Notice of Availability and Solicitation of Public Comments on Documents Under Consideration To Establish the Technical Basis for New Performance-Based Emergency Core Cooling System Requirements, 44778-44779 [E8-17543]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 148 / Thursday, July 31, 2008 / Notices
requirement or request: 10,868 hours
(1,460 hours for NRC licensees [485
hours reporting and 975 hours
recordkeeping] and 9,408 hours for
Agreement State licensees [4,558 hours
reporting and 4,850 hours
recordkeeping]).
10. Abstract: 10 CFR Part 31
establishes general licenses for the
possession and use of byproduct
material in certain devices. General
licensees are required to keep testing
records and submit event reports
identified in Part 31, which assist NRC
in determining with reasonable
assurance that devices are operated
safely and without radiological hazard
to users or the public.
A copy of the final supporting
statement may be viewed free of charge
at the NRC Public Document Room, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Room O–1 F21, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. OMB clearance
requests are available at the NRC
worldwide Web site: https://
www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doccomment/omb/. The
document will be available on the NRC
home page site for 60 days after the
signature date of this notice.
Comments and questions should be
directed to the OMB reviewer listed
below by September 2, 2008. Comments
received after this date will be
considered if it is practical to do so, but
assurance of consideration cannot be
given to comments received after this
date.
Nathan J. Frey, Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs (3150–0016),
NEOB–10202, Office of Management
and Budget, Washington, DC 20503.
Comments can also be e-mailed to
Nathan_J._Frey@omb.eop.gov or
submitted by telephone at (202) 395–
7345.
The NRC Clearance Officer is Russell
Nichols, (301) 415–6874.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day
of July, 2008.
Tremaine Donnell,
Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Office of
Information Services.
[FR Doc. E8–17541 Filed 7–30–08; 8:45 am]
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2008–0332]
Notice of Availability and Solicitation
of Public Comments on Documents
Under Consideration To Establish the
Technical Basis for New PerformanceBased Emergency Core Cooling
System Requirements
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and
request for public comment.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is announcing the
availability of Research Information
Letter (RIL) 0801, ‘‘Technical Basis for
Revision of Embrittlement Criteria in 10
CFR 50.46’’ and NUREG/CR–6967,
‘‘Cladding Embrittlement During
Postulated Loss-of-Coolant Accidents,’’
and is seeking public comment on these
documents. The NRC is soliciting
comment on the subject documents to
confirm that a sufficient technical basis
exists to proceed with new
performance-based regulations on
emergency core cooling system (ECCS)
acceptance criteria, and to identify
issues that may arise with respect to
experimental data development or
regulatory costs or impacts of new
requirements.
Comments on these documents
should be submitted by September 5,
2008. Comments received after this date
will be considered to the extent
practical, but assurance of consideration
cannot be given to comments received
after this date.
ADDRESSES: Members of the public are
invited and encouraged to submit
comments by mail to Michael Lesar,
Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and
Editing Branch, Office of
Administration, Mail Stop T6–D59, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001.
You may also submit comments
electronically at the federal rulemaking
portal, https://www.regulations.gov;
search on rulemaking docket ID: NRC–
2008–0332.
To ensure efficient and complete
comment resolution, comments should
include references to the section and
page numbers of the document to which
the comment applies, if possible.
Comments will be discussed during a 10
CFR 50.46(b) public workshop
tentatively scheduled for September
2008 (specific date and location to be
noticed separately).
You can access publicly available
documents related to this notice using
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00077
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Documents related
to this action, including public
comments, are accessible at the federal
rulemaking portal, https://
www.regulations.gov, by searching on
rulemaking docket ID: NRC–2008–0332.
The NRC also tracks all rulemaking
actions in the ‘‘NRC Regulatory Agenda:
Semiannual Report (NUREG–0936).’’
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR):
The public may examine and have
copied for a fee, publicly available
documents at the NRC’s PDR, Public
File Area O–1F21, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
NRC’s Agencywide Document Access
and Management System (ADAMS): RIL
0801, Technical Basis for Revision of
Embrittlement Criteria in 10 CFR 50.46’’
(ADAMS ML081350225) and NUREG/
CR–6967, ‘‘Cladding Embrittlement
During Postulated Loss-of-Coolant
Accidents’’ (ADAMS ML081780360) are
available electronically at the NRC’s
Electronic Reading Room at https://
www.nrc.gov/NRC/reading-rm/
adams.html. From this page, the public
can gain entry into ADAMS, which
provides text and image files of NRC’s
public documents. If you do not have
access to ADAMS or if there are any
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC
PDR Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209,
301–415–4737 or by e-mail to
PDR.resource@nrc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul
M. Clifford, Division of Safety Systems,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation,
telephone: (301) 415–4043, e-mail:
Paul.Clifford@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In early
2003, the Commission directed the NRC
staff to complete the technical basis and
move forward with rulemaking to
establish improved, performance-based
ECCS acceptance criteria in 10 CFR
50.46(b), ‘‘Acceptance Criteria for
Emergency Core Cooling Systems for
Light-Water Nuclear Power Reactors.’’
