[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 3, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27713-27714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09160]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 50 and 52
[NRC-2023-0054]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Quality Assurance Program Criteria
(Design and Construction)
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft guide; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1403, ``Quality
Assurance Program Criteria (Design and Construction).'' This DG is
proposed Revision 6 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.28 of the same name. The
proposed revision endorses Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 14-05A,
``Guidelines for the Use of Accreditation in Lieu of Commercial Grade
Surveys for Procurement of Laboratory Calibration and Test Services,''
Revision 1, issued November 2020, as an acceptable approach for
licensees and suppliers subject to the quality assurance (QA)
requirements of NRC regulations. Also in this proposed revision, the
NRC staff endorses the Part I and Part II requirements included in NQA-
1-2017, NQA-1-2019, and NQA-1-2022 for the implementation of a QA
program during the design and construction phases of nuclear power
plants and fuel reprocessing plants.
DATES: Submit comments by June 2, 2023. 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-2023-0054. 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-A06, 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: Andrea Keim, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1671; email: [email protected], or
James Steckel, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301
415-1026; 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-2023-0054 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding 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-2023-0054.
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, at 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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0054 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly
[[Page 27714]]
disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment
submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions 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, ``Quality Assurance Program Criteria (Design and
Construction)'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1403
(ADAMS Accession No. ML22304A054).
This DG is proposed Revision 6 of RG 1.28, ``Quality Assurance
Program Criteria (Design and Construction).'' The proposed DG describes
methods and procedures that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use
in complying with the agency's regulations regarding the QA program
criteria for the design and construction phases of nuclear power plants
and fuel reprocessing plants. It provides an adequate basis for
complying with the requirements of appendix B to part 50 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), subject to certain exceptions
and clarifications of NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019, and NQA-1-2022 identified
in proposed Revision 6 of RG 1.28. DG-1403, endorses, with some
clarifications and exceptions, three versions of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) NQA-1 standard: NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019,
and NQA-1-2022. The previous version of RG 1.28 (Revision 5) approved
the use of NQA-1b-2011 Addenda to ASME NQA-1-2008, NQA-1-2012, and NQA-
1-2015, with certain clarifications and regulatory positions. The staff
determined that the NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019, and NQA-1-2022 versions
provide the most current guidance for QA, and the NRC staff endorses
the Part I and Part II requirements included in NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019,
and NQA-1-2022 for the implementation of a QA program during the design
and construction phases of nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing
plants. These Parts provide an adequate basis for complying with the
requirements of appendix B to 10 CFR part 50, subject to certain
exceptions and clarifications of NQA-1-2017, NQA-1-2019, and NQA-1-2022
identified in DG-1403. This DG also endorses NEI 14-05A, ``Guidelines
for the Use of Accreditation in Lieu of Commercial Grade Surveys for
Procurement of Laboratory Calibration and Test Services,'' Revision 1,
issued November 2020, as an acceptable approach for licensees and
suppliers subject to the QA requirements of appendix B to 10 CFR part
50.
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22304A055). The staff developed a
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.
As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671),
this document is being published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of
the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1
CFR chapter I.
III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
DG-1403, if finalized, would revise RG 1.28, and provide NRC staff
endorsement of the Part I and Part II requirements. This revision would
apply to both production and utilization nuclear facilities. Issuance
of DG-1403, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as 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''; 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.
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 26, 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. 2023-09160 Filed 5-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P