[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23073-23075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07030]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0081]


Interim Staff Guidance: Advanced Reactor Content of Application 
Project, ``Risk-Informed Technical Specifications''

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DANU-ISG-2022-08, ``Risk-Informed 
Technical Specifications.'' The purpose of this ISG is to provide 
guidance for prospective applicants in preparing applications for non-
light water reactor (non-LWR) designs that use the Licensing 
Modernization Project (LMP) process and to assist the NRC staff in 
determining whether such applications meet the minimum requirements for 
construction permits, operating licenses, combined licenses, 
manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design 
certifications.

DATES: This guidance is effective on April 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0081 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 http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0081. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual 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 ISG, DANU-ISG-2022-08, ``Risk-
Informed Technical Specifications,'' is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML23277A146.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James O'Driscoll, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1325; email: James.O'[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The NRC staff anticipates the submission of advanced power-reactor 
applications within the next few years based on preapplication 
engagement initiated by several prospective applicants. Because many of 
these designs are non-LWRs, the NRC staff developed technology-
inclusive, risk-informed, performance-based guidance to support the 
development and review of these non-LWR applications. The guidance will 
facilitate the development and review of non-LWR applications for 
construction permits or operating licenses under part 50 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' or combined licenses, 
manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design 
certifications under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC staff notes it is 
developing a rule to amend 10 CFR parts 50 and 52 to align reactor 
licensing processes and incorporate lessons learned from new reactor 
licensing into the regulations (RIN 3150-Al66). This ISG may need to be 
updated to conform to changes to 10 CFR parts 50 and 52, if any, 
adopted through that rulemaking. Further, as of the date of this final 
ISG, the NRC staff is developing an optional performance-based, 
technology-inclusive regulatory framework for licensing nuclear power 
plants designated as 10 CFR part 53 (RIN 3150-AK31). The NRC intends to 
revise this guidance as a part of the ongoing rulemaking for 10 CFR 
part 53.
    To standardize the development of content of a non-LWR application, 
the NRC staff focused on two activities: the Advanced Reactor Content 
of Application Project (ARCAP) and the Technology-Inclusive Content of 
Application Project (TICAP). The ARCAP is an NRC-led activity that is 
intended to result in guidance for a complete non-LWR application for 
review under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR

[[Page 23074]]

part 52, and which the NRC staff would update, as appropriate, pending 
the issuance of the 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR part 52 rulemaking as 
previously mentioned in this notice, or if the Commission issues a 
final 10 CFR part 53 rule. As a result, the ARCAP is broad and 
encompasses several industry-led and NRC-led guidance document 
development activities aimed at facilitating a consistent approach to 
the development of application documents.
    The TICAP is an industry-led activity that is focused on providing 
guidance on the appropriate scope and depth of information related to 
the specific portions of the safety analysis report that describe the 
fundamental safety functions of the design and document the safety 
analysis of the facility using the LMP-based approach. The LMP-based 
approach is described in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.233, ``Guidance for a 
Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology 
to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors,'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML20091L698).
    The ARCAP ISG titled ``Review of Risk-Informed, Technology 
Inclusive Advanced Reactor Applications--Roadmap'' (ARCAP Roadmap ISG) 
was developed to provide a general overview of the information that 
should be included in a non-LWR application. The ARCAP Roadmap ISG also 
provides a review roadmap for the NRC staff with the principal purpose 
of ensuring consistency, quality, and uniformity of NRC staff reviews. 
The ARCAP Roadmap ISG includes references to eight other ARCAP ISGs and 
a TICAP RG that are the subject of separate Federal Register notices 
(FRNs) notifying the public of the issuance of these guidance 
documents. Information regarding the eight other ARCAP ISGs and the 
TICAP RG can be found in the table at the end of the ``Discussion'' 
section.

