[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35251-35252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09323]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2023-0181]
Final Revision to Branch Technical Position 7-19, Guidance for
Evaluation of Defense in Depth and Diversity To Address Common-Cause
Failure Due to Latent Design Defects in Digital Instrumentation and
Control Systems
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-final section revision; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
final revision to the following section of NUREG-0800, ``Standard
Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power
Plans: LWR Edition'': Branch Technical Position (BTP) 7-19, ``Guidance
for Evaluation of Defense in Depth and Diversity to Address Common-
Cause Failure Due to Latent Design Defects in Digital Instrumentation
and Control Systems.''
DATES: The Standard Review Plan update is effective on May 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0181 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-2023-0181. 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 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carla P. Roque-Cruz, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1455; email: [email protected].
The NRC posts its issued staff guidance on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
This BTP provides the NRC staff with guidance for evaluating an
applicant's assessment of the adequacy of defense in depth and
diversity (D3) for a proposed digital instrumentation and
[[Page 35252]]
control (DI&C) system. On October 24, 2023 (88 FR 73051), the NRC
published for public comment a proposed revision to BTP 7-19,
``Guidance for Evaluation of Defense in Depth and Diversity to Address
Common-Cause Failure Due to Latent Design Defects in Digital
Instrumentation and Control Systems'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review
Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power
Plants: LWR Edition.'' The public comment period closed on November 24,
2023. Thirty-five public comments were received regarding draft
Revision 9 of BTP 7-19. The final Revision 9 to NUREG-0800, BTP 7-19,
``Guidance for Evaluation of Defense in Depth and Diversity to Address
Common-Cause Failure Due to Latent Design Defects in Digital
Instrumentation and Control Systems'' is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML24005A077.
A summary of the public comments and the NRC staff's disposition of
the comments are available in a separate document, ``Response to Public
Comments on Draft Standard Review Plan Branch Technical Position 7-19,
`Guidance for Evaluation of Defense in Depth and Diversity to Address
Common-Cause Failure Due to Latent Design Defects in Digital
Instrumentation and Control Systems' '' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML24005A115).
II. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
Chapter 7 of the SRP provides guidance to the staff for reviewing
instrumentation and controls information provided in applications for
licensing actions. Part of Chapter 7 provides guidance for the
evaluation of defense-in-depth and diversity in digital computer-based
instrumentation and control systems. Issuance of this BTP revision does
not constitute backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting'' (the Backfit
Rule), 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, ``Licenses, Certificates, and
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC staff's position is based
upon the following considerations.
First, 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 guidance intended for use by only the staff are not
matters that constitute backfitting as that term is defined in 10 CFR
50.109(a)(1); 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, ``Licenses, Certificates,
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
Second, the NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this
SRP section to support NRC staff actions in a manner that would
constitute backfitting or forward fitting. If, in the future, the NRC
seeks to impose a position in this SRP section in a manner that
constitutes backfitting, forward fitting, or affects the issue finality
for a 10 CFR part 52 approval, then the NRC will address the Backfit
Rule, the forward fitting provision of MD 8.4, or the applicable issue
finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, respectively.
III. Congressional Review Act
This standard review plan section 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.
Dated: April 25, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Undine Shoop,
Chief, Integrated Program Management and Beyond Design Basis Branch,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2024-09323 Filed 4-30-24; 8:45 am]
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