[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33924-33926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11186]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0074]


Draft Interim Staff Guidance: Review of Risk-Informed, Technology 
Inclusive Advanced Reactor Applications--Roadmap

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DANU-ISG-2022-
01, ``Review of Risk-Informed, Technology Inclusive Advanced Reactor 
Applications--Roadmap.'' The purpose of this proposed ISG is to provide 
guidance to assist the NRC staff in determining whether an application 
for a non-light water reactor (non-LWR) design that uses the Licensing 
Modernization Project (LMP) process meets the minimum requirements for 
construction permits, operating licenses, combined licenses, 
manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design 
certifications.

DATES: Submit comments by July 10, 2023. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
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 http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0074. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual 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: Joseph Sebrosky, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1132, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0074 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-2022-0074.
     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]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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-2022-0074 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

[[Page 33925]]

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. Background

    The NRC anticipates the submission of advanced power-reactor 
applications within the next few years based on preapplication 
engagement initiated by several prospective applicants. Because many of 
these designs are non-LWRs, the NRC is developing technology-inclusive, 
risk-informed, performance-based guidance to support the development 
and review of these non-LWR applications. The proposed guidance will 
facilitate the development and review of non-LWR applications for 
construction permits or operating licenses under part 50 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' or combined licenses, 
manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design 
certifications under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC is developing a rule to 
amend 10 CFR parts 50 and 52 (RIN 3150-Al66). The NRC staff notes this 
proposed ISG may need to be updated to conform to changes to 10 CFR 
parts 50 and 52, if any, adopted through that rulemaking. Further, as 
of the date of this draft ISG, the NRC is developing an optional 
performance-based, technology-inclusive regulatory framework for 
licensing nuclear power plants designated as 10 CFR part 53, 
``Licensing and Regulation of Advanced Nuclear Reactors,'' (RIN 3150-
AK31). The NRC intends to revise this proposed guidance as a part of 
the ongoing rulemaking for 10 CFR part 53.
    To standardize the development of content of a non-LWR application, 
the staff focused on two activities: the Advanced Reactor Content of 
Application Project (ARCAP) and the Technology-Inclusive Content of 
Application Project (TICAP). The ARCAP is an NRC-led activity that is 
intended to result in guidance for a complete non-LWR application for 
review under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR part 52, and which the staff 
would update, as appropriate, pending the issuance of the 10 CFR part 
50 and 10 CFR part 52 rulemaking as previously mentioned in this 
notice, or if the Commission issues a final 10 CFR part 53 rule. As a 
result, the ARCAP is broad and encompasses several industry-led and 
NRC-led guidance document development activities aimed at facilitating 
a consistent approach to the development of application documents.
    The TICAP is an industry-led activity that is focused on providing 
guidance on the appropriate scope and depth of information related to 
the specific portions of the safety analysis report that describe the 
fundamental safety functions of the design and document the safety 
analysis of the facility using the LMP-based approach. The LMP-based 
approach is described in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.233, ``Guidance for a 
Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology 
to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors,'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML20091L698).

III. Request for Comment

    The ARCAP draft ISG titled ``Review of Risk-Informed, Technology 
Inclusive Advanced Reactor Applications--Roadmap'' (ARCAP Roadmap ISG) 
that is the subject of this Federal Register notice (FRN) for which the 
staff is seeking comment, was developed to provide a general overview 
of the information that should be included in a non-LWR application. 
The ARCAP Roadmap ISG also provides a review roadmap for the NRC staff 
with the principal purpose of ensuring consistency, quality, and 
uniformity of NRC staff reviews. The ARCAP Roadmap ISG includes 
references to eight other ARCAP draft ISGs and a TICAP draft regulatory 
guide (DG) that are the subject of separate FRNs requesting comment on 
these guidance documents. Information regarding the eight other ARCAP 
draft ISGs and the TICAP DG can be found in the ``Availability of 
Documents'' section of this FRN. The ARCAP Roadmap ISG also refers to a 
wide variety of NRC-issued, approved, or endorsed documents and the NRC 
is requesting comment on this proposed ISG's use of those documents.
    Additionally, the staff is issuing for public comment a draft 
regulatory analysis. The staff developed a regulatory analysis to 
assess the value of issuing or revising a regulatory guide as well as 
alternative courses of action.
    The NRC staff is not seeking public comment on the italicized text 
found in ARCAP Roadmap ISG, Appendix C, ``Construction Permit 
Guidance.'' The italicized text found in Appendix C is applicable to 
both light water reactors (LWR) and non-LWRs and is based on guidance 
found in DNRL-ISG-2022-01, ``Safety Review of Light-Water Power Reactor 
Construction Permit Applications,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22189A099). 
The staff sought public comment on this LWR Construction Permit (CP) 
ISG as documented in the Federal Register on December 14, 2021 (86 FR 
71101) and May 6, 2022 (87 FR 27195). The final ISG was issued on 
November 14, 2022 (87 FR 68202). Details regarding the status of the 
LWR CP ISG can be found at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID 
NRC-2021-0162.
    In addition, the staff plans to update the ARCAP Roadmap ISG upon 
completing other documents under development and listed in ARCAP 
Roadmap ISG, Appendix D. The staff is not requesting comment on any of 
those documents at this time. The NRC staff will request comment on the 
documents in Appendix D to the extent normal NRC processes call for 
publication of any one of these documents for public comment.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The table in this notice provides the document description, ADAMS 
accession number, and, if appropriate, the docket identification number 
referencing the request for public comment on supporting documents 
associated with the document that is the subject of this FRN.

________________________________________________________
          Document description                   ADAMS accession No.           Regulations.gov  docket ID No.
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Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B546                       NRC-2022-0074.
 2022-01 ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Review of Risk-
 Informed, Technology Inclusive Advanced
 Reactor Applications--Roadmap' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B541                       NRC-2022-0075.
 2022-02, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 2, `Site
 Information' ''.

[[Page 33926]]

 
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B543                       NRC-2022-0076.
 2022-03, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 9, `Control
 of Routine Plant Radioactive Effluents,
 Plant Contamination and Solid Waste' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B544                       NRC-2022-0077.
 2022-04, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 10,
 `Control of Occupational Dose' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B542                       NRC-2022-0078.
 2022-05, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 11,
 `Organization and Human-System
 Considerations' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B545                       NRC-2022-0079.
 2022-06, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 12, `Post-
 Construction Inspection, Testing, and
 Analysis Program' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B549                       NRC-2022-0080.
 2022-07, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-informed
 Inservice Inspection/Inservice Testing'
 ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B548                       NRC-2022-0081.
 2022-08, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-Informed
 Technical Specifications'.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-    ML22048B547                       NRC-2022-0082.
 2022-09, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-informed
 Performance-based Fire Protection
 Program (for Operations)' ''.
DG-1404, ``Guidance for a Technology-     ML22076A003                       NRC-2022-0073.
 Inclusive Content of Application
 Methodology to Inform the Licensing
 Basis and Content of Applications for
 Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals
 for Non-Light-Water Reactors''.
Regulatory Analysis for ARCAP ISGs......  ML23093A099                       NRC-2022-0074.
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V. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    DANU-ISG-2022-01, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in 
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. The 
guidance would 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 DANU-ISG-2022-01, applicants and licensees 
would not be required to comply with the positions set forth in DANU-
ISG-2022-01.

    Dated: May 22, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven T. Lynch,
Chief, Advanced Reactor Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors 
and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-11186 Filed 5-24-23; 8:45 am]
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