Strategies and Guidance To Address Loss of Large Areas of the Plant Due to Explosions and Fires, 39163-39165 [2015-16736]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 130 / Wednesday, July 8, 2015 / Notices
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 (if it available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
a document is referenced. The final
revision for SRP Section 13.6.2,
‘‘Physical Security—Review of Physical
Security System Designs—Standard
Design Certification and Operating
Reactor Licensing Applications’’ is
available in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML14140A210.
• 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.
• The NRC posts its issued staff
guidance on the NRC’s external Web
page (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Notich, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, telephone:
301–415–6992, email: Mark.Notich@
nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
I. Background
On September 30, 2013 (78 FR 59981),
the NRC published for public comment
draft Revision 2 of SRP Section 13.6.2,
‘‘Physical Security—Review of Physical
Security System Designs—Standard
Design Certification and Operating
Reactor Licensing Applications.’’ This
section has been developed to assist the
NRC staff with the review of the
physical security system designs for
design certification and operating
reactor license applications and to
inform applicants and other affected
entities of guidance regarding an
acceptable method by which to evaluate
the affected portions of part 73 of Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR).
The NRC staff received comment
submissions on the proposed revision.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:49 Jul 07, 2015
Jkt 235001
The NRC staff made several changes to
the proposed revision after
consideration of the comments. The
comments are documented alongside
the NRC staff’s responses are available
in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML14140A207. A redline strikeout
comparing the proposed draft and final
revision can be found in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML14140A208.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final SRP section does
not constitute backfitting as defined in
10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is
not otherwise inconsistent with the
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part
52. The NRC staff’s position is based
upon the following considerations:
1. The SRP positions do not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is
internal guidance directed at the NRC
staff with respect to their regulatory
responsibilities.
The SRP provides guidance to the
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. Backfitting and issue finality—with
certain exceptions discussed below—do
not 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. This is because neither the
Backfit Rule nor the issue finality
provisions were intended to apply to
every NRC action which 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 staff does
not currently intend to impose the
positions represented in this SRP
section in a manner that is inconsistent
with any issue finality provisions of 10
CFR part 52. If in the future the NRC
staff does indeed intend to impose
positions inconsistent with these issue
finality provisions, the NRC staff must
address the regulatory criteria for
avoiding issue finality.
3. The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the SRP positions on existing
nuclear power plant licenses or
regulatory approvals either now or in
the future (absent a voluntary request
for change from the licensee, holder of
PO 00000
Frm 00114
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
39163
a regulatory approval, or a design
certification applicant).
The staff does not intend to impose or
apply the positions described in the SRP
section to existing (already issued)
licenses (e.g., operating licenses and
combined licenses) and regulatory
approvals—in this case, design
certifications. Hence, the issuance of
this SRP guidance even if considered
guidance which is within the purview
of the issue finality provisions in 10
CFR part 52—need not be evaluated as
if it were a backfit or as being
inconsistent with issue finality
provisions. If, in the future, the staff
seeks to impose a position in the SRP on
holders of already issued licenses in a
manner which 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
applicable issue finality provision, as
applicable.
III. Congressional Review Act
This action 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day
of June, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence Burkhart,
Acting Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and
Guidance Branch, Division of Advanced
Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New
Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015–16741 Filed 7–7–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2013–0124]
Strategies and Guidance To Address
Loss of Large Areas of the Plant Due
to Explosions and Fires
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-final
section revision; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing a final
revision to the following section of
NUREG–0800, ‘‘Standard Review Plan
for the Review of Safety Analysis
Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR
Edition’’: Section 19.4, ‘‘Strategies and
Guidance to Address Loss of Large
Areas of the Plant due to Explosions and
Fires.’’
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
39164
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 130 / Wednesday, July 8, 2015 / Notices
The effective date of this
Standard Review Plan (SRP) update is
August 7, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2013–0124 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may access 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–2013–0124. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
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 final
revision for SRP Section 19.4,
‘‘Strategies and Guidance to Address
Loss of Large Areas of the Plant due to
Explosions and Fires’’ is available under
ADAMS Accession No. ML13316B202.
• 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.
