[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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