The NRC sponsored an extensive
research and testing program at Argonne
National Laboratory (ANL) to develop
the body of technical information
needed to support the new regulations.
This information has been summarized
in RIL 0801 and the detailed
experimental results are contained in
NUREG/CR–6967. Because of the
importance of this regulation, the staff
has decided to release the technical
documentation for domestic and
international public comment. With this
approach, the NRC can address
stakeholder questions and respond to
comments early in the process. The
E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM
31JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 148 / Thursday, July 31, 2008 / Notices
public is invited to comment on the
adequacy of this technical information,
including the following:
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
I. Technical Basis
1. RIL 0801 Figure 1 provides the
measured embrittlement threshold for
all fresh and irradiated cladding
specimens investigated during the ANL
research program. Hydrogen dependent
post-quench ductility regulatory criteria,
similar to the lines on this figure, may
be established from these experimental
results.
a. Is the technical information
presented within NUREG/CR–6967
sufficient in scope and depth to justify
specific regulatory criteria applicable to
all current zirconium cladding alloys?
b. Is the technical information
presented within NUREG/CR–6967
sufficient in scope and depth to justify
periodic testing on as-fabricated
cladding material?
c. Is the technical information
presented within NUREG/CR–6967
sufficient in scope and depth to address
sensitivities to alloy composition, trace
elements, manufacturing practices, fuel
rod burnup, and transient temperature
profile?
2. Section 2 of NUREG/CR–6967
details the experimental techniques and
procedures employed at ANL to assess
cladding properties.
a. Were the experimental techniques
and procedures adequate for their
intended purpose of defining acceptable
fuel criteria (e.g., specimen preparation,
specimen size, heating/cooling rates,
ring-compression techniques, test
temperature, acceptance criteria for
post-quench ductility and breakaway
oxidation, etc.)?
b. Is the technical information
presented within NUREG/CR–6967
sufficient in scope and depth to address
uncertainties related to and repeatability
of measured results?
II. Performance-Based Testing
Requirements
1. Due to potential sensitivities to
manufacturing processes, performance
based testing may be required to
characterize the loss-of-coolant accident
(LOCA) performance of new cladding
alloys.
a. Section 2.1 of NUREG/CR–6967
details all of the fresh and irradiated
cladding specimens investigated during
the ANL research program. Is the extent
of the ANL material database sufficient
to justify the applicability of
experimental results to future cladding
alloys?
b. Conducting testing on irradiated
specimens is more difficult and
expensive than similar tests performed
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15:53 Jul 30, 2008
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on unirradiated specimens. Does a
sufficient technical basis exist to justify
testing on hydrogen charged,
unirradiated cladding specimens as a
surrogate for irradiated fuel cladding?
2. Due to potential sensitivities to
manufacturing processes, routine testing
may be required to verify material
performance. Are there difficulties or
limitations with periodic testing that
would make such a requirement
impractical?
III. Implementation
1. Implementing new regulatory
criteria for 10 CFR 50.46(b) may
necessitate further testing and new
licensing activities (e.g., revised
methods, updated safety analyses, etc.).
What is the cost-benefit for
implementing new regulatory
requirements similar to those discussed
in RIL 0801?
2. Implementing hydrogen-based
regulatory criteria may require the
development of high confidence
corrosion and hydrogen pickup models.
a. What type of information is needed
to develop such models and is such
information readily available?
b. What performance indicators (e.g.,
pool-side measurements, hot cell
examinations, etc.) could be used to
validate models?
c. What additional regulatory
requirements would be necessary to
assure that the fuel is performing in
accordance with the approved models?
How will compliance with the rule be
demonstrated on a cycle by cycle basis?
3. Crud deposits on the fuel cladding
surface may affect fuel stored energy,
fuel rod heat transfer, and cladding
corrosion.
a. What role does plant chemistry and
crud deposits play on these items?
b. How should normal and abnormal
levels of crud deposits be addressed
from a regulatory perspective?
