[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 203 (Tuesday, October 20, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66498-66500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23022]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-110; NRC-2015-0028; NRC-2009-0196]


Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of Structures, 
Systems, and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; consideration in the rulemaking 
process.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider, 
within the scope of a Commission-directed rulemaking (Incorporation of 
Lessons Learned from New Reactor Licensing Process (Parts 50 and 52 
Licensing Process Alignment)), the issue raised in a petition for 
rulemaking (PRM) submitted by Michael D. Tschiltz, on behalf of the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), dated January 15, 2015. The petitioner 
requested that the NRC amend its regulations to clarify and extend the 
applicability of its regulations related to risk-informed 
categorization and treatment of structures, systems, and components 
(SSCs) for nuclear power reactors. The petition was docketed by the NRC 
on February 6, 2015, and was assigned Docket No. PRM-50-110. The NRC 
has determined that the PRM has merit and is appropriate for 
consideration in the rulemaking process.

DATES: The docket for the petition for rulemaking, PRM-50-110, is 
closed on October 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs NRC-2015-0028 and NRC-2009-0196 
when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this 
petition. 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 IDs NRC-2015-0028 and NRC-
2009-0196. Address questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; 
telephone: 301-415-3407; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     The NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in 
the ADAMS Public Document collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 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]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James O'Driscoll, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1325; email: 
James.O'[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Petition

    The NRC received and docketed a PRM \1\ dated January 15, 2015, 
submitted by Michael D. Tschiltz, on behalf of NEI. On March 27, 2015, 
the NRC published a notice of docketing in the Federal Register (80 FR 
16308). The NRC held a public meeting on September 16, 2015, to gain 
further

[[Page 66499]]

understanding of the scope and bases for the PRM. The meeting summary 
\2\ is publicly available.
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    \1\ On February 25, 2014, Anthony Pietrangelo, on behalf of NEI 
(petitioner), submitted a letter (ADAMS Accession No. ML14056A278) 
requesting that the NRC issue a direct final rulemaking to amend 
Sec.  50.69, ``Risk-informed categorization and treatment of 
structures, systems and components for nuclear power reactors,'' 
making it applicable to holders of combined licenses (COLs). The NRC 
staff reviewed the petitioner's request and concluded that it did 
not meet the NRC's acceptance criteria in Sec.  2.802(c) for a PRM 
because the request did not include a description of the 
petitioner's grounds for and interest in the requested action. On 
April 11, 2014, under Sec.  2.802(c), the NRC offered the petitioner 
an opportunity to meet the NRC's petition acceptance criteria within 
90 days. On January 15, 2015, Michael D. Tschiltz, on behalf of NEI, 
filed a PRM on the same topic, and included a description of the 
petitioner's grounds for and interest in the requested action. The 
NRC determined that the petition met the threshold sufficiency 
requirements for a petition for rulemaking under Sec.  2.802, 
``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition was docketed as PRM-
50-110.
    \2\ The meeting summary indicated that the NRC might issue a 
generic communication to clarify a misunderstanding of the reasons 
that COL holders were excluded from the Sec.  50.69 provisions. The 
NRC will conduct rulemaking to determine if COL holders can use 
Sec.  50.69; NRC will not issue a separate generic communication on 
this issue.
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    The petitioner asked the NRC to amend its regulations to clarify 
and extend the applicability of section 50.69 of title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Risk-informed categorization and 
treatment of structures, systems and components (SSCs) for nuclear 
power reactors.'' The regulations in Sec.  50.69 allow nuclear power 
plant licensees and certain applicants to seek NRC approval to 
implement the Sec.  50.69 requirements as an alternative to compliance 
with the requirements for Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-3 and RISC-
4 SSCs listed in Sec.  50.69(b)(1)(i)-(xi). Currently, the 
applicability provisions in Sec.  50.69 allow holders of a nuclear 
power plant license under 10 CFR parts 50, ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' and 54, ``Requirements for 
Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,'' and certain 
applicants under 10 CFR parts 50 and 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, 
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to voluntarily request the 
NRC's review and approval to implement the provisions in Sec.  50.69. 
However, because the ``applicability'' provisions in Sec.  50.69(b) do 
not include COL holders under 10 CFR part 52, they cannot request the 
NRC's review and approval to implement the provisions in Sec.  50.69. 
The petitioner proposed a change to Sec.  50.69 to allow COL holders to 
use the voluntary provisions of this regulation.
    The petitioner asserted that preventing COL holders from using the 
provisions in Sec.  50.69 is inappropriate and provided the following 
arguments in support of its position:
     A COL applicant that requests and receives NRC approval to 
implement the provisions in Sec.  50.69 could later become a COL holder 
and, therefore, would no longer be allowed to use the previous 
approval.
     As written, the regulation denies applicability to plants 
possessing COLs for the life of the plant. A plant that currently holds 
a COL and that has been in operation for 15 years is in all practical 
matters no different than the current operating fleet, which, under the 
current rule language, can implement the provisions in Sec.  50.69.
     Combined license holders must comply with the regulations 
in Sec.  50.71(h)(1) and (2), which require COL holders to produce and 
maintain probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) using NRC-endorsed PRA 
consensus standards. Therefore, under the NRC's existing rules, COL 
holders will possess the necessary PRA infrastructure to implement the 
provisions in Sec.  50.69 effectively. In particular, these plants will 
have developed Level 1 and Level 2 PRAs before fuel load. These PRAs 
will have covered those initiating events and modes for which NRC-
endorsed consensus standards exist. Additionally, the NRC requires 
these plants to periodically (every 4 years) maintain and upgrade the 
PRA consistent with NRC-endorsed consensus standards until the 
permanent cessation of operations under Sec.  52.110(a).

