[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40696-40697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14564]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2019-0086]
Guidance for Implementation of Changes, Tests, and Experiments
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance and post-promulgation comment
period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.187. This RG provides licensees
with a method that the NRC considers acceptable for use in complying
with the Commission's regulations on the process by which licensees,
under certain conditions, may make changes to their facilities and
procedures as described in the final safety analysis report (FSAR) (as
updated) (also referred to as the updated final safety analysis report
(UFSAR)), and conduct tests or experiments not described in the FSAR
(as updated), without obtaining a license amendment pursuant to NRC
requirements. This RG is effective immediately with a 30-day post-
promulgation comment period.
DATES: Revision 2 to RG 1.187 takes effect on July 7, 2020. Post-
promulgation comments must be received by August 6, 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 on RG 1.187, Revision 2, by any of
the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0086. 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-7A06, 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.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip McKenna, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0037, email:
[email protected] and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8113, 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-2019-0086 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-2019-0086.
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]. Revision 2 to RG 1.187, ``Guidance
for Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments'
'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20125A730. The
regulatory analysis and staff responses to the public comments on DG-
1356 may be found in ADAMS Accession Nos. ML19045A432 and ML20125A729,
respectively.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0086 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. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing 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.
RG 1.187, Revision 1, entitled, ``Guidance for Implementation of 10
CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments' '' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17195A655), endorsed, with clarifications, the guidance in Nuclear
Energy Institute (NEI) 96-07,
[[Page 40697]]
``Guidelines for 10 CFR 50.59 Evaluations,'' Revision 1 (November
2000). NEI 96-07, Revision 1, provides licensees with a method that the
staff considers acceptable for use in complying with the Commission's
regulations on the process by which licensees, under certain
conditions, may make changes to their facilities and procedures as
described in the FSAR (as updated) and conduct tests or experiments not
described in the FSAR (as updated) without obtaining a license
amendment pursuant to 10 CFR 50.90.
RG 1.187, Revision 2, provides guidance on complying with the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.59 when performing a digital instrumentation
and control (I&C) modification. Specifically, it endorses, with
clarifications, NEI 96-07, Appendix D, Revision 1, ``Supplemental
Guidance for Application of 10 CFR 50.59 to Digital Modifications''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML20135H168). The NRC staff published Draft Guide
(DG)-1356 for public comment on May 30, 2019 (84 FR 25077), which
proposed to endorse NEI 96-07, Appendix D, in RG 1.187, Revision 2,
with certain exceptions and additions.
The staff revised the RG in response to NEI's revisions to NEI 96-
07, Appendix D; public comments on DG-1356; and two public meetings
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML19297G592 and ML20135H231). Based on the
revised Appendix D, the staff removed the exception in the proposed
Revision 2 of RG 1.187. The staff recognizes that the changes to RG
1.187, Revision 2, may be significant changes, beyond what a member of
the public might have anticipated from these documents and public
interactions. Therefore, the staff is providing an opportunity to
submit additional, post-promulgation comments in accordance with
Sections I and VII of this document. Consequently, the NRC will
evaluate any significant comments received on this RG and will consider
revising the RG as a result of the comments and evaluation.
III. Additional Information
Proposed Revision 2 of RG 1.187 was issued with a temporary
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-1356. The NRC published a
notice of the availability of DG-1356 in the Federal Register on May
30, 2019 (84 FR 25077) for a 45-day public comment period. The public
comment period closed on July 15, 2019. Public comments on DG-1356 and
the staff responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML20125A729.
IV. 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.
V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides
A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs
to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public
website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html.
VI. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
Revision 2 of RG 1.187 endorses, with clarifications, NEI 96-07,
Appendix D, Revision 1, which provides guidance on the application of
the requirements of 10 CFR 50.59 to proposed digital modifications to
nuclear power plant I&C systems. As explained in RG 1.187, Revision 2,
licensees are not required to comply with the positions set forth in
this regulatory guide. Therefore, RG 1.187, Revision 2, does not
constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,''
and as described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information
Requests''; constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and
described in MD 8.4; or affect issue finality of any approval issued
under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for
Nuclear Power Plants.'' If, in the future, the NRC were to impose a
position in this RG 1.187, Revision 2, in a manner that would
constitute backfitting or forward fitting or affect the issue finality
for a part 52 approval, then the NRC would address the backfitting
provision in 10 CFR 50.109, the forward fitting provision of MD 8.4, or
the applicable issue finality provision in part 52, respectively.
VII. Request for Post-Promulgation Comment
The NRC is requesting post-promulgation comments on this RG.
Comments on Revision 2 to RG 1.187 must be received by August 6, 2020.
The NRC will publish a document in the Federal Register containing an
evaluation of the significant comments and any revisions made to this
RG as a result of the comments received.
Dated: July 1, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-14564 Filed 7-6-20; 8:45 am]
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