• The NRC posts its issued staff
guidance on the NRC’s external Web
page (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Notich, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555 0001; telephone:
301–415–3053, email: Mark.Notich@
nrc.gov or Nishka Devaser, telephone:
301–415–5196, email: Nishka.Devaser@
nrc.gov Office of New Reactors, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
I. Background
On June 11, 2013 (78 FR 35072), the
NRC published for public comment the
initial issuance of SRP Section 19.4,
‘‘Strategies and Guidance to Address
Loss of Large Areas of the Plant Due to
Explosions and Fires.’’ This section has
been developed to assist NRC staff with
the review of applications for certain
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:49 Jul 07, 2015
Jkt 235001
construction permits, operating licenses,
license amendments, certain standard
design certifications, and combined
licenses under parts 50 and 52 of Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR). It also informs new reactor
applicants and other affected entities of
SRP guidance regarding an acceptable
method by which staff performs its
review of the subject of loss of large
areas of the plant due to explosions and
fires.
The NRC staff made several changes
to the final revision of the subject
guidance since issuance of the proposed
revision. The staff clarified its
expectations with Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) 06–12, ‘‘B.5.b Phase 2 &
3 Submittal Guideline,’’ in the SRP
Acceptance Criteria subsection of the
guidance. Additionally, some content
previously seen in the proposed
revision under Appendix A,
‘‘Experience Gained from
Implementation of Temporary
Instruction 2515/171, Verification of
Site Specific Implementation of B.5.b
Phase 2 & 3 Mitigating Strategies at
Currently Licensed Power Reactor Sites
and Related Staff Positions,’’ was
integrated into the Areas of Review and
SRP Acceptance Criteria subsections.
The remainder of the content from the
proposed Appendix A was removed
from the final guidance. Finally, the
staff updated the SRP section’s list of
review interfaces to include additional
interfacing SRP sections.
The NRC staff received comment
submissions on the proposed revision.
Public comments are documented
alongside the NRC staff’s respective
response in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML13295A535. A redline strikeout
comparing the proposed draft and final
revisions can be found in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML13316B153.
Revision to this SRP section will
supercede the staff guidance presented
in Interim Staff Guidance DC/COL–ISG–
016, ‘‘Compliance with 10 CFR
50.54(hh)(2) and 10 CFR 52.80(d), Loss
of Large Areas of the Plant due to
Explosions or Fires from a BeyondDesign Basis Event.’’ As a result, the
NRC staff will be retiring DC/COL–ISG–
016 in a subsequent Federal Register
notice.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final SRP section does
not constitute backfitting as defined in
10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is
not otherwise inconsistent with the
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part
52. The NRC staff’s position is based
upon the following considerations:
1. The SRP positions do not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is
PO 00000
Frm 00115
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
internal guidance directed at the NRC
staff with respect to their regulatory
responsibilities.
The SRP provides guidance to the
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. Backfitting and issue finality—with
certain exceptions discussed below—do
not 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. This is because neither the
Backfit Rule nor the issue finality
provisions 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 staff does
not currently intend to impose the
positions represented in this SRP
section in a manner that is inconsistent
with any issue finality provisions of 10
CFR part 52. If in the future the NRC
staff does indeed intend to impose
positions inconsistent with these issue
finality provisions, the NRC staff must
address the regulatory criteria for
avoiding issue finality.
3. The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the SRP positions on existing
nuclear power plant licenses or
regulatory approvals either now or in
the future (absent a voluntary request
for change from the licensee, holder of
a regulatory approval, or a design
certification applicant).
The staff does not intend to impose or
apply the positions described in the SRP
section to existing (already issued)
licenses (e.g., operating licenses and
combined licenses) and regulatory
approvals—in this case, design
certifications. Hence, the issuance of
this SRP guidance—even if considered
guidance that is within the purview of
the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR
part 52—need not be evaluated as if it
were a backfit or as being inconsistent
with issue finality provisions. If, in the
future, the 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
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 130 / Wednesday, July 8, 2015 / Notices
showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule,
or address the criteria for avoiding issue
finality as described applicable issue
finality provision, as applicable.