The NRC is seeking public comment
to receive feedback from the widest
range of interested parties and to ensure
that all information relevant to revision
of the embrittlement criteria in 10 CFR
50.46 is available to the NRC staff. The
NRC will review public comments
received on this technical information
and incorporate appropriate changes
before starting to develop the proposed
revisions to the regulations. Comments
will be discussed during a 10 CFR
50.46(b) public workshop tentatively
scheduled for September 2008 (specific
date and location to be noticed
separately).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day
of July 2008.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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44779
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
William H. Ruland,
Director, Division of Safety Systems, Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8–17543 Filed 7–30–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance,
Availability
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Issuance and
Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide,
DG–3034.
AGENCY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Timothy Johnson, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001, telephone: (301) 492–
3121 or e-mail to
Timothy.Johnson@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has issued for public
comment a draft regulatory guide in the
agency’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series.
This series was developed to describe
and make available to the public such
information as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for
implementing specific parts of the
NRC’s regulations, techniques that the
staff uses in evaluating specific
problems or postulated accidents, and
data that the staff needs in its review of
applications for permits and licenses.
The draft regulatory guide (DG), titled,
‘‘General Design Guide for Ventilation
Systems of Plutonium Processing and
Fuel Fabrication Plants,’’ is temporarily
identified by its task number, DG–3034,
which should be mentioned in all
related correspondence.
Proposed Revision 1 of Regulatory
Guide 3.12 describes a method that the
staff of the NRC considers acceptable for
use in complying with 10 CFR
70.23(a)(3) and (a)(4) with respect to the
design of ventilation systems for
plutonium processing and fuel
fabrication plants. At plutonium
processing and fuel fabrication plants, a
principal risk to health and safety is the
release and dispersal of radioactive
materials. The prevention of such
release and dispersal is an important
function of the ventilation systems. To
meet these objectives, this guide
provides recommendations for
achieving defense in depth and for
E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 148 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44778-44779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17543]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2008-0332]
Notice of Availability and Solicitation of Public Comments on
Documents Under Consideration To Establish the Technical Basis for New
Performance-Based Emergency Core Cooling System Requirements
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the
availability of Research Information Letter (RIL) 0801, ``Technical
Basis for Revision of Embrittlement Criteria in 10 CFR 50.46'' and
NUREG/CR-6967, ``Cladding Embrittlement During Postulated Loss-of-
Coolant Accidents,'' and is seeking public comment on these documents.
The NRC is soliciting comment on the subject documents to confirm that
a sufficient technical basis exists to proceed with new performance-
based regulations on emergency core cooling system (ECCS) acceptance
criteria, and to identify issues that may arise with respect to
experimental data development or regulatory costs or impacts of new
requirements.
DATES: Comments on these documents should be submitted by September 5,
2008. Comments received after this date will be considered to the
extent practical, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to
comments received after this date.
ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit
comments by mail to Michael Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and
Editing Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop T6-D59, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
You may also submit comments electronically at the federal
rulemaking portal, https://www.regulations.gov; search on rulemaking
docket ID: NRC-2008-0332.
To ensure efficient and complete comment resolution, comments
should include references to the section and page numbers of the
document to which the comment applies, if possible. Comments will be
discussed during a 10 CFR 50.46(b) public workshop tentatively
scheduled for September 2008 (specific date and location to be noticed
separately).
You can access publicly available documents related to this notice
using the following methods: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Documents
related to this action, including public comments, are accessible at
the federal rulemaking portal, https://www.regulations.gov, by searching
on rulemaking docket ID: NRC-2008-0332. The NRC also tracks all
rulemaking actions in the ``NRC Regulatory Agenda: Semiannual Report
(NUREG-0936).''
