[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]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P