[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 243 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81958-81959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27717]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2020-0245]
Environmental Qualification of Certain Electrical Equipment
Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1361, ``Environmental
Qualification of Certain Electrical Equipment Important to Safety for
Nuclear Power Plants.'' This draft guide is proposed revision 2 of
regulatory guide (RG) 1.89 of the same name. The proposed revision
describes an approach that is acceptable to the staff of the NRC to
meet regulatory requirements for environmental qualification (EQ) of
certain electric equipment important to safety for nuclear power
plants. The previous revision of RG 1.89 was issued in June 1984 and
endorsed the use of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE) Standard (Std.) 323-1974. This proposed revision incorporates
additional information regarding the dual logo International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)/IEEE Std. 60780-323, ``Nuclear
Facilities--Electrical Equipment Important to Safety--Qualification,''
Edition 1, 2016-02.
DATES: Submit comments by February 16, 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. 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-2020-0245. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9221; 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-7A06, 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: Matthew McConnell, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1597, email:
[email protected], and Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, 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-2020-0245 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-2020-0245.
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].
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-2020-0245 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 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. 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, ``Environmental Qualification of Certain Electrical
Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1361 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML20183A423). DG-1361 is proposed revision 2 of RG 1.89. This revision
of the guide (revision 2) endorses, with clarifications, the
``English'' portion of the dual logo IEC/IEEE Std. 60780-323, Edition
1, 2016-02 as a method acceptable to the NRC for meeting the regulatory
requirements for EQ of certain electric equipment important to safety
for nuclear power plants. This DG applies to licensees and applicants
subject to title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part
50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
[[Page 81959]]
Utilization Facilities,'' and 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses,
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML20192A230). The staff develops a
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
DG-1361, if finalized, would provide the most recent guidance
acceptable to the NRC staff for compliance with 10 CFR 50.49,
``Environmental qualification of electrical equipment important to
safety for nuclear power plants'' for certain electrical equipment
important to safety. Issuance of DG-1361, 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-1361, applicants and licensees would not be required to comply with
the positions set forth in DG-1361.
IV. Specific Requests for Comments
In addition to the general request for comments on DG-1361, the NRC
is also seeking specific comments that address the following question:
In this proposed RG revision, the staff has updated the current
version of the RG (Revision 1) to endorse, with clarifications, IEC/
IEEE Std. 60780-323, Edition 1, 2016-2. The current version of the RG
(Revision 1) endorsed IEEE Std. 323-1974, ``IEEE Standard for
Qualifying Class IE Equipment for Nuclear Power Generating Stations.''
As stated in the Implementation section of the DG, the staff does not
intend to use this RG revision to support NRC staff actions in a manner
that would constitute backfitting or forward fitting or affect the
issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52. Further, licensees
or applicants are not required to comply with the RG. However, does the
staff's proposed endorsement of IEEE Std. 60780-323, Edition 1, 2016-02
raise any concerns related to backfitting, forward fitting, or issue
finality that the staff has not considered?
Dated: December 11, 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. 2020-27717 Filed 12-16-20; 8:45 am]
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