Laboratory Investigations of Soils and Rocks for Engineering Analysis and Design of Nuclear Power Plants, 3264-3265 [2015-00985]
Download as PDF
3264
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices
This exemption is effective upon
issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day
of January 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015–01032 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2014–0183]
Laboratory Investigations of Soils and
Rocks for Engineering Analysis and
Design of Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide: issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 3
to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.138,
‘‘Laboratory Investigations of Soils and
Rocks for Engineering Analysis and
Design of Nuclear Power Plants.’’ This
guide describes a method that the NRC
staff considers acceptable for use in the
laboratory testing of soils and rocks
needed to comply with NRC
requirements for the siting and design of
nuclear power plants.
DATES: January 22, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2014–0183 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 Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2014–0093. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–3422;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 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 access publicly
available documents online in the NRC
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
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:09 Jan 21, 2015
Jkt 235001
ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced in this notice (if
that document is available in ADAMS)
is provided the first time that a
document is referenced. Revision 3 of
Regulatory Guide 1.138 is available in
ADAMS under Accession No.
ML14289A600. The regulatory analysis
may be found in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML14289A602.
• 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.
Regulatory guides are not
copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Stovall, telephone: 301–251–7922,
email: Scott.Stovall@nrc.gov, or Edward
O’Donnell, telephone: 301–251–7455,
email: Edward.Odonnell@nrc.gov. Both
are staff of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an
existing guide in the NRC’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.
Revision 3 of RG 1.138 was issued
with a temporary identification as draft
regulatory guide (DG)–1256. The guide
describes laboratory investigations and
testing practices acceptable to the NRC
staff for determining soil and rock
properties and characteristics needed
for engineering analysis and design of
foundations and earthworks for nuclear
power plants. The guide was
reformatted and was revised to reflect
changes in standards for testing
procedures developed since 2003. The
most significant change is in Section
C.6.3, ‘‘Resonant Column Tests,’’ which
provides an alternative method for
resonant column and torsional shear
testing of soil and rock samples.
II. Additional Information
The DG–1256 was published in the
Federal Register on August 4, 2014 (79
FR 45223), for a 60-day public comment
period. The public comment period
closed on October 3, 2014. No public
comments were received.
PO 00000
Frm 00052
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
III. Congressional Review Act
This regulatory guide is a rule as
defined in the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808). However, the
Office of Management and Budget has
not found it to be a major rule as
defined in the Congressional Review
Act.
IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this guide in final form
does not constitute backfitting as
defined in § 50.109 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the
Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. This guide
would not apply to any construction
permits, operating licenses, early site
permits, or limited work authorizations
already issued under 10 CFR 50.10 for
which the NRC issued a final
environmental impact statement (EIS)
preceded by a draft EIS under 10 CFR
51.76 or 51.75, or combined licenses,
any of which were issued by the NRC
prior to issuance of the final regulatory
guide. The NRC has already completed
its siting determination for those
construction permits, operating licenses,
early site permits, limited work
authorizations, and combined licenses.
Absent voluntary action by the licensee
(e.g., license amendment, exemption
request), no further NRC regulatory
action on siting will occur for those
licenses, permits, and authorizations for
which the guidance in the guide would
be relevant. Licensees and holders of
NRC regulatory approvals may perform
testing of soils and rocks for engineering
analysis and design activities consistent
with the licensing basis for each permit
and license. This testing need not
comply with this regulatory guide.
However, when a licensee or holder of
an NRC regulatory approval voluntarily
requests a change to its license or
regulatory approval for which new soils
or rock testing is necessary and is an
essential consideration of the NRC’s
evaluation of the request, then the NRC
may condition its approval of the
request on the licensee’s or holder’s
agreement to conduct the soil or rock
testing in accordance with the guidance
in the guide.
The guidance in this regulatory guide
may be applied to applications for early
site permits, combined licenses, and
limited work authorizations issued
under 10 CFR 50.10 (including
information under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or
(f)), any of which are docketed and
under review by the NRC as of the date
of issuance of the final regulatory guide.
The guidance in this regulatory guide
may also be applied to applications for
E:\FR\FM\22JAN1.SGM
22JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices
construction permits, early site permits,
combined licenses, and limited work
authorizations (including information
under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or (f)), any of
which are submitted after the issuance
of the final regulatory guide. Such
action does not constitute backfitting as
defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) and is
not otherwise inconsistent with the
applicable issue finality provisions in
10 CFR part 52. Applicants and
potential applicants are not, with
certain exceptions, protected by either
the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under part 52.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day
of December 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Harriet Karagiannis,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and
Generic Issues Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research.
