[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21221-21222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07654]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0083]


Qualification of Class 1E Connection Assemblies for Production 
and Utilization Facilities

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 a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1400, ``Qualification 
of Class 1E Connection Assemblies for Production and Utilization 
Facilities.'' This DG is the proposed Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide 
(RG) 1.156. Methods described in RG 1.156 are acceptable to the NRC 
staff pertaining to the environmental qualification of connectors, 
terminations, and environmental seals in combination with cables or 
wires as assemblies for service in nuclear power plants to ensure that 
the connection assemblies can perform their safety functions.

DATES: Submit comments by May 11, 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-2022-0083. 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: James Steckel, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1026, email: 
[email protected]; and Sheila Ray, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3653, 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-2022-0083 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-2022-0083.
     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]. DG-1400, ``Qualification of Class 1E 
Connection Assemblies for Production and Utilization Facilities,'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21288A562. The staff is also 
issuing for public comment a draft regulatory analysis for DG-1400 
under ADAMS Accession No. ML21288A561.
     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.

[[Page 21222]]

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0083 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 ``Qualification of Class 1E Connection Assemblies 
for Production and Utilization Facilities,'' is temporarily identified 
by its task number, DG-1400.
    Production and utilization facilities licensed under part 50 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities'' and 10 CFR part 
52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power 
Plants'' are required to demonstrate and document for Class 1E 
electrical connection assemblies and environmental seals in combination 
with cables or wires as assemblies for the ability of this equipment to 
perform safety functions under applicable service conditions, including 
design-basis events. Proposed Revision 2 provides updated information 
on state-of-the-art environmental qualification methodologies for 
production and utilization facilities.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML21288A561). The staff developed a 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a 
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-1400, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests''; would not constitute forward fitting as that term is 
defined and described in MD 8.4; and would not affect issue finality of 
any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, 
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in DG-1400, 
applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the positions 
set forth in DG-1400.

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.html. 
Suggestions will be considered in future updates and enhancements to 
the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: April 5, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Projects Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-07654 Filed 4-8-22; 8:45 am]
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