[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9484-9486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03237]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0110]


An Approach for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: 
Technical Specifications

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is re-issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1287, ``An Approach for 
Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Technical 
Specifications.'' This proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 
1.177 includes guidance to develop risk-informed applications for 
technical specification (TS) changes that considers engineering issues 
and applies risk insights. This proposed revision also provides 
guidance acceptable to the staff for using risk information to evaluate 
changes to nuclear power plant TS completion times (CTs) and 
surveillance frequencies (SFs) and to assess the impact of such 
proposed changes on the risk associated with plant operation. This DG-
1287 supplements the guidance provided in RG 1.174, ``An Approach for 
Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on 
Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' Revision 3, issued 
January 2018.

DATES: Submit comments by April 20, 2020. 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 for public comment, comments and 
suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in RGs currently 
being developed or improvements in all published RGs 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-2012-0110. Address 
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;

[[Page 9485]]

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: Gary Wang, telephone: 301-415-1686, 
email: [email protected]; or Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-
415-2493, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 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-2012-0110 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. 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-2012-0110.
     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 DG is electronically available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML19206A489.
     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-2012-0110 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 will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 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.
    This DG, identified by its task number, DG-1287, titled, ``An 
Approach for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Technical 
Specifications,'' is a proposed Revision 2 of RG 1.177, ``An Approach 
for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Technical 
Specifications.''
    A previous version of DG-1287 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12017A054) was 
issued for public comment in 2012 (77 FR 29391). Commenters on the 
previous version are encouraged to review and comment on this version, 
but previously submitted comments will not be explicitly reconsidered 
for this revised draft guide because of the extent of the changes 
between this draft guide and the previously published version.
    This Revision 2 of RG 1.177 updates the application of the defense-
in-depth philosophy to be consistent with the philosophy described in 
RG 1.174, which was revised in 2018 to expand the meaning of, and the 
process for, assessing defense-in-depth considerations. Specifically, 
this revision of RG 1.177 references the defense-in-depth guidance in 
RG 1.174 in several staff regulatory positions. Additionally, the staff 
revised this guide to (1) adopt the term ``PRA acceptability,'' and 
related phrasing variants, instead of terms such as ``PRA quality,'' 
``PRA technical adequacy,'' and ``technical adequacy'' to describe the 
appropriateness of the probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) used to 
support risk informed licensing submittals, (2) update Section 2.3, 
``Evaluation of Risk Impact,'' of RG 1.177, and (3) delineate the 
difference between temporary CT extensions and permanent CT extensions 
of TS or maximum backstop CTs.

III. Backfitting, Issue Finality, and Forward Fitting

    RG 1.177, Revision 2, would provide updated guidance for power 
reactor applicants and licensees regarding use of the defense-in-depth 
philosophy with other recently updated guidance, and would make other 
conforming changes to the use of PRA and other terminology. Issuance of 
this RG in final form would not constitute backfitting or forward 
fitting or affect issue finality as further discussed below.
    Current or future applicants are not--with limited exceptions not 
applicable here--within the scope of the backfitting and issue finality 
regulations and forward fitting policy. Applicants are not, with 
certain exceptions, covered by either the Backfit Rule or any issue 
finality provisions under part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR). This is because 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.
    The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an 
applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site 
permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification 
rule) with specified issue finality provisions or a construction permit 
under 10 CFR part 50. The staff does not, at this time, intend to 
impose the positions represented in the draft RG (if finalized) in a 
manner that would constitute backfitting or affect the issue finality 
of a part 52 approval. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a 
position in the draft RG (if finalized) in a manner that constitutes 
backfitting or does not provide issue finality as described in the 
applicable issue finality provision, then the staff would need to 
address the Backfit Rule or the criteria for avoiding issue finality as 
described in the applicable issue finality provision.
    The staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the draft RG (if finalized) in a manner

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that would constitute forward fitting. If, in the future, the staff 
seeks to impose a position in the draft RG (if finalized) in a manner 
that constitutes forward fitting, then the staff would need to address 
the forward fitting criteria in Management Directive 8.4.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of February, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert G. Roche-Rivera,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-03237 Filed 2-18-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P