[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 27, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3359-3360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-01494]
[[Page 3359]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[NRC-2024-0163]
RIN 3150-AL20
Approval of American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Unconditioned Code Cases
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the
effective date of January 26, 2026, for the direct final rule that was
published in the Federal Register on September 26, 2025. This direct
final rule amended the regulations to incorporate by reference a
regulatory guide that approved unconditioned code cases published by
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This action allows
nuclear power plant applicants and licensees to use the code cases as
voluntary alternatives to engineering standards for nuclear power plant
components.
DATES: The effective date of January 26, 2026, for the direct final
rule published September 26, 2025 (90 FR 46319), is confirmed. The
incorporation by reference of certain material listed in the regulation
is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of January 26,
2026.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0163 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may
obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of
the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0163. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang; telephone: 301-415-3228;
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 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]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
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, Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Fields, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 630-829-9570, email:
[email protected]; or Jay Collins, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-4038, email: [email protected]. Both
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On September 26, 2025 (90 FR 46319), the NRC published a direct
final rule (DFR) amending its regulations in part 50 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations to incorporate by reference a new
regulatory guide 1.262 that approved certain code cases published by
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In the DFR, the NRC
stated that if no significant adverse comments were received, the DFR
would become effective on January 26, 2026.
The NRC received and docketed four comment submissions on the
companion proposed rule (90 FR 46360; September 26, 2025). Electronic
copies of the comments can be obtained from the Federal rulemaking
website https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2024-0163 and
also are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML25322A218,
ML25322A219, ML25330A149, and ML25336A260. As explained in the
September 26, 2025, DFR, the NRC would withdraw the DFR only if it
received a significant adverse comment. A significant adverse comment
is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be
inappropriate, challenges its underlying premise or approach, or shows
why it would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A comment
is adverse and significant if:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient
to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For
example, a substantive response is required when:
(a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider)
its position or conduct additional analysis;
(b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a
substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
(c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously
addressed or considered by the NRC staff.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable
without incorporation of the change or addition; or
(3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than
editorial) to the rule.
The NRC evaluated the comments against these criteria and
determined that none of the comments submitted on the companion
proposed rule are significant adverse comments. The public comments
received on this action did not warrant any additions or changes to the
DFR. The NRC is not making any changes to the rule; it is apparent that
the rule is effective and acceptable as proposed, without the need for
a change or addition. The comments did not raise a relevant issue that
was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC, and the comments
did not cause the NRC to either (1) reevaluate or reconsider its
position or (2) conduct additional analyses. Therefore, the NRC did not
receive any significant adverse comments, and this DFR will become
effective as scheduled. However, the NRC is providing the following
clarifications regarding its processes for approving code cases and
overseeing their use.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) of
1995 instructs Federal agencies to consider using technical standards
that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standard bodies,
like the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Further,
under the NTTAA, Federal agencies participate with such bodies in the
development of relevant technical standards. The NRC follows the NTTAA
by assigning staff to participate in the ASME Code review and approval
process for ASME code cases that could be incorporated by reference by
rule. Through this process, the NRC staff reviews each code case for
technical adequacy, inspection impact, applicability to plants, and
other issues. The ASME Code process is performed to ensure each code
case will provide rules of safety relating to pressure integrity,
structural integrity of nuclear components, and the inservice
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inspection of nuclear components; accordingly, this process addresses
the same issues that would be considered in an NRC safety evaluation.
As members of specific ASME Code committees, the NRC staff participate
in technical reviews and vote to accept or reject each code case during
the ASME Code process. As part of the development of a rule to approve
the use of code cases, the NRC independently determines whether ASME
code cases can be accepted with or without conditions.
Once code cases are approved for use with or without conditions,
the NRC provides ongoing oversight of licensees' voluntary use of code
cases. Although the flexibility provided to licensees to either adopt
or to not adopt these optional code cases can lead to differences in
implementation between reactor licensees, each reactor licensee is
responsible for maintaining the records for its facility in accordance
with 10 CFR 50.71, ``Maintenance of records, making of reports.'' The
reactor oversight process (ROP) (https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/rop-description) includes baseline NRC inspections
for each reactor licensee and is designed to accommodate the different
licensing bases of each reactor licensee. The reactor baseline
inspection program is designed to focus on activities and systems that
are risk significant, which could include licensee implementation of
code cases.
II. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
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Adams Accession No./web
Document link/Federal Register
citation
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Federal Register Notice, Direct Final Rule: 90 FR 46319.
``Approval of American Society of
Mechanical Engineers Unconditioned Code
Cases,'' September 26, 2025.
Federal Register Notice, Proposed Rule: 90 FR 46360.
``Approval of American Society of
Mechanical Engineers Unconditioned Code
Cases,'' September 26, 2025.
Comment (001) from Citizens Rulemaking ML25322A218.
Alliance on Approval of American Society
of Mechanical Engineers Unconditioned Code
Cases.
Comment (002) from Aron Shklar on Approval ML25322A219.
of American Society of Mechanical
Engineers Unconditioned Code Cases.
Comment (003) from Anonymous on Approval of ML25330A149.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Unconditioned Code Cases.
Comment (004) from Anonymous on Approval of ML25336A260.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Unconditioned Code Cases.
Regulatory Guide 1.262, ``ASME Code Cases ML25091A013.
Approved for Use Without Conditions,''
Revision 0, July 2025.
Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Framework.. https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/rop-description.
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Dated: January 22, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Krupskaya Castellon,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Rulemaking Support Branch,
Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2026-01494 Filed 1-26-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P