[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 235 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78879-78880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26844]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2018-0137]
Licensee Actions to Address Nonconservative Technical
Specifications
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.239, ``Licensee Actions to Address
Nonconservative Technical Specifications.'' This RG endorses the
guidance in NEI 15-03, Revision 3, ``Licensee Actions to Address
Nonconservative Technical Specifications,'' as a method acceptable to
the NRC staff for licensee actions to address nonconservative technical
specifications.
DATES: RG 1.239 is available on December 7, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0137 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0137. Address
questions about 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.
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]. 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.
RG 1.239 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under
Accession Nos. ML20294A510 and ML18086A685, respectively.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawn Williams, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1009, email:
[email protected] and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8113, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a new guide in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide''
series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the
public information regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC
staff for implementing specific parts of the agency's regulations,
techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating specific issues or
postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs in its review of
applications for permits and licenses.
RG 1.239 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft
Regulatory Guide, DG-1351 and related regulatory analysis. This RG
provides guidance for licensee compliance with the technical
specification requirements in section 50.36 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Technical specifications,'' the
reporting requirements in 10 CFR 50.72, ``Immediate notification
requirements for operating nuclear power reactors'' and 10 CFR 50.73,
``Licensee event report system,'' and the quality assurance
requirements in Criterion XVI of 10 CFR part 50, appendix B,
``Corrective Action''. This RG endorses NEI 15-03, Revision 3.
With the issuance of RG 1.239, the NRC is withdrawing
Administrative Letter (AL) 98-10, ``Dispositioning of Technical
Specifications That Are Insufficient to Assure Plant Safety.'' The
information in AL 98-10 is encompassed in RG 1.239.
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1351 in the
Federal Register on July 5, 2018 (83 FR 31429) for a 60-day public
comment period, and it proposed to endorse NEI 15-03, Revision 2, with
exceptions and clarifications. The public comment period closed on
September 4, 2018. Public comments on DG-1351 and the staff responses
to the public comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML19267A108.
On October 17, 2019, the NRC staff held a public meeting to discuss
the staff's disposition of public comments on DG-1351. Subsequently, by
letter dated April 9, 2020, the NEI submitted Revision 3 of NEI 15-03
to address the exceptions and clarifications in DG-1351. The NRC review
of the April 9, 2020, submittal determined that NEI 15-03, as revised,
is acceptable and addresses the exceptions and clarifications in DG-
1351. As a result, the NRC revised DG-1351 to remove the exceptions and
clarifications and published a notice of the availability of DG-1351,
Revision 1 in the Federal
[[Page 78880]]
Register on August 26, 2020 (85 FR 52643) for a 30-day public comment
period. The public comment period closed on September 25, 2020. Two
public comment submissions were received by the end of the public
comment period. These comment submissions expressed agreement with the
DG-1351, Revision 1 and recommended final issuance of the RG.
III. Congressional Review Act
This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.
IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
RG 1.239 provides guidance on licensee actions to address
nonconservative technical specifications. Issuance of RG 1.239 does not
constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,''
and as described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information
Requests;'' constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and
described in MD 8.4; or affect the issue finality of any approval
issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals
for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in this RG, applicants and
licensees are not required to comply with the positions set forth in
this RG.
V. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS under the respective ADAMS Accession
numbers identified in the table.
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Document ADAMS accession No.
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RG 1.239, Licensee Actions to Address ML20294A510
Nonconservative Technical Specifications..
DG-1351, Dispositioning of Technical ML18086A690
Specifications that are Insufficient to
Ensure Plant Safety, July 2018.
Regulatory Analysis, Draft Regulatory Guide, ML18086A685
DG-1351..
DG-1351, Revision 1, Licensee Actions to ML20142A489
Address Nonconservative Technical
Specifications, August 2020.
NEI 15-03, Revision 2, Licensee Actions to ML17276A642
Address Nonconservative Technical
Specifications, September 2017.
Summary of October 17, 2019, Meeting with ML19298B110
NEI Regarding DG-1351..
Draft NRC Staff Responses to Public Comments ML19267A108
on DG[dash]1351..
NEI 15-03, Revision 3, Licensee Actions to ML20100G899
Address Nonconservative Technical (Package)
Specifications, March 2020.
Comment (1) of Brian Mann on Licensee ML20247J650
Actions to Address Nonconservative
Technical Specifications.
Comment (2) of Timothy Riti on behalf of ML20255A302
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on Licensee
Actions to Address Nonconservative
Technical Specifications.
Management Directive 8.4, Management of ML18093B087
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue
Finality, and Information Requests.
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Dated: December 2, 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. 2020-26844 Filed 12-4-20; 8:45 am]
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