[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10831-10832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03993]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0194]


Guidance for Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, ``Changes, Tests and 
Experiments,'' at Non-Power Production or Utilization Facilities

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) 2.8 (Revision 0), Guidance for Implementation of 
10 CFR 50.59, ``Changes, Tests and Experiments,'' at Non-Power 
Production or Utilization Facilities. This RG describes an approach 
that is acceptable to the NRC staff to meet the regulatory 
requirements, ``Changes, tests and experiments,'' at a non-power 
production and utilization facility, as defined in RG 2.8.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 2.8 is available on February 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0194 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-2021-0194. 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 2.8 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML22020A292 and ML21243A104, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, email: 
[email protected] and Duane Hardesty, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3724, 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 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 2.8 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-DG-2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21243A103).

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-2007 in the 
Federal Register on November 23, 2021 (86 FR 66464) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on December 23, 2021. 
Public comments on DG-2007 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML22020A296.

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

    The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory 
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the 
NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC 
staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that 
term is 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.'' However, the 
backfitting provisions in 10 CFR 50.109, do not apply to Part 50 
licensees other than power reactors. The regulatory basis for 10 CFR 
50.109 was expressed solely in terms of nuclear power reactors. The 
NRC's Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Policy Statement, 
Proposed Rules, and Final Rules for amendments to 10 CFR 50.109 in the 
1980s involved only nuclear power reactors. As a result, the NRC has 
not applied 10 CFR 50.109 to research reactors, testing facilities, and 
other non-power facilities licensed under 10 CFR part 50 (e.g., ``Final 
Rule; Clarification of Physical Protection Requirements at Fixed 
Sites''). In a 2012 final rule concerning non-power reactors, the NRC 
stated, ``The NRC has determined that the backfit provisions in 10 CFR 
50.109 do not apply to test, research, or training reactors because the 
rulemaking record for 10 CFR 50.109 indicates that the Commission 
intended to apply this provision to only power reactors, and NRC 
practice has been consistent with this rulemaking record'' (``Final 
Rule; Requirements for Fingerprint-Based Criminal History Records 
Checks for Individuals Seeking Unescorted Access to Non-Power 
Reactors'').

V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the 
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs. 
Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public

[[Page 10832]]

website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates and 
enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: February 22, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-03993 Filed 2-24-22; 8:45 am]
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