[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18089-18090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08601]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0068]
Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the
final Revision 2 to Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim Staff
Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-01, ``Compliance with Order EA-12-049,
Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation
Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events.'' This ISG provides
guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor licensees
with the identification of measures needed to comply with requirements
to mitigate challenges to key safety functions. These requirements are
contained in Order EA-12-049, ``Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to
Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External
Events.''
DATES: This guidance is effective on April 25, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0068 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-2012-0068. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual 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. Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01 is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML17005A188.
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.
NRC's Interim Staff Guidance Website: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/japan-lessons-learned.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Bowman, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-2963, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background Information
The original Final Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate
Interim Staff Guidance, JLD-ISG-2012-01 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML12229A174) dated August 29, 2012, was issued to describe to the
public methods acceptable to the NRC for complying with Order EA-12-049
issued March 12, 2012 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML12054A736). This
ISG endorsed the methodologies described in the industry guidance
document, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 12-06, ``Diverse and Flexible
Coping Strategies (FLEX) Implementation Guide,'' Revision 0, (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12242A378), submitted on August 21, 2012. Revision 1 to
JLD-ISG-2012-01 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15357A163) was issued on January
22, 2016, and endorsed NEI 12-06, Revision 2 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16005A625), issued in December 2015. The NRC staff is now issuing
Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01, which incorporates additional guidance
related to reevaluated seismic hazard information and some additional
changes based on lessons learned in the implementation of Order EA-12-
049. This revision endorses NEI 12-06, Revision 4 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16354B421), issued in December 2016.
The NRC issued Order EA-12-049 following evaluation of the Japan
earthquake and tsunami and resulting nuclear accident at the Fukushima
Dai-
[[Page 18090]]
ichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011. Order EA-12-049 requires all
licensees and construction permit holders to develop a three-phase
approach for mitigating beyond-design-basis external events. The
initial phase requires the use of installed equipment and resources to
maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and spent fuel pool
cooling. The transition phase requires providing sufficient, portable,
onsite equipment and consumables to maintain or restore these functions
until they can be accomplished with resources brought from off site.
The final phase requires obtaining sufficient offsite resources to
sustain those functions indefinitely. Order EA-12-049 also specified
that the NRC would issue final interim staff guidance in August 2012,
to provide additional details on an acceptable approach for complying
with Order EA-12-049.
The original version of this ISG, which endorsed the original NEI
12-06, was issued on August 29, 2012. Revision 1 to JLD-ISG-2012-01
incorporated acceptable alternative approaches to compliance proposed
by licensees, as well as the NRC's review strategy described in
COMSECY-14-0037, ``Integration of Mitigating Strategies for Beyond-
Design Basis External Events and the Reevaluation of Flooding Hazards''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML14238A616), which clarified the NRC's position
on the interdependency of the mitigating strategies responses and the
responses to the seismic and flooding reevaluations. The NRC has
further revised this ISG in Revision 2 in order to include additional
guidance regarding reevaluated seismic hazard information and changes
based on lessons learned related to mitigating strategies
implementation. This revised guidance will be publicly available and
used by members of the industry to help develop their responses to
Order EA-12-049, including impacts of the reevaluated seismic and
flooding information, and by the NRC in its reviews of licensee
strategies. On November 10, 2016 (81 FR 79056), the NRC requested
public comments on draft Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01. The NRC
received comments from seven stakeholders, which were considered in the
development of the final Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01. The questions,
comments, and NRC resolutions of those comments are contained in ``NRC
Responses to Public Comments: Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01, Compliance
with Order EA-12-049, `Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to
Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External
Events''' (ADAMS Accession No. ML17005A187).
II. Congressional Review Act
This ISG revision 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.
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
This ISG provides guidance on an acceptable method for implementing
the requirements contained in Order EA-12-049. Licensees may
voluntarily use the guidance in Revision 2 to JLD-ISG-2012-01 to
demonstrate compliance with Order EA-12-049. Methods or solutions that
differ from those described in this ISG may be deemed acceptable if
they provide sufficient basis and information for the NRC to verify
that the proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with Order EA-12-
049.
Issuance of this ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined in
section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Backfitting'' (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 April, 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anita L. Lund,
Director, Division of Licensing Projects, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2018-08601 Filed 4-24-18; 8:45 am]
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