[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1184-1185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00124]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2019-0208]
Supplemental Guidance Regarding the Chromium-Coated Zirconium
Alloy Fuel Cladding Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) ATF-ISG-2020-01, ``Supplemental Guidance
Regarding the Chromium-Coated Zirconium Alloy Fuel Cladding Accident
Tolerant Fuel Concept.'' This ISG is intended to facilitate the NRC
staff's understanding of the in-reactor phenomena important
[[Page 1185]]
to safety for the chromium-coated zirconium alloy fuel cladding
concepts, as well as to provide guidance for NRC staff reviewing vendor
applications. Chromium-coated zirconium alloy fuel cladding concepts
are being pursued by several U.S. fuel vendors as part of the U.S.
Department of Energy's accident tolerant fuel program.
DATES: This guidance is effective on February 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0208 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-2019-0208. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual(s) 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]. The ISG, ``Supplemental Guidance
Regarding the Chromium-Coated Zirconium Alloy Fuel Cladding Accident
Tolerant Fuel Concept,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML19343A121.
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: Tekia Govan, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-6197 email: [email protected] and
Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear Reactor, telephone: 301-415-3229,
email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On October 24, 2019, (84 FR 57058) the NRC requested public
comments on draft ATF ISG-2019-01 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19276G621).
The NRC received comments from the Nuclear Energy Institute by letter
dated November 25, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19344C125). No other
comments were submitted. The NRC staff considered those comments in
developing the final ATF-ISG 2019-01. Detailed responses to the
comments can be found in Appendix E of the final ATF-ISG 2019-01.
This ISG is intended to provide guidance for NRC staff reviewing
applications involving fuel products with chromium-coated zirconium
alloy cladding. For coated claddings of this type, a phenomena
identification and ranking table (PIRT) was generated for the NRC by
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; the guidance provided in this
ISG extensively references the PIRT report, ``Degradation and Failure
Phenomena of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts: Chromium Coated Zirconium
Alloy Cladding,'' issued June 2019. The suggested cladding properties
specified acceptable fuel design limits and new failure mechanisms
sections from the PIRT are replicated in Appendices B and C. These
appendices supersede Sections 5.1 and 5.2 of the PIRT report.
This ISG is not intended as stand-alone review guidance, but
instead supplements NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan,'' Section 4.2,
``Fuel System Design,'' and discusses the potential impact of coated
claddings on reviews performed under Standard Review Plan (SRP),
Section 4.3, ``Nuclear Design,'' Section 4.4, ``Thermal and Hydraulic
Design,'' and Chapter 15, ``Transient and Accident Analysis.'' In
addition to the guidance provided in this ISG, reviewers of coated
cladding applications should familiarize themselves with the PIRT
report and with the relevant sections of the SRP.
The PIRT report and this ISG focus primarily on metallic chromium
coatings applied to a zirconium alloy base metal, with some additional
discussion that is applicable to chromium-based ceramic coatings.
Reviewers of submittals on ceramic chromium-coated zirconium alloy
claddings should carefully read the PIRT to determine the applicability
to the review.
This ISG does not apply to reviews of fuel products other than
metallic or ceramic chromium-based coatings on a zirconium alloy
substrate.
II. Backfit Discussion
This ISG intends to provide guidance for the NRC staff reviewing
applications involving fuel products with chromium-coated zirconium
alloy cladding. Issuance of this ISG does not constitute a backfit as
defined in section 50.109(a)(1) of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the
``Backfitting'' section of the final ATF-ISG-2020-01, the ISG positions
do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the ISG is guidance directed
to the NRC staff with respect to its regulatory responsibilities.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain exceptions,
the subject of either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions
under 10 CFR part 52. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the ISG
positions on existing nuclear power plant licensees either now or in
the future (absent a voluntary request for a change from the licensee).
III. Congressional Review Act
This ISG 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of January 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tekia V. Govan,
Project Manager, Oversight and Support Branch, Division of Reactor
Oversight, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-00124 Filed 1-8-20; 8:45 am]
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