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public
File Area O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS): RIL
0801, Technical Basis for Revision of Embrittlement Criteria in 10 CFR
50.46'' (ADAMS ML081350225) and NUREG/CR-6967, ``Cladding Embrittlement
During Postulated Loss-of-Coolant Accidents'' (ADAMS ML081780360) are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http:/
/www.nrc.gov/NRC/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can
gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are
any problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the
NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to
PDR.resource@nrc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul M. Clifford, Division of Safety
Systems, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: (301) 415-
4043, e-mail: Paul.Clifford@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In early 2003, the Commission directed the
NRC staff to complete the technical basis and move forward with
rulemaking to establish improved, performance-based ECCS acceptance
criteria in 10 CFR 50.46(b), ``Acceptance Criteria for Emergency Core
Cooling Systems for Light-Water Nuclear Power Reactors.'' The NRC
sponsored an extensive research and testing program at Argonne National
Laboratory (ANL) to develop the body of technical information needed to
support the new regulations. This information has been summarized in
RIL 0801 and the detailed experimental results are contained in NUREG/
CR-6967. Because of the importance of this regulation, the staff has
decided to release the technical documentation for domestic and
international public comment. With this approach, the NRC can address
stakeholder questions and respond to comments early in the process. The
[[Page 44779]]
public is invited to comment on the adequacy of this technical
information, including the following:
I. Technical Basis
1. RIL 0801 Figure 1 provides the measured embrittlement threshold
for all fresh and irradiated cladding specimens investigated during the
ANL research program. Hydrogen dependent post-quench ductility
regulatory criteria, similar to the lines on this figure, may be
established from these experimental results.
a. Is the technical information presented within NUREG/CR-6967
sufficient in scope and depth to justify specific regulatory criteria
applicable to all current zirconium cladding alloys?
b. Is the technical information presented within NUREG/CR-6967
sufficient in scope and depth to justify periodic testing on as-
fabricated cladding material?
c. Is the technical information presented within NUREG/CR-6967
sufficient in scope and depth to address sensitivities to alloy
composition, trace elements, manufacturing practices, fuel rod burnup,
and transient temperature profile?
2. Section 2 of NUREG/CR-6967 details the experimental techniques
and procedures employed at ANL to assess cladding properties.
a. Were the experimental techniques and procedures adequate for
their intended purpose of defining acceptable fuel criteria (e.g.,
specimen preparation, specimen size, heating/cooling rates, ring-
compression techniques, test temperature, acceptance criteria for post-
quench ductility and breakaway oxidation, etc.)?
b. Is the technical information presented within NUREG/CR-6967
sufficient in scope and depth to address uncertainties related to and
repeatability of measured results?
II. Performance-Based Testing Requirements
1. Due to potential sensitivities to manufacturing processes,
performance based testing may be required to characterize the loss-of-
coolant accident (LOCA) performance of new cladding alloys.
a. Section 2.1 of NUREG/CR-6967 details all of the fresh and
irradiated cladding specimens investigated during the ANL research
program. Is the extent of the ANL material database sufficient to
justify the applicability of experimental results to future cladding
alloys?
b. Conducting testing on irradiated specimens is more difficult and
expensive than similar tests performed on unirradiated specimens. Does
a sufficient technical basis exist to justify testing on hydrogen
charged, unirradiated cladding specimens as a surrogate for irradiated
fuel cladding?
2. Due to potential sensitivities to manufacturing processes,
routine testing may be required to verify material performance. Are
there difficulties or limitations with periodic testing that would make
such a requirement impractical?
III. Implementation
1. Implementing new regulatory criteria for 10 CFR 50.46(b) may
necessitate further testing and new licensing activities (e.g., revised
methods, updated safety analyses, etc.). What is the cost-benefit for
implementing new regulatory requirements similar to those discussed in
RIL 0801?
2. Implementing hydrogen-based regulatory criteria may require the
development of high confidence corrosion and hydrogen pickup models.
a. What type of information is needed to develop such models and is
such information readily available?
b. What performance indicators (e.g., pool-side measurements, hot
cell examinations, etc.) could be used to validate models?
c. What additional regulatory requirements would be necessary to
assure that the fuel is performing in accordance with the approved
models? How will compliance with the rule be demonstrated on a cycle by
cycle basis?
3. Crud deposits on the fuel cladding surface may affect fuel
stored energy, fuel rod heat transfer, and cladding corrosion.
a. What role does plant chemistry and crud deposits play on these
items?
b. How should normal and abnormal levels of crud deposits be
addressed from a regulatory perspective?
The NRC is seeking public comment to receive feedback from the
widest range of interested parties and to ensure that all information
relevant to revision of the embrittlement criteria in 10 CFR 50.46 is
available to the NRC staff. The NRC will review public comments
received on this technical information and incorporate appropriate
changes before starting to develop the proposed revisions to the
regulations. Comments will be discussed during a 10 CFR 50.46(b) public
workshop tentatively scheduled for September 2008 (specific date and
location to be noticed separately).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of July 2008.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William H. Ruland,
Director, Division of Safety Systems, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-17543 Filed 7-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P