[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 55 (Friday, March 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16147-16148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05830]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0076]


Volcanic Hazards Assessment for Proposed New and Advanced Nuclear 
Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-4028, ``Volcanic Hazards 
Assessment for Proposed Nuclear Power Reactor Sites.'' This DG proposes 
new guidance for facilitating NRC staff reviews of volcanic hazard 
assessments performed by applicants to support the siting and licensing 
of new nuclear power reactors. The DG also provides applicants with the 
methods and approaches the NRC staff considers acceptable for the 
assessment of volcanic hazards in license applications.

DATES: Submit comments by May 19, 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, 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-2020-0076. Address 
questions about NRC dockets 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.
     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: Jenise Thompson, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1811, email: 
[email protected]; and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, email: 
[email protected]. Both 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-2020-0076 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-2020-0076.
     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-4028 is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No.

[[Page 16148]]

ML20007D621 and the Regulatory Analysis under Accession No. 
ML20007D618.
     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-2020-0076 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 draft 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 
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. The staff is also 
issuing for public comment a draft Regulatory Analysis. Regulatory 
Analyses are developed to assess the value of issuing a guide as well 
as alternative courses of action.
    The DG, entitled, ``Volcanic Hazards Assessment for Proposed 
Nuclear Power Reactor Sites,'' is a proposed new guide temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-4028. It provides guidance for 
facilitating NRC staff reviews of volcanic hazard assessments performed 
by applicants to support the licensing of new nuclear power reactors. 
The guide also provides applicants with the methods and approaches the 
NRC staff considers acceptable for the assessment of volcanic hazards 
in license applications.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this draft 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'' and as described in NRC 
Management Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, 
Issue Finality, and Information Requests;'' would not affect the issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52; and would not 
constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in 
Management Directive 8.4. As explained in the draft regulatory guide, 
licensees would not be required to comply with the positions set forth 
in this draft regulatory guide.
    April 24, 2020

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of March 2020.

    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. 2020-05830 Filed 3-19-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P