[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 159 (Friday, August 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46888-46889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17916]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0117]
Acceptability of ASME Code Section III, Division 5, High
Temperature Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; draft NUREG; 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-1380 (proposed
Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide [RG] 1.87), ``Acceptability of ASME Code
Section III, Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors''' and accompanying
draft NUREG-2245, ``Technical Review of the 2017 Edition of ASME
Section III, Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors,''' that documents
the NRC staff's review of the 2017 Edition of ASME Section III,
Division 5, certain portions of the 2019 Edition, and associated Code
Cases N-861 and N-862. This DG describes an approach that is acceptable
to the staff of the NRC to meet regulatory requirements for mechanical/
structural integrity of components that operate in elevated temperature
environments and that are subject to time-dependent material properties
and failure modes. It endorses, with conditions, the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME
Code) Section III, ``Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility
Components,'' Division 5, ``High Temperature Reactors.'' The draft
NUREG provides the technical basis for DG-1380.
DATES: Submit comments by October 19, 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-2021-0117. 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: Jeffrey Poehler, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8353, email:
[email protected], Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8113, email: [email protected], and Jordan Hoellman, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-5481, 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-2021-0117 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-2021-0117.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0117 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
[[Page 46889]]
they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submissions.
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 draft guide 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 proposed Revision 2 to RG 1.87, entitled ``Acceptability of
ASME Code Section III, Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors,''' is
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1380 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML21091A276). The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft
regulatory analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML21091A277), and draft NUREG-
2245, ``Technical Review of the 2017 Edition of ASME Section III,
Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors,''' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML21223A097) that documents the NRC staff's review of the 2017 Edition
of ASME Section III, Division 5, certain portions of the 2019 Edition,
and associated Code Cases N-861 and N-862. Code Cases N-872 and N-898
(``the Alloy 617 Code Cases''), approved by ASME in 2020, are not
included in this review and are being considered for endorsement in a
parallel effort.
The NRC published Revision 1 of RG 1.87, ``Guidance for
Construction of Class 1 Components in Elevated-Temperature Reactors,''
in June 1975 to provide licensees and applicants with agency-approved
guidance for complying with paragraph 50.55a of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) ``Codes and standards,'' and General
Design Criterion 1, ``Quality Standards and Records.'' The guide
described interim licensing guidelines to aid applicants in
implementing these requirements with respect to ASME Class 1 components
operating at elevated temperatures. Specifically, the guide approved,
with conditions, the initial versions of five Code Cases namely, Code
Cases 1592-0, 1593-0, 1594-0, 1595-0, and 1596-0. These five Code Cases
are the precursors to the other iterations of ASME's high temperature
construction rules: Code Cases N-47 through N-51; ASME Code, Section
III, Subsection NH; and currently ASME Code, Section III, Division 5.
The current version of RG 1.87 (Revision 1) does not reflect the
changes and updates with respect to modern design, fabrication,
inspection, testing, and overpressure provisions (among others)
addressed by the aforementioned Code iterations, research, and
operating experience.
This revision (Revision 2) updates the guidance to endorse, with
conditions, the 2017 Edition of ASME Code Section III, Division 5, as a
method acceptable to the staff for the materials, mechanical/structural
design, construction, testing, and quality assurance of mechanical
systems and components and their supports of high-temperature reactors.
This revision of the guide also addresses the acceptability of the Code
Cases N-861 and N-862, which are related to Division 5 of the ASME
Code, Section III. Draft NUREG-2245 provides the technical basis for
NRC staff positions stated in the DG, including proposed exceptions and
limitations on the use of Division 5. Additionally, this revision adds
an appendix to the RG namely Appendix A, ``High Temperature Reactor
Quality Group Classification,'' which provides guidance for the quality
group classification of components in non-light water reactor designs.
III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
DG-1380 and NUREG-2245, 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'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087); 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,
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The guidance
would not apply to any current licensees or applicants or existing or
requested approvals under 10 CFR part 52, and therefore its issuance
cannot be a backfit or forward fit or affect issue finality. Further,
as explained in DG-1380, applicants and licensees would not be required
to comply with the positions set forth in DG-1380.
Dated: August 17, 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. 2021-17916 Filed 8-19-21; 8:45 am]
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