[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14743-14744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04223]



 ========================================================================
 Rules and Regulations
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
 having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
 to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
 under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
 
 The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. 
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 41 / Thursday, February 29, 2024 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 14743]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50, 52, and 100

[NRC-2023-0153]


Regulatory Guide: General Site Suitability for Nuclear Power 
Stations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 4.7, ``General Site Suitability 
for Nuclear Power Stations.'' Revision 4 to RG 4.7 describes the major 
site characteristics related to public health and safety and 
environmental issues that the NRC staff considers in determining the 
suitability of sites for commercial nuclear power stations.

DATES: Revision 4 to RG 4.7 is available on February 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0153 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-2023-0153. 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 4 to RG 4.7 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML23348A082 and ML23123A095, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317; email: 
[email protected] and Belkys Sosa, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3357; 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 4 to RG 4.7 was issued with a temporary 
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-4034. The NRC staff 
revised RG 4.7 to include alternative approaches to the population-
density criterion and to expand the regulatory guidance developed for 
large light-water reactor (LWR) technology with appropriate 
modifications for advanced reactor designs (e.g., non-LWR technologies 
and light-water small modular reactors). Specifically, this revision 
includes a new appendix A, which implements the Commission approved 
alternative population-related criteria in SRM-SECY-20-0045 
``Population-Related Siting Considerations for Advanced Reactors,'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML22194A885). Appendix A provides guidance on 
alternatives to the existing guidance in section C.1.4 of this RG that 
establishes a fixed distance of 20 miles out to which population 
density is assessed for any new application. Readers should understand 
that the body of this RG was developed for large LWRs, while appendix A 
is intended for advanced reactor designs. This revision also removes 
repetition and improves clarity. Text from the discussion section and 
the two tables in Revision 3 to the RG were brought together in Section 
C, ``Staff Regulatory Guidance.'' To present each topic in Section C 
cohesively, the document was structured to list (1) relevant statutes 
and regulations, (2) related guidance, and (3) considerations, 
regulatory experience, and staff positions.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-4034 in the 
Federal Register on October 18, 2023 (88 FR 71777) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on November 17, 2023. 
Public comments on DG-4034 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML23324A007.
    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 chapter 
I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

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

    Issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting as defined in 
10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC Management 
Directive

[[Page 14744]]

(MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, 
and Information Requests,'' would not affect the issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52; and would not constitute forward 
fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4. This RG will 
not apply to any construction permits, operating licenses, early site 
permits, limited work authorizations issued under 10 CFR 50.10, or 
combined licenses, for which the NRC issued a final environmental 
impact statement (EIS) preceded by a draft EIS under 10 CFR 51.76 or 
51.75, any of which were issued by the NRC prior to issuance of this 
final RG. The NRC has already completed its siting determination for 
those construction permits, operating licenses, early site permits, 
limited work authorizations, and combined licenses. Therefore, no 
further NRC regulatory action on siting will occur for those licenses, 
permits, and authorizations, for which the guidance in the RG would be 
relevant. The methods described in this RG will be used in evaluating 
applications for construction permits, early site permits, combined 
operating licenses and limited work authorizations, which includes 
information under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or (f), with respect to compliance 
with applicable regulations governing the siting of new nuclear power 
plants and testing facilities, unless the applicant proposes an 
acceptable alternative method for complying with those regulations. 
Methods that differ from those described in this RG may be deemed 
acceptable if the applicant provides sufficient basis and information 
for the NRC staff to verify that the proposed alternative complies with 
the applicable NRC regulations.

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 23, 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. 2024-04223 Filed 2-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P