[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 108 (Friday, June 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34256-34257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11275]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2024-0036]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Preparing Probabilistic Fracture
Mechanics Submittals
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; discontinuation.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG) DG-1422, ``Preparing Probabilistic Fracture
Mechanics Submittals.'' DG-1422 is being discontinued because the
proposed guidance does not provide the clarity sought by the NRC staff
for preparing regulatory applications using
[[Page 34257]]
probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) as a technical basis.
DATES: The discontinuation of DG-1422 takes effect on June 5, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0036 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-2024-0036. 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Nellis, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-5973; email:
[email protected] and Vance Petrella, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1048; email:
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is discontinuing DG-1422, ``Preparing Probabilistic
Fracture Mechanics Submittals.'' DG-1422 describes a framework to
develop the contents of a licensing submittal that the staff of the NRC
considers acceptable when performing PFM analyses in support of
regulatory applications. This DG was intended to revise Regulatory
Guide (RG) 1.245, ``Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics
Submittals.'' The NRC provided an opportunity for public comment on
Revision 0 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23291A298) and Revision1 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML24312A308) to DG-1422 in the Federal Register on
February 29, 2024 (89 FR 14782), and August 8, 2025 (90 FR 38512),
respectively. After reviewing the public comments, the staff found that
the proposed guidance does not provide the clarity sought for preparing
regulatory applications using PFM as a technical basis. In addition,
the staff has determined that the expected benefit to nuclear
stakeholders is not sufficient to justify further action to revise RG-
1.245.
Although DG-1422 will not be issued as final guidance, the comments
received during the public comment period may be considered by the NRC
staff in the future for the development of any related guidance. Should
the NRC develop such guidance, it will inform the public through a new
notice of availability of the documents for public comment.
This notice documents final staff action on docket NRC-2024-0036.
No further action is expected for this docket.
II. 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.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: June 2, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Steckel,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2026-11275 Filed 6-4-26; 8:45 am]
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