[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8329-8330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02407]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2024 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 8329]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2023-0089]


Regulatory Guide: Guidelines for Lightning Protection for 
Production and Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.204, ``Guidelines for Lightning 
Protection for Production and Utilization Facilities.'' This regulatory 
guide (RG) revision endorses, with clarifications and exceptions, the 
methods described in four Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers (IEEE) Standards (Std.). This revision also addresses one 
National Fire Protection Association standard and one Underwriters 
Laboratory standard as useful secondary references for demonstrating 
compliance with the applicable NRC regulations for adequate lightning 
protection of safety-related systems, structures, and components.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.204 is available on February 7, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0089 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-2023-0089. 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 1.204 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML23241A957 and ML22208A234, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Hardin, telephone: (301) 415-2181; 
email: [email protected] and James Steckel, telephone: (301) 415-1026; 
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. 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 1.204 was issued with a temporary 
identification of draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1409. Revision 0 of RG 
1.204 was issued in November 2005 to endorse IEEE Std. 665-1995; IEEE 
Std. 666-1991; IEEE Std. 1050-1996; and IEEE Std. C62.23-1995. The IEEE 
standards 1050, 666 and C62.23 were revised in 2004, 2007 and 2017, 
respectively. This revision updates the RG and endorses IEEE Std. 665-
1995, IEEE Std. 1050-2004; IEEE Std. 666-2007; and IEEE Std. C62.23-
2017, with certain clarifications. This revision also addresses one 
National Fire Protection Association standard and one Underwriters 
Laboratory standard as useful secondary references for demonstrating 
compliance with the applicable NRC regulations for adequate lightning 
protection of safety-related systems, structures, and components.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1409 in the 
Federal Register on May 3, 2023 (88 FR 27714) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on June 2, 2023. 
Public comments on DG-1409 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML23241A965.
    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 section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``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

[[Page 8330]]

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 the Implementation section of the 
RG, 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: February 1, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2024-02407 Filed 2-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P