[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72641-72642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27688]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0252]


Quality Group Classifications and Standards for Water-, Steam-, 
and Radioactive-Waste-Containing Components of Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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[[Page 72642]]

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 6 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.26 ``Quality Group 
Classifications and Standards for Water-, Steam-, and Radioactive-
Waste-Containing Components of Nuclear Power Plants.'' Revision 6 to RG 
1.26 incorporates additional information that provides guidance for 
alternative quality classification systems for components in light-
water reactor (LWR) nuclear power plants and updates the staff position 
regarding classification of Quality Group C components to reflect the 
latest guidance on systems that contain radioactive material since 
Revision 5 (02/2017), of RG 1.26 was issued. The appendices to this 
revised RG provide guidance for alternative quality classification 
systems for components in LWR nuclear power plants.

DATES: Revision 6 to RG 1.26 is available on December 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0252 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-2020-0252. 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, at 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 6 to RG 1.26 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21232A142 and ML20168A893, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Scarbrough, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2794 email: 
[email protected] or James Steckel, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1026 email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision 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.
    Revision 6 of RG 1.26 was issued with a temporary identification of 
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1371.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of availability of DG-1371 in the 
Federal Register on May 7, 2021 (86 FR 24672) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on July 6, 2021. 
Public comments on DG-1371 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under accession No. ML21235A011.

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

    Revision 6 of RG 1.26 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 the issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in Revision 6 of RG 
1.26, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this RG.

    Dated: December 15, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-27688 Filed 12-21-21; 8:45 am]
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