[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 230 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76489-76490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26272]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 230 / Monday, November 30, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 76489]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[NRC-2020-0253]


Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Subtask 2A

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Public meeting and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
document for public comments as required by Subtask 2A of the Advanced 
Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) Action Plan, Revision 1. The document 
addresses the application of quality assurance (QA) criteria and NRC's 
requirements in its regulations regarding, ``Changes, Tests and 
Experiments,'' to the implementation of AMT-fabricated components in 
U.S. nuclear power plants.

DATES: Submit comments by January 14, 2021. 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. The NRC will hold a public meeting as an online webinar. See 
Section IV. Public Meeting, of this document for additional 
information.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject); 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-2020-0253. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual 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: Isaac Anchondo-Lopez, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 817-200-1152; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0253 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-2020-0253.
     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]. The draft document entitled 
``Implementation of Quality Assurance Criteria and 10 CFR 50.59 for 
Nuclear Power Plant Components Produced Using Advanced Manufacturing 
Techniques'' can be found by searching for ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20317A005.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2020-0253 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. Background

    The NRC considers AMTs to consist of material processing and 
component fabrication methods that have not been traditionally used in 
the U.S. nuclear industry and have not yet received NRC approval 
through NRC-endorsed codes and standards or the approval of an industry 
submittal. There are several regulatory paths available to a licensee 
for utilizing an AMT in a nuclear application including: (1) 
Development of a Code or Standard that can be incorporated by reference 
in section 50.55a of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR); 
(2) selection of an unregulated in-service application; (3) submission 
of generic technical reports or plant-specific submittals for NRC 
approval; and (4) implementation of the 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 70.72, or 
10 CFR 72.48 process. Industry indicated that plans for the initial 
installation of AMT-fabricated components would involve the 10 CFR 
50.59 process. Therefore, the NRC staff documented a description of the 
processes, consistent with the QA requirements in Appendix B to 10 CFR

[[Page 76490]]

part 50 and in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59, ``Changes, Tests and 
Experiments,'' to support the staff's performance of potential 
inspections of a licensee's implementation of these requirements for 
AMT-fabricated components.

III. Specific Considerations

    This report documents completion of the staff's initial review of 
QA criteria and 10 CFR 50.59 requirements for AMT applications at U.S. 
nuclear power plants. This report does not represent a complete and 
final analysis of all aspects of QA criteria and 10 CFR 50.59 
requirements and guidance that might be applicable to the use of AMT 
components at U.S. nuclear power plants. This report does not create 
new regulatory requirements or establish new regulatory positions with 
respect to the use or manufacture of AMT components for nuclear power 
plants. The scope of this report is limited to the review of existing 
requirements and guidance to address AMT components and the 
consideration of potential regulatory and technical challenges. This 
report may be subject to future revision, as additional insights and 
operating experience for use of AMT components are gained.
    The NRC is requesting general comments on this document to be open 
and transparent in processes involving the installation of AMT-
fabricated components.

IV. Public Meeting

    The NRC plans to hold a public meeting during the public comment 
period for this action. A public meeting is planned for December 2020, 
via webinar. The public meeting will provide forums for the NRC staff 
to discuss issues and questions with members of the public. The NRC 
does not intend to provide any responses to comments submitted during 
the public meeting. The public meeting will be noticed on the NRC's 
public meeting website at least 10 calendar days before the meeting. 
Members of the public should monitor the NRC's public meeting website 
for additional information about the public meetings at https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. The NRC will post 
the notices for the public meetings and webinars and may post 
additional material related to this action to the Federal Rulemaking 
website at https://www.regulations.gov/ under Docket ID NRC-2020-0253. 
The Federal Rulemaking website allows you to receive alerts when 
changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) 
Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2020-0253); (2) click the ``Sign up 
for Email Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select 
how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

    Dated: November 23, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anna H. Bradford,
Director, Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-26272 Filed 11-27-20; 8:45 am]
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