[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26110-26111]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11995]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0244]


Guidelines for Evaluating the Effects of Light-Water Reactor 
Water Environments in Fatigue Analyses of Metal Components

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.207, ``Guidelines for Evaluating 
the Effects of Light-Water Reactor Water Environments in Fatigue 
Analyses of Metal Components.'' This RG describes methods and 
procedures that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in 
determining the acceptable fatigue lives of components evaluated by a 
cumulative usage factor calculation in accordance with the fatigue 
design provisions in Section III, ``Rules for Construction of Nuclear 
Power Plant Components,'' of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code to account for the effects of 
light-water reactor water environments.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.207 is available on June 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0244 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-2014-0244. 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]. RG 
1.207, ``Guidelines for Evaluating the Effects of Light-Water Reactor 
Water Environments in Fatigue Analyses of Metal Components,'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16315A130.
     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.
    RGs are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to 
reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Tregoning, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-2324, email: 
[email protected] and Stephen Burton, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-7000, [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 revision to an existing 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, 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 1 of RG 1.207 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1309. This RG describes methods and 
procedures that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in 
determining the acceptable fatigue lives of components evaluated by a 
cumulative usage factor calculation in accordance with the fatigue 
design provisions in Section III, ``Rules for Construction of Nuclear 
Power Plant Components,'' of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers' Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code to account for the effects 
of light-water reactor water environments.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1309 in the 
Federal Register on November 24, 2014 (79 FR 69884), for a 60-day 
public comment period. The public comment period closed on January 24, 
2015. Public comments on DG-1309 and the NRC staff's responses to the 
public comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16315A127.

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 describes methods and procedures that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable for use in applications for license renewal and 
subsequent license renewal in determining the acceptable fatigue lives 
of components evaluated by a cumulative usage factor calculation in 
accordance with the fatigue design provisions in Section III, ``Rules 
for Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components,'' of the ASME Code. 
This RG also supports reviews of applications for new nuclear reactor 
construction permits or operating licenses under part 50 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), design certifications under 
10 CFR part 52, and combined licenses under 10 CFR part 52, which do 
not cite a standard design, in addition to renewed operating licenses 
under 10 CFR part 54. This RG may also be used by existing holders of 
combined licenses and operating licenses in accordance with their 
existing licensing basis and applicable regulatory requirements.
    This RG does 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. Applicants and potential 
applicants are not, with certain exceptions, protected by either the 
Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. 
Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR 
part 52, with certain exclusions discussed below, were intended to 
apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the expectations 
of current and future applicants.
    The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever a 
combined license applicant references a part 52 license (i.e., an early 
site permit or a manufacturing license) and/or part 52 regulatory 
approval (i.e., a design certification rule or design approval). The 
NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the RG in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue 
finality

[[Page 26111]]

provisions in these part 52 licenses and regulatory approvals. If, in 
the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in this RG in a 
manner that does not provide issue finality as described in the 
applicable issue finality provision, then the NRC staff must address 
the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable 
issue finality provision.
    Existing licensees and applicants of final design certification 
rules will not be required to comply with the positions set forth in 
this RG unless the licensee or design certification rule applicant 
seeks a voluntary change to its licensing basis with respect to the 
effects of light-water reactor coolant environments on the fatigue 
lives of nuclear power plant components by means of a cumulative usage 
factor, and where the NRC determines that the safety review of the 
licensee's request must include consideration of the effects of light-
water reactor coolant environments on the fatigue lives of nuclear 
power plant components. Further information on the staff's use of the 
RG is contained in the RG under Section D, ``Implementation.''

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of May 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. 2018-11995 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P