[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72287-72288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27550]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0096]


Control of Heavy Loads at Nuclear Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Regulatory

[[Page 72288]]

Guide (RG) 1.244 (Revision 0), ``Control of Heavy Loads at Nuclear 
Facilities.'' RG 1.244 is a new regulatory guide to endorse selected 
national consensus standards related to heavy load handling that 
replace NRC technical reports. The national consensus standards provide 
greater flexibility in the selection of lifting equipment and have 
incorporated recent operating experience to provide a more accurate 
risk-informed perspective of heavy load handling activities.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 1.244 is available on December 21, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0096 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-2021-0096. 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.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[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.
    Revision 0 to RG 1.244 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21006A346 and ML21006A337, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven R. Jones, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2712, email: 
[email protected]; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-1067, email: [email protected]. 
Both are staff members at 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 1.244 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-1381, ADAMS Accession No, ML21006A335.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1381 in the 
Federal Register on May 5, 2021 (86 FR 23750) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period was extended and closed on 
July 5, 2021. Public comments and the staff responses to the public 
comments on DG-1381 are available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML21244A455.
    This new regulatory guide provides guidance for control of heavy 
loads at nuclear facilities to provide reasonable assurance safety 
functions would be accomplished following handling system equipment 
failure. The NRC has provided guidance in technical reports NUREG-0612, 
``Control of Heavy Loads in Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated August 1980 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML070250180) and NUREG-0554, ``Single Failure-
Proof Cranes for Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated May 1979 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML110450636). However, this guidance has not been updated 
and does not reflect a current risk-informed perspective regarding 
heavy load handling activities. To provide updated guidance, the NRC is 
issuing RG 1.244 which endorses, with clarifications, the following 
consensus standards:
     American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Standard 
(Std.) NML-1, ``Rules for the Movement of Loads Using Overhead Handling 
Equipment in Nuclear Facilities,'' 2019.
     ASME Std. NOG-1, ``Rules for Construction of Overhead and 
Gantry Cranes (Top Running Bridge, Multiple Girder),'' 2020.
     ASME Std. BTH-1, ``Design of Below-the-Hook Lifting 
Devices,'' 2017, Chapters 1 through 3.
    The use of consensus standards where available is consistent with 
NRC Commission Policy and provides updated information reflecting 
operating experience.

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, Forward Fitting, 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), 
``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 this regulatory 
guide, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this regulatory guide.

    Dated: December 15, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-27550 Filed 12-20-21; 8:45 am]
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