[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 102 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28915-28916]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11297]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0231]


Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Fire Protection for Existing 
Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide (RG), RG 1.205, ``Risk-Informed, 
Performance-Based Fire

[[Page 28916]]

Protection for Existing Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants''. This RG 
describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff to meet the 
regulatory requirements in the NRC's regulations and the National Fire 
Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 805, ``Performance-Based 
Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric 
Generating Plants,'' 2001 Edition, which is incorporated by reference 
in the NRC's regulations.

DATES: Revision 2 to RG 1.205 is available on May 28, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0231 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-2020-0231. 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.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     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 2 to RG 1.205 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21048A448 and ML20231A891, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, email: 
[email protected] and Charles Moulton, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2715, 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 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 2 to RG 1.205 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1360. This revision of the guide 
(Revision 2) addresses new information identified since the guide was 
previously revised in 2009. This RG updates the previous staff 
positions and endorsements made regarding earlier versions of Nuclear 
Energy Institute (NEI) guidance documents, NEI-04-02, ``Guidance for 
Implementing a Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Fire Protection Program 
Under 10 CFR 50.48(c),'' and NEI 00-01, ``Guidance for Post Fire Safe 
Shutdown Circuit Analysis.'' This revision endorses NEI 04-02, Revision 
3, issued 2019, and portions of NEI-00-01, Revision 4, issued 2019, and 
includes guidance concerning fire-induced circuit failures.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1360 in the 
Federal Register on November 16, 2020 (85 FR 73088) for a 45-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on December 31, 2020. 
Public comments on DG-1360 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21048A449.

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 1.205, Revision 2, would incorporate the latest information 
concerning risk-informed, performance-based fire protection programs 
and supporting guidance. Issuance of RG 1.205, Revision 2, would not 
constitute backfitting, as that term is defined in section 50.109 of 
title 10 of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), ``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. As explained in RG 1.205, Revision 2, 
applicants and licensees would not be required to comply with the 
positions set forth in RG 1.205, Revision 2.

    Dated: May 24, 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. 2021-11297 Filed 5-27-21; 8:45 am]
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