Proposed Revision 0 to Fitness-for-Duty Standard Review Plan, 42558-42560 [2013-16985]

Download as PDF 42558 5.0 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2013 / Notices Environmental Assessment (EA) Identification of Proposed Action By letter dated June 8, 2012, MYAPC submitted an exemption request in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12 from specific EP requirements of 10 CFR 50.47 and Appendix E to 10 CFR part 50 for MY. Specifically, the exemption would eliminate unnecessary requirements associated with offsite consequences, protective actions, hostile action and emergency facilities due to the current status of MY. emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES Need for the Proposed Action In accordance with 10 CFR 50.82, the 10 CFR part 50 licensed area for MY has been reduced to a small area surrounding the ISFSI. In this condition, MY poses a significantly reduced risk to public health and safety from design basis accidents or credible beyond design basis accidents since these cannot result in radioactive releases which exceed EPA PAGS at the site boundary. Because of this reduced risk, compliance with all the requirements in 10 CFR 50.47 and 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E is not appropriate. The requested exemption from portions of 10 CFR 50.47 and 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E is needed to continue implementation of the MY ISFSI emergency plan that is appropriate for a stand-alone ISFSI and is commensurate with the reduced risk posed by the facility. The requested exemption will allow spent fuel to continue to be stored safely without imposing burdensome and costly new requirements that provide no increased safety benefit. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC has determined that, given the continued implementation of the MY ISFSI emergency plan, with the exemptions noted in its SE, no credible events would result in doses to the public beyond the owner controlled area boundary that would exceed the EPA PAGs. Additionally, the staff has concluded that the MY ISFSI emergency plan, with the exemptions described in its SE, provides for an acceptable level of emergency preparedness at the MYAPC facility in its shutdown and defueled condition, and also provides reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency at the MYAPC facility. Based on these findings, the NRC concludes that there are no radiological environmental impacts due to granting the approval of the exemptions, the proposed action will not increase the probability or consequences of VerDate Mar<15>2010 18:49 Jul 15, 2013 Jkt 229001 accidents, no changes are being made in the types or quantities of effluents that may be released offsite, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. The proposed action does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant non-radiological impacts associated with the proposed action. Based on the assessment above, the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Alternative to the Proposed Action Since there is no significant environmental impact associated with the proposed action, any alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact are not evaluated. The alternative to the proposed action would be to deny approval of the exemption. This alternative would have the same environmental impact. Finding of No Significant Impact The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based upon the EA, the Commission finds that the proposed action of granting an exemption will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed exemption. 6.0 Conclusion The NRC concludes that the licensee’s request for an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, Section IV as specified in the SE are acceptable in view of the greatly reduced offsite radiological consequences associated with the ISFSI. The exemption request has been reviewed against the acceptance criteria included in 10 CFR 50.47, Appendix E to 10 CFR part 50, 10 CFR 72.32 and Interim Staff Guidance—16. The review considered the ISFSI and the low likelihood of any credible accident resulting in radiological releases requiring offsite protective measures. These evaluations were supported by the previously documented licensee and staff accident analyses. The staff concludes that: the MY ISFSI Emergency Plan provides: (1) An adequate basis for an acceptable state of emergency preparedness; and (2) the emergency plan, in conjunction with PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 arrangements made with offsite response agencies, provides reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency at the MYAPC facility. The NRC has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the exemptions described in the SE are authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest, and special circumstances are present. 7.0 Further Information Documents related to this action, including the application for renewal and supporting documentation, are available online in the NRC library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC’s ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC’s public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737 or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC’s PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of June, 2013. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Michele M. Sampson, Acting Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 2013–16988 Filed 7–15–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2013–0149] Proposed Revision 0 to Fitness-forDuty Standard Review Plan Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting public comment on draft NUREG–0800, ‘‘Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ LWR Edition: Section 13.7 ‘‘Fitness-for-Duty,’’ and Section 13.7.1 ‘‘Fitness-for-Duty—Operational SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2013 / Notices Program.’’ The NRC seeks comments on the proposed new sections of the Standard Review Plan (SRP), concerning implementation of a Fitness-for-Duty (FFD) program. The current SRP does not contain guidance on the review of an applicant’s proposed FFD program. DATES: Comments must be filed no later than August 15, 2013. Comments received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available, by searching on https:// www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC–2013–0149. You may submit comments by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2013–0149. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–492–3668; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 3WFN 6– A56, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001. For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see ‘‘Accessing Information and Submitting Comments’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wesley Held, Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–1583 or email: Wesley.Held@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES A. Accessing Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2013– 0149 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available, by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2013–0149. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC VerDate Mar<15>2010 18:49 Jul 15, 2013 Jkt 229001 Library at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS Accession numbers for the proposed new sections of the SRP are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos.: ML113250516 (Section 13.7, ‘‘Fitness for Duty—Introduction’’), and ML113250541 (Section 13.7.1, ‘‘Fitness for Duty—Operational Program’’). • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC–2013– 0149 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https:// www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 in their comment submissions that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. 