[FR Doc. 2015–00985 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Advisory Committee On Reactor
Safeguards (ACRS) Meeting of the
ACRS Subcommittee on Planning and
Procedures; Notice of Meeting
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
The ACRS Subcommittee on Planning
and Procedures will hold a meeting on
February 4, 2015, Room T–2B3, 11545
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
The meeting will be open to public
attendance with the exception of a
portion that may be closed pursuant to
5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(2) and (6) to discuss
organizational and personnel matters
that relate solely to the internal
personnel rules and practices of the
ACRS, and information the release of
which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy.
The agenda for the subject meeting
shall be as follows:
Wednesday, February 4, 2015—12:00
p.m. Until 1:00 p.m.
The Subcommittee will discuss
proposed ACRS activities and related
matters. The Subcommittee will gather
information, analyze relevant issues and
facts, and formulate proposed positions
and actions, as appropriate, for
deliberation by the Full Committee.
Members of the public desiring to
provide oral statements and/or written
comments should notify the Designated
Federal Official (DFO), Quynh Nguyen
(Telephone 301–415–5844 or Email:
Quynh.Nguyen@nrc.gov) five days prior
to the meeting, if possible, so that
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:09 Jan 21, 2015
Jkt 235001
arrangements can be made. Thirty-five
hard copies of each presentation or
handout should be provided to the DFO
thirty minutes before the meeting. In
addition, one electronic copy of each
presentation should be emailed to the
DFO one day before the meeting. If an
electronic copy cannot be provided
within this timeframe, presenters
should provide the DFO with a CD
containing each presentation at least
thirty minutes before the meeting.
Electronic recordings will be permitted
only during those portions of the
meeting that are open to the public.
Detailed procedures for the conduct of
and participation in ACRS meetings
were published in the Federal Register
on October 13, 2014 (79 FR 59307–
59308).
Information regarding changes to the
agenda, whether the meeting has been
canceled or rescheduled, and the time
allotted to present oral statements can
be obtained by contacting the identified
DFO. Moreover, in view of the
possibility that the schedule for ACRS
meetings may be adjusted by the
Chairman as necessary to facilitate the
conduct of the meeting, persons
planning to attend should check with
the DFO if such rescheduling would
result in a major inconvenience.
If attending this meeting, please enter
through the One White Flint North
building, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, MD. After registering with
security, please contact Mr. Theron
Brown (240–888–9835) to be escorted to
the meeting room.
Dated: January 15, 2015.
Mark L. Banks,
Chief, Technical Support Branch, Advisory
Committee on Reactor Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015–01027 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT
CORPORATION
Sunshine Act Meeting; OPIC Annual
Public Hearing
1 p.m., Wednesday,
March 11, 2015.
PLACE: Offices of the Corporation,
Twelfth Floor Board Room, 1100 New
York Avenue NW., Washington, DC
STATUS: Hearing OPEN to the Public at
1 p.m.
PURPOSE: Annual Public Hearing to
afford an opportunity for any person to
present views regarding the activities of
the Corporation.
PROCEDURES: Individuals wishing to
address the hearing orally must provide
TIME AND DATE:
PO 00000
Frm 00053
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
3265
advance notice to OPIC’s Corporate
Secretary no later than 5 p.m. Friday,
February 27, 2015. The notice must
include the individual’s name, title,
organization, address, email, telephone
number, and a concise summary of the
subject matter to be presented.
Oral presentations may not exceed ten
(10) minutes. The time for individual
presentations may be reduced
proportionately, if necessary, to afford
all participants who have submitted a
timely request an opportunity to be
heard.
Participants wishing to submit a
written statement for the record must
submit a copy of such statement to
OPIC’s Corporate Secretary no later than
5 p.m. Friday, February 27, 2014. Such
statement must be typewritten, doublespaced, and may not exceed twenty-five
(25) pages.
Upon receipt of the required notice,
OPIC will prepare an agenda for the
hearing identifying speakers, setting
forth the subject on which each
participant will speak, and the time
allotted for each presentation. The
agenda will be available at the hearing.
A written summary of the hearing will
be compiled, and such summary will be
made available, upon written request to
OPIC’s Corporate Secretary, at the cost
of reproduction.
