[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 160 (Thursday, August 20, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53901-53902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17030]
[[Page 53901]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2026-3301]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Comprehensive Risk Metrics and Associated
Risk Performance Objectives for Commercial Nuclear Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment a draft Regulatory Guide (DG), 1443, proposed Regulatory
Guide (RG) 1.263, Revision 0, ``Comprehensive Risk Metrics and
Associated Risk Performance Objectives for Commercial Nuclear Plants.''
This DG describes approaches that are acceptable to the staff of the
NRC for developing comprehensive risk metrics (CRMs) and associated
risk performance objectives (RPOs).
DATES: Submit comments by September 21, 2026. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website.
Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2026-3301. 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.
Mail comments to: Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, Mail Stop: TWFN-5-A85, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Guidance and Publications Branch.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Stutzke, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0743; email:
[email protected] and Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1067; email:
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2026-3301 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-2026-3301.
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]. DG-1443, proposed RG 1.263, Revision 0,
``Comprehensive Risk Metrics and Associated Risk Performance Objectives
for Commercial Nuclear Plants,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML26100A075.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2026-3301 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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 the staff needs in its review of applications
for permits and licenses.
The DG, entitled ``Comprehensive Risk Metrics and Associated Risk
Performance Objectives for Commercial Nuclear Plants,'' is temporarily
identified by its task number, DG-1443.
This DG provides the NRC staff's guidance on developing CRMs and
RPOs to support a technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and performance-
based approach to the design and operation of commercial nuclear plants
under part 53 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for
Commercial Nuclear Plants.''
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML26091A250). The staff developed a
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.
III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
Issuance of DG-1443, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting
as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC
Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward
Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests''; affect issue
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses,
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants''; or constitute
forward fitting as defined in MD 8.4, because, as explained in this DG,
licensees would not be required to comply with the positions set forth
in this DG.
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IV. 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.
V. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determined that
this DG is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: August 18, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Nicholee Valentine,
Chief, Guidance and Publication Branch, Division of Guidance,
Rulemaking, Economic Analysis, and Technical Editing, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2026-17030 Filed 8-19-26; 8:45 am]
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