[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0096]
Control of Heavy Loads at Nuclear Facilities
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P