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 submissions into ADAMS. II. Further Information The NRC seeks public comment on the proposed new sections of the SRP. These sections have been developed to assist NRC staff with the review of applications for certain construction permits, early site permits, licenses, license amendments, and combined licenses and to inform new reactor applicants and other affected entities of proposed SRP guidance regarding an acceptable method by which to evaluate a proposed Fitness-for-Duty program for compliance with part 26 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 42559 Following NRC staff evaluation of public comments, the NRC intends to incorporate the final approved guidance into the next revision of NUREG–0800. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is not a substitute for the NRC regulations, and compliance with the SRP is not required. Backfitting and Issue Finality Issuance of this draft SRP, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) or otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The NRC’s position is based upon the following considerations. 1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff. The SRP provides internal guidance to the NRC staff on how to review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52. 2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on existing licensees either now or in the future. The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions described in the draft SRP to existing licenses and regulatory approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final SRP—even if considered guidance within the purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52— would not need to be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders of already issued licenses in a manner that does not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision. 3. #Backfitting and issue finality do not—with limited exceptions not applicable here—protect current or future applicants. Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52—with certain E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1 42560 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 136 / Tuesday, July 16, 2013 / Notices exclusions—were intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with specified issue finality provisions. The NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft SRP in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the draft SRP in a manner that does not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of June 2013. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Joseph Colaccino, Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors. [FR Doc. 2013–16985 Filed 7–15–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2013–0001] Sunshine Act Meeting AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETINGS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. DATES: Weeks of July 15, 22, 29, August 5, 12, 19, 2013. PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and Closed. Week of July 15, 2013 There are no meetings scheduled for the week of July 15, 2013. Week of July 22, 2013—Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of July 22, 2013. emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES Week of July 29, 2013—Tentative Week of August 19, 2013—Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of August 19, 2013. * * * * * *The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings, call (recording)—301–415–1292. Contact person for more information: Rochelle Bavol, 301–415–1651. * * * * * I Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, Co., Ltd. (KHNP) submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a design certification (DC) application in 2013. In June 2009, the Commission published a rulemaking in the Federal Register (FR) (74 FR 28112) requiring applicants for a variety of licensing activities, including nuclear power plant designers, to perform a designspecific assessment of the effects of the impact of a large, commercial aircraft and to incorporate design features and functional capabilities into the nuclear power plant design to provide additional inherent protection with reduced use of operator actions. A discussion of the specific requirements for applicants for new nuclear power reactors can be found in Section V of the Federal Register notice. To assist designers in completing this assessment, the Commission has decided to provide the detailed aircraft impact characteristics that should be used as reasonable inputs for reactor vendors and architect and engineers who have the need to know and who meet the NRC’s requirements for the disclosure of such information to use in the required aircraft impact assessments. The NRC derived the characteristics from agency analyses performed on operating reactors to support, in part, the development of a broadly effective set of mitigation strategies to combat fires and explosions from a spectrum of hypothetical aircraft impacts. Although the detailed characteristics were not selected as a basis for designing new reactors, the staff is suggesting them as a starting point for aircraft impact assessments. On August 5, 2011, the NRC issued Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.217, ‘‘Guidance for the Assessment of Beyond-Design-Basis Aircraft Impacts,’’ (NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML092900004), which endorses the methodologies described in the industry guidance document, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 07–13, Week of August 5, 2013—Tentative [FR Doc. 2013–17124 Filed 7–12–13; 4:15 pm] There are no meetings scheduled for the week of August 5, 2013. BILLING CODE 7590–01–P Week of August 12, 2013—Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of August 12, 2013. Jkt 229001 In the Matter of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, Co., Ltd. and All Other Persons Who Seek or Obtain Access to Safeguards Information Described Herein; Order Imposing Protection Requirements for Access to Safeguards Information (Effective Immediately) By a vote of 5–0 on July 10, 2013, the Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and ’9.107(a) of the Commission’s rules that a Discussion of Management and Personnel Issues (Closed—Ex. 2 & 6) be held on July 11, 2013, with less than one week notice to the public. The meeting was held on July 11, 2013. * * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ public-meetings/schedule.html. * * * * * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from the public meetings in another format (e.g. braille, large print), please notify Kimberly Meyer, NRC Disability Program Manager, at 301–287–0727, or by email at kimberly.meyerchambers@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. * * * * * This notice is distributed electronically to subscribers. If you no longer wish to receive it, or would like to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301–415–1969), or send an email to darlene.wright@nrc.gov. Dated: July 11, 2013. Rochelle C. Bavol, Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary. 18:49 Jul 15, 2013 [NRC–2013–0152] [EA–13–033; Project No. 0782] Additional Information There are no meetings scheduled for the week of July 29, 2013. VerDate Mar<15>2010 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\16JYN1.SGM 16JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42558-42560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16985]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0149]


