[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 86 (Friday, May 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19132-19133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09089]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2019-0113]


Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and 
Performance-Based Methodology To Inform the Licensing Basis and Content 
of Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Non-
Light Water Reactors

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-1353, ``Guidance for a 
Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology 
to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light Water Reactors.'' This DG 
proposes new guidance for designers, applicants, and licensees of non-
light water cooled nuclear reactors (non-LWRs) to inform the licensing 
basis and content of applications submittals to the NRC for licenses, 
certifications, or approvals. The DG provides guidance on using a 
technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and performance-based methodology 
to inform the licensing basis and content of applications for licenses, 
certifications, and approvals for non-LWRs.

DATES: Submit comments by July 2, 2019. 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-2019-0113. Address 
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov 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: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    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: William Reckley, Office of New 
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-7490, email: [email protected], or 
Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 
301-415-1067, 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-2019-0113 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may 
obtain publically-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-2019-0113.
     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]. The DG is electronically available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML18312A242. The related working draft of Nuclear 
Energy Institute (NEI) guidance document NEI 18-04, ``Risk-Informed 
Performance-Based Guidance for Non-Light Water Reactor Licensing Basis 
Development,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18271A172. 
The regulatory analysis for this DG is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML18325A214.
     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-2019-0113 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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions into ADAMS.

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 ``Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive, Risk-
Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology to Inform the Licensing 
Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Non-Light Water Reactors,'' is a proposed new RG. The 
proposed new RG is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1353. 
The proposed new RG endorses, with clarifications, the principles and 
methodology in NEI 18-

[[Page 19133]]

04, ``Risk-Informed Performance-Based Guidance for Non-Light Water 
Reactor Licensing Basis Development,'' as one acceptable method for 
determining the appropriate scope and level of detail for parts of 
applications for licenses, certifications, and approvals for non-LWRs. 
NEI 18-04 outlines an approach for use by reactor developers to select 
licensing basis events; classify structures, systems, and components; 
determine special treatments and programmatic controls; and assess the 
adequacy of a design in terms of providing layers of defense in depth. 
The methodology described in NEI 18-04 and the draft RG also provide a 
general methodology for identifying an appropriate scope and depth of 
information to be provided in applications to the NRC for licenses, 
certifications, and approvals for non-LWRs.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Draft regulatory guide, DG-1353, if finalized as a new regulatory 
guide, would provide guidance for informing the licensing basis and 
content of applications for non-LWRs. The selection of licensing-basis 
events; classification and special treatments of structures, systems, 
and components; and assessment of defense in depth are fundamental to 
the safe design of non-LWRs. These activities also support identifying 
the appropriate scope and depth of information provided in applications 
for licenses, certifications, and approvals required under part 50 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' and 10 CFR part 
52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power 
Plants.'' The methodology outlined in DG-1353 and NEI 18-04 provide 
guidance intended to support the design and licensing of non-LWRs.
    The DG, if finalized, would not constitute regulatory requirements. 
For this reason, issuance of DG-1353, if finalized, would not 
constitute backfitting under 10 CFR 50.109 (the ``Backfit Rule''). 
Future applicants may choose to follow the guidance or utilize another 
approach in developing applications for licenses, certifications, or 
approvals. Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain 
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality 
provisions under 10 CFR part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue 
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions 
discussed below--were intended to apply to every NRC action which 
substantially changes the expectations of current and future 
applicants. Therefore, the positions in any regulatory guide, if 
imposed on applicants under 10 CFR 50.34(a)(3), 52.47(a)(3), 
52.79(a)(4), 52.137(a)(3), or 52.157(a), would not represent 
backfitting or a violation of issue finality (except as discussed 
below).
    The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever a 
combined license applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (i.e., 
an early site permit or a manufacturing license) and/or 10 CFR part 52 
regulatory approval (i.e., a design certification rule or design 
approval). There are no current non-LWR applicants or holders of 
licenses or design certifications for non-LWR designs. Therefore, 
issuance of DG-1353 in final form would not constitute a violation of 
issue finality.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of April, 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. 2019-09089 Filed 5-2-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P