[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20725-20726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07798]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0072]


Design Review Guide for Instrumentation and Controls for Non-
Light-Water Reactor Reviews

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft staff guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Design Review Guide (DRG): Instrumentation 
and Controls for Non-Light-Water Reactor (non-LWR) Reviews. This DRG 
provides guidance for the NRC staff to use in reviewing the 
Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) portions of applications for 
advanced non-LWRs within the bounds of existing regulations. The 
guidance supports NRC's Non-LWR Vision and Strategy, Implementation 
Action Plan Strategy 3, which involves developing: (1) Guidance for 
flexible regulatory review processes for non-LWRs within the bounds of 
existing regulations; and (2) a new non-LWR regulatory framework that 
is risk-informed and performance-based, and that features NRC staff's 
review efforts commensurate with the demonstrated safety performance of 
non-LWR technologies.

DATES: Submit comments by June 29, 2020. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

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-2020-0072. 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 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: Jordan Hoellman, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-5481, email: 
[email protected], 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-2020-0072 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-2020-0072.
     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 Design Review Guide (DRG): 
Instrumentation and Controls for Non-Light-Water Reactor Reviews is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20045D302.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2020-0072 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.

[[Page 20726]]

II. Background

    This DRG guidance leverages the Small Modular Reactor Design-
Specific Review Standard Chapter 7 framework while factoring in the 
lessons learned from new reactor reviews. This guidance supports the 
NRC's Vision and Strategy document entitled ``Safely Achieving 
Effective and Efficient Non-Light Water Reactor Mission Readiness'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16356A670), and the ``Non-LWR Vision and 
Strategy Near-Term Implementation Action Plans'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17165A069). Specifically, the guidance discussed herein supports 
Implementation Action Plan Strategy 3, which involves developing: (1) 
Guidance for flexible regulatory review processes for non-LWRs within 
the bounds of existing regulations; and (2) a new non-LWR regulatory 
framework that is risk-informed and performance-based, and that 
features NRC staff's review efforts commensurate with the demonstrated 
safety performance of non-LWR technologies. This DRG also factors in 
the principles in Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-1353, ``Guidance for 
Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Approach to 
Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML18312A242). DG-1353 endorses the methodology in Nuclear 
Energy Institute 18-04, ``Risk-Informed Performance-Based Technology 
Inclusive Guidance for Non-Light Water Reactor Licensing Basis 
Development'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML19241A472), with clarifications 
and points of emphasis.
    This DRG provides guidance for the NRC staff responsible for the 
review of the I&C portion of license applications to help determine 
whether: (1) The applicant has demonstrated that there is reasonable 
assurance that the plant is designed to adequately protect public 
health and safety and the environment; and (2) the design complies with 
the applicable regulatory requirements. Some advanced reactor reviews 
will use a core review team approach and the I&C topics will be 
addressed as part of the staff's collaborations on the overall plant 
design and associated programmatic controls. This DRG supports the I&C-
related reviews as part of such a core review team approach or a more 
traditional matrix-type review of applications.
    The NRC staff guidance discussed herein is a proactive way to 
further modernize the I&C safety review of advanced non-LWR 
applications by making it technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and 
performance-based.

    Dated: April 8, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John P. Segala,
Chief, Advanced Reactor Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors 
and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-07798 Filed 4-13-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P