[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 122 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29437-29438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13570]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2018 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 29437]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Chapter 1

[NRC-2017-0154]


Clarification on Endorsement of Nuclear Energy Institute Guidance 
in Designing Digital Upgrades in Instrumentation and Control Systems

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory issue summary; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a 
Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) entitled, RIS 2002-22, Supplement 1, 
``Clarification on Endorsement of Nuclear Energy Institute Guidance in 
Designing Digital Upgrades in Instrumentation and Control Systems.'' 
This RIS supplement clarifies RIS 2002-22, which remains in effect. The 
NRC continues to endorse Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)-01-01, as 
stated in RIS 2002-22 and clarified RIS 2002-22, Supplement 1. This RIS 
supplement clarifies the guidance in RIS 2002-22 for preparing and 
documenting qualitative assessments that licensees can use to develop 
written evaluations to address the criteria in NRC's regulations for 
digital instrumentation and control (I&C) modifications. This 
clarification is intended to reduce regulatory uncertainty for 
licensees applying the process set in the NRC's regulations and making 
digital I&C modifications without prior NRC approval.

DATES: The RIS 2002-22, Supplement 1 is available as of June 25, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0154 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-2017-0154. 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. RIS 2002-22, Supplement 1 is available under ADAMS Accession 
No. ML18143B633.
     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.
     RIS 2002-22, Supplement 1 is also available on the NRC's 
public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/reg-issues/ (select ``2002'' and then select ``2002-22, Supplement 
1'').

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tekia Govan, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-6197, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplement 1 of RIS 2002-22, ``Clarification 
on Endorsement of Nuclear Energy Institute Guidance in Designing 
Digital Upgrades in Instrumentation and Control Systems'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML18143B633), is intended for (1) all holders of 
operating licenses under part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' and (2) all holders of a combined license under 10 CFR 
part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power 
Plants.''
    In 2002, the NRC staff issued RIS 2002-22 to notify addressees that 
the NRC staff had reviewed NEI-01-01 and was endorsing the report for 
use as guidance in designing and implementing digital upgrades to 
nuclear power plant instrumentation and control systems. Following the 
NRC staff's 2002 endorsement of NEI 01-01, holders of operating 
licenses have used this guidance in support of digital design 
modifications implemented without prior NRC approval in accordance with 
10 CFR 50.59. The NRC inspections of documentation for these activities 
uncovered inconsistencies in the performance and documentation of 
engineering evaluations and associated technical bases for 
determinations on the 10 CFR 50.59(c)(2) evaluation criteria. This RIS 
Supplement clarifies the RIS 2002-22 endorsement of the NEI 01-01 
guidance by providing additional guidance for developing and 
documenting ``qualitative assessments'' that are used to provide an 
adequate basis for a licensee's determination that a digital 
modification will exhibit a low likelihood of failure to support a 
conclusion when applying the evaluation criteria set in 10 CFR 50.59, 
that a license amendment is not needed.
    The NRC published a notice of opportunity for public comment on a 
previous draft of this RIS in the Federal Register on July 3, 2017 (82 
FR 30913). Subsequently, the NRC published a second notice of 
opportunity for public comment on the revised RIS on March 14, 2018 (83 
FR 11154). As noted in the March 14, 2018 Federal Register notice 
(FRN), ``[t]he NRC staff engaged in multiple communications with the 
public and stakeholders and continued internal discussions about the 
RIS. As a result of these efforts, the NRC has substantially rewritten 
the RIS. Due to the extensive nature of these revisions, and in light 
of this additional opportunity for comment, the NRC is not directly 
responding to each comment received in the previous comment period.''
    The NRC received comments from seven commenters as a result of the 
March 14, 2018 FRN. The NRC considered all comments, some of which 
resulted in changes to the RIS, and discussed the evaluation of these 
comments and the resulting changes to the RIS in a memorandum that is

[[Page 29438]]

publicly available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18115A298.
    As noted in 83 FR 20858 (May 8, 2018), this document is being 
published in the Rules section of the Federal Register to comply with 
publication requirements under 1 CFR chapter I.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of June 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tekia Govan,
Project Manager, ROP Support and Generic Communication Branch, Division 
of Inspection and Regional Support, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2018-13570 Filed 6-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P