[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2463-2464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00334]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0183]


Fire Protection Program for Nuclear Power Plants During 
Decommissioning

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.191, ``Fire Protection Program 
for Nuclear Power Plants During Decommissioning.'' Revision 1 of RG 
1.191 addresses new information identified since Revision 0 of this 
guide was issued. The guidance in Revision 0 of the RG does not include 
guidance for plants that have transitioned to the National Fire 
Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 805, ``Performance-Based 
Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric 
Generating Plants,'' 2001 Edition.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.191 is available on January 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0183 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-2020-0183. 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].
     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 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Revision 1 to RG 1.191 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML20287A199 and ML20078K925, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naeem Iqbal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3346, email: [email protected], and 
Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 
301-415-3346, 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 revision to an existing 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.
    Revision 1 of RG 1.191 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1370. It addressed new information 
identified since Revision 0 of this guide was issued. The guidance in 
Revision 0 of the RG does not include guidance for plants that have 
transitioned to the NFPA 805, 2001 Edition.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1370 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML20078K920), in the Federal Register on August 11, 2020 
(85 FR 48573), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment 
period closed on October 13, 2020. Public comments on DG-1370 and the 
staff responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML20287A198.

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

    Revision 1 of RG 1.191 describes methods acceptable to the NRC 
staff for

[[Page 2464]]

complying with the NRC's regulations for fire protection programs for 
licensees that have certified that their plants have permanently ceased 
operations and that the fuel has been permanently removed from the 
reactor vessels.
    The staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the RG in a manner that would constitute backfitting or 
affect the issue finality of a part 52 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations approval. If, in the future, the staff seeks to 
impose a position in the RG in a manner that constitutes backfitting or 
does not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue 
finality provision, then the staff would need to address the backfit 
rule or the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the 
applicable issue finality provision.
    The staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the RG in a manner that would constitute forward 
fitting. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the 
RG in a manner that constitutes forward fitting, then the staff would 
need to address the forward fitting criteria in Management Directive 
8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and 
Information Requests'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087).

    Dated: January 6, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-00334 Filed 1-11-21; 8:45 am]
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