[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 193 (Friday, October 6, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46717-46719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21544]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-115; NRC-2017-0132]


Fire Protection Compensatory Measures

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking dated May 1, 2017, from David Lochbaum with co-
petitioner Paul Gunter, on behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists 
and

[[Page 46718]]

Beyond Nuclear (the petitioners), requesting that the NRC ``promulgate 
regulations that establish acceptable conditions for use of 
compensatory measures (e.g., fire watches, surveillance cameras, etc.) 
during periods when fire protection regulations are not met.'' The 
petition was docketed by the NRC on May 26, 2017, and has been assigned 
Docket No. PRM-50-115. The NRC is examining the issues raised in PRM-
50-115 to determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. 
The NRC is requesting public comment on this petition.

DATES: Submit comments by December 20, 2017. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or 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-2017-0132. 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.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    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: Jessica Kratchman, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulations, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5112, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0132 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-2017-0132.
     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 
petition for rulemaking is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML17146A393.
     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-2017-0132 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. The Petitioner

    The petition was filed by David Lochbaum, on behalf of the Union of 
Concerned Scientists and Beyond Nuclear, with one co-petitioner, Paul 
Gunter of Beyond Nuclear.

III. The Petition

    On behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Beyond Nuclear, 
David Lochbaum with co-petitioner Paul Gunter request that the NRC 
amend its regulations to establish acceptable conditions for the use of 
compensatory measures (e.g., fire watches, surveillance cameras) during 
periods when fire protection regulations are not met.

IV. Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioners state that the NRC's ``fire protection regulations 
were primarily established with the issuance of Appendix R to 10 CFR 
part 50 in 1980 and the NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] 805 
alternative regulations adopted in 2004.'' The petitioners are 
referring to the final rule in 1980 that issued appendix R to part 50 
of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and revised 10 
CFR 50.48 (45 FR 76602; November 19, 1980). The 2004 final rule (69 FR 
33536; June 6, 2004) further revised 10 CFR 50.48 and added alternative 
fire protection regulations based on National Fire Protection 
Association Standard 805, ``Performance-Based Standard for Fire 
Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants.'' The 
petitioners include as ``Figure 1'' in their petition a timeline 
including compensatory measure guidance documents that the NRC has 
issued. The NRC guidance documents from Figure 1 in the petition 
include the following:
    (1) NRC Bulletin 1975-004, ``Cable Fire at Browns Ferry Nuclear 
Power Station,'' March 25, 1975 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070220189);
    (2) Nuclear Steam Supply System Vendor Standard Technical 
Specifications (NUREG-0103, ``Standard Technical Specifications for 
Babcock and Wilcox Pressurized Water Reactors,'' Revision 0, 1976 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17266A000), Revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17266A001); NUREG-0123, ``Standard Technical Specifications for 
General Electric Boiling Water Reactors,'' Revision 0, 1976 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML17266A007), Revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17266A008); NUREG-0212, ``Standard Technical Specifications for 
Combustion Engineering Pressurized Water Reactors,'' Revision 0, 1976 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17266A003), Revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17266A004); and NUREG-0452, ``Standard Technical Specifications for 
Westinghouse Pressurized Water

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Reactors,'' Revision 0, 1976 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17266A005), 
Revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17266A006));
    (3) Branch Technical Position Auxiliary Power Conversion Systems 
Branch 9.5-1, ``Guidelines for Fire Protection for Nuclear Power 
Plants,'' May 1, 1976 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070660461), Revision 1, 
May 13, 1979 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070660450); and Appendix A, 
``Guidelines for Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants Docketed 
Prior to July 1, 1976,'' August 23, 1976 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15322A269), and February 24, 1977 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070660458);
    (4) NUREG-0050, ``Recommendations Related to Browns Ferry Fire,'' 
February 1976 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070520452);
    (5) NRC Generic Letter 1980-100, ``Appendix R to 10 CFR Regarding 
Fire Protection--Federal Register Notice,'' November 24, 1980 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML070220242);
    (6) NRC Generic Letter 1981-012, ``Fire Protection Rule (45 FR 
76602, November 19, 1980),'' February 20, 1981 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML031080537);
    (7) NRC Generic Letter 1986-010, ``Implementation of Fire 
Protection Requirements,'' April 24, 1986 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML031150322);
    (8) NRC Generic Letter 1988-012, ``Removal of Fire Protection 
Requirements from Technical Specifications,'' August 2, 1988 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML031150471);
    (9) NRC Information Notice No. 1997-048, ``Inadequate or 
Inappropriate Interim Fire Protection Compensatory Measures,'' July 9, 
1997 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070180068);
    (10) NRC Bulletin 1992-01, ``Failure of Thermo-Lag 330 Fire Barrier 
System to Maintain Cabling in Wide Cable Trays and Small Conduits Free 
from Fire Damage,'' June 24, 1992 (ADAMS Accession No. ML031250239);
    (11) NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-007, ``Performance of Manual 
Actions to Satisfy the Requirements of 10 CFR part 50 Appendix R 
Section III.G.2.,'' April 19, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML042360547);
    (12) NRC Regulatory Guide 1.189, ``Fire Protection for Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' Revision 2, October 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML092580550);
    (13) NRC Regulatory Guide 1.205, ``Risk-Informed, Performance-Based 
Fire Protection for Existing Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants,'' 
Revision 0, May 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. ML061100174); Revision 1, 
December 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML092730314); and
    (14) NUREG/CR-7135, ``Compensatory and Alternative Regulatory 
Measures for Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection (CARMEN-FIRE),'' Final 
Report, August 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15226A446).
    The petitioners assert that these guidance documents associated 
with the current regulations are deficient for three reasons:
    (1) They are not regulations and, therefore, convey unenforceable 
expectations;
    (2) They create confusion for licensees, NRC inspectors and 
reviewers, and the public about what constitutes an acceptable 
substitute for compliance with fire protection regulations following 
identification of a deficiency, as well as the permissible durations of 
the substitutions; and
    (3) They were not developed through an open process, so the public 
did not have opportunities to weigh in on the acceptability of various 
compensatory measures.
    The petitioners assert that a proposed rulemaking would ensure that 
compensatory measures are used appropriately following a violation in 
fire protection regulations, and that the rulemaking process would 
provide the public the opportunity to weigh in on the appropriateness 
of the use of various compensatory measures before the requirements are 
adopted as final. The petitioners also assert that a final rule would 
clear up any current confusion caused by the guidance documents for the 
NRC's licensees and inspectors and would provide enforceable 
requirements for the NRC.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of October 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017-21544 Filed 10-5-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P