II. Discussion

    The ARCAP ISG titled, ``Risk-Informed Technical Specifications,'' 
that is the subject of this FRN, was developed because the current 
application and review guidance related to technical specifications is 
directly applicable only to light water reactors and may not fully (or 
efficiently) identify the information to be included in a technology-
inclusive, risk-informed, and performance-based application or provide 
a review approach for such an application.
    The table in this notice provides the document description, ADAMS 
accession number, and, if appropriate, the docket identification 
number.

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                                             ADAMS       Regulations.gov
         Document description            accession No.    docket ID No.
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Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A139     NRC-2022-0074
 01, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Review of Risk-
 Informed, Technology-Inclusive
 Advanced Reactor Applications--
 Roadmap' ''..........................
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A140     NRC-2022-0075
 02, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 2, `Site
 Information' ''......................
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A141     NRC-2022-0076
 03, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 9,
 `Control of Routine Plant Radioactive
 Effluents, Plant Contamination and
 Solid Waste' ''......................
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A142     NRC-2022-0077
 04, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 10,
 `Control of Occupational Dose' ''....
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A143     NRC-2022-0078
 05, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 11,
 `Organization and Human-System
 Considerations' ''...................
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A144     NRC-2022-0079
 06, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project Chapter 12, `Post-
 manufacturing and construction
 Inspection, Testing, and Analysis
 Program' ''..........................
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A145     NRC-2022-0080
 07, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-Informed
 Inservice Inspection/Inservice
 Testing Programs for Non-LWRs' ''....
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A146     NRC-2022-0081
 08, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-Informed
 Technical Specifications' ''.........
Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-      ML23277A147     NRC-2022-0082
 09, ``Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project, `Risk-Informed
 Performance-Based Fire Protection
 Program (for Operations)' ''.........
RG 1.253, Revision 0, ``Guidance for a     ML23269A222     NRC-2022-0073
 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''...............
Regulatory Analysis for ARCAP ISGs....     ML23093A099     NRC-2022-0074
Review of Advanced Reactor Content of      ML23348A182     NRC-2022-0074
 Application Project/Technology-
 Inclusive Content of Application
 Project Guidance.....................
Response to the Advisory Committee on      ML24024A025     NRC-2022-0074
 Reactor Safeguards Letter, ``Review
 of Advanced Reactor Content of
 Application Project/Technology-
 Inclusive Content of Application
 Project Guidance''...................
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III. Additional Information

    During the 711th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reactor 
Safeguards (ACRS), December 6-7, 2023, the ACRS, the NRC staff, and 
representatives of other stakeholders discussed guidance documents 
related to the ARCAP and the TICAP. On December 20, 2023, the ACRS 
issued a report documenting its review of these guidance documents 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML23348A182). The conclusions and recommendations 
in the ACRS report apply to all the ARCAP and TICAP guidance documents. 
In its December 2023 report, the ACRS did not recommend any specific 
changes to DANU-ISG-2022-08.
    Draft DANU-ISG-2022-08, ``Risk-Informed Technical Specifications,'' 
was published in the Federal Register for public comment on May 25, 
2023, (88 FR 33926) with a 45-day comment period. Subsequently, the 
comment period was extended by 30 days as noted in the Federal Register 
dated June 28, 2023 (88 FR 41990). The NRC staff received eight public 
comments from stakeholders. The NRC staff's evaluation and resolution 
of the public comments can be found in a document located in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML23277A155.

IV. Congressional Review Act

    DANU-ISG-2022-08, ``Risk-Informed Technical Specifications,'' 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.

[[Page 23075]]

V. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    DANU-ISG-2022-08 does 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''; does not constitute forward fitting as that 
term is defined and described in MD 8.4; and does not affect the issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52. The guidance 
would not apply to any current licensees or applicants 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 DANU-ISG-2022-08, applicants and licensees would not be 
required to comply with the positions set forth in DANU-ISG-2022-08.

    Dated: March 28, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven T. Lynch,
Chief, Advanced Reactor Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors 
and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2024-07030 Filed 4-2-24; 8:45 am]
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