[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 218 (Monday, November 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68202-68203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24663]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0162]


Safety Review of Light-Water Power Reactor Construction Permit 
Applications

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) ``Safety Review of Light-Water Power 
Reactor Construction Permit Applications'' to clarify existing guidance 
and to assist the NRC staff in determining whether an application to 
construct a light-water power reactor (LWR) facility meets the minimum 
requirements to issue a construction permit (CP). The NRC anticipates 
the submission of power reactor CP applications in the next few years 
based on preapplication engagement initiated by several prospective 
applicants. This guidance is applicable to all applicants for a CP for 
a light-water power reactor but not to non-LWR applicants or those 
following the Advanced Reactor Content of Application Project (ARCAP) 
guidance to the extent the guidance is issued as final and is relevant 
to the application from a technical and regulatory perspective.

DATES: This guidance is effective on December 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0162 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-2021-0162. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual 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 final ISG for the ``Safety Review 
of Light-Water Power Reactor Construction Permit Applications'' is 
available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML22189A097.
     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. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Lauron, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-2736, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 14, 2021 (86 FR 71101) and May 6, 2022, (87 FR 27195), 
the staff requested public comments on the draft ISG, DNRL-ISG-2022-XX, 
``Safety Review of Light-Water Power-Reactor Construction Permit 
Applications.'' The NRC issued the draft ISG in anticipation of the 
submission of power-reactor CP applications within the next few years 
based on preapplication engagement initiated by several prospective 
applicants. The review of these applications falls within the two-step 
licensing process under part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and 
Utilization Facilities,'' and involves the issuance of a CP before an 
operating license (OL).
    The NRC last issued a power reactor CP in the 1970s. Most recently, 
the NRC issued combined construction and operating licenses (combined 
licenses (COLs)) for power reactors through the one step licensing 
process under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' using the guidance in NUREG-0800, 
``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for 
Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition'' (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/cover/index.html); and Regulatory 
Guide (RG) 1.206, ``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power 
Plants (LWR Edition),'' issued June 2007 (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML070720184). The NRC has periodically updated some of the standard 
review plan (SRP) guidance and issued Revision 1 to RG 1.206, 
``Applications for Nuclear Power Plants,'' in October 2018 (ADAMS 
Package Accession No. ML18131A181).
    The licensing process under 10 CFR part 50 allows an applicant to 
begin construction with preliminary design information instead of the 
final design required for a COL under 10 CFR part 52. Although the two-
step licensing process provides flexibility and allows a more limited 
safety review before construction, the design has less finality before 
the applicant commits to construction of the facility. The final safety 
analysis report (FSAR) submitted with the OL application should 
describe in detail the final design of the facility as constructed; 
identify the changes from the criteria, design, and bases in

[[Page 68203]]

the CP preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR); and discuss the bases 
for, and safety significance of, the changes from the PSAR. Before 
issuing an OL, the NRC staff will review the applicant's final design 
in the FSAR to determine whether all the Commission's safety 
requirements have been met.
    The SRP contains the NRC staff review guidance for light-water 
power reactor applications submitted under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR 
part 52. In addition to the CP review guidance in the SRP, RG 1.70, 
``Standard Format and Content of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear 
Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' Revision 3, issued November 1978 (ADAMS 
Package Accession No. ML011340122), offers some insights on the level 
of detail that is required for the PSAR in support of the CP 
application, but these insights may be limited to the degree that the 
guidance does not account for subsequent requirements, NRC technical 
positions, or advances in technical knowledge. Regulatory Guide 1.206 
provides guidance for 10 CFR part 52 applications, including for early 
site permits and COLs, and includes insights on the level of detail 
needed for final design information if the CP applicant chooses to 
provide such information. The final ISG discusses the use of these 
guidance documents and supplements the guidance in the SRP.
    The NRC recently issued CPs for two nonpower production and 
utilization facilities--SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc., and Northwest 
Medical Isotopes, LLC. Some of the lessons learned from these reviews 
are applicable to the review of power-reactor CP applications, as 
discussed in the final ISG. The final ISG also discusses other issues 
pertinent to the safety review of CP applications for light-water power 
reactors, including the benefits accruing from preapplication 
engagement, the relationship between the CP and OL reviews, the NRC's 
approach for reviewing applications incorporating prior NRC approvals, 
the potential effect of ongoing regulatory activities on CP reviews, 
and licensing requirements for source, byproduct, and special nuclear 
material.
    The comments received by the NRC on the draft ISG are identified, 
summarized, and considered in Appendix C, ``Analysis of Public Comments 
on Draft Interim Staff Guidance DNRL-ISG-2022-XX, Safety Review of 
Light-Water Power-Reactor Construction Permit Applications'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML22189A100).

II. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    This ISG provides guidance for the NRC staff review of light-water 
power reactor construction permit applications. Issuance of this final 
ISG would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the 
Backfit Rule) and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4, 
``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and 
Information Requests''; would not affect the issue finality of an 
approval under 10 CFR part 52; and would not constitute forward fitting 
as that term is defined and described in Management Directive 8.4. The 
staff's position is based upon the following considerations:
    The final ISG positions would not constitute backfitting or forward 
fitting or affect issue finality, inasmuch as the ISG would be internal 
guidance to NRC staff. The ISG provides interim guidance to the staff 
on how to review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form 
of licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance, without further NRC 
action, are not matters that meet the definition of backfitting or 
forward fitting or affect the issue finality of a Part 52 approval.
    Backfitting and issue finality--with certain exceptions discussed 
in this section--do not apply to current or future CP applicants. CP 
applicants and potential CP applicants are not, with certain 
exceptions, the subject of either the Backfit Rule or any issue 
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the 
Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52 were 
intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the 
expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the 
general principle, as applicable to guidance for CP applications, are 
whenever a 10 CFR part 50 CP applicant references a license (e.g., an 
early site permit) or an NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design 
certification rule) (or both) for which specified issue finality 
provisions apply. The NRC staff does not currently intend to impose the 
positions represented in this ISG in a manner that constitutes 
backfitting or is inconsistent with any issue finality provision of 10 
CFR part 52. If in the future the NRC staff seeks to impose positions 
stated in this ISG in a manner that would constitute backfitting or be 
inconsistent with these issue finality provisions, the NRC staff must 
make the requisite showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or address 
the regulatory criteria set forth in the applicable issue finality 
provision, as applicable, that would allow the staff to impose the 
position.
    Forward fitting--The Commission's forward fitting policy generally 
does not apply when an applicant files an initial licensing action for 
a new facility. Nevertheless, the staff does not, at this time, intend 
to impose the positions represented in the final ISG in a manner that 
would constitute forward fitting.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This ISG 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.

    Dated: November 7, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bernadine I. Thomson,
Deputy Director, Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-24663 Filed 11-10-22; 8:45 am]
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