[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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