[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 173 (Friday, September 8, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61989-61990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19451]



[[Page 61989]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2022-0073]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive 
Content-of-Application Methodology To Inform the Licensing Basis and 
Content of Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for 
Non-Light-Water Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on Appendix B and conforming changes to other parts of 
its draft Regulatory Guide (DG), DG-1404, Revision 1 ``Guidance for a 
Technology-Inclusive Content-of-Application Methodology to Inform the 
Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors.'' On May 
25, 2023, the NRC published Revision 0 to DG-1404 requesting public 
comment, and on June 28, 2023, the NRC extended the public comment 
period to August 10, 2023. Since then, and consistent with item 1 in 
Appendix A to DG-1404, Revision 0, the NRC completed its development of 
Appendix B and revised DG-1404 (i.e., Revision 1) to include this 
appendix and made conforming changes to other parts of the document. 
Appendix B provides additional guidance for the scope, level of detail, 
elements, and plant representation for a probabilistic risk assessment 
(PRA) supporting a Licensing Modernization Project (LMP)-based 
construction permit application.

DATES: Submit comments by October 10, 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-2022-0073. 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: Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3229; email: 
[email protected], Anders Gilbertson, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1541; email: [email protected], 
and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 
telephone: 301-415-8113; email: [email protected]. They are 
on the 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-2022-0073 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-2022-0073.
     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]. DG-1404, Revision 1, is available 
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML23194A194.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0073 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 ``Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive Content-of-
Application Methodology to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of 
Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-
Water Reactors,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
1404, Revision 1.
    DG-1404, Revision 0, issued for public comment on May 25, 2023 (88 
FR 33846), provides guidance to assist interested parties and 
prospective applicants for construction permits, operating licenses, 
combined licenses, manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or 
design certifications in developing the content of applications using 
the LMP process. The guidance identifies an acceptable method for 
developing major portions of safety analysis reports in accordance with 
the LMP process to describe non-light-water

[[Page 61990]]

reactor facility designs and to help ensure the minimum requirements 
are met for the type of application selected. Revision 1 to DG-1404 is 
now being issued for public comment as the NRC has completed its 
development of Appendix B and made conforming changes to the DG-1404. 
The newly added Appendix B provides additional guidance for the scope, 
level of detail, elements, and plant representation for a PRA 
supporting an LMP-based part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) construction permit application. Conforming 
changes to the base document of DG-1404 Revision 0 (staff position 
C.3.d) and DG-1404 Appendix A Revision 0 (item 1) were made to reflect 
the addition of Appendix B. The changes to the DG-1404, Revision 0 base 
document and Appendix A are shown in strikeout so that these changes 
can be easily identified (ADAMS Accession No. ML23248A343).
    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

    DG-1404, Revision 1, 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 under 
10 CFR parts 50 or 52 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 DG-1404, Revision 1, 
applicants and licensees would not be required to comply with the 
positions set forth in DG-1404, Revision 1.

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: September 5, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Harriet Karagiannis,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-19451 Filed 9-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P