[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 3, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12876-12877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06418]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[NRC-2017-0151]
RIN 3150-AK07
Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory basis; availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing a
regulatory basis to support a rulemaking that would amend the NRC's
regulations for the light-water power reactor vessel material
surveillance programs. The rulemaking would reduce the regulatory
burden associated with the testing of specimens contained within
surveillance capsules, and reporting the surveillance test results. The
NRC has completed a regulatory basis that demonstrates there is
sufficient justification to proceed with rulemaking. The NRC is
providing the basis for rulemaking for public information, but is not
seeking public comment on the regulatory basis at this time.
DATES: The regulatory basis is available April 3, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0151 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-2017-0151. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 regulatory basis is available in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML18057A005.
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: Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4123, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Appendix H, ``Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance Program
Requirements'' (appendix H), to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' requires light-water nuclear power reactor
licensees to have a reactor vessel (RV) material surveillance program
to monitor changes in the fracture toughness properties of the RV
materials adjacent to the reactor core. Unless it can be shown that the
end of design life neutron fluence is below certain criteria, the NRC
requires licensees to implement an RV materials surveillance program
that tests irradiated material specimens that are located in
surveillance capsules in the RVs. The program evaluates changes in
material fracture toughness and thereby assesses the integrity of the
RV. For each capsule withdrawal, the test procedures and reporting
requirements must meet the requirements of American Society for Testing
and Materials International (ASTM) E 185-82, ``Standard Recommended
Practice for Conducting Surveillance Tests for Light-Water Cooled
Reactor Vessels,'' to the extent practicable for the configuration of
the specimens in the capsule. The design of the surveillance program
and the withdrawal schedule must meet the requirements of the edition
of ASTM E 185 that is current on the issue date of the ASME Code to
which the RV was purchased. Later editions of ASTM E 185, up to and
including those editions through 1982, may be used. In sum, the
surveillance program must comply with ASTM E 185, as modified by
appendix H to 10 CFR part 50. The number, design, and location of these
surveillance capsules within the RV are established during the design
of the program, before initial plant operation.
Appendix H to 10 CFR part 50 also specifies that each capsule
withdrawal and the test results must be the subject of a summary
technical report to be submitted within 1 year of the date of capsule
withdrawal, unless an extension is granted by the Director, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The NRC uses the results from the
surveillance program to assess licensee submittals related to pressure-
temperature limits in accordance with appendix G, ``Fracture Toughness
Requirements,'' to 10 CFR part 50 and to assess pressurized water
reactor licensee's compliance with Sec. 50.61, ``Fracture toughness
requirements for protection against pressurized thermal shock events,''
or Sec. 50.61a, ``Alternate fracture toughness requirements for
protection against pressurized thermal shock events.''
In 2001, the NRC began a rulemaking to revise appendix G to 10 CFR
part 50 (RIN 3150-AG98; NRC-2008-0582) to eliminate the pressure-
temperature limits related to the metal temperature of the RV closure
head flange and vessel flange areas. The NRC expanded the rulemaking
scope in 2008 to include revisions to appendix H to 10 CFR part 50,
because the fracture toughness analysis required by appendix G to 10
CFR part 50 relies on data obtained from the RV material surveillance
program established under appendix H to 10 CFR part 50.
In COMSECY-14-0027, ``Rulemaking to Revise Title 10, Code of
Federal Regulations, Part 50, Appendix H, `Reactor Vessel Material
Surveillance Program Requirements,' '' issued on
[[Page 12877]]
June 25, 2014 (not publicly available), the NRC staff requested
Commission approval to separate the rulemaking activities to revise
appendices G and H to 10 CFR part 50, and to proceed immediately with
rulemaking for appendix H to 10 CFR part 50.
