[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30913-30914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13918]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0154]


Clarification on Endorsement of Nuclear Energy Institute Guidance 
in Designing Digital Upgrades in Instrumentation and Control Systems

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment and public 
meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public 
comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) to supplement the 
staff's endorsement of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)/
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Joint Task Force report entitled, 
``Guideline on Licensing Digital Upgrades: EPRI TR-102348, Revision 1, 
NEI 01-01: A Revision of EPRI TR-102348 To Reflect Changes to the 10 
CFR 50.59 Rule,'' (hereinafter referred to as NEI 01-01.) in RIS 2002-
22.

DATES: Submit comments by August 2, 2017. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

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-2017-0154. 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-8 D 36M, 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: Brian Harris, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation (NRR), telephone: 301-415-2277, email: 
[email protected] or Jason Drake, NRR, telephone: 301-415-8378, 
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-2017-0154 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for 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-2017-0154.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

[[Page 30914]]

(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 RIS, ``NRC Draft Regulatory Issue Summary 2017-XX Supplement to 
RIS 2002-22,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17102B507.
     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-2017-0154 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 will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 into ADAMS.

II. Background

    The RIS is intended for all holders of and applicants for power 
reactor operating licenses or construction permits under part 50 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' except those who 
have permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has 
been permanently removed from the reactor vessel and all holders of, 
and applicants for, a power reactor combined license, standard design 
approval, or manufacturing license, and all applicants for a standard 
design certification, under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, 
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
    This RIS is intended to clarify the endorsed NEI 01-01 guidance 
regarding licensee upgrades to digital instrumentation and control 
systems. Specifically, this RIS clarifies the guidance in NEI 01-01 
pertaining to the performance and documentation of adequate technical 
evaluations and adequately documented qualitative assessments to meet 
the requirements of 10 CFR 50.59 ``Changes, tests and experiments.'' 
The attachment to this RIS provides a framework for preparing and 
documenting qualitative assessments considered acceptable to serve as a 
technical basis supporting the responses to key 10 CFR 50.59(c)(2) 
evaluations.
    The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad 
range of matters. This may include communicating and clarifying NRC 
technical or policy positions on regulatory matters that have not been 
communicated to or are not broadly understood by the nuclear industry.

Proposed Action

    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. The NRC 
plans to hold a public meeting to discuss this RIS and the issues 
associated with clarification of the applicability of the endorsed NEI 
01-01 guidance. All comments that are to receive consideration in the 
final RIS must still be submitted electronically or in writing as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this document. Additional details 
regarding the meeting will be posted at least 10 days prior to the 
public meeting on the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. The NRC staff 
will make a final determination regarding issuance of the RIS after it 
considers any public comments received in response to this request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of June 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Alexander D. Garmoe,
Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and 
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-13918 Filed 6-30-17; 8:45 am]
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