An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis, 17042-17044 [2017-06939]

Download as PDF 17042 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 66 / Friday, April 7, 2017 / Notices battery monitors and their respective Class 1E battery banks. Part of the justification for granting the exemption was provided by the review of the amendment. Because the exemption is necessary in order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the exemption and issued the amendment concurrently, rather than in sequence. This included issuing a combined safety evaluation containing the NRC staff’s review of both the exemption request and the license amendment. The exemption met all applicable regulatory criteria set forth in 10 CFR 50.12, 10 CFR 52.7, and Section VIII.A.4 of appendix D to 10 CFR part 52. The license amendment was found to be acceptable as well. The combined safety evaluation is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17046A161. Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers and license numbers) were issued to the licensee for VCSNS Units 2 and 3 (COLs NPF–93 and NPF–94). The exemption documents for VCSNS Units 2 and 3 can be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17046A145 and ML17046A151, respectively. The exemption is reproduced (with the exception of abbreviated titles and additional citations) in Section II of this document. The amendment documents for COLs NPF–93 and NPF–94 are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17046A129 and ML17046A134, respectively. A summary of the amendment documents is provided in Section III of this document. nlaroche on DSK30NT082PROD with NOTICES II. Exemption Reproduced below is the exemption document issued to VCSNS Units 2 and Unit 3. It makes reference to the combined safety evaluation that provides the reasoning for the findings made by the NRC (and listed under Item 1) in order to grant the exemption: 1. In a letter dated September 28, 2016, the licensee requested from the Commission an exemption from the provisions of 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, Section III.B, as part of license amendment request 16–16, ‘‘IDS Fuse Isolation Panel Additions (LAR 16–16).’’ For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1, ‘‘Evaluation of Exemption,’’ of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation, which can be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17046A161, the Commission finds that: A. The exemption is authorized by law; B. the exemption presents no undue risk to public health and safety; C. the exemption is consistent with the common defense and security; VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:52 Apr 06, 2017 Jkt 241001 D. special circumstances are present in that the application of the rule in this circumstance is not necessary to serve the underlying purpose of the rule; E. the special circumstances outweigh any decrease in safety that may result from the reduction in standardization caused by the exemption; and F. the exemption will not result in a significant decrease in the level of safety otherwise provided by the design. 2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted an exemption from the certified DCD Tier 1 information, with corresponding changes to Appendix C of the Facility Combined Licenses as described in the licensee’s request dated September 28, 2016. This exemption is related to, and necessary for, the granting of License Amendment No. 63, which is being issued concurrently with this exemption. 3. As explained in Section 5.0, ‘‘Environmental Consideration,’’ of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation (ADAMS Accession No. ML17046A161), this exemption meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment needs to be prepared in connection with the issuance of the exemption. 4. This exemption is effective as of the date of its issuance. III. License Amendment Request By letter dated September 28, 2016, the licensee requested that the NRC amend the COLs for VCSNS, Units 2 and 3, COLs NPF–93 and NPF–94. The proposed amendment is described in Section I of this Federal Register notice. The Commission has determined for these amendments that the application complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission’s rules and regulations. The Commission has made appropriate findings as required by the Act and the Commission’s rules and regulations in 10 CFR chapter I, which are set forth in the license amendment. A notice of consideration of issuance of amendment to facility operating license or combined license, as applicable, proposed no significant hazards consideration determination, and opportunity for a hearing in connection with these actions, was published in the Federal Register on October 25, 2016 (81 FR 73428). No comments were received during the 30day comment period. The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for these amendments. IV. Conclusion Using the reasons set forth in the combined safety evaluation, the staff granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee requested on September 28, 2016. The exemption and amendment were issued on March 7, 2017 as part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No. ML17046A104). Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of March 2017. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jennifer Dixon-Herrity, Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of New Reactors. [FR Doc. 2017–06991 Filed 4–6–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2012–0110] An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is re-issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG–1285, ‘‘An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on PlantSpecific Changes to the Licensing Basis.’’ The guide was initially issued for public comment in 2012 as noticed in the Federal Register under NRC Docket number NRC–2012–0110. Subsequently, the NRC decided to incorporate additional information related to evaluation of the defense-indepth philosophy that was not included in the original publication of DG–1285. This proposed revision of the guide, Revision 3, includes significant expansion of the guidance on the meaning of, and the process for, assessing the defense-in-depth evaluation factors. DATES: Submit comments by May 22, 2017. