[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 44193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14603]



[[Page 44193]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2022-0063]


Regulatory Guide: Performance-Based Containment Leak-Test Program

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.163, ``Performance-Based 
Containment Leak-Test Program.'' This RG provides guidance on an 
acceptable performance-based leak-test program and leakage rate test 
methods, procedures, and analyses that may be used to comply with 
``Option B--Performance-Based Requirements'' in NRC regulations for 
primary reactor containment leakage testing for water-cooled power 
reactors.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.163 is available on July 12, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0063 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0063. 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.
     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: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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.
    Revision 1 to RG 1.163 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML23073A154 and ML22007A009, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Lee, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2916; email: [email protected] and Ramon 
L. Gascot Lozada, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 
301-415-2004; email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision 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 proposed Revision 1 to RG 1.163 was issued with a temporary 
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1391. This revision of the 
guide (Revision 1) endorses the guidance in Nuclear Energy Institute 
94-01, Revision 3-A, issued July 2012, for implementing option B, 
``Performance-Based Requirements,'' of appendix J, ``Primary Reactor 
Containment Leakage Testing for Water-Cooled Power Reactors,'' to part 
50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), subject to 
the regulatory positions listed in Section C of this RG. This guidance 
includes (1) extending Type A test intervals up to 15 years and (2) 
extending Type C test intervals up to 75 months.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1391 in the 
Federal Register on November 17, 2022 (87 FR 69052) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on December 19, 2022. 
Public comments on DG-1391 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML23073A150.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Rules'' section of the 
Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR 
chapter I.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory 
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the 
NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC 
staff actions in a manner that would 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,'' nor does the NRC 
staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue finality of an 
approval under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The staff also does not intend to 
use the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a manner that 
constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 
8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using this RG in a manner 
inconsistent with the discussion in this Implementation section, then 
the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting appeal with the 
NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.

V. 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: July 6, 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. 2023-14603 Filed 7-11-23; 8:45 am]
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