II. Reasons for Consideration

    The NRC agrees that the PRM has technical merit. The NRC will 
consider the issue raised in the PRM in its rulemaking process. The COL 
holders under 10 CFR part 52 currently cannot use the provisions in 
Sec.  50.69 to risk-inform the categorization of SSCs and change the 
treatment of those SSCs.
    The NRC did not receive public comment about the absence of an 
applicability provision in Sec.  50.69 for COL holders in the 2003 
proposed rule (68 FR 26511; May 16, 2003). The final provisions in 
Sec.  50.69 issued on November 22, 2004 (69 FR 68008) retained this 
feature of the proposed rule. In 2007, the NRC issued a final rule to 
revise 10 CFR part 52 (72 FR 49352; August 28, 2007) and left the 
applicability provisions unchanged. Therefore, COL holders currently 
cannot request the NRC's review and approval to implement the 
provisions in Sec.  50.69.
    Upon further consideration, the NRC agrees with the petitioner that 
a nuclear power plant that meets the requirements of Sec.  50.69, 
whether licensed under part 50 or part 52, should have the opportunity 
to implement the provisions in Sec.  50.69. The NRC agrees that all COL 
holders that have developed a PRA under Sec.  50.71(h) should possess 
the necessary PRA infrastructure to support an application for a 
license amendment to use the provisions in Sec.  50.69.
    In 2015, the Commission directed the staff to revise the 
regulations in 10 CFR part 50 for new power reactor applications so 
that they align with the requirements in 10 CFR part 52. In addition, 
the staff was directed to revise the regulations in 10 CFR part 52 to 
reflect lessons learned from recent new reactor licensing 
activities.\3\ The NRC began this rulemaking in fiscal year 2019.
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    \3\ See SECY-15-0002, ``Proposed Updates of Licensing Policies, 
Rules, and Guidance for Future New Reactor Applications,'' dated 
January 8, 2015, and Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM)-SECY-15-
0002, ``Proposed Updates of Licensing Policies, Rules, and Guidance 
for Future New Reactor Applications,'' dated September 22, 2015.
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    Therefore, the NRC will consider the issue raised in PRM-50-110 in 
the ``Incorporation of Lessons Learned From New Reactor Licensing 
Process'' (Parts 50 and 52 Licensing Process Alignment) rulemaking.

III. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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                                                        ADAMS Accession
                      Document                            No. Federal
                                                       Register Citation
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Petition for Rulemaking to Amend 10 CFR 50.69,               ML15037A481
 ``Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of
 Structures, Systems and Components for Nuclear
 Power Reactors,'' dated January 15, 2015...........
Notice of Docketing, ``Applicability of Risk-                80 FR 16308
 Informed Categorization Regulation to Combined
 Licenses,'' dated March 27, 2015...................
Meeting Summary, ``Discussion on the Petition for            ML15268A353
 Rulemaking Related to 10 CFR 50.69, Risk-Informed
 Categorization and Treatment of Structures, Systems
 and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors,'' dated
 September 25, 2015.................................
Petition for Rulemaking, ``Applicability of 10 CFR           ML14056A278
 50.69 to Holders of Combined Operating Licenses
 Under Part 52,'' dated February 25, 2014...........
Proposed Rule, ``Risk-Informed Categorization and            68 FR 26511
 Treatment of Structures, Systems and Components for
 Nuclear Power Reactors; Proposed Rule,'' dated May
 16, 2003...........................................
Final Rule, ``Risk-Informed Categorization and               69 FR 68008
 Treatment of Structures, Systems and Components for
 Nuclear Power Reactors; Final Rule,'' dated
 November 22, 2004..................................

[[Page 66500]]

 
Final Rule, ``Licenses, Certifications, and                  72 FR 49352
 Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants; Final Rule,''
 dated August 28, 2007..............................
SECY-15-0002, ``Proposed Updates of Licensing                ML13281A382
 Policies, Rules, and Guidance for Future New
 Reactor Applications,'' dated January 8, 2015......
SRM-SECY-15-0002, ``Staff Requirements--SECY-15-             ML15266A023
 0002--Proposed Updates of Licensing Policies,
 Rules, and Guidance for Future New Reactor
 Applications,'' dated September 22, 2015...........
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IV. Conclusion

    For the reasons cited in this document, the NRC will consider the 
issue raised in the PRM in an ongoing rulemaking process.
    The NRC tracks the status of PRMs on its website at https:/
www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/rules-petitions.html. In 
addition, the Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov) 
allows you to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a 
docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-
2009-0196); (2) click the ``Email Alert'' link; and (3) enter your 
email address and select how frequently you would like to receive 
emails (daily, weekly, or monthly). As in all rulemakings, the NRC will 
solicit and consider public comments during the proposed rule phase of 
the rulemaking, before determining the approach that will become the 
basis for the final rule. Publication of this document in the Federal 
Register closes Docket ID NRC-2015-0028 for PRM-50-110.

    Dated: October 13, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-23022 Filed 10-19-20; 8:45 am]
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