[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17860-17861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07088]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0047]
Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Inservice Testing
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 Revision 1 to draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1286,
``Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Inservice Testing.''
This DG is proposed Revision 1 of RG 1.175, ``An Approach for Plant-
Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Inservice Testing.'' It has
been revised to incorporate additional information since Revision 0 was
issued, particularly information to be consistent with the terminology
and defense-in-depth philosophy provided in RG 1.174, ``An Approach for
Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on
Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' as well as to endorse
a standard by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Code for
Operations and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plant (OM Code).
DATES: Submit comments by May 6, 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-2021-0047. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zeechung Wang, telephone: 301-415-
1686, email: [email protected] and Harriet Karagiannis, telephone:
301-415-2493, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 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-2021-0047 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding 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-2021-0047.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0047 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 enters 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 submissions into ADAMS.
II. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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.
This DG, identified by its task number, Revision 1 to DG-1286,
titled, ``Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Inservice
Testing,'' is a proposed Revision 1 of RG 1.175 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML19240B371). This proposed revision of RG 1.175
[[Page 17861]]
(Revision 1) describes an approach that is acceptable to the staff of
the NRC for developing an alternative request under paragraph
50.55a(z)(1) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to
implement a risk-informed inservice testing (RI-IST) programs and
supplements the guidance provided in RG 1.174, ``An Approach for Using
Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-
Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17317A256). It updates the defense-in-depth philosophy to be
consistent with the philosophy described in RG 1.174. RG 1.174 was
revised in 2018 to expand the meaning of, and the process for,
assessing defense-in-depth considerations. Specifically, this proposed
revision of RG 1.175 references the defense-in-depth guidance in RG
1.174 in several staff regulatory positions.
Additionally, the staff revised this guide to (1) adopt the term
``PRA acceptability,'' and related phrasing variants, instead of terms
such as ``PRA quality,'' ``PRA technical adequacy,'' and ``technical
adequacy'' to describe the appropriateness of the probabilistic risk
assessment (PRA) used to support risk-informed licensing submittals;
(2) update Regulatory Position C.2.3, ``Probabilistic Risk
Assessment,'' of this RG to be consistent with Section C.2.3 in RG
1.174, which provides specific considerations with respect to
determining the acceptability of the PRA used in risk-informed
decisionmaking; and (3) incorporate guidance related to the OM Code
incorporated by reference in 10 CFR 50.55a for the inservice testing of
pumps and valves at commercial nuclear power plants.
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML19240B374). 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
RG 1.175, Revision 1, would provide updated guidance for power
reactor applicants and licensees regarding acceptable methods to the
staff of the NRC for developing RI-IST programs and supplements the
guidance provided in RG 1.174. Issuance of this RG in final form would
not constitute backfitting or forward fitting or affect issue finality
as further discussed below.
The staff does not intend to impose the positions represented in
the draft RG (if finalized) in a manner that would constitute
backfitting or affect the issue finality of a part 52 approval. If, in
the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the draft RG (if
finalized) 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 issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality
provision.
The staff does not intend to impose the positions represented in
the draft RG (if finalized) in a manner that would constitute forward
fitting. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the
draft RG (if finalized) 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: April 1, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edward F. O'Donnell,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-07088 Filed 4-5-21; 8:45 am]
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