Proposed Revision 0 to Fitness-for-Duty Standard Review Plan

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on draft NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the 
Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,'' LWR 
Edition: Section 13.7 ``Fitness-for-Duty,'' and Section 13.7.1 
``Fitness-for-Duty--Operational

[[Page 42559]]

Program.'' The NRC seeks comments on the proposed new sections of the 
Standard Review Plan (SRP), concerning implementation of a Fitness-for-
Duty (FFD) program. The current SRP does not contain guidance on the 
review of an applicant's proposed FFD program.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than August 15, 2013. Comments 
received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do 
so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for 
comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available, 
by searching on https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2013-
0149. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0149. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: 3WFN 6-A56, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wesley Held, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-1583 or email: Wesley.Held@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0149 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and are publicly available, by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0149.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS Accession numbers 
for the proposed new sections of the SRP are available in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos.: ML113250516 (Section 13.7, ``Fitness for Duty--
Introduction''), and ML113250541 (Section 13.7.1, ``Fitness for Duty--
Operational Program'').
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0149 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. 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 submissions into ADAMS.

II. Further Information

    The NRC seeks public comment on the proposed new sections of the 
SRP. These sections have been developed to assist NRC staff with the 
review of applications for certain construction permits, early site 
permits, licenses, license amendments, and combined licenses and to 
inform new reactor applicants and other affected entities of proposed 
SRP guidance regarding an acceptable method by which to evaluate a 
proposed Fitness-for-Duty program for compliance with part 26 of Title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
    Following NRC staff evaluation of public comments, the NRC intends 
to incorporate the final approved guidance into the next revision of 
NUREG-0800. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is not a 
substitute for the NRC regulations, and compliance with the SRP is not 
required.

Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this draft SRP, if finalized, would not constitute 
backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) or otherwise be 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in part 50 of Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The NRC's position is 
based upon the following considerations.
    1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute 
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
    The SRP provides internal guidance to the NRC staff on how to 
review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of 
licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which 
either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under 
either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 
52.
    2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on 
existing licensees either now or in the future.
    The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions 
described in the draft SRP to existing licenses and regulatory 
approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final SRP--even if considered 
guidance within the purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
part 52-- would not need to be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as 
being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the future, 
the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders of 
already issued licenses in a manner that does not provide issue 
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then 
the staff must make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or 
address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the 
applicable issue finality provision.
    3. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited 
exceptions not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
    Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain 
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality 
provisions under 10 CFR part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue 
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain

[[Page 42560]]

exclusions--were intended to apply to every NRC action that 
substantially changes the expectations of current and future 
applicants. The exceptions to the general principle are applicable 
whenever an applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an 
early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design 
certification rule) with specified issue finality provisions. The NRC 
staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions 
represented in the draft SRP in a manner that is inconsistent with any 
issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose 
a position in the draft SRP in a manner that does not provide issue 
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then 
the staff must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as 
described in the applicable issue finality provision.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of June 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, 
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-16985 Filed 7-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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