[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4058-4059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01493]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0087]


Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Submittals

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.245 (Revision 0), ``Preparing Probabilistic 
Fracture Mechanics Submittals'' and accompanying NUREG/CR-7278, 
``Technical Basis for the use of Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics in 
Regulatory Applications.'' This RG describes a framework to develop the 
contents of a licensing submittal that the staff of the NRC considers 
acceptable when performing probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) 
analyses in support of regulatory applications. The NUREG provides the 
technical basis for RG 1.245.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 1.245 is available on January 26, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0087 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-2021-0087. 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 Public Document Room (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 1.245, the associated regulatory analysis, and 
NUREG/CR-7278 may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21334A158, 
ML21034A261, and ML22014A406, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Raynaud, telephone: 301-145-
1987, email: [email protected] and Kyle Song, telephone: 301-415-
3612, email: [email protected]. Both are staff in the Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research 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 1.245 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-1382, ADAMS Accession No. ML21034A328.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1382 in the 
Federal Register on September 23, 2021 (86 FR 52927) for a 30-day 
public comment period. The public comment period closed on October 25, 
2021. Public comments and the staff responses to the public comments on 
DG-1382 are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21306A292.

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 and Issue Finality

    RG 1.245 and NUREG/CR-7278 do 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;'' do not constitute forward fitting as that 
term is defined and described in MD 8.4; and do not affect the issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52. As explained in 
RG 1.245, applicants and licensees are not be required to comply with 
the positions set forth in the RG.

    Dated: January 20, 2022.


[[Page 4059]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-01493 Filed 1-25-22; 8:45 am]
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