[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 212 (Thursday, November 3, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66227-66228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23572]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 212 / Thursday, November 3, 2022 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 66227]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2021-0166]


Acceptability of ASME Code, Section XI, Division 2, `Requirements 
for Reliability and Integrity Management (RIM) Programs for Nuclear 
Power Plants,' for Non-Light Water Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.246, ``Acceptability of ASME Code, Section XI, 
Division 2, `Requirements for Reliability and Integrity Management 
(RIM) Programs for Nuclear Power Plants,' for Non-Light Water 
Reactors.'' This RG describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC 
staff for the development and implementation of a preservice inspection 
(PSI) and inservice inspection (ISI) program for non-light water 
reactors (non-LWRs). It endorses, with conditions, the 2019 Edition of 
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure 
Vessel Code (ASME Code), Section XI, ``Rules for Inservice Inspection 
of Nuclear Power Plant Components,'' Division 2, for non-LWR 
applications. This RG also describes a method that applicants can use 
to incorporate PSI and ISI programs into a licensing basis.

DATES: RG 1.246 is available on November 3, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0166 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-2021-0166. 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 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    RG 1.246 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML22061A244 and ML21120A192, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret Audrain, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2133, email: 
[email protected]; Stephen Philpott, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2365, email: [email protected]; 
and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 
telephone: 301-415-8113, email: Robert Roche-Rivera. All are staff 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 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.
    RG 1.246 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-1383 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21120A185).

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1383 in the 
Federal Register on September 30, 2021 (86 FR 54253) for a 45-day 
public comment period. The public comment period closed on November 15, 
2021. Public comments on DG-1383 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML22061A253.

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

    Issuance of RG 1.246 does 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'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087); constitute 
forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4; or 
affect the issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, 
``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As 
explained in RG 1.246, applicants and licensees are not required to 
comply with the positions set forth in RG 1.246.

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 website at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-

[[Page 66228]]

rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be 
considered in future updates and enhancements to the ``Regulatory 
Guide'' series.

    Dated: October 25, 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. 2022-23572 Filed 11-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P