[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]


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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.

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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