III. Congressional Review Act
This action 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day
of June, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence Burkhart,
Acting Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and
Guidance Branch, Division of Advanced
Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New
Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015–16736 Filed 7–7–15; 8:45 am]
[FR Doc. 2015–16692 Filed 7–7–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325–63–P
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
Submission for Review; Health
Benefits Election Form, OPM 2809,
3206–0141
The Retirement Services,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
offers the general public and other
Federal agencies the opportunity to
comment on a revised information
collection request (ICR) 3206–0141,
Health Benefits Election Form. As
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, (Pub. L. 104–13, 44 U.S.C.
chapter 35) as amended by the ClingerCohen Act (Pub. L. 104–106), OPM is
soliciting comments for this collection.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and
will be accepted until September 8,
2015. This process is conducted in
accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments on
the proposed information collection to
the Retirement Services, Operations
Support, Office of Personnel
Management, Room 2347–E, 1900 E
Street NW., Washington, DC 20415,
Attention: Alberta Butler, or sent via
email to Alberta.Butler@opm.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A
copy of this ICR, with applicable
supporting documentation, may be
obtained by contacting the Retirement
Services Publications Team, Office of
Personnel Management, 1900 E Street
NW., Room 3316–AC, Washington, DC
20503, Attention: Cyrus S. Benson or
sent via email to Cyrus.Benson@
opm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
of Management and Budget is
particularly interested in comments
that:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
SUMMARY:
Civil Service Retirement System Board
of Actuaries Meeting
Office of Personnel
Management.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
AGENCY:
The Civil Service Retirement
System Board of Actuaries plans to meet
on Friday, July 24, 2015. The meeting
will start at 10:00 a.m. EDT and will be
held at the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management (OPM), 1900 E Street NW.,
Room 1350, Washington, DC 20415.
The purpose of the meeting is for the
Board to review the actuarial methods
and assumptions used in the valuations
of the Civil Service Retirement and
Disability Fund (CSRDF). The Board
will also review OPM’s computation of
the supplemental liability of the CSRDF
with respect to current and former
employees of the Postal Service in the
Federal Employees Retirement System
(FERS).
SUMMARY:
Agenda
srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
For the Board of Actuaries.
Katherine Archuleta,
Director.
U.S. Office of Personnel
Management.
ACTION: 60-Day Notice and request for
comments.
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
1. Summary of recent and proposed
legislation;
2. Review of actuarial assumptions;
3. Reconsideration of the Postal
Service supplemental liability under
FERS. Persons desiring to attend this
meeting of the Civil Service Retirement
System Board of Actuaries, or to make
a statement for consideration at the
meeting, should contact OPM at least 5
business days in advance of the meeting
date at the address shown below. The
manner and time for any material
presented to the Board may be limited.
18:49 Jul 07, 2015
Gregory Kissel, Senior Actuary for
Retirement Programs, U.S. Office of
Personnel Management, 1900 E Street
NW., Room 4307, Washington, DC
20415. Phone (202) 606–0722 or email
at actuary@opm.gov.
AGENCY:
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jkt 235001
PO 00000
Frm 00116
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
39165
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
4. Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
OPM 2809, is used by annuitants and
former spouses to elect, cancel,
suspend, or change health benefits
enrollment during periods other than
open season.
Analysis
Agency: Retirement Operations,
Retirement Services, Office of Personnel
Management.
Title: Health Benefits Election Form.
OMB Number: 3206–0141.
Frequency: On occasion.
Affected Public: Individuals or
Households.
Number of Respondents: 30,000.
Estimated Time per Respondent: 30
minutes.
Total Burden Hours: 11,667 hours.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Katherine Archuleta,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2015–16694 Filed 7–7–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325–38–P
POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CP2015–91; Order No. 2557]
New Postal Product
Postal Regulatory Commission.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Commission is noticing a
recent Postal Service filing concerning
an additional Foreign Postal Operators 1
negotiated service agreement with
Hongkong Post. This notice informs the
public of the filing, invites public
comment, and takes other
administrative steps.
DATES: Comments are due: July 9, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
electronically via the Commission’s
Filing Online system at https://
www.prc.gov. Those who cannot submit
comments electronically should contact
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 130 (Wednesday, July 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39163-39165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16736]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0124]
Strategies and Guidance To Address Loss of Large Areas of the
Plant Due to Explosions and Fires
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-final section revision; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
final revision to the following section of NUREG-0800, ``Standard
Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power
Plants: LWR Edition'': Section 19.4, ``Strategies and Guidance to
Address Loss of Large Areas of the Plant due to Explosions and Fires.''
