Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events, 79056-79060 [2016-27169]

Download as PDF 79056 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 218 / Thursday, November 10, 2016 / Notices 10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503; telephone: 202–395–7315, email: oira_ submission@omb.eop.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–2084; email: INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2015– 0283 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this action by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2015–0283. A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing Docket ID NRC–2015–0283 on this Web site. • 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. A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing ADAMS Accession No. ML16245A845. The supporting statement is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16245A863. • 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. • NRC’s Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by contacting the NRC’s Clearance Officer, David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–2084; email: INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@nrc.gov. B. Submitting Comments The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 09, 2016 Jkt 241001 comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. All comment submissions are posted at https:// www.regulations.gov and entered into ADAMS. Comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove identifying or contact information. If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the OMB, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS. II. Background Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to OMB for review entitled: ‘‘NRC Forms 541 and 541A, ‘Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, Container and Waste Description, and Continuation Page.’ ’’ The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on June 22, 2016 (81 FR 40727). 1. The title of the information collection: ‘‘NRC Forms 541 and 541A, ‘Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, Container and Waste Description, and Continuation Page.’ ’’ 2. OMB approval number: 3150–0166. 3. Type of submission: Extension. 4. The form number, if applicable: NRC Forms 541 and 541A. 5. How often the collection is required or requested: Forms are used by shippers whenever radioactive waste is shipped. Quarterly or less frequent reporting is made to Agreement States depending on specific license conditions. No reporting is made to the NRC. 6. Who will be required or asked to respond: All NRC or Agreement State low-level waste facilities licensed pursuant to part 61 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) or equivalent Agreement State regulations. All generators, collectors, and processors of low-level waste intended PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 for disposal at a low-level waste facility must complete the appropriate forms. 7. The estimated number of annual responses: 5,600. 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 220. 9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 18,480. 10. Abstract: NRC Forms 541 and 541A provide a set of standardized forms to meet U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), NRC, and State requirements. The forms were developed by NRC at the request of lowlevel waste industry groups. The forms provide uniformity and efficiency in the collection of information contained in manifests which are required to control transfers of low-level radioactive waste intended for disposal at a land disposal facility. The NRC Form 541 contains information needed by disposal site facilities to safely dispose of low-level waste and information to meet NRC and State requirements regulating these activities. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of November, 2016. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. David Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 2016–27124 Filed 11–9–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2012–0068] Mitigation Strategies for BeyondDesign-Basis External Events Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting public comment on its draft Japan LessonsLearned Division Interim Staff Guidance (JLD–ISG), JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 2, ‘‘Compliance with Order EA–12–049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-DesignBasis External Events.’’ This draft JLD– ISG revision provides further guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees with the identification of measures needed to comply with requirements to mitigate challenges to key safety functions. DATES: Submit comments by December 12, 2016. Comments received after this SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\10NON1.SGM 10NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 218 / Thursday, November 10, 2016 / Notices date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this date. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject): • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2012–0068. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: OWFN–12–H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see ‘‘Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Bowman, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001; telephone: 301–415–2963; email: Eric.Bowman@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2012– 0068 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this action by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2012–0068. • 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. In addition, for the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a table in Section IV of VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 09, 2016 Jkt 241001 this notice entitled, Availability of Documents. • 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–2012– 0068 in your comment submission. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https:// www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information. If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS. II. Background The NRC staff issued JLD–ISG–2012– 01 Revision 0 on August 29, 2012 and JLD–ISG–2012–01 Revision 1 on January 22, 2016. The NRC staff developed JLD– ISG–2012–01 Draft Revision 2 to provide further guidance and clarification primarily to assist nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees when assessing the results of seismic hazard reevaluations with respect to the guidance and strategies required by Order EA–12–049. JLD–ISG–2012–01 provides guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees with the identification of measures needed to comply with requirements to mitigate challenges to key safety functions. These requirements are contained in Order EA–12–049. In addition, these requirements are included in the following license conditions: Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 2, License No. NPF–93, Condition 2.D.(13), V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 3, License No. NPF–94, Condition 2.D.(13), and Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant, Unit 3, License No. NPF–95, Condition 2.D.