[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2361-2362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00686]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Chapter I

[NRC-2021-0173]


Operational Leakage

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; public meeting and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public 
comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) Operational Leakage. 
The NRC staff seeks to clarify regulatory requirements for all 
licensees of boiling and pressurized water reactors that apply to 
operational leakage. This draft RIS is a clarification for the NRC 
requirements for evaluation, control, and treatment of operational 
leakage in systems required to be operable by plant technical 
specifications (TS).

DATES: Submit comments by March 15, 2022. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

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-2021-0173. 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: Brian Benney, telephone: 301-415-2767, 
email: [email protected], and Jay Collins, telephone: 301-415-4038, 
email: [email protected]. Both are staff in the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation at 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-2021-0173 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-2021-0173.
     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 RIS 2022-XX, Operational Leakage, 
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21166A122.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the 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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0173 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 they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. 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. Background

    This RIS is intended for all holders of operating licenses and 
combined licenses for nuclear power reactors, except those who have 
permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been 
permanently removed from the reactor vessel.
    Operational leakage is leakage through a flaw in the pressure 
retaining boundary of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) Code Class 1, 2 or 3 systems, 
structures, and components (SSC) discovered during the operational life 
of the nuclear power plant outside any ASME BPVC-required pressure 
test. The term ``through-wall'' describes a condition that extends from 
one surface to another surface in a component. If through-wall 
operational leakage is observed from an ASME BPVC Class 1, 2 or 3 SSC, 
and the structural integrity of the SSC must be established to conclude 
that the system remains operable, then the methods described in the 
provisions of the applicable inservice inspection requirements, as 
specified in paragraph 50.55a(g) of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, must be used. These methods require analysis in accordance 
with the original construction code, the implementation of an NRC-
approved ASME BPVC Code Case, or Nonmandatory Appendix U of ASME BPVC, 
Section XI, to verify structural integrity or perform a repair/
replacement activity.

[[Page 2362]]

    This RIS emphasizes that operational leakage must be addressed in 
the same manner as leakage detected during an ASME BPVC, Section XI, 
pressure test. That is, when operational leakage is found in a system 
that is within the scope of ASME BPVC, Section XI, and is required to 
be operable by plant TS, the component must be evaluated by the 
licensee for operability. Structural integrity determinations must be 
conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of the original 
construction code, the ASME BPVC, Section XI, or otherwise addressed 
through authorized methods. This entails evaluation in accordance with 
an NRC-approved Code Case; the use of Nonmandatory Appendix U of ASME 
BPVC, Section XI; or a repair/replacement activity.
    The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad 
range of matters. This may include communication and clarification of 
NRC technical or policy positions on regulatory matters that have not 
been communicated to or are not broadly understood by the nuclear 
industry.
    As noted in ``Relocation of Regulatory Issue Summary Notices in the 
Federal Register'' (May 8, 2018, 83 FR 20858), this document is being 
published in the Proposed Rules section of the Federal Register to 
comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR chapter I.

II. Proposed Action

    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. The NRC 
plans to hold a public meeting to discuss this RIS and the issues 
associated with it. Additional details regarding the meeting will be 
posted at least 10 days prior to the public meeting on the NRC's Public 
Meeting Schedule website at https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. All comments that are to receive consideration in 
the final RIS must still be submitted electronically or in writing as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    The NRC staff will make a final determination regarding issuance of 
the RIS after it considers any public comments received in response to 
this request.

    Dated: January 11, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lisa M. Regner,
Chief, Generic Communications and Operating Experience Branch, Division 
of Reactor Oversight, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-00686 Filed 1-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P