[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 2, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33582-33583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11717]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2020-0059]


Guidance for Implementation of 10 CFR 72.48, `Changes, Tests, and 
Experiments'

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-3054. This DG is 
proposed Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 3.72 of the same name. The 
proposed revision endorses Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 12-04, 
Revision 2 with exceptions and clarification. NEI 12-04, Revision 2, 
updates and revises previous guidance to incorporate operating 
experience and NRC's inspection findings. In addition, RG 3.72, 
Revision 1, changes the NRC's guidance on departures from a method of 
evaluation (MOE) and the NRC's approval of an MOE.

DATES: Submit comments by August 3, 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-2020-0059. 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.
     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: Marlone Davis, telephone: 301-415-
7447, email: [email protected], and Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 
301-415-2493, 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-2020-0059 when contacting the NRC 
about

[[Page 33583]]

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-2020-0059.
     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].

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2020-0059 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 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff 
uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to 
describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    This DG, identified by its task number, DG-3054, titled, ``Guidance 
for Implementation of 10 CFR 72.48, `Changes, Tests, And Experiments'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML19269B763). The draft guide is proposed Revision 
1 of RG 3.72 of the same name. The proposed revision describes an 
approach that is acceptable to NRC to meet regulatory requirements 
related to changes affecting independent spent fuel storage 
installations (ISFSIs), spent fuel storage cask designs, and monitored 
retrievable storage installations (MRSs) by endorsing guidance document 
NEI 12-04, ``Guidelines for 10 CFR 72.48 Implementation,'' Revision 2.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML19269B764). The staff develops a 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a 
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this draft regulatory guide in final form would not 
constitute backfitting as defined in title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) section 72.62, ``Backfitting,'' and as described 
in NRC Management Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward 
Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests'' (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML18093B087). As explained in section D., ``Implementation,'' of 
the draft regulatory guide, licensees would not be required to comply 
with the positions set forth in this draft regulatory guide.

    Dated: May 27, 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. 2020-11717 Filed 6-1-20; 8:45 am]
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