[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7839-7840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02518]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 25 / Tuesday, February 7, 2023 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 7839]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2021-0117]


Acceptability of ASME Code, Section III, Division 5, High 
Temperature Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; NUREG; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.87, ``Acceptability of ASME 
Code, Section III, Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors.' '' This RG 
describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff to assure the 
mechanical/structural integrity of components that operate in elevated 
temperature environments and that are subject to time-dependent 
material properties and failure modes. It endorses, with exceptions and 
limitations, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler 
and Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code (ASME Code) Section III, ``Rules for 
Construction of Nuclear Facility Components,'' Division 5, ``High 
Temperature Reactors,'' and Code Cases N-861, N-862, N-872, and N-898. 
The NRC is also issuing NUREG-2245, ``Technical Review of the 2017 
Edition of ASME Section III, Division 5, `High Temperature Reactors,' 
'' that documents the NRC staff's review of the 2017 Edition of ASME 
Section III, Division 5, certain portions of the 2019 Edition, and Code 
Cases N-861 and N-862. The technical basis for the NRC's endorsement of 
Code Cases N-872 and N-898 is contained in Technical Letter Report 
(TLR)-RES/DE/REB-2022-01, ``Review of Code Cases Permitting Use of 
Nickel-Based Alloy 617 in Conjunction with ASME Section III, Division 
5.''

DATES: Revision 2 to RG 1.87 is available on February 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0117 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-2021-0117. 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.
    Revision 2 to RG 1.87 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML22101A263 and ML21091A277, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Poehler, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8353, email: 
[email protected] and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8113, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision 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 proposed Revision 2 to RG 1.87 was issued with a temporary 
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1380. This revision 
(Revision 2) updates the guidance to endorse, with exceptions and 
limitations, the 2017 Edition of ASME Code Section III, Division 5, as 
a method acceptable to the staff for the materials, mechanical/
structural design, construction, testing, and quality assurance of 
mechanical systems and components and their supports of high-
temperature reactors. The NRC staff is also endorsing use of certain 
values in the 2019 Edition of ASME Code, Section II, ``Materials,'' 
Part D, ``Properties (Metric)'' and Mandatory Appendix HBB-I-14 of the 
2019 Edition of the ASME Code, Section III, Division 5 for limited use. 
This revision of the guide also endorses the Code Cases N-861, N-862, 
N-872, and N-898 related to ASME Code, Section III, Division 5. The 
technical basis for NRC's endorsement of the ASME Code Section III, 
Division 5, and code cases N-861 and N-862 is contained in NUREG-2245. 
The technical basis for the NRC's endorsement of Code Cases N-872 and 
N-898 is contained in Technical Letter Report (TLR)-RES/DE/REB-2022-01, 
``Review of Code Cases Permitting Use of Nickel-Based Alloy 617 in 
Conjunction with ASME Section III, Division 5,'' dated January 31, 
2022. In addition to the above, Revision 2 to RG 1.87 provides guidance 
for the quality group classification of components in non-LWR designs.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1380 in the 
Federal

[[Page 7840]]

Register on August 20, 2021 (86 FR 46888) for a 60-day public comment 
period. The public comment period closed on October 19, 2021. 
Subsequent to the public comment period for DG-1380, the NRC staff 
completed its review of Code Cases N-872 and N-898, related to the use 
of Nickel-Based Alloy 617. On March 1, 2022, the NRC staff issued a 
supplemental Federal Register notice (87 FR 11490) to DG-1380 
requesting public comment on the staff's proposed endorsement of Code 
Cases N-872 and N-898. Public comments on DG-1380 and the staff 
responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS (see the 
``Availability of Documents'' table in section IV).
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Rules'' section of the 
Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR 
chapter I.

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

    RG 1.87, Revision 2, 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''; 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.''
    The guidance does not apply to any current licensees or applicants 
or existing or requested approvals under 10 CFR part 52, and therefore, 
its issuance cannot be a backfit or forward fit or affect issue 
finality. Further, as explained in RG 1.87, Revision 2, applicants and 
licensees are not required to comply with the positions set forth in RG 
1.87, Revision 2.

V. Availability of Documents

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Document                        ADAMS accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
RG 1.87, Revision 2, ``Acceptability    ML22101A263.
 of ASME Code, Section III, Division
 5, `High Temperature Reactors,' ''
 dated January 2023.
Regulatory Analysis for RG 1.87,        ML21091A277.
 Revision 2.
DG-1380 (Proposed Revision 2 to RG      ML21091A276.
 1.87), ``Acceptability of ASME Code,
 Section III, Division 5, `High
 Temperature Reactors,' '' dated
 August 2021.
NUREG-2245, ``Technical Review of the   ML23030B636.
 2017 Edition of ASME Section III,
 Division 5, `High Temperature
 Reactors,' '' dated January 2023.
TLR-RES/DE/REB-2022-01, ``Review of     ML22031A137.
 Code Cases Permitting Use of Nickel-
 Based Alloy 617 in Conjunction with
 ASME Section III, Division 5,'' dated
 January 31, 2022.
Response to Public Comments on DG-      ML22101A267.
 1380, dated January 2023.
MD 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting,    ML18093B087.
 Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and
 Information Requests,'' dated
 September 20, 2019.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. 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: February 1, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-02518 Filed 2-6-23; 8:45 am]
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