(12)(g). The draft ISG is not a substitute for the requirements in Order EA–12–049, and compliance with the PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 79057 ISG is not required. This ISG revision is being issued in draft form for public comment to involve the public in development of the implementation guidance. Following the March 11, 2011, accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the NRC established a senior-level agency task force referred to as the Near-Term Task Force (NTTF). The NTTF conducted a systematic and methodical review of the NRC regulations and processes to determine whether the agency should make additional improvements in NRC regulations or processes in light of the events at Fukushima Dai-ichi. As a result of this review, the NTTF developed a comprehensive set of recommendations, documented in SECY–11–0093, dated July 12, 2011. These recommendations were enhanced by the NRC staff following interactions with stakeholders. Documentation of the staff’s efforts is contained in SECY–11– 0124, dated September 9, 2011, and SECY–11–0137, dated October 3, 2011. As directed by the Commission’s staff requirements memorandum (SRM) for SECY–11–0093, the NRC staff reviewed the NTTF recommendations within the context of the NRC’s existing regulatory framework and considered the various regulatory vehicles available to the NRC to implement the recommendations. SECY–11–0124 and SECY–11–0137 established the staff’s prioritization of the recommendations. After receiving the Commission’s direction in SRM–SECY–11–0124 and SRM–SECY–11–0137, the NRC staff conducted public meetings to discuss enhanced mitigation strategies intended to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and spent fuel pool (SFP) cooling capabilities following beyonddesign-basis external events. At these meetings, the industry described its proposal for a Diverse and Flexible Mitigation Capability (FLEX), as documented in the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI) letter, dated December 16, 2011. The FLEX is proposed as a strategy to fulfill the key safety functions of core cooling, containment integrity, and spent fuel cooling. Stakeholder input led the staff to pursue a more performance-based approach to improve the safety of operating power reactors than was originally envisioned in NTTF Recommendation 4.2, SECY– 11–0124, and SECY–11–0137. On February 17, 2012, the NRC staff provided SECY–12–0025 to the Commission, including the proposed order to implement the enhanced mitigation strategies. As directed by SRM–SECY–12–0025, the NRC staff issued Order EA–12–049 and, in E:\FR\FM\10NON1.SGM 10NON1 asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 79058 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 218 / Thursday, November 10, 2016 / Notices parallel, issued as a Request for Information under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(f) for a reevaluation of licensees’ flooding and seismic hazards. Guidance and strategies required by the order would be available if the loss of power, motive force and normal access to the ultimate heat sink to prevent fuel damage in the reactor, and SFP affected all units at a site simultaneously. The order requires a three-phase approach for mitigating beyond-design-basis external events. The initial phase requires the use of installed equipment and resources to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and SFP cooling. The transition phase requires providing sufficient, portable, onsite equipment and consumables to maintain or restore these functions until they can be accomplished with resources brought from off site. The final phase requires obtaining sufficient offsite resources to sustain those functions indefinitely. On May 4, 2012, NEI submitted document NEI 12–06, Revision B, and on May 13, 2012, Revision B1, to provide specifications for an industrydeveloped methodology for the development, implementation, and maintenance of guidance and strategies in response to Order EA–12–049. The strategies and guidance described in NEI 12–06 expand on the strategies the industry developed and implemented to address the limited set of beyonddesign-basis external events that involve the loss of a large area of the plant due to explosions and fire required pursuant to paragraph (hh)(2) of 10 CFR 50.54(f), ‘‘Conditions of licenses.’’ On May 31, 2012, the NRC staff issued a draft version of JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 0, and published a notice of its availability for public comment in the Federal Register (FR) on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33779), with the comment period running through July 7, 2012, 30 days after its publication. The staff received seven comments during this time, addressing the comments, as documented in ‘‘NRC Response to Public Comments, JLD–ISG–2012–01 (Docket ID NRC–2012–0068).’’ On July 3, 2012, NEI submitted Revision C to NEI 12–06, incorporating many of the exceptions and clarifications included in the draft version of JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 0. On August 3, 2012, NEI submitted NEI 12–06, Draft Revision 0, incorporating many of the remaining exceptions and clarifications. On August 21, 2012, NEI submitted NEI 12– 06, Revision 0, making various editorial corrections. The NRC reviewed the August 21, 2012, submittal of Revision VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 09, 2016 Jkt 241001 0 of NEI 12–06 and endorsed it as a process the NRC considers acceptable for meeting the regulatory requirements with noted clarifications in Revision 0 of JLD–ISG–2012–01. By February 2013, licensees of operating power reactors submitted their overall integrated plans (OIPs) under Order EA–12–049 describing the guidance and strategies to be developed and implemented. Because this development and implementation was to be accomplished in parallel with the reevaluation of the seismic and flooding hazards under the 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter issued subsequent to SECY–12–0025, these included in their key assumptions a statement that typically read, ‘‘[f]lood and seismic re-evaluations pursuant to the 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter of March 12, 2012, are not completed and therefore not assumed in this submittal. As the reevaluations are completed, appropriate issues will be entered into the corrective action system and addressed on a schedule commensurate with other licensing bases changes.’’ (See, e.g., Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station’s OIP) In order to clarify the relationship between Order EA–12–049 and the hazard reevaluation, the NRC staff provided COMSECY–14–0037 to the Commission on November 21, 2014, requesting that the Commission affirm that ‘‘[l]icensees for operating nuclear power plants need to address the reevaluated flooding hazards within their mitigating strategies for beyonddesign-basis external events (Order EA– 12–049 and related [Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events] MBDBE rulemaking).’’ COMSECY–14–0037 further requested affirmation that ‘‘[l]icensees for operating nuclear power plants may need to address some specific flooding scenarios that could significantly damage the power plant site by developing targeted or scenariospecific mitigating strategies, possibly including unconventional measures, to prevent fuel damage in reactor cores or spent fuel pools.’’ In SRM–COMSECY– 14–0037, the Commission affirmed these two items and noted that ‘‘it is within the staff’s authority, and is the staff’s responsibility, to determine, on a plant-specific basis, whether targeted or scenario-specific mitigating strategies, possibly including unconventional measures, are acceptable.’’ On August 25, 2015, NEI submitted Revision 1 to NEI 12–06, incorporating lessons learned in the implementation of Order EA–12–049 and alternative approaches taken by licensees for compliance to that order. Following a public webinar discussion of potential exceptions and clarifications that took PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 place on September 21, 2015, NEI submitted Revision 1A to NEI 12–06 on October 5, 2015. On October 30, 2015, the NRC staff issued a draft version of JLD–ISG–2012– 01, Revision 1, and published a notice of its availability for public comment in the FR on November 10, 2015 (80 FR 69702), with the comment period running through December 10, 2015, 30 days from its publication. The staff received four comments during this time, addressing the comments, as documented in ‘‘NRC Response to Public Comments, JLD–ISG–2012–01 (Docket ID NRC–2012–0068).’’ On December 10, 2015, NEI submitted Revision 2 to NEI 12–06, incorporating many of the exceptions and clarifications included in the draft version of JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 1. The NRC reviewed Revision 2 to NEI 12–06 and endorsed it as a process the NRC considers acceptable for meeting the regulatory requirements with noted clarifications in JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 1. On September 7, 2016, NEI submitted a draft revision of Appendix H to NEI 12–06 to support a public meeting held on September 8, 2016, incorporating additional guidance for licensees when addressing the reevaluated seismic hazards for compliance with Order EA– 12–049. Specifically, Section H.4.5 (‘‘Path 5’’) is intended to address Mitigation Strategies Assessments for plants with reevaluated seismic hazard information that includes a ground motion response spectrum that has spectral ordinates more than 2 times the Safe Shutdown Earthquake anywhere in the 1 to 10 hertz frequency range. Such guidance includes deterministic and risk-informed approaches that can be used to assess the impact of the reevaluated hazard information on mitigation strategies. Following the public meeting held on September 8, 2016, NEI submitted Revision 3 to NEI 12–06 on September 22, 2016. NEI 12– 06, Revision 3 also addresses certain lessons learned in the implementation of Order EA–12–049. III. Specific Request for Comment The NRC is seeking advice and recommendations from the public on the revision to this interim staff guidance document. We are particularly interested in comments and supporting rationale from the public on the following: 1. In NEI 12–06, Revision 3, Section 11.5.4.f, NEI proposes to modify the time limits for initiation of actions to restore a site’s capability to mitigate a beyond-design-basis external event and implementation of compensatory E:\FR\FM\10NON1.SGM 10NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 218 / Thursday, November 10, 2016 / Notices measures. Section 11.5.4.f of NEI 12–06, Revision 0 and Revision 2, states these time limits as 24 hours to initiate actions and 72 hours to implement compensatory measures. In NEI 12–06, Revision 3, Section 11.5.4.f, these time limits are extended to 72 hours for initiation of actions and 7 days for implementation of compensatory measures. The former time limits were previously endorsed as an element of an acceptable method of meeting the Order EA–12–049 requirements for maintaining the strategies and guidelines to mitigate a beyond-designbasis external event in JLD–ISG–2012– 01, Revision 0 and Revision 1. The NRC staff seeks input on potential justifications for this extension of the allowable outage times for a licensee’s capability to mitigate a beyond-designbasis external event. Input is specifically requested on the potential benefits of extending these time limits, operating experience on time frames actually necessary to implement compensatory measures for the unavailability of similar equipment, and any potential unintended consequences of extending these time limits. 2. In JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 1, the NRC staff endorsed the NEI 12–06, Revision 2, Section 11.5.4.b 45-day time limit for having an available but unprotected set of equipment as part of the site’s capability to mitigate a beyond-design-basis external event. The 45-day time limit aligned with the standard 6-week short work cycle period and allowed sufficient time for the pre-staging of one set of equipment in a location that is not entirely protected from all external hazards for the purpose of shutdown risk management during outages, which typically have durations less than 45 days. In NEI 12–06, Revision 3, Section 11.5.4.g, this time period is reduced to 14 days, which could conflict with the pre-staging of equipment for risk management during outages. The NRC staff seeks input on appropriate methods of control of pre-staging of equipment for shutdown risk management. 3. In NEI 12–06, Revision 3, Sections H.4.5.3, H.4.5.4, and H.4.5.5, NEI proposes to allow the use of risk insights from the seismic probabilistic risk assessments (SPRAs), being completed by some licensees in response to the NRC’s March 12, 2012, 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter, to assess the mitigating strategies developed in response to Order EA–12–049 against the reevaluated seismic hazard information. The purpose of these mitigating strategies assessments is to determine if changes to the mitigating strategies are needed to account for the reevaluated seismic hazard. The NRC staff seeks input on specific aspects of NEI’s proposals in light of issues discussed in NCP–2016–014, a nonconcurrence submitted by two NRC staff members regarding certain aspects of NEI 12–06, Revision 3. First, NCP– 2016–014 raised concerns associated with NEI’s proposed use of risk screening criteria. For example, in Section H.4.5.3, NEI proposes to establish screening criteria based on the overall seismic core damage frequency and seismic large early release frequency identified through the SPRA. If these screening criteria are met, licensees’ FLEX mitigating strategies or alternate mitigating strategies would be considered sufficient to address the effects of the reevaluated seismic hazard information without the need for modification. The NRC staff seeks input on the appropriateness of the approach proposed by NEI in light of the concerns raised by NCP–2016–014. Second, in Sections H.4.5.4 and H.4.5.5, NEI describes proposed iterative processes that evaluate the benefit of enhancing the seismic capacity of certain mitigating strategies structures, systems, and components (SSCs). As part of these processes, licensees would enhance such SSCs until the risk benefit of further enhancements is sufficiently small based on criteria established in each section. In Section H.4.5.4 the approach focuses on the benefit in terms of reduction in overall seismic core damage frequency and seismic large early release frequency. The approach described in Section H.4.5.5 focuses on the benefit in terms of reduction in risk from sequences in the SPRAs involving mitigating strategies SSCs. The NRC staff seeks input on these approaches in light of the concerns raised by NCP– 2016–014 regarding the use of riskbased screening values and risk partitioning. Finally, NCP–2016–014 identified two alternate approaches that could be used to conduct seismic mitigating strategies assessments. The NRC staff seeks input on these approaches and whether they represent more appropriate alternatives to the approaches described in NEI 12–06, Revision 3. IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality This draft ISG would provide guidance on an acceptable method for implementing the requirements contained in Order EA–12–049. Licensees would be able to voluntarily use the guidance in JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 2 to demonstrate compliance with Order EA–12–049. If this draft ISG is issued, methods or solutions that differ from those described in this draft ISG may be deemed acceptable if they provide sufficient basis and information for the NRC to verify that the proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with Order EA–12–049. Issuance of this ISG would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ‘‘Backfitting’’ (the Backfit Rule), and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ V. Availability of Documents The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as indicated. asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Document title Abbreviated title JLD–ISG–2012–01, ‘‘Compliance with Order EA–12–049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,’’ Draft Revision 2. JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 1 (See Previous Entry for JLD– ISG–2012–01). JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 0 (See Previous Entry for JLD– ISG–2012–01). Order EA–12–049, ‘‘Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-DesignBasis External Events’’. V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 2 License, License No. NPF– 93. JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 2 .................. ML16277A617 JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 1 ........................... ML15357A163 JLD–ISG–2012–01, Revision 0 ........................... ML12229A174 Order EA–12–049 ................................................ ML12054A736 n/a ........................................................................ ML14100A092 VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 09, 2016 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 79059 E:\FR\FM\10NON1.SGM Adams Accession No. 10NON1 79060 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 218 / Thursday, November 10, 2016 / Notices Abbreviated title V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 3 License, License No. NPF– 94. Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant, Unit 3 License, License No. NPF–95 SECY–11–0093, ‘‘Near–Term Report and Recommendations for Agency Actions Following the Events in Japan’’. SECY–11–0124, ‘‘Recommended Actions to be Taken without Delay from the Near-Term Task Force Report’’. SECY–11–0137, ‘‘Prioritization of Recommended Actions to be Taken in Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned’’. Commission’s staff requirements memorandum (SRM) for SECY-11-0093. SRM for SECY–11–0124 (see entry to SECY–11–0124 for full title). SRM for SECY–11–0137 (see entry to SECY–11–0124 for full title). NEI Letter Titled, ‘‘An Integrated, Safety-Focused Approach to Expediting Implementation of Fukushima Daiichi Lessons Learned’’. SECY–12–0025, ‘‘Proposed Orders and Requests for Information in Response to Lessons Learned from Japan’s March 11, 2011, Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami’’. SRM for SECY–12–0025 (see entry for SECY–12–0025 for full title). Request for Information Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(f) Regarding Recommendations 2.1, 2.3, and 9.3, of the Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident. NEI 12–06, ‘‘Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies (FLEX) Implementation Guide,’’ Revision B. NEI 12–06, Revision B1 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ....... JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 0 (See Previous Entry for JLD–ISG–2012–01). ‘‘NRC Response to Public Comments, JLD–ISG–2012–01 (Docket ID NRC–2012–0068)’’. NEI 12–06, Revision C (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ........ NEI 12–06, Draft Revision 0 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) NEI 12–06, Revision 0 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ......... Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station’s Overall Integrate Plan COMSECY–14–0037, ‘‘Integration of Mitigating Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events and the Reevaluation (sic) of Flooding Hazards’’. SRM–COMSECY–14–0037 ............................................................ NEI 12–06, Revision 1 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ......... NEI 12–06, Revision 1A (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ....... JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 1 (See Previous Entry for JLD–ISG–2012–01). NRC Responses to Public Comments: Revision to Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim Staff Guidance JLD–ISG–2012– 01. NEI 12–06, Revision 2 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ......... Appendix H to NEI 12–06, Draft to Support Public Meeting on September 8, 2016. NEI 12–06, Revision 3 (See Previous Entry for NEI 12–06) ......... NRC Non-Concurrence Process document NCP–2016–014 ......... asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Document title n/a ........................................................................ ML14100A101 n/a ........................................................................ SECY–11–0093 ................................................... ML15084A170 ML11186A950 SECY–11–0124 ................................................... ML11245A158 SECY–11–0137 ................................................... ML11272A111 SRM–SECY–11–0093 ......................................... ML112310021 SRM–SECY–11–0124 ......................................... ML112911571 SRM–SECY–11–0137 ......................................... ML113490055 n/a ........................................................................ ML11353A008 SECY–12–0025 ................................................... ML12039A103 SRM–SECY–12–0025 ......................................... ML120690347 50.54(f) Letter ...................................................... ML12053A340 NEI 12–06, Revision B ........................................ ML12144A419 NEI 12–06, Revision B1 ...................................... JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 0 .................. ML12143A232 ML12146A014 n/a ........................................................................ ML12229A253 NEI 12–06, Revision C ........................................ NEI 12–06, Draft Revision 0 ............................... NEI 12–06, Revision 0 ........................................ n/a ........................................................................ COMSECY–14–0037 ........................................... ML121910390 ML12221A204 ML12242A378 ML13064A300 ML14238A616 SRM–COMSECY–14–0037 ................................. NEI 12–06, Revision 1 ........................................ NEI 12–06, Revision 1A ...................................... JLD–ISG–2012–01, Draft Revision 1 .................. ML15089A236 ML15244B006 ML15279A426 ML15294A078 n/a ........................................................................ ML15357A147 NEI 12–06, Revision 2 ........................................ n/a ........................................................................ ML16005A625 ML16251A251 NEI 12–06, Revision 3 ........................................ NCP–2016–014 ................................................... ML16267A274 ML16295A104 The NRC may post materials related to this document, including public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking Web site at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC–2012–0068. The Federal rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC–2012–0068); (2) click the ‘‘Sign up for Email Alerts’’ link; and (3) enter your email address and select how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or monthly). VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 09, 2016 Jkt 241001 Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of November, 2016. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Michael X. Franovich, Acting Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 2016–27169 Filed 11–9–16; 8:45 am] Adams Accession No. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2015–0281] Information Collection: NRC Forms 540 and 540A, Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest (Shipping Paper) and Continuation Page BILLING CODE 7590–01–P PO 00000 Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of submission to the Office of Management and Budget; request for comment. AGENCY: Frm 00094 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\10NON1.SGM 10NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 218 (Thursday, November 10, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79056-79060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27169]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0068]


Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Japan Lessons-Learned Division Interim 
Staff Guidance (JLD-ISG), JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft Revision 2, 
``Compliance with Order EA-12-049, Order Modifying Licenses with Regard 
to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis 
External Events.'' This draft JLD-ISG revision provides further 
guidance and clarification to assist nuclear power reactor applicants 
and licensees with the identification of measures needed to comply with 
requirements to mitigate challenges to key safety functions.

DATES: Submit comments by December 12, 2016. Comments received after 
this

[[Page 79057]]

date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0068. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Bowman, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-2963; email: Eric.Bowman@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0068 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0068.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``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. In 
addition, for the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession 
numbers are provided in a table in Section IV of this notice entitled, 
Availability of Documents.
     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-2012-0068 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background

    The NRC staff issued JLD-ISG-2012-01 Revision 0 on August 29, 2012 
and JLD-ISG-2012-01 Revision 1 on January 22, 2016. The NRC staff 
developed JLD-ISG-2012-01 Draft Revision 2 to provide further guidance 
and clarification primarily to assist nuclear power reactor applicants 
and licensees when assessing the results of seismic hazard 
reevaluations with respect to the guidance and strategies required by 
Order EA-12-049. JLD-ISG-2012-01 provides guidance and clarification to 
assist nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees with the 
identification of measures needed to comply with requirements to 
mitigate challenges to key safety functions. These requirements are 
contained in Order EA-12-049. In addition, these requirements are 
included in the following license conditions: Virgil C. Summer Nuclear 
Station, Unit 2, License No. NPF-93, Condition 2.D.(13), V.C. Summer 
Nuclear Station, Unit 3, License No. NPF-94, Condition 2.D.(13), and 
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant, Unit 3, License No. NPF-95, Condition 
2.D.(12)(g). The draft ISG is not a substitute for the requirements in 
Order EA-12-049, and compliance with the ISG is not required. This ISG 
revision is being issued in draft form for public comment to involve 
the public in development of the implementation guidance.
    Following the March 11, 2011, accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi 
nuclear power plant, the NRC established a senior-level agency task 
force referred to as the Near-Term Task Force (NTTF). The NTTF 
conducted a systematic and methodical review of the NRC regulations and 
processes to determine whether the agency should make additional 
improvements in NRC regulations or processes in light of the events at 
Fukushima Dai-ichi. As a result of this review, the NTTF developed a 
comprehensive set of recommendations, documented in SECY-11-0093, dated 
July 12, 2011. These recommendations were enhanced by the NRC staff 
following interactions with stakeholders. Documentation of the staff's 
efforts is contained in SECY-11-0124, dated September 9, 2011, and 
SECY-11-0137, dated October 3, 2011.
    As directed by the Commission's staff requirements memorandum (SRM) 
for SECY-11-0093, the NRC staff reviewed the NTTF recommendations 
within the context of the NRC's existing regulatory framework and 
considered the various regulatory vehicles available to the NRC to 
implement the recommendations. SECY-11-0124 and SECY-11-0137 
established the staff's prioritization of the recommendations.
    After receiving the Commission's direction in SRM-SECY-11-0124 and 
SRM-SECY-11-0137, the NRC staff conducted public meetings to discuss 
enhanced mitigation strategies intended to maintain or restore core 
cooling, containment, and spent fuel pool (SFP) cooling capabilities 
following beyond-design-basis external events. At these meetings, the 
industry described its proposal for a Diverse and Flexible Mitigation 
Capability (FLEX), as documented in the Nuclear Energy Institute's 
(NEI) letter, dated December 16, 2011. The FLEX is proposed as a 
strategy to fulfill the key safety functions of core cooling, 
containment integrity, and spent fuel cooling. Stakeholder input led 
the staff to pursue a more performance-based approach to improve the 
safety of operating power reactors than was originally envisioned in 
NTTF Recommendation 4.2, SECY-11-0124, and SECY-11-0137.
    On February 17, 2012, the NRC staff provided SECY-12-0025 to the 
Commission, including the proposed order to implement the enhanced 
mitigation strategies. As directed by SRM-SECY-12-0025, the NRC staff 
issued Order EA-12-049 and, in

