[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31926-31927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14132]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2018-0109]
Letter to the Nuclear Energy Institute Entergy Services, Inc.,
and NextEra Energy Regarding the Clarification of Regulatory Path for
Lead Test Assemblies
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
letter to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Entergy Services, Inc.,
and NextEra Energy to finalize the NRC staff's views on the regulatory
positions regarding lead test assemblies (LTAs) previously discussed in
the NRC's letter to NEI dated June 29, 2017.
DATES: July 3, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0109 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 https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0109. 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.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://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]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the Availability of Documents section.
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: Kimberly Green, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1627, email:
[email protected], or Reed Anzalone, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2988, email: [email protected]. Both
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a letter to NEI, Entergy Services, Inc., and
NextEra Energy to clarify the NRC staff's interpretation of Standard
Technical Specification (STS) 4.2.1, ``Fuel Assemblies.'' The first
part of STS 4.2.1 places limitations on the number of fuel assemblies
in the reactor core, the type of fuel that can be used, the cladding
material that can be used (e.g., zircaloy or ZIRLO), and requires the
use of NRC-approved codes and methods for the fuel assemblies. The last
sentence of
[[Page 31927]]
STS 4.2.1 allows for the irradiation of a limited number of LTAs that
have not completed representative testing if placed in nonlimiting
regions of the reactor core.
In the past, licensees have taken different approaches when
conducting LTA campaigns. Some licensees obtained prior NRC approval by
license amendments approving changes to Technical Specification (TS)
4.2.1 or exemptions from Sec. 50.46, ``Acceptance criteria for
emergency core cooling systems for light-water nuclear power
reactors,'' of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), or
both, for their LTA campaigns. Other licensees conducted LTA campaigns
under 10 CFR 50.59, ``Changes, tests, and experiments,'' without prior
NRC approval.
This letter clarifies the NRC staff's views on the regulatory
positions regarding LTAs previously discussed in the NRC's letter to
NEI dated June 29, 2017. The letter provides: Clarification on the LTA
provision in STS 4.2.1; clarification on the use of approved methods
for LTA campaigns; a regulatory path for LTA campaigns; guidance on the
use of NEI 96-07, Revision 1, ``Guidelines for 10 CFR 50.59
Implementation,'' regarding LTAs; and guidance on exemptions from the
requirements in 10 CFR 50.46 for LTAs.
II. Opportunity for Public Participation
The NRC published a notice of the availability of a draft letter to
NEI regarding the clarification of regulatory paths for lead test
assemblies in the Federal Register on June 7, 2018 (83 FR 26503) for a
20-day public comment period. The public comment period closed on June
27, 2018. After consideration of comments requesting additional time to
comment on the draft letter, the NRC reopened the public comment period
for an additional 20 days on July 2, 2018. The additional comment
period closed on July 23, 2018.
The NRC received 272 comment submissions on the draft guidance
letter consisting of approximately 900 comments. Public comments on the
draft letter and the staff responses to the public comments are
available electronically in ADAMS under Accession No. ML19126A101 (the
comment response document). A compilation of all comment submissions
with annotated comments is also available.
Table 1, ``Commenters on Guidance Letter,'' in the comment response
document contains a listing of persons or entities that provided
comments. The name of the individual and affiliation, if provided, a
unique identifier for the commenter, and the ADAMS accession number are
listed. Some individuals are listed more than once because they
provided more than one comment letter.
Each comment letter was segmented into individual comments, and
each comment was then categorized by topic. The topics are provided in
Table 2 of the comment response document. The comments are summarized
and are followed by a response. If the NRC staff determined that a
change to the letter was warranted, because of the comment, it is
indicated in the response.
III. Congressional Review Act
This guidance letter 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
The letter provides additional clarification on previous staff
preliminary statements and positions regarding the use of LTAs made in
a letter to NEI dated June 29, 2017. Issuance of the letter does 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. The NRC has no current intention to impose the
positions described in the letter on holders of current operating
licenses or combined licenses.
V. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the methods previously
indicated.
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Document ADAMS Accession No.
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Letter from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory ML18323A169
Commission to Nuclear Energy Institute,
Entergy Services, Inc., and NextEra
Energy, Subject: Clarification of
Regulatory Path for Lead Test
Assemblies, dated June 24, 2019.
Letter from Mirela Gavrilas, U.S. NRC, ML17150A443
to Mr. Andrew Mauer, Nuclear Energy
Institute. Subject: Response to Nuclear
Energy Institute Letter Concerning the
Regulatory Path for Lead Test
Assemblies. June 29, 2017.
NUREG-1430, Standard Technical ML12100A177
Specifications--Babcock and Wilcox
Plants, Volume 1, Revision 4.
NUREG-1431, Standard Technical ML12100A222
Specifications--Westinghouse Plants,
Volume 1, Revision 4.
NUREG-1432, Standard Technical ML12102A165
Specifications--Combustion Engineering
Plants, Volume 1, Revision 4.
NUREG-1433, Standard Technical ML12104A192
Specifications--General Electric Plants
(BWR/4), Volume 1, Revision 4.
NUREG-1434, Standard Technical ML12104A195
Specifications--General Electric Plants
(BWR/6), Volume 1, Revision 4.
NEI 96-07, Revision 1, Guidelines for 10 ML003771157
CFR 50.59 Implementation.
Draft letter from U.S. Nuclear ML18100A045
Regulatory Commission to Nuclear Energy
Institute. Subject: Clarification of
Regulatory Paths for Lead Test
Assemblies, dated May 31, 2018.
Public comments on the draft letter and ML19126A101
the staff responses to the public
comments.
Compilation of comment submissions with ML19141A222
annotated comments.
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Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of June, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2019-14132 Filed 7-2-19; 8:45 am]
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