[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48953-48954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20005]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2019-0181]


Standard Format and Content for Applications To Renew Nuclear 
Power Plant Operating Licenses

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1341, ``Standard 
Format and Content for Applications to Renew Nuclear Power Plant 
Operating Licenses.'' This regulatory guide (RG) describes the standard 
format and content that the NRC staff considers acceptable for 
applications for renewal and subsequent renewal of operating licenses 
for commercial nuclear power plants.

DATES: Submit comments by October 17, 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. This public review and comment period is 30 days in 
duration, although the public review and comment period for draft RGs 
is usually 60 days. The shortened comment period is provided because 
the NRC has previously interacted with stakeholders on related industry 
and NRC guidance, and consequently does not anticipate significant 
public comment. 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0181. Address 
questions about NRC docket IDs to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9221; 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: Bennett Brady, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2981, email: 
[email protected], Amy Hull, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 
telephone: 301-415-2435, email: [email protected], and Michael Eudy, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, email: 
[email protected]. All 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-2019-0181 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0181.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library 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]. DG-1341 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML19213A345.
     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-2019-0181 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov and also 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 in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not 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 draft guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information such as 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 problems or postulated events, and data that the staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled, ``Standard Format and Content for Applications to 
Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses,'' is temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-1341. DG-1341 is proposed revision 2 
of Regulatory Guide 1.188. This revision of the guide broadens the 
scope of the guide to include subsequent license renewal. The guide 
endorses two industry guidance documents that describe methods that the 
staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in preparing applications 
for license renewal and subsequent license renewal.
    Specifically, this revision endorses Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 
17-01, ``Industry Guideline for Implementing the Requirements of 10 CFR 
part 54 for Subsequent License Renewal'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17339A599), which provides an acceptable approach for implementing 
the requirements of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR) part 54, ``Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' for subsequent license renewal. The guidance in 
NEI 17-01 is consistent with previously published NRC guidance. In 
particular,

[[Page 48954]]

NUREG-2191, Volumes 1 and 2, ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for 
Subsequent License Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report,'' and NUREG-2192, 
``Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal 
Applications for Nuclear Power Plants--Final Report,'' both underwent 
significant public interaction and extensive review by the Advisory 
Committee on Reactor Safeguards.
    The guide applies to holders of operating licenses under 10 CFR 
part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities.'' The guide could also apply to holders of combined 
licenses under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' However, because no combined 
license holder is expected to use this guide for at least two decades, 
the NRC is not expanding the guide's applicability to combined license 
holders at this time.

III. Backfitting

    DG-1341 describes one acceptable method for demonstrating 
compliance with 10 CFR part 54 for applicants for nuclear power plant 
license renewal and subsequent license renewal. This DG, if finalized, 
would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, 
``Backfitting'' (the Backfit Rule). Existing licensees and applicants 
for license renewal or subsequent license renewal will not be required 
to comply with the positions set forth in this DG. Further information 
on the staff's use of the DG, if finalized, is contained in the DG 
under Section D., ``Implementation.''
    Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain 
exceptions not applicable for this guide, protected by the Backfit 
Rule. The Backfit Rule--with certain exclusions discussed below--was 
not intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes 
the expectations of current and future applicants. Therefore, the 
positions in any RG, if imposed on applicants, would not represent 
backfitting (except as discussed below).
    The exceptions to the general principle that applicants and 
potential applicants are not protected by the Backfit Rule are 
applicable whenever a 10 CFR part 50 operating license applicant 
references a construction permit. The staff does not, at this time, 
intend to impose the positions represented in DG-1341 in a manner that 
is inconsistent with the Backfit Rule. If, in the future, the staff 
seeks to impose a position in this RG in a manner that constitutes 
backfitting under the Backfit Rule, then the staff will address the 
backfitting provisions in the Backfit Rule.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of September, 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. 2019-20005 Filed 9-16-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P