[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38408-38409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12631]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 51, 52, 100

[NRC-2023-0097]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Damping Values for Seismic Design of 
Nuclear Power Plants

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-1364, ``Damping Values 
for Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants.'' This DG is proposed 
Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.61. This DG describes an approach 
on damping values that is acceptable to the NRC staff for use in 
meeting regulatory requirements for the seismic response analysis of 
seismic Category I nuclear power plant structures, systems, and 
components.

DATES: Submit comments by July 13, 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-2023-0097. 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: Edward O'Donnell, telephone: 301-415-
3317; email: [email protected] and Marcos Rolon Acevedo, 
telephone: 301-415-2208; 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-2023-0097 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-2023-0097.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0097 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 ``Damping Values for Seismic Design of Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22273A040) is temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-1364.
    The proposed guide provides guidance for applicants and licensees 
on damping values that the NRC staff finds acceptable for use in the 
seismic response analysis of seismic Category I nuclear power plant 
structures, systems, and components. The specified damping values are 
intended for elastic dynamic seismic analysis where energy dissipation 
is accounted for by viscous damping. Since the issuance of revision 1 
of RG 1.61 in 2007, updated criteria related to the concrete properties 
and damping values for use in the development of in-structure response 
spectra has become available.

[[Page 38409]]

    DG-1364 addresses the updated criteria for concrete properties and 
new damping criteria for use in seismic analysis and design of nuclear 
power plants structures.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22273A041). The staff developed a 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a 
regulatory guide as well as determine 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 
chapter I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-1364 as a final RG would not constitute backfitting 
as that term is 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,'' to affect the issue finality of an approval issued under 10 
CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear 
Power Plants;'' or constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined 
and described in MD 8.4 because, as explained in DG-1364, licensees 
would not be required to comply with the positions set forth in the 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: June 8, 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. 2023-12631 Filed 6-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P