[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 18591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08819]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2017-0237]
Criteria for Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear
Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 5 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.97, ``Criteria for Accident
Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Plants.'' This guide
describes an approach that is acceptable to the staff of the NRC to
meet regulatory requirements for instrumentation to monitor accidents
in nuclear power plants. It endorses, with exceptions and
clarifications, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE) Standard (Std.) 497-2016, ``IEEE Standard Criteria for Accident
Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power Generating Stations.''
DATES: Revision 5 to RG 1.97 is available on May 1, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0237 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-2017-0237. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs 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 Document collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public Document
Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email
to [email protected]. Revision 5 to RG 1.97 and the regulatory
analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML18136A762 and
ML17083A133, respectively. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and
NRC approval is not required to reproduce them.
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: Pong Chung, telephone: 301-415-2363,
email: [email protected] and Stephen Burton, telephone: 301-415-7000,
email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research at 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 5 of RG 1.97 was issued with a temporary identification of
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1335 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17083A134). The
staff is issuing Revision 5 of RG 1.97 to endorse IEEE Std. 497-2016
``Criteria for Accident Monitoring Instrumentation for Nuclear Power
Plants,'' with exceptions and clarifications. Revision 5 also makes
further clarifying revisions by expressly expanding the applicability
of RG 1.97 to holders of, or applicants for, power reactor design
certifications or combined licenses under part 52 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), and by adding references to the
NRC's 10 CFR part 52 regulations and related NRC guidance documents.
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1335 in the
Federal Register on December 26, 2017 (82 FR 61043) for a 60-day public
comment period. The public comment period closed on February 26, 2018.
Public comments on DG-1335 and the staff responses to the public
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18136A761.
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
As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of Revision 5 to RG
1.97, the NRC has no current intention to impose this draft regulatory
guide on holders of current operating licenses or combined licenses.
Revision 5 to RG 1.97 would endorse, with certain exceptions and
clarifications, the 2016 revision of IEEE Std. 497, which contains a
more technology-neutral approach and brings current guidance more in
line with related international standards. This Revision introduces a
new set of variables for parameters that may be monitored when
following severe accident management guidelines. Applicants and
licensees may voluntarily use the guidance in Revision 5 to RG 1.97 to
demonstrate compliance with the underlying NRC regulations. Current
licensees may continue to use guidance the NRC found previously
acceptable for complying with the identified regulations as long as
their current licensing basis remains unchanged. As such, this
regulatory guide would 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, ``Licenses, Certifications
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on April 25, 2019.
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. 2019-08819 Filed 4-30-19; 8:45 am]
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