[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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