[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46279-46280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17686]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0153]
Site Characterization Investigations for Nuclear Power Plants
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-1392, ``Site
Characterization Investigations for Nuclear Power Plants.'' It is
proposed Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.132. DG-1392 proposes
guidance on field investigations for determining the geologic,
geotechnical, geophysical, and hydrogeologic characteristics of a
prospective site for engineering analysis and design of nuclear power
plants.
DATES: Submit comments by October 4, 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-2021-0153. 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
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward O'Donnell, telephone: 301-415-
3317, email: [email protected] and Scott Stovall, telephone: 301-
415-
[[Page 46280]]
2405, 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-2021-0153 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-2021-0153.
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]. DG-1392, ``Site Characterization
Investigations for Nuclear Power Plants'' is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML21194A176.
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-2021-0153 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, ``Site Characterization Investigations for
Nuclear Power Plants'' is proposed Revision 3 of RG 1.132, which is
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1392. It proposes
guidance on field investigations for determining the geologic,
geotechnical, geophysical, and hydrogeologic characteristics of a
prospective site for engineering analysis and design of nuclear power
plants.
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis for revision of RG 1.132 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21194A177).
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
Issuance of DG-1392, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting
as that term is defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 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
issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses,
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in
DG-1392, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the
positions set forth in DG-1392.
Dated: August 12, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ronaldo V. Jenkins,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Programs Management Branch,
Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-17686 Filed 8-17-21; 8:45 am]
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