[[Page 39164]]
DATES: The effective date of this Standard Review Plan (SRP) update is
August 7, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0124 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access 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-2013-0124. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 final revision for SRP
Section 19.4, ``Strategies and Guidance to Address Loss of Large Areas
of the Plant due to Explosions and Fires'' is available under ADAMS
Accession No. ML13316B202.
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.
The NRC posts its issued staff guidance on the NRC's
external Web page (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Notich, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 0001;
telephone: 301-415-3053, email: Mark.Notich@nrc.gov or Nishka Devaser,
telephone: 301-415-5196, email: Nishka.Devaser@nrc.gov Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On June 11, 2013 (78 FR 35072), the NRC published for public
comment the initial issuance of SRP Section 19.4, ``Strategies and
Guidance to Address Loss of Large Areas of the Plant Due to Explosions
and Fires.'' This section has been developed to assist NRC staff with
the review of applications for certain construction permits, operating
licenses, license amendments, certain standard design certifications,
and combined licenses under parts 50 and 52 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR). It also informs new reactor applicants
and other affected entities of SRP guidance regarding an acceptable
method by which staff performs its review of the subject of loss of
large areas of the plant due to explosions and fires.
The NRC staff made several changes to the final revision of the
subject guidance since issuance of the proposed revision. The staff
clarified its expectations with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 06-12,
``B.5.b Phase 2 & 3 Submittal Guideline,'' in the SRP Acceptance
Criteria subsection of the guidance. Additionally, some content
previously seen in the proposed revision under Appendix A, ``Experience
Gained from Implementation of Temporary Instruction 2515/171,
Verification of Site Specific Implementation of B.5.b Phase 2 & 3
Mitigating Strategies at Currently Licensed Power Reactor Sites and
Related Staff Positions,'' was integrated into the Areas of Review and
SRP Acceptance Criteria subsections. The remainder of the content from
the proposed Appendix A was removed from the final guidance. Finally,
the staff updated the SRP section's list of review interfaces to
include additional interfacing SRP sections.
The NRC staff received comment submissions on the proposed
revision. Public comments are documented alongside the NRC staff's
respective response in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13295A535. A redline
strikeout comparing the proposed draft and final revisions can be found
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13316B153.
Revision to this SRP section will supercede the staff guidance
presented in Interim Staff Guidance DC/COL-ISG-016, ``Compliance with
10 CFR 50.54(hh)(2) and 10 CFR 52.80(d), Loss of Large Areas of the
Plant due to Explosions or Fires from a Beyond-Design Basis Event.'' As
a result, the NRC staff will be retiring DC/COL-ISG-016 in a subsequent
Federal Register notice.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final SRP section does not constitute backfitting
as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The
NRC staff's position is based upon the following considerations:
1. The SRP positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the
SRP is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with respect to
their regulatory responsibilities.
The SRP provides guidance to the 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. Backfitting and issue finality--with certain exceptions
discussed below--do not 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. This is because neither the Backfit
Rule nor the issue finality provisions 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 staff does not
currently intend to impose the positions represented in this SRP
section in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality
provisions of 10 CFR part 52. If in the future the NRC staff does
indeed intend to impose positions inconsistent with these issue
finality provisions, the NRC staff must address the regulatory criteria
for avoiding issue finality.
3. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on
existing nuclear power plant licenses or regulatory approvals either
now or in the future (absent a voluntary request for change from the
licensee, holder of a regulatory approval, or a design certification
applicant).
The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the SRP section to existing (already issued) licenses
(e.g., operating licenses and combined licenses) and regulatory
approvals--in this case, design certifications. Hence, the issuance of
this SRP guidance--even if considered guidance that is within the
purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52--need not be
evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue
finality provisions. If, in the future, the 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
[[Page 39165]]
showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule, or address the criteria for
avoiding issue finality as described applicable issue finality
provision, as applicable.
III. Congressional Review Act
This action 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of June, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence Burkhart,
Acting Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of
Advanced Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015-16736 Filed 7-7-15; 8:45 am]
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