[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 68 (Monday, April 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15179-15180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07118]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0171]


Evaluating Deviations and Reporting Defects and Noncompliance

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 0 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.234, ``Evaluating Deviations and 
Reporting Defects and Noncompliance Under 10 CFR Part 21.'' This RG 
describes methods that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) considers acceptable for complying with the provisions 
of the regulations.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 1.234 is available on April 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0171 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-2017-0171. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Prescott, Office of New Reactors, 
telephone: 301-415-3026, email: [email protected] and Stephen 
Burton, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-7000, 
email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a new guide 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 agency's regulations,

[[Page 15180]]

techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating specific issues or 
postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs in its review of 
applications for permits and licenses.
    Revision 0 of RG 1.234 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1291. This RG describes methods that the 
NRC staff considers acceptable for complying with the provisions of 
part 21 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1291 in the 
Federal Register on August 4, 2017 (Volume 82 FR page 36457) for a 60-
day public comment period. The public comment period closed on October 
3, 2017. Public comments on DG-1291 and the staff responses to the 
public comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML17338A074.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This RG approves a method for evaluating and reporting defects 
under 10 CFR part 21. Issuance of this RG would not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and would 
not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 
CFR part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this RG, 
the NRC has no current intention to impose this guide, if finalized, on 
holders of current operating licenses or combined licenses.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of April, 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. 2018-07118 Filed 4-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P