[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 168 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42627-42628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16899]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2024-0203]
Regulatory Guide: Acceptability of ASME Code, Section III,
Division 5, ``High Temperature Reactors''
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.87, ``Acceptability of ASME
Code, Section III, Division 5, ``High Temperature Reactors.'''' This
regulatory guide (RG) describes an approach that is acceptable to the
staff of the NRC to assure the mechanical/structural integrity of
components that operate in elevated temperature environments and that
are subject to time-dependent material properties and failure modes. It
endorses, with exceptions and limitations, the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code (ASME
Code) Section III, ``Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility
Components,'' Division 5, ``High Temperature Reactors,'' and several
related Code Cases.
DATES: Revision 3 to RG 1.87 is available on September 3, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0203 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-2024-0203. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual(s) 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 ADAMS Public 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 3 to RG 1.87 and the regulatory analysis may be found in
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML25176A084 and ML24275A267, respectively.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ram[oacute]n L Gascot Lozada, Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-2004; email:
[email protected]; Joseph Bass, Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research, telephone: 301-287-9278; email: [email protected] or
Margaret Audrain, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-
415-2133; email: [email protected]. All 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
[[Page 42628]]
the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
The proposed Revision 3 to RG 1.87 was issued with a temporary
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1436 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML24275A266). This revision (Revision 3) updates the guidance to
endorse, with exceptions and limitations, the 2023 Edition of ASME Code
Section III, Division 5, as a method acceptable to the staff for the
materials, mechanical/structural design, construction, testing, and
quality assurance of mechanical systems and components and their
supports in high-temperature reactors. This revision removes conditions
from Revision 2 of the RG that have been addressed in the 2023 version
of the Code. This revision also endorses, with exceptions and
limitations, the Code Cases N-812-1, N-861-2, N-862-2, N-872, N-898-1,
N-924 and N-940.
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1436 in the
Federal Register on December 13, 2024 (89 FR 100921) for public
comment. The NRC extended the public comment period on February 3, 2025
(90 FR 8782). The public comment period closed on February 26, 2025.
Public comments on DG-1436 and the staff responses to the public
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML25188A048.
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,'' (Ref. 11); nor
does the NRC staff 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 this 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.
VI. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determined that
this RG is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866.
(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.)
Dated: August 29, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2025-16899 Filed 9-2-25; 8:45 am]
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