[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 29 (Monday, February 13, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9105-9106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02958]



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 Rules and Regulations
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 29 / Monday, February 13, 2023 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 9105]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2022-0083]


Qualification of Connection Assemblies for Production and 
Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.156, ``Qualification of 
Connection Assemblies for Production and Utilization Facilities.'' This 
revised guide was updated to endorse ``Institute of Electrical and 
Electronics Engineers'' Std. 572-2019 to provide the latest technical 
information on approaches to satisfy the qualification requirements for 
connection assemblies. This includes guidance that when used in 
conjunction with the guidance in RG 1.89, ``Environmental Qualification 
of Certain Electric Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power 
Plants,'' provides an acceptable method of demonstrating compliance 
with the NRC regulations pertaining to the environmental qualification 
of connectors, terminations, and environmental seals in combination 
with cables or wires as assemblies for service in production and 
utilization facilities to ensure that the connection assemblies can 
perform their safety functions. Further, the revised guide modifies the 
title of the RG to include other nuclear facilities, as discussed in 
the RG Section A, under Applicability.

DATES: Revision 2 of RG 1.156 is available on February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0083 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-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.
     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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
    Revision 2 of RG 1.156 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22255A125 and ML21288A561, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ahsan Sallman, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2380, email: 
[email protected], and James Steckel, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-1026, 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 to an existing 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.
    The proposed Revision 2 of RG 1.156 was issued with a temporary 
identification number of DG-1400 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21288A562).
    Revision 2 of RG 1.156 describes basic procedures for qualifying 
connection assemblies (e.g., connectors, terminations, and 
environmental seals in combination with related cables or wires as 
assemblies). The qualification requirements in this standard, when used 
in conjunction with RG 1.89 (ADAMS Accession No. ML003740271) allow an 
applicant or licensee to demonstrate and document the ability of the 
equipment to perform safety functions under applicable service 
conditions, including design-basis events. Additionally, Revision 2 of 
RG 1.156 modifies the title of the RG to include other nuclear 
facilities, as discuss in the RG Section A, under Applicability.

II. Additional Information

    In January 2017 the staff conducted a periodic review of Revision 1 
to RG 1.156, and on January 17, 2017, the staff reported the results of 
the periodic review, ``Results of Periodic Review of Regulatory Guide 
1.156,'' (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML16350A346). Based on the 
results of the periodic review, the staff concluded that there were no 
technical issues for staff to address related to the periodic review of 
RG 1.156, Revision 1, and no changes to RG 1.156, Revision 1, were 
warranted.
    The NRC published a notice of availability of DG-1400 in the 
Federal Register on April 11, 2022 (87 FR 21221) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period ended May 11, 2022. Public 
comments and staff responses to those comments are available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML22224A053.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this

[[Page 9106]]

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

    The issuance of this regulatory guide 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 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, 
Issue Finality, and Information Requests,'' or affect issue finality of 
any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' because, as explained in this 
regulatory guide, licensees are not required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this regulatory guide.

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

    Dated: February 7, 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. 2023-02958 Filed 2-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P