[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41071-41072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14645]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0159]


Design Limits, Loading Combinations, Materials, Construction and 
Testing of Concrete Containments

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-1372, ``Design Limits, 
Loading Combinations, Materials, Construction and Testing of Concrete 
Containments.'' This draft guide is proposed Revision 4 of regulatory 
guide (RG) 1.136 of the same name. It updates the guidance for 
materials, design, construction, fabrication, examination, and testing 
of concrete containments in nuclear power plants through endorsement, 
with exceptions, of the 2019 edition of the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, 
Division 2 (American Concrete Institute Standard 359-19), ``Code for 
Concrete Containments.''

DATES: Submit comments by September 8, 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-2020-0159. 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: George Thomas, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-6181, 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-2020-0159 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding 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-2020-0159.
     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]. DG-1372 is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML20105A215 and the regulatory analysis for DG-1372 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20105A216.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2020-0159 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 posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions 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.
    The DG, titled ``Design Limits, Loading Combinations, Materials, 
Construction and Testing of Concrete Containments,'' is a proposed 
revision temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1372. It is 
proposed revision 4 of RG 1.136 of the same name. The guide proposes 
revised guidance to meet regulatory requirements for materials, design, 
construction, fabrication, examination, and testing of concrete 
containments in nuclear power plants.
    This revision of the guide endorses, with exceptions, the 2019 
edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler & 
Pressure Vessel Code (B&PV), Section III, Division 2 (American Concrete 
Institute Standard 359-19), ``Code for Concrete Containments.'' This 
revision of the guide also addresses the acceptability of the Section 
III Code Cases related to

[[Page 41072]]

Division 2 of the ASME B&PV Code, Section III.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML20105A216). The staff developed a draft 
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

    This regulatory guide provides guidance for materials, design, 
construction, fabrication, examination, and testing of concrete 
containments in nuclear power plants through endorsement, with 
exceptions, of the 2019 edition of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 2 
(American Concrete Institute Standard 359 19), ``Code for Concrete 
Containments.'' The issuance of this regulatory guide does not 
constitute backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as described in 
NRC Management Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward 
Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests,'' or affect issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' because, as 
explained in this regulatory guide, licensees are not required to 
comply with the positions set forth in this regulatory guide.

    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. 2020-14645 Filed 7-7-20; 8:45 am]
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