In staff requirements memorandum (SRM) to COMSECY-14-0027, dated
August 8, 2014 (not publicly available), the Commission approved the
staff's recommendation to proceed with a separate rulemaking for
appendix H to 10 CFR part 50. The SRM to COMSECY-14-0027 directed the
NRC staff to begin the appendix H to 10 CFR part 50 rulemaking
independent of the completion date or conclusions of the appendix G to
10 CFR part 50 technical basis development activities.
II. Discussion
The NRC has prepared a regulatory basis to support a rulemaking
that would amend the NRC's testing and reporting requirements in
appendix H to 10 CFR part 50. In the regulatory basis, the NRC
concluded that it has sufficient justification to proceed with
rulemaking to amend appendix H to 10 CFR part 50.
Testing Requirements. Appendix H to 10 CFR part 50 requires RV
surveillance programs to include Charpy impact specimens from welds,
base metal, and the weld heat-affected zone materials and tensile
specimens from welds and base metal materials. The NRC is proposing to
conduct a rulemaking to reduce the testing of some specimens and
eliminate the testing of other specimens that do not provide meaningful
information to assess RV integrity. This decision is based on
substantial material data, knowledge, and experience attained through
the many years of RV surveillance program implementation. Specifically,
the requirements to test weld heat-affected zone specimens and examine
thermal monitors would be eliminated. Also, the NRC is proposing to
reduce the number of tensile specimens that require testing and specify
that testing correlation monitor material is optional. The proposed
changes would reduce the burden to licensees for specimen testing,
without having an adverse effect on public health and safety and the
environment.
Reporting Requirements. Appendix H to 10 CFR part 50 requires
licensees to submit test results to the NRC no later than 1 year after
capsule withdrawal. As stated in the 1983 rulemaking (48 FR 24008; May
27, 1983), the primary purposes of the requirement are timely reporting
of test results and notification of any problems. At the time of the
1983 rulemaking there was a limited amount of data from irradiated
materials from which to estimate embrittlement trends of RVs at nuclear
power plants; thus, making it crucial for the timely reporting of test
results. An extensive amount of embrittlement data now exists, and
embrittlement mechanisms are well-understood. The 1-year reporting
requirement has become a hardship for some licensees because of the
implementation of integrated surveillance programs (which require
significant coordination among multiple licensees and hot-cell
laboratories) and because capsules with higher neutron fluence levels
may need longer periods of radioactive decay before capsule shipping
and testing can be performed. As a result, licensees have been
requesting an additional 6 months to submit reports. To reduce the
burden on licensees to prepare these extension requests and for the NRC
to review and approve these requests, the NRC is proposing rulemaking
to increase the reporting period from 1 year to 18 months. This change
would not have an adverse effect on public health and safety and the
environment.
Rulemaking Process. The NRC has evaluated the planned amendments to
appendix H to 10 CFR part 50 and has determined that, if implemented,
there would not be an adverse effect on public health and safety. In
addition, the NRC has analyzed the costs to conduct this rulemaking and
has determined that the most efficient approach is to use the direct
final rule process. This abbreviated process would minimize the use of
agency resources and potentially allow the revised requirements to
become effective sooner, thus providing licensees the benefits of the
rule change sooner. Although the NRC does not anticipate receiving
public comments that are significant and adverse, the NRC's rulemaking
process for this action will provide the public an opportunity to
comment on the direct final rule. Read more about the direct final rule
process on the NRC's public website, at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/rulemaking-process/direct-final-rule.html.
III. Publicly-Available Documents
As the NRC continues its ongoing rulemaking effort to revise the
requirements for an RV materials surveillance program, the NRC is
making documents publicly available on the Federal rulemaking website,
www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2017-0151. The current status
of this rulemaking effort, as well as other NRC planned rulemaking
activities, can be found on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/rulemaking-ruleforum/active/RuleIndex.html.
The NRC may post additional materials relevant to this rulemaking
at www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2017-0151. Please take the
following actions if you wish to receive alerts when changes or
additions occur in a docket folder: (1) Navigate to the docket folder
(NRC-2017-0151); (2) click the ``Email Alert'' link; and (3) enter your
email address and select how frequently you would like to receive
emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of March 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary for the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-06418 Filed 4-2-19; 8:45 am]
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