[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40661-40662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16096]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0141]


Evaluating the Habitability of a Nuclear Power Plant Control Room 
During a Postulated Hazardous Chemical Release

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 a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1387, ``Evaluating the 
Habitability of a Nuclear Power Plant Control Room during a Postulated 
Hazardous Chemical Release.'' This DG is a proposed Revision 2 to 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.78, which describes an approach that is 
acceptable to the NRC staff to meet regulatory requirements for 
evaluating the habitability of a nuclear power plant control room 
during a postulated hazardous chemical release. Releases of hazardous 
chemicals, onsite or off-site, can result in the nearby control room 
becoming uninhabitable.

DATES: Submit comments by August 27, 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-2021-0141. 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 obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the

[[Page 40662]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Casper Sun, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1646, email: [email protected]; Michael 
Eudy, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, 
email: [email protected]; or Kyle Song, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-3637, email: [email protected]. All are 
staff of the 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-2021-0141, facility name, unit 
number(s), docket number(s), application date, and subject, if 
applicable, when contacting the NRC about the availability of 
information for 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-2021-0141.
     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 the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0141 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 enter 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 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.
    The DG entitled, ``Evaluating the Habitability of a Nuclear Power 
Plant Control Room during a Postulated Hazardous Chemical Release,'' is 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1387 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML21119A157). The proposed revision of this guide (Revision 2) presents 
up-to-date and defense-in-depth guidance using the latest scientific 
methods and the updated, NRC-endorsed computer code for control room 
habitability evaluation called HABIT. HABIT is an integrated set of 
computer codes that the NRC uses to evaluate control room habitability 
and estimate the control room personnel's exposure to a chemical 
release. DG-1387 describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC 
staff to meet the requirements of part 50 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic licensing of production and 
utilization facilities,'' appendix A, ``General Design Criteria for 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' General Design Criterion 19, ``Control Room,'' 
for evaluating the habitability of a nuclear power plant control room 
during a postulated hazardous chemical release.
    Revision 1 of RG 1.78 endorsed an earlier version of the HABIT 
code, which is described in NUREG/CR-6210, Supplement 1, ``Computer 
Codes for Evaluation of Control Room Habitability (HABIT V1.1),'' 
issued October 1998 (ADAMS Accession No. ML063480558). More recently, 
the NRC staff endorsed a newer version of the HABIT code in NUREG-2244, 
``HABIT 2.2: Description of Models and Methods,'' issued May 2021 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML21120A069). NUREG-2244 is incorporated into 
Revision 2 of this proposed guide.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML21119A159). The staff developed the 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of revising RG 1.78 as well as 
alternative courses of action.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-1387, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC 
Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward 
Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests''; would not 
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, ``Licenses, certifications, and approvals for nuclear power 
reactors.'' As explained in DG-1387, applicants and licensees would not 
be required to comply with the positions set forth in DG-1387.

    Dated: July 23, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-16096 Filed 7-27-21; 8:45 am]
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