[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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