[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 10198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03439]
[[Page 10198]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2019-0111]
Pre-Earthquake Planning, Shutdown, and Restart of a Nuclear Power
Plant Following an Earthquake
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.166, ``Pre-Earthquake Planning,
Shutdown, and Restart of a Nuclear Power Plant Following an
Earthquake.'' This revision of RG 1.166 merges two related RGs, that
is, RG 1.166 and RG 1.167, ``Restart of a Nuclear Power Plant Shut Down
by a Seismic Event.'' The guides were merged because they are similar
in nature and contain overlapping guidance. RG 1.167 is being withdrawn
concurrently because it is no longer needed.
DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.166 is available on February 21, 2020. The
withdrawal of RG 1.167 takes effect on February 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0111 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-2019-0111. 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]. RG 1.166 is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML19266A616.
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: Vladimir Graizer, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2380, email: Vladimir
[email protected]; Thomas Weaver, telephone: 301-415-2383, email:
[email protected]; and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, email:
Edward.O'[email protected]. All are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide 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
agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
Revision 1 of RG 1.166 was issued for public comment as Draft
Regulatory Guide (DG), DG-1337. It merges RG 1.166, ``Pre-Earthquake
Planning and Immediate Nuclear Power Operator Post-earthquake
Actions,'' and RG 1.167, ``Restart of a Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown by
a Seismic Event.'' The revised guide incorporates lessons learned
following shutdown and restart of nuclear power plants due to
earthquake ground motion and post-earthquake evaluations since issuance
of the two RGs in 1997. The revised guide provides guidance acceptable
to the NRC staff regarding pre-earthquake planning actions, actions to
determine the need to shutdown a nuclear power plant and the short-term
and long-term processes, inspections and tests that are acceptable to
demonstrate that a nuclear power plant is safe for restarting after a
shutdown due to an earthquake. The guide endorses with some
clarifications, American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear
Society (ANSI/ANS)-2.23-2016, ``Nuclear Power Plant Response to an
Earthquake,'' and ANSI/ANS-2.10-2017, ``Criteria for Retrieval,
Processing, Handling, and Storage of Records from Nuclear Facility
Seismic Instrumentation.''
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1337 in the
Federal Register on June 14, 2019 (84 FR 27809) for a 60-day public
comment period. The public comment period closed on August 13, 2019.
Public comments on DG-1337 and the staff responses to the public
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML19266A619.
III. Congressional Review Act
This RG 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, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
Issuance of this regulatory guide does not constitute backfitting
as defined in title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
section 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC Management
Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue
Finality, and Information Requests''; constitute forward fitting as
that term is defined and described in Management Directive 8.4; or
affect issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52,
``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As
explained in this regulatory guide, applicants and licensees are not
required to comply with the positions set forth in this regulatory
guide.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of February 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stanley J. Gardocki,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-03439 Filed 2-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P