[[Page 79058]]

parallel, issued as a Request for Information under Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(f) for a reevaluation of 
licensees' flooding and seismic hazards.
    Guidance and strategies required by the order would be available if 
the loss of power, motive force and normal access to the ultimate heat 
sink to prevent fuel damage in the reactor, and SFP affected all units 
at a site simultaneously. The order requires a three-phase approach for 
mitigating beyond-design-basis external events. The initial phase 
requires the use of installed equipment and resources to maintain or 
restore core cooling, containment, and SFP cooling. The transition 
phase requires providing sufficient, portable, onsite equipment and 
consumables to maintain or restore these functions until they can be 
accomplished with resources brought from off site. The final phase 
requires obtaining sufficient offsite resources to sustain those 
functions indefinitely.
    On May 4, 2012, NEI submitted document NEI 12-06, Revision B, and 
on May 13, 2012, Revision B1, to provide specifications for an 
industry-developed methodology for the development, implementation, and 
maintenance of guidance and strategies in response to Order EA-12-049. 
The strategies and guidance described in NEI 12-06 expand on the 
strategies the industry developed and implemented to address the 
limited set of beyond-design-basis external events that involve the 
loss of a large area of the plant due to explosions and fire required 
pursuant to paragraph (hh)(2) of 10 CFR 50.54(f), ``Conditions of 
licenses.''
    On May 31, 2012, the NRC staff issued a draft version of JLD-ISG-
2012-01, Revision 0, and published a notice of its availability for 
public comment in the Federal Register (FR) on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 
33779), with the comment period running through July 7, 2012, 30 days 
after its publication. The staff received seven comments during this 
time, addressing the comments, as documented in ``NRC Response to 
Public Comments, JLD-ISG-2012-01 (Docket ID NRC-2012-0068).''
    On July 3, 2012, NEI submitted Revision C to NEI 12-06, 
incorporating many of the exceptions and clarifications included in the 
draft version of JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 0. On August 3, 2012, NEI 
submitted NEI 12-06, Draft Revision 0, incorporating many of the 
remaining exceptions and clarifications. On August 21, 2012, NEI 
submitted NEI 12-06, Revision 0, making various editorial corrections. 
The NRC reviewed the August 21, 2012, submittal of Revision 0 of NEI 
12-06 and endorsed it as a process the NRC considers acceptable for 
meeting the regulatory requirements with noted clarifications in 
Revision 0 of JLD-ISG-2012-01.
    By February 2013, licensees of operating power reactors submitted 
their overall integrated plans (OIPs) under Order EA-12-049 describing 
the guidance and strategies to be developed and implemented. Because 
this development and implementation was to be accomplished in parallel 
with the reevaluation of the seismic and flooding hazards under the 10 
CFR 50.54(f) letter issued subsequent to SECY-12-0025, these included 
in their key assumptions a statement that typically read, ``[f]lood and 
seismic re-evaluations pursuant to the 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter of March 
12, 2012, are not completed and therefore not assumed in this 
submittal. As the reevaluations are completed, appropriate issues will 
be entered into the corrective action system and addressed on a 
schedule commensurate with other licensing bases changes.'' (See, e.g., 
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station's OIP)
    In order to clarify the relationship between Order EA-12-049 and 
the hazard reevaluation, the NRC staff provided COMSECY-14-0037 to the 
Commission on November 21, 2014, requesting that the Commission affirm 
that ``[l]icensees for operating nuclear power plants need to address 
the reevaluated flooding hazards within their mitigating strategies for 
beyond-design-basis external events (Order EA-12-049 and related 
[Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events] MBDBE rulemaking).'' 
COMSECY-14-0037 further requested affirmation that ``[l]icensees for 
operating nuclear power plants may need to address some specific 
flooding scenarios that could significantly damage the power plant site 
by developing targeted or scenario-specific mitigating strategies, 
possibly including unconventional measures, to prevent fuel damage in 
reactor cores or spent fuel pools.'' In SRM-COMSECY-14-0037, the 
Commission affirmed these two items and noted that ``it is within the 
staff's authority, and is the staff's responsibility, to determine, on 
a plant-specific basis, whether targeted or scenario-specific 
mitigating strategies, possibly including unconventional measures, are 
acceptable.''
    On August 25, 2015, NEI submitted Revision 1 to NEI 12-06, 
incorporating lessons learned in the implementation of Order EA-12-049 
and alternative approaches taken by licensees for compliance to that 
order. Following a public webinar discussion of potential exceptions 
and clarifications that took place on September 21, 2015, NEI submitted 
Revision 1A to NEI 12-06 on October 5, 2015.
    On October 30, 2015, the NRC staff issued a draft version of JLD-
ISG-2012-01, Revision 1, and published a notice of its availability for 
public comment in the FR on November 10, 2015 (80 FR 69702), with the 
comment period running through December 10, 2015, 30 days from its 
publication. The staff received four comments during this time, 
addressing the comments, as documented in ``NRC Response to Public 
Comments, JLD-ISG-2012-01 (Docket ID NRC-2012-0068).''
    On December 10, 2015, NEI submitted Revision 2 to NEI 12-06, 
incorporating many of the exceptions and clarifications included in the 
draft version of JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1. The NRC reviewed Revision 
2 to NEI 12-06 and endorsed it as a process the NRC considers 
acceptable for meeting the regulatory requirements with noted 
clarifications in JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1.
    On September 7, 2016, NEI submitted a draft revision of Appendix H 
to NEI 12-06 to support a public meeting held on September 8, 2016, 
incorporating additional guidance for licensees when addressing the 
reevaluated seismic hazards for compliance with Order EA-12-049. 
Specifically, Section H.4.5 (``Path 5'') is intended to address 
Mitigation Strategies Assessments for plants with reevaluated seismic 
hazard information that includes a ground motion response spectrum that 
has spectral ordinates more than 2 times the Safe Shutdown Earthquake 
anywhere in the 1 to 10 hertz frequency range. Such guidance includes 
deterministic and risk-informed approaches that can be used to assess 
the impact of the reevaluated hazard information on mitigation 
strategies. Following the public meeting held on September 8, 2016, NEI 
submitted Revision 3 to NEI 12-06 on September 22, 2016. NEI 12-06, 
Revision 3 also addresses certain lessons learned in the implementation 
of Order EA-12-049.

