[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15456-15457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05712]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0039]


Dedication of Commercial-Grade Digital Instrumentation and 
Control Items for Use in Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1402, ``Dedication of 
Commercial-Grade Digital Instrumentation and Control Items for Use in 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' This DG is a proposed new regulatory guide for 
the dedication of commercial-grade digital instrumentation and control 
(I&C) items for use in nuclear power plant safety applications.

DATES: Submit comments by April 18, 2022. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 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-2022-0039. 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: Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, email: 
[email protected] and Dinesh Taneja, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0011, email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff members of 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 2022-0039 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 2022-0039.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC 2022-0039 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff 
uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to 
describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Dedication of Commercial-Grade Digital 
Instrumentation and Control Items for Use in Nuclear Power Plants,'' is 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1402 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML22003A180).
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22003A181) for DG-1402. The staff 
developed the regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing DG-
1402 as well as alternative courses of action.
    The draft guide is a proposed new regulatory guide for the 
dedication of commercial-grade digital I&C items for use in nuclear 
power plant safety applications. It endorses, with clarifications, 
Nuclear Energy Institute 17-06, ``Guidance on Using IEC 61508 SIL 
Certification to Support the Acceptance of Commercial Grade Digital

[[Page 15457]]

Equipment for Nuclear Safety Related Applications,'' Revision 1, issued 
December 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21337A380), to supplement existing 
guidance.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC staff may use this regulatory guide 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 
regulatory guide 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,'' nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect 
the issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52. The staff also 
does not intend to use the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a 
manner that constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined and 
described in MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using this 
regulatory guide in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in this 
Implementation section, then the licensee may file a backfitting or 
forward fitting appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in 
MD 8.4.

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

    Dated: March 14, 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. 2022-05712 Filed 3-17-22; 8:45 am]
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