[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6243-6244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02870]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2018-0024]
Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; revision.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.189, ``Fire Protection for
Nuclear Power Plants.'' Revision 3 of RG 1.189 includes administrative
changes involving editorial corrections that make the document
consistent with existing policy. None of the revisions involve changes
to the staff regulatory positions. This guide describes a method that
the NRC staff considers acceptable to meet regulatory requirements for
fire protection in nuclear power plants.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0024 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0024. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
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
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this
document. RG 1.189 is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML17340A875.
[[Page 6244]]
NRC's Public Document Room: You may examine and purchase
copies of public documents at the NRC's Public Document Room O1-F21,
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required
to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Frumkin, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulations, telephone: 301-415-2280, email:
[email protected]; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1067, email:
[email protected]. Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC
``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides were developed to
describe and make available to the public information methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
The NRC is issuing Revision 3 of RG 1.189 directly as a final RG,
because the changes between Revision 2 and Revision 3 are
administrative and non-substantive. Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also updated
the guide to the current program guidance for RGs. The NRC added
language to Section 1, ``Fire Protection Program,'' to clarify the
primary objectives of fire protection plans.
Since the issuance of Revision 2 of RG 1.189 in 2009, the NRC
issued a Regulatory Issuance Summary to inform licensees that
Inspection Manual Part 9900, Technical Guidance (TG 9900),
``Operability Determinations & Functionality Assessments for Resolution
of Degraded and Nonconforming Conditions Adverse to Quality and
Safety,'' was reissued as Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0326,
``Operability Determinations and Functionality Assessments for
Conditions to Quality or Safety,'' dated January 31, 2014. Revision 3
of RG 1.189 now includes a reference to IMC 0326 (see Section 1.5,
``Compensatory Measures'').
Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also corrects typographic errors that
previously appeared in Section 1.7.7, ``Nonconforming Items,'' Section
1.7.4, ``Inspection,'' Section 2.1.1, ``Transient Fire Hazards,''
Section 3.2.1, ``Fire Protection Water Supply,'' and Section 3.2.3,
``Fire Mains.'' Previously, these errors occurred during publishing of
the final regulatory guide, when several paragraphs were incorrectly
indented, resulting in incorrect sub-bullet numbering. These changes
are intended to improve clarity and do not substantially alter the
staff's regulatory guidance.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final RG does not constitute backfitting as
defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), (the Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The
changes in Revision 3 of RG 1.189 are limited to editorial changes to
improve clarity and correct errors. These changes do not fall within
the kinds of agency actions that constitute backfitting or are subject
to limitations in the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
Accordingly, the NRC did not address the Backfit Rule or issue finality
provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
III. Congressional Review Act
Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.189 is not a rule as defined in
the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808).
IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides
Revision 3 of RG 1.189 is being issued without public comment.
However, a member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to
the NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new
RGs to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's
public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates
and enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of February 2018.
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. 2018-02870 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
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