuclear Power Plants
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-1338, ``Qualification of
Safety-Related Vented Lead-Acid Storage Batteries for Nuclear Power
Plants.'' DG-1338 is proposed revision 1 of regulatory guide (RG)
1.158, ``Qualification of Safety-Related Lead Storage Batteries for
Nuclear Power Plants'' dated February 1989. DG-1338 endorses (with
clarifying regulatory positions) the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 535-2013, ``IEEE Standard
for Qualification of Class 1E Vented Lead Acid Storage Batteries for
Nuclear Power Generating Stations.'' IEEE 535-2013 contains procedures
for qualifying batteries with duty cycles of less than 8 hours and
batteries with duty cycles longer than 8 hours.
DATES: Submit comments by July 31, 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:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID: NRC-2017-0130. 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: TWFN-08C22, 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: Lilliana Ramadan, telephone: 301-415-
2463, email: [email protected], or Mark Orr, telephone: 301-415-
6003, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, 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-2017-0130 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-2017-0130.
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 electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML16337A005. The regulatory analysis for this DG is available in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML16340A112.
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-2017-0130 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 ``Qualification of Safety-Related Vented Lead-Acid
Storage Batteries for Nuclear Power
[[Page 24997]]
Plants,'' is proposed revision 1 to RG 1.158. The proposed revised RG
is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1338. The proposed
revised RG provides more current guidance on the methods and type-test
procedures for two different battery applications. One application is
for batteries with duty cycles equal to or less than 8 hours and the
other application is for batteries with duty cycles longer than 8
hours. The 2013 revision of IEEE Std. 535 provides a qualification
process for both applications to ensure battery performance and
provides a normative annex with example testing regimens. The NRC staff
determined that RG 1.158 should be revised to endorse the 2013 version
of IEEE Std. 535 to support new reactor license applications, design
certifications, and applications for license amendments.
Copies of IEEE documents may be purchased from the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, PO
Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855 or through the IEEE's public Web site at
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/index.html.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Draft regulatory guide DG-1338, if finalized as revision 1 to RG
1.158, would endorse, with certain clarifications, the 2013 revision of
IEEE Std. 535 which refines the methods and type-test procedures for
two different battery applications. One application is for batteries
with duty cycles equal to or less than 8 hours and the other
application is for batteries with duty cycles longer than 8 hours. The
2013 revision of IEEE Std. 535 demonstrates and outlines the qualifying
process for both applications to ensure battery performance. It also
provides a comprehensive document for qualifying batteries with
additional normative annexes. 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 25th day of May 2017.
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. 2017-11223 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
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