[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 121 (Monday, June 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34057-34058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13750]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0076]


Volcanic Hazards Assessment for Proposed Nuclear Power Reactor 
Sites

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.26, ``Volcanic Hazards Assessment for Proposed 
Nuclear Power Reactor Sites.'' This RG provides guidance for 
facilitating the NRC staff's review of volcanic hazards assessments 
performed by applicants to support the siting of new nuclear power 
reactors. The RG also provides applicants with the methods and 
approaches the NRC staff considers acceptable for the assessment of 
volcanic hazards in license applications for sites with Quaternary 
volcanoes within the site region or with Quaternary volcanic deposits 
within the site vicinity.

DATES: RG 4.26 is available on June 28, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0076 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-2020-0076. 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. (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    RG 4.26 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML20272A168 and ML20007D618, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenise Thompson, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1811, email: 
[email protected] and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, 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 new 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.
    RG 4.26 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-4028.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-4028 in the 
Federal Register on March 20, 2020 (85 FR 16147) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on May 19, 2020. 
Public comments on DG-4028 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20272A169.

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 and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting as defined in 
section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),

[[Page 34058]]

``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 MD 8.4; or affect issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in this regulatory 
guide, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this regulatory guide.

    Dated: June 23, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Project Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-13750 Filed 6-25-21; 8:45 am]
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