[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 804-805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00374]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2018-0056]
Digital Instrumentation and Controls--Interim Staff Guidance-06,
Revision 2, ``Licensing Process''
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) Digital Instrumentation and Controls
(DI&C)--ISG-06, Revision 2, ``Licensing Process.'' This ISG defines the
licensing process used to support the review of license amendment
requests (LARs) associated with safety-related D&IC equipment
modifications in operating plants and in new plants once they become
operational. This ISG provides guidance for activities performed before
a LAR is submitted and for activities performed during LAR review. The
NRC staff uses the process described in this ISG to evaluate compliance
with NRC regulations.
DATES: This guidance is available on January 31, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0056 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-2018-0056. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Krupskaya Castellon;
telephone: 301-287-9221; 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 ``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 Digital Instrumentation and
Controls-Interim Staff Guidance-06, Rev. 2, is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML18269A259.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Golla, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1002, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The NRC published a notice of the availability of ISG-06, Rev. 2,
in the Federal Register (83 FR 38731) on August 7, 2018, for a 30-day
public comment period. The public comment period closed on September 6,
2018. Public comments on ISG-06, Rev. 2, and the staff responses to the
public comments are available under ADAMS Accession No. ML18290A623.
This ISG provides guidance for the NRC staff's review of LARs
supporting installation of Digital I&C equipment in accordance with
licensing processes defined in the NRC's office instruction LIC-101,
``License Amendment Review Procedures.'' This ISG identifies
information the NRC staff should review for Digital I&C equipment. This
ISG provides guidance on when that information should be reviewed.
This ISG is designed to be used with the NRC's topical report
review and approval process defined in the NRC's Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation office instruction LIC-500, ``Topical Report
Process.'' Where a licensee references an NRC-approved topical report,
the NRC staff should be able to, where appropriate, limit its review to
assessing whether the application of the Digital I&C modification falls
within the envelope of the topical report approval. This ISG was
developed based upon, and is designed to work in concert with,
established guidance. As a result, this ISG references other guidance
documents for review criteria.
[[Page 805]]
The NRC staff performs evaluations of proposed Digital I&C
equipment to ensure equipment will perform required functions. These
evaluations use the guidance in the Standard Review Plan, Chapter 7,
and other associated guidance. When a licensee seeks to amend its
license, the application for amendment must fully describe the changes
desired. The application should describe the safety functions of
identified in the Final Safety Analysis Report, as updated, and the
Digital I&C equipment that performs each function. Additionally,
licensees identify those parts of the licensing basis being updated as
a result of the proposed change.
The Standard Review Plan, Appendix 7.0-A, and Branch Technical
Position 7-14, guide the NRC staff in performing reviews of digital
systems in support of safety evaluations. For reviews using the
Alternate Process as defined in the ISG, the ISG provides additional
guidance for performing early stage reviews of digital safety-related
systems in support of safety evaluations. The NRC staff may review the
system design and development process to support a determination that
the design meets regulatory requirements and that in safety-related
applications in nuclear power plants, the process is of sufficiently
high quality to produce systems and software suitable for use. The NRC
staff review processes include activities for evaluating documentation
of plans and processes that are used to support system development
activities and their outcomes.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
The NRC is issuing a revision to interim guidance for the NRC staff
regarding its review of requests from nuclear power plant licensees for
license amendments involving installation of Digital I&C equipment.
Issuance of the revised ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined
in title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) section 50.109
(the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The NRC's position is based upon
the following considerations.
1. The ISG positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the
ISG is guidance directed to the NRC staff with respect to its
regulatory responsibilities.
The ISG provides interim guidance to the staff on how to review
certain requests for license amendments. Changes in guidance intended
for use by only the staff are not matters that constitute backfitting
as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or involve the issue finality
provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
2. Backfitting and issue finality--with certain exceptions
discussed in this section--do not apply to current or future
applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, the subject of either the Backfit Rule or any issue
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the
Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52 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
10 CFR part 50 operating license applicant references a construction
permit or a 10 CFR part 52 combined license applicant references a
license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or an NRC regulatory approval
(e.g., a design certification rule) for which specified issue finality
provisions apply.
The NRC staff does not currently intend to impose the positions
represented in this final SRP section in a manner that constitutes
backfitting or is inconsistent with any issue finality provision of 10
CFR part 52. If in the future the NRC staff seeks to impose positions
stated in this SRP section in a manner that would constitute
backfitting or be inconsistent with these issue finality provisions,
the NRC staff must make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or
address the regulatory criteria set forth in the applicable issue
finality provision, as applicable, that would allow the staff to impose
the position.
3. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the ISG positions on
existing nuclear power plant licensees either now or in the future
(absent a voluntary request for a change from the licensee).
The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the ISG to existing (already issued) licenses (e.g.,
operating licenses and combined licenses). Hence, the issuance of this
ISG--even if considered guidance subject to the Backit Rule or the
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52--would not need to be
evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue
finality provisions. If, in the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a
position in the ISG on holders of already issued licenses in a manner
that would constitute backfitting or does not provide issue finality as
described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff
must make a showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or address the
criteria set forth in the applicable issue finality provision, as
applicable, that would allow the staff to impose the position.
III. Congressional Review Act
This Interim Staff Guidance document 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of January 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Benner,
Director, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2019-00374 Filed 1-30-19; 8:45 am]
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