CONTACT PERSON FOR INFORMATION:
Information on the hearing may be
obtained from Connie M. Downs at (202)
336–8438, or via email at
connie.downs@opic.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OPIC is a
U.S. Government agency that provides,
on a commercial basis, political risk
insurance and financing in friendly
developing countries and emerging
democracies for environmentally sound
projects that confer positive
developmental benefits upon the project
country while creating employment in
the U.S. OPIC is required by section
231A(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, as amended (the ‘‘Act’’) to hold at
least one public hearing each year.
Dated: January 20, 2015.
Connie M. Downs,
OPIC Corporate Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015–01132 Filed 1–20–15; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 3210–01–P
POSTAL SERVICE
Temporary Emergency Committee of
the Board of Governors; Sunshine Act
Meeting
Thursday, February 5,
2015, at 10:00 a.m.; and Friday,
February 6, at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
DATES AND TIMES:
E:\FR\FM\22JAN1.SGM
22JAN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 14 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3264-3265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00985]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0183]
Laboratory Investigations of Soils and Rocks for Engineering
Analysis and Design of Nuclear Power Plants
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide: issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.138, ``Laboratory Investigations
of Soils and Rocks for Engineering Analysis and Design of Nuclear Power
Plants.'' This guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers
acceptable for use in the laboratory testing of soils and rocks needed
to comply with NRC requirements for the siting and design of nuclear
power plants.
DATES: January 22, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0183 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 Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0093. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 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 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 number
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.138 is available in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML14289A600. The regulatory analysis may be found
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14289A602.
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.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Stovall, telephone: 301-251-
7922, email: Scott.Stovall@nrc.gov, or Edward O'Donnell, telephone:
301-251-7455, email: Edward.Odonnell@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC'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.
Revision 3 of RG 1.138 was issued with a temporary identification
as draft regulatory guide (DG)-1256. The guide describes laboratory
investigations and testing practices acceptable to the NRC staff for
determining soil and rock properties and characteristics needed for
engineering analysis and design of foundations and earthworks for
nuclear power plants. The guide was reformatted and was revised to
reflect changes in standards for testing procedures developed since
2003. The most significant change is in Section C.6.3, ``Resonant
Column Tests,'' which provides an alternative method for resonant
column and torsional shear testing of soil and rock samples.
II. Additional Information
The DG-1256 was published in the Federal Register on August 4, 2014
(79 FR 45223), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment
period closed on October 3, 2014. No public comments were received.
III. Congressional Review Act
This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act.
IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this guide in final form does not constitute
backfitting as defined in Sec. 50.109 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. This
guide would not apply to any construction permits, operating licenses,
early site permits, or limited work authorizations already issued under
10 CFR 50.10 for which the NRC issued a final environmental impact
statement (EIS) preceded by a draft EIS under 10 CFR 51.76 or 51.75, or
combined licenses, any of which were issued by the NRC prior to
issuance of the final regulatory guide. The NRC has already completed
its siting determination for those construction permits, operating
licenses, early site permits, limited work authorizations, and combined
licenses. Absent voluntary action by the licensee (e.g., license
amendment, exemption request), no further NRC regulatory action on
siting will occur for those licenses, permits, and authorizations for
which the guidance in the guide would be relevant. Licensees and
holders of NRC regulatory approvals may perform testing of soils and
rocks for engineering analysis and design activities consistent with
the licensing basis for each permit and license. This testing need not
comply with this regulatory guide. However, when a licensee or holder
of an NRC regulatory approval voluntarily requests a change to its
license or regulatory approval for which new soils or rock testing is
necessary and is an essential consideration of the NRC's evaluation of
the request, then the NRC may condition its approval of the request on
the licensee's or holder's agreement to conduct the soil or rock
testing in accordance with the guidance in the guide.
The guidance in this regulatory guide may be applied to
applications for early site permits, combined licenses, and limited
work authorizations issued under 10 CFR 50.10 (including information
under 10 CFR 51.49(b) or (f)), any of which are docketed and under
review by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory
guide. The guidance in this regulatory guide may also be applied to
applications for
[[Page 3265]]
construction permits, early site permits, combined licenses, and
limited work authorizations (including information under 10 CFR
51.49(b) or (f)), any of which are submitted after the issuance of the
final regulatory guide. Such action does not constitute backfitting as
defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) and is not otherwise inconsistent with
the applicable issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. Applicants
and potential applicants are not, with certain exceptions, protected by
either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under part 52.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of December 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Harriet Karagiannis,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-00985 Filed 1-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P