[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61043-61044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27661]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2017-0237]
Criteria for Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for 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), DG-1335, ``Criteria for
Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The DG-
1335 is proposed revision 5 of regulatory guide (RG) 1.97, (same
title), last revised in June 2006 (Revision 4). This guide describes an
approach that is acceptable to the staff of the NRC to meet regulatory
requirements for instrumentation to monitor accidents in nuclear power
plants. It endorses, with clarifications, the Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 497-2016, ``IEEE
Standard Criteria for Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear
Power Generating Stations.''
DATES: Submit comments by February 26, 2018. 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 Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0237. 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: May Ma, 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.
[[Page 61044]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pong Chung, telephone: 301-415-2363,
email: [email protected]; and Stephen Burton, telephone: 301-415-7000,
email: [email protected]. Both are staff members 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-2017-0237 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 Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0237.
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.
ML17083A134. The regulatory analysis for this DG is available in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML17083A133.
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-2017-0237 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
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 entering 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 ``Criteria for Accident Monitoring Instrumentation
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is proposed revision 5 to RG 1.97. The
proposed revised RG is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
1335. The DG provides a more technology-neutral approach and brings the
regulatory guide more in line with related international standards.
This revision introduces a new set of variables for parameters that may
be monitored when following severe accident management guidelines. The
NRC staff determined that RG 1.97 should be revised to endorse the 2016
version of IEEE Std. 497, with certain exceptions and clarifications,
and to make additional clarifying changes to support new reactor
license applications, design certifications, and applications for
license amendments.
Revising RG 1.97 to endorse the current version of the IEEE
consensus standard is in accordance with Section 12(a)(2) of Public Law
104-113, ``National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,''
(codified at 15 U.S.C. 272(b)(3)) and is consistent with the NRC policy
of evaluating the latest versions of national consensus standards to
determine their suitability for endorsement by regulatory guides. This
revision also will comply with the NRC's Management Directive (MD) 6.5,
``NRC Participation in the Development and Use of Consensus Standards''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16193A497).
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 website at
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/index.html.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Draft regulatory guide DG-1335, if finalized as revision 5 to RG
1.97, would endorse, with certain exceptions and clarifications, the
2016 revision of IEEE Std. 497, which contains a more technology-
neutral approach and brings current guidance more in line with related
international standards. This revision introduces a new set of
variables for parameters that may be monitored when following severe
accident management guidelines. Applicants and licensees may
voluntarily use the guidance in DG-1335, if finalized as revision 5 to
RG 1.97, to demonstrate compliance with the underlying NRC regulations.
Current licensees may continue to use guidance the NRC found previously
acceptable for complying with the identified regulations as long as
their current licensing basis remains unchanged. As such, this 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.''
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December 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. 2017-27661 Filed 12-22-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P