III. Specific Request for Comment

    The NRC is seeking advice and recommendations from the public on 
the revision to this interim staff guidance document. We are 
particularly interested in comments and supporting rationale from the 
public on the following:
    1. In NEI 12-06, Revision 3, Section 11.5.4.f, NEI proposes to 
modify the time limits for initiation of actions to restore a site's 
capability to mitigate a beyond-design-basis external event and 
implementation of compensatory

[[Page 79059]]

measures. Section 11.5.4.f of NEI 12-06, Revision 0 and Revision 2, 
states these time limits as 24 hours to initiate actions and 72 hours 
to implement compensatory measures. In NEI 12-06, Revision 3, Section 
11.5.4.f, these time limits are extended to 72 hours for initiation of 
actions and 7 days for implementation of compensatory measures. The 
former time limits were previously endorsed as an element of an 
acceptable method of meeting the Order EA-12-049 requirements for 
maintaining the strategies and guidelines to mitigate a beyond-design-
basis external event in JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 0 and Revision 1. The 
NRC staff seeks input on potential justifications for this extension of 
the allowable outage times for a licensee's capability to mitigate a 
beyond-design-basis external event. Input is specifically requested on 
the potential benefits of extending these time limits, operating 
experience on time frames actually necessary to implement compensatory 
measures for the unavailability of similar equipment, and any potential 
unintended consequences of extending these time limits.
    2. In JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1, the NRC staff endorsed the NEI 
12-06, Revision 2, Section 11.5.4.b 45-day time limit for having an 
available but unprotected set of equipment as part of the site's 
capability to mitigate a beyond-design-basis external event. The 45-day 
time limit aligned with the standard 6-week short work cycle period and 
allowed sufficient time for the pre-staging of one set of equipment in 
a location that is not entirely protected from all external hazards for 
the purpose of shutdown risk management during outages, which typically 
have durations less than 45 days. In NEI 12-06, Revision 3, Section 
11.5.4.g, this time period is reduced to 14 days, which could conflict 
with the pre-staging of equipment for risk management during outages. 
The NRC staff seeks input on appropriate methods of control of pre-
staging of equipment for shutdown risk management.
    3. In NEI 12-06, Revision 3, Sections H.4.5.3, H.4.5.4, and 
H.4.5.5, NEI proposes to allow the use of risk insights from the 
seismic probabilistic risk assessments (SPRAs), being completed by some 
licensees in response to the NRC's March 12, 2012, 10 CFR 50.54(f) 
letter, to assess the mitigating strategies developed in response to 
Order EA-12-049 against the reevaluated seismic hazard information. The 
purpose of these mitigating strategies assessments is to determine if 
changes to the mitigating strategies are needed to account for the 
reevaluated seismic hazard. The NRC staff seeks input on specific 
aspects of NEI's proposals in light of issues discussed in NCP-2016-
014, a non-concurrence submitted by two NRC staff members regarding 
certain aspects of NEI 12-06, Revision 3. First, NCP-2016-014 raised 
concerns associated with NEI's proposed use of risk screening criteria. 
For example, in Section H.4.5.3, NEI proposes to establish screening 
criteria based on the overall seismic core damage frequency and seismic 
large early release frequency identified through the SPRA. If these 
screening criteria are met, licensees' FLEX mitigating strategies or 
alternate mitigating strategies would be considered sufficient to 
address the effects of the reevaluated seismic hazard information 
without the need for modification. The NRC staff seeks input on the 
appropriateness of the approach proposed by NEI in light of the 
concerns raised by NCP-2016-014. Second, in Sections H.4.5.4 and 
H.4.5.5, NEI describes proposed iterative processes that evaluate the 
benefit of enhancing the seismic capacity of certain mitigating 
strategies structures, systems, and components (SSCs). As part of these 
processes, licensees would enhance such SSCs until the risk benefit of 
further enhancements is sufficiently small based on criteria 
established in each section. In Section H.4.5.4 the approach focuses on 
the benefit in terms of reduction in overall seismic core damage 
frequency and seismic large early release frequency. The approach 
described in Section H.4.5.5 focuses on the benefit in terms of 
reduction in risk from sequences in the SPRAs involving mitigating 
strategies SSCs. The NRC staff seeks input on these approaches in light 
of the concerns raised by NCP-2016-014 regarding the use of risk-based 
screening values and risk partitioning. Finally, NCP-2016-014 
identified two alternate approaches that could be used to conduct 
seismic mitigating strategies assessments. The NRC staff seeks input on 
these approaches and whether they represent more appropriate 
alternatives to the approaches described in NEI 12-06, Revision 3.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This draft ISG would provide guidance on an acceptable method for 
implementing the requirements contained in Order EA-12-049. Licensees 
would be able to voluntarily use the guidance in JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft 
Revision 2 to demonstrate compliance with Order EA-12-049. If this 
draft ISG is issued, methods or solutions that differ from those 
described in this draft ISG may be deemed acceptable if they provide 
sufficient basis and information for the NRC to verify that the 
proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with Order EA-12-049. 
Issuance of this ISG would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 
CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting'' (the Backfit Rule), and would not otherwise 
be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, 
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''

V. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Document title                    Abbreviated title                  Adams Accession No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JLD-ISG-2012-01, ``Compliance with Order  JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft      ML16277A617
 EA-12-049, Order Modifying Licenses       Revision 2.
 with Regard to Requirements for
 Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-
 Basis External Events,'' Draft Revision
 2.
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 1 (See          JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision   ML15357A163
 Previous Entry for JLD-ISG-2012-01).      1.
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision 0 (See          JLD-ISG-2012-01, Revision   ML12229A174
 Previous Entry for JLD-ISG-2012-01).      0.
Order EA-12-049, ``Order Modifying        Order EA-12-049...........  ML12054A736
 Licenses with Regard to Requirements
 for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-
 Design-Basis External Events''.
V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 2       n/a.......................  ML14100A092
 License, License No. NPF-93.

[[Page 79060]]

 
V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 3       n/a.......................  ML14100A101
 License, License No. NPF-94.
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant, Unit 3        n/a.......................  ML15084A170
 License, License No. NPF-95.
SECY-11-0093, ``Near-Term Report and      SECY-11-0093..............  ML11186A950
 Recommendations for Agency Actions
 Following the Events in Japan''.
SECY-11-0124, ``Recommended Actions to    SECY-11-0124..............  ML11245A158
 be Taken without Delay from the Near-
 Term Task Force Report''.
SECY-11-0137, ``Prioritization of         SECY-11-0137..............  ML11272A111
 Recommended Actions to be Taken in
 Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned''.
Commission's staff requirements           SRM-SECY-11-0093..........  ML112310021
 memorandum (SRM) for
 SECY[dash]11[dash]0093.
SRM for SECY-11-0124 (see entry to SECY-  SRM-SECY-11-0124..........  ML112911571
 11-0124 for full title).
SRM for SECY-11-0137 (see entry to SECY-  SRM-SECY-11-0137..........  ML113490055
 11-0124 for full title).
NEI Letter Titled, ``An Integrated,       n/a.......................  ML11353A008
 Safety-Focused Approach to Expediting
 Implementation of Fukushima Daiichi
 Lessons Learned''.
SECY-12-0025, ``Proposed Orders and       SECY-12-0025..............  ML12039A103
 Requests for Information in Response to
 Lessons Learned from Japan's March 11,
 2011, Great Tohoku Earthquake and
 Tsunami''.
SRM for SECY-12-0025 (see entry for SECY- SRM-SECY-12-0025..........  ML120690347
 12-0025 for full title).
Request for Information Pursuant to       50.54(f) Letter...........  ML12053A340
 Title 10 of the Code of Federal
 Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(f) Regarding
 Recommendations 2.1, 2.3, and 9.3, of
 the Near-Term Task Force Review of
 Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi
 Accident.
NEI 12-06, ``Diverse and Flexible Coping  NEI 12-06, Revision B.....  ML12144A419
 Strategies (FLEX) Implementation
 Guide,'' Revision B.
NEI 12-06, Revision B1 (See Previous      NEI 12-06, Revision B1....  ML12143A232
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft Revision 0 (See    JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft      ML12146A014
 Previous Entry for JLD-ISG-2012-01).      Revision 0.
``NRC Response to Public Comments, JLD-   n/a.......................  ML12229A253
 ISG-2012-01 (Docket ID NRC-2012-0068)''.
NEI 12-06, Revision C (See Previous       NEI 12-06, Revision C.....  ML121910390
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
NEI 12-06, Draft Revision 0 (See          NEI 12-06, Draft Revision   ML12221A204
 Previous Entry for NEI 12-06).            0.
NEI 12-06, Revision 0 (See Previous       NEI 12-06, Revision 0.....  ML12242A378
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station's    n/a.......................  ML13064A300
 Overall Integrate Plan.
COMSECY-14-0037, ``Integration of         COMSECY-14-0037...........  ML14238A616
 Mitigating Strategies for Beyond-Design-
 Basis External Events and the
 Reevaluation (sic) of Flooding
 Hazards''.
SRM-COMSECY-14-0037.....................  SRM-COMSECY-14-0037.......  ML15089A236
NEI 12-06, Revision 1 (See Previous       NEI 12-06, Revision 1.....  ML15244B006
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
NEI 12-06, Revision 1A (See Previous      NEI 12-06, Revision 1A....  ML15279A426
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft Revision 1 (See    JLD-ISG-2012-01, Draft      ML15294A078
 Previous Entry for JLD-ISG-2012-01).      Revision 1.
NRC Responses to Public Comments:         n/a.......................  ML15357A147
 Revision to Japan Lessons-Learned
 Division Interim Staff Guidance JLD-ISG-
 2012-01.
NEI 12-06, Revision 2 (See Previous       NEI 12-06, Revision 2.....  ML16005A625
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
Appendix H to NEI 12-06, Draft to         n/a.......................  ML16251A251
 Support Public Meeting on September 8,
 2016.
NEI 12-06, Revision 3 (See Previous       NEI 12-06, Revision 3.....  ML16267A274
 Entry for NEI 12-06).
NRC Non-Concurrence Process document NCP- NCP-2016-014..............  ML16295A104
 2016-014.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking Web site at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-0068. The Federal 
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2012-0068); (2) click the ``Sign up for Email 
Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select how 
frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of November, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael X. Franovich,
Acting Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Division, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-27169 Filed 11-9-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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