[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 221 (Monday, November 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73089-73090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25175]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2020-0230]
Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants
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-1359, ``Fire Protection
for Nuclear Power Plants.'' This regulatory guide (RG) describes an
approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff to meet the regulatory
requirements in the NRC's regulations governing a civilian nuclear
power generating plant's fire protection program (FPP).
DATES: Submit comments by December 31, 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;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking website:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0230. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in
[[Page 73090]]
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: Shivani Mehta, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0860, email:
[email protected]; Charles Moulton, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2751, email: [email protected]; or
Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-
415-3104, email: [email protected]. All 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-2020-0230 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-2020-0230.
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 reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by
email to [email protected].
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and purchase
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2020-0230 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.
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 ``Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1359 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML20231A835). The draft guide DG-1359 is a proposed Revision 4 of RG
1.189. This revision of the guide (Revision 4) addresses new issues
identified since the guide was previously revised and released in 2018.
This includes incorporation of the latest guidance on fire-induced
circuit failures, multiple high impedance failures, open secondary
circuits on current transformers, and shorting switches. Updates also
include partial endorsements of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 00-01,
``Guidance for Post Fire Safe Shutdown Circuit Analysis,'' Revision 4,
issued September 2016, and guidance based on NUREG/CR-7150, ``Joint
Assessment of Cable Damage and Quantification of Effects from Fire
(JACQUE-FIRE),'' Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML12313A105,
ML14141A129, and ML17331B098.)
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML20231A874). The staff develops a
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.
II. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
DG-1359, if finalized, would provide the most recent guidance
acceptable to the NRC staff for compliance with section 50.48(a) and
(b) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and 10 CFR
part 50, appendix R, ``Fire Protection Program for Nuclear Power
Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 1979.'' Issuance of DG-1359,
if finalized, would not constitute backfitting, as that term is defined
in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC Management
Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue
Finality, and Information Requests''; constitute forward fitting, as
that term is defined and described in Management Directive 8.4; or
affect the issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52.
As explained in DG-1359, applicants and licensees would not be required
to comply with the positions set forth in DG-1359.
Dated: November 9, 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. 2020-25175 Filed 11-13-20; 8:45 am]
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