[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50918-50919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16398]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2023-0079]


Proposed Revision to Standard Review Plan Section 15.0, 
``Introduction--Transient and Accident Analyses''

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on draft NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the 
Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR 
Edition,'' Section 15.0, Revision 4, ``Introduction--Transient and 
Accident Analyses.'' The NRC seeks comments on the proposed draft 
section revision of the Standard Review Plan (SRP), concerning the 
evaluation of the safety of a nuclear power plant that requires 
analyses of the plant's responses to postulated equipment failures or 
malfunctions. Such analyses help to determine the limiting conditions 
for operation, limiting safety system settings, and design 
specifications for components and systems to protect public health and 
safety.

DATES: Submit comments by October 2, 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0079. 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: Ekaterina Lenning, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3151, email: 
[email protected] and Brent Ballard, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0680, email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff 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-2023-0079 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-2023-0079.
     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 draft SRP Section 15.0, 
Revision 4, ``Introduction--Transient and Accident Analyses'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22319A149.
     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-2023-0079 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. Discussion

    The NRC seeks public comment on the proposed draft section revision 
of SRP Section 15.0, ``Introduction--Transient and Accident Analyses.'' 
This section has been developed to assist the NRC staff in the 
evaluation of the safety of a nuclear power plant that requires 
analyses of the plant's responses to postulated equipment failures or 
malfunctions. The effects of anticipated process disturbances and 
postulated component failures are examined to determine their 
consequences and to evaluate the capability built into the plant to 
control or accommodate such failures and situations. Additionally, such 
analyses help determine the limiting conditions for operation, limiting 
safety system settings, and design specifications for components and 
systems to protect public health and safety under parts 50 and 52 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
    Following the NRC staff evaluation of public comments, the NRC 
intends to finalize SRP Section 15.0, Revision 4, ``Introduction--
Transient and Accident Analyses Review,'' in ADAMS and post it on the 
NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is 
not a substitute for the NRC

[[Page 50919]]

regulations, and compliance with the SRP is not required.

III. Backfitting, Issue Finality, and Forward Fitting

    The guidance in this draft SRP is updated to ensure alignment of 
the acceptance criteria with the regulations and provide staff guidance 
related to the Commission's policies for new passive light-water power 
reactors. Issuance of this draft SRP, if finalized, would not 
constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) 
and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests''; would not affect the issue finality of an approval under 10 
CFR part 52; and would not constitute forward fitting as that term is 
defined and described in MD 8.4. The staff's position is based upon the 
following considerations:
    1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute 
backfitting or forward fitting or affect issue finality, inasmuch as 
the SRP would be internal guidance to the NRC staff.
    The SRP provides guidance to the NRC staff on how to review an 
application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing. 
Changes in internal staff guidance, without further NRC action, are not 
matters that meet the definition of backfitting or forward fitting or 
affect the issue finality of a 10 CFR part 52 approval.
    2. Current or future applicants are not--with limited exceptions 
not applicable here--within the scope of the backfitting and issue 
finality regulations and forward fitting policy.
    Applicants are not, with certain exceptions, within the scope of 
the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. 
The backfitting and issue finality regulations include language 
delineating when those provisions begin; in general, they begin after 
the issuance of a license, permit, or other approval. Furthermore, 
neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR 
part 52--with certain exclusions discussed in this notice--were 
intended to apply to NRC actions that substantially change the 
expectations of current and future applicants.
    The exceptions to the general principle are applicable when an 
applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site 
permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification 
rule) with specified issue finality provisions or a construction permit 
under 10 CFR part 50. The NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to 
impose the positions represented in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a 
manner that would constitute backfitting or affect the issue finality 
of a 10 CFR part 52 approval. If, in the future, the staff seeks to 
impose a position in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner that 
constitutes backfitting or affects the issue finality of a 10 CFR part 
52 approval, then the staff would need to address the Backfit Rule or 
the criteria described in the applicable issue finality provision.
    The Commission's forward fitting policy generally does not apply 
when an applicant files an initial licensing action for a new facility. 
Nevertheless, the NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to impose 
the positions represented in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner 
that would constitute forward fitting. If, in the future, the staff 
seeks to impose a position in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner 
that constitutes forward fitting, then the staff would need to address 
the forward fitting criteria in MD 8.4.
    Dated: July 27, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gerond A. George,
Chief, Licensing Project Branch, Division of Operating Reactors, Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-16398 Filed 8-1-23; 8:45 am]
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