[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 3, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27714-27715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09390]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2023-0089]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Guidelines for Lightning Protection for 
Production and Utilization Facilities

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-1409, ``Guidelines for 
Lightning Protection for Production and Utilization Facilities.'' This 
DG is the proposed Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.204, 
``Guidelines for Lightning Protection of Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-
1409 describes an approach that is acceptable to the staff of the NRC 
to meet regulatory requirements for adequate lightning protection of 
safety-related systems, structures, and components (SSCs). This DG 
endorses, with clarifications, the methods described in Institute of 
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 665-1995, 
``IEEE Standard for Generating Station Grounding''; IEEE Std. 666-2007, 
``IEEE Design Guide for Electrical Power Service Systems for Generating 
Stations''; IEEE Std. 1050-2004, ``IEEE Guide for Instrumentation and 
Control Equipment Grounding in Generating Stations''; and IEEE Std. 
C62.23-2017, ``IEEE Application Guide for Surge Protection of Electric 
Generating 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

[[Page 27715]]

comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0089. 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-A60M, 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: James Steckel, telephone: 301-415-
1026; email: [email protected]; and Roy Hardin, telephone: 301-415-
2181; email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research at 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-2023-0089, when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for 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-2023-0089.
     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]. DG-1409, ``Guidelines for Lightning 
Protection for Production and Utilization Facilities,'' is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22208A232.
     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-2023-0089 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 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 ``Guidelines for Lightning Protection for 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' is temporarily identified by 
its task number, DG-1409.
    DG-1409 is proposed Revision 1 of RG 1.204. This proposed revision 
endorses, with clarifications, the methods described in Institute of 
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 665-1995, 
``IEEE Standard for Generating Station Grounding''; IEEE Std. 666-2007, 
``IEEE Design Guide for Electrical Power Service Systems for Generating 
Stations''; IEEE Std. 1050-2004, ``IEEE Guide for Instrumentation and 
Control Equipment Grounding in Generating Stations''; and IEEE Std. 
C62.23-2017, ``IEEE Application Guide for Surge Protection of Electric 
Generating Plants'' as acceptable methods for demonstrating compliance 
with the applicable NRC regulations for adequate lightning protection 
of safety-related systems, structures, and components.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22208A234). 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

    Issuance of DG-1409, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as that term is 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''; affect issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants''; or constitute 
forward fitting as defined in MD 8.4, because, as explained in this DG, 
applicants and licensees would not be required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this DG.

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 28, 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. 2023-09390 Filed 5-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P