[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 129 (Thursday, July 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31429-31430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14379]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2018-0137]


Dispositioning of Technical Specifications That Are Insufficient 
To Ensure Plant Safety

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1351, ``Dispositioning 
of Technical Specifications that are Insufficient to Ensure Plant 
Safety.'' This DG proposes new guidance that describes methods and 
procedures that are acceptable to the (NRC) staff for dispositioning of 
technical specifications (TS) that are insufficient to ensure power 
plant safety.

DATES: Submit comments by September 4, 2018. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0137. 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.
     Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail 
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blake Purnell, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation; telephone: 301-415-1380, email: 
[email protected] or 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. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0137 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0137.
     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]. DG-
1351, ``Dispositioning of Technical Specifications that are 
Insufficient to Ensure Plant Safety,'' is available in ADAMS under 
Accession ML18086A690.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0137 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

[[Page 31430]]

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Dispositioning of Technical Specifications that 
are Insufficient to Ensure Plant Safety,'' is a proposed new guide 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1351. DG-1351 proposes 
new guidance that describes methods and procedures that are acceptable 
to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff for 
dispositioning of technical specifications (TS) that are insufficient 
to ensure power plant safety.
    This DG proposes guidance to licensees for compliance with the TS 
requirements in section 50.36 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), the reporting requirements in 10 CFR 50.72 and 
50.73, and the quality assurance requirements in Criterion XVI of 10 
CFR part 50, appendix B. This DG proposes to endorse NEI 15-03, 
Revision 2, with exceptions and clarifications.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    If finalized, this DG would endorse, with certain clarifications, 
NEI 15-03, Revision 2, which describes methods and procedures for 
dispositioning of TS that are insufficient to ensure power plant 
safety. Issuance of this DG, if finalized, 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 DG, 
the NRC has no current intention to impose this guidance on holders of 
current operating licenses or combined licenses.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of June 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ruth Reyes-Maldonado,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2018-14379 Filed 7-3-18; 8:45 am]
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