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. This SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\07APN1.SGM 07APN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 66 / Friday, April 7, 2017 / Notices public review and comment period is 45 days. This is shorter than the typical public review and comment period for draft RGs of 60 days because the staff has discussed the defense-in-depth concepts in this RG in numerous public meetings and has addressed multiple comments from the public. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2012–0110. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: OWFN–12H08, 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: Anders Gilbertson, Telephone: 301– 415–1541, email: Anders.Gilbertson@ nrc.gov, and Harriet Karagiannis, Telephone: 301–415–2493, email: Harriet.Karagiannis@nrc.gov. Both are staff members of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: nlaroche on DSK30NT082PROD with NOTICES I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2012– 0110 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this action. You may obtain publicallyavailable 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–2012–0110. • 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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:52 Apr 06, 2017 Jkt 241001 ‘‘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 DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16358A153. • 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– 0110 in your comment submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information 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 enters the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information. If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information 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. Additional Information The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the public information regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC’s regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The DG, entitled, ‘‘An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on PlantSpecific Changes to the Licensing Basis,’’ is a proposed revision temporarily identified by its task number, DG–1285. Draft Guide 1285 is proposed revision 3 of RG 1.174, ‘‘An PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 17043 Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis.’’ This revision proposes revised guidance that uses precise language to assure that the defense-in-depth philosophy is interpreted and implemented consistently, as directed by the Commission in SRM–SECY–11– 0014, ‘‘Staff Requirements—SECY–11– 0014—Use of Containment Accident Pressure in Analyzing Emergency Core Cooling System and Containment Heat Removal System Pump Performance in Postulated Accidents’’ (see ADAMS under Accession No. ML110740254). Significant changes in this proposed revision include expansion of the guidance on the meaning of, and the process for, assessing the defense-indepth evaluation factors. Other changes include the introduction of language for new reactors related to the transitioning from large release frequency and conditional containment failure probability to large early release frequency after fuel loading; introduction of language related to containment performance expectations for new reactors; clarifications related to guidance on the treatment of uncertainty, combining risk results, and the nature of the acceptance guideline boundaries; incorporation of language on defense-in-depth from other NRC guidance documents; and changes to conform to the latest NRC staff program guidance for draft guides. In addition, the terms ‘‘PRA quality’’ and ‘‘technical adequacy’’ were replaced with the term ‘‘PRA acceptability.’’ The NRC is specifically requesting comment on this terminology changes to ensure the revised terms are clearly understood by the users of the guidance. The NRC staff conducted four public meetings to solicit public feedback on DG–1285, Revision 3, and keep the public informed regarding the proposed changes regarding defense-in-depth guidance as it was being developed. These public meetings were held on May 2, May 23, July 7, and September 1, and the summaries are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML16148A758, ML16169A343, ML16215A455, and ML162565A448, respectively. Draft versions of the revised guidance on defense-in-depth were made publicly available on May 19, June 20, and July 27, and are available in ADAMS under accession numbers ML16265A451, ML16172A343, and ML16209A221, respectively. The NRC is issuing for public comment the revised DG–1285 for the reasons mentioned above. Comments received from the public review and E:\FR\FM\07APN1.SGM 07APN1 17044 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 66 / Friday, April 7, 2017 / Notices comment period in 2012 were addressed as part of developing this proposed revision of DG–1285. Documentation of the NRC’s resolution of public comments on DG–1285 from 2012 are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16348A180. III. Backfitting and Issue Finality Draft guide 1285 describes an approach that the NRC staff considers acceptable for applications for licensing basis changes by considering engineering issues and applying risk insights at light-water reactors. Issuance of this DG, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the ‘‘Implementation’’ section of this DG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guidance, if finalized, on holders of current operating licenses or combined licenses. This DG may be applied to applications for amendments to operating licenses or combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions in part 52. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of April 2017. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thomas H. Boyce, Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 2017–06939 Filed 4–6–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION nlaroche on DSK30NT082PROD with NOTICES [NRC–2017–2017–0065] Information Collection: NRC Form 5, Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring Period Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Renewal of existing information collection; request for comment. AGENCY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:52 Apr 06, 2017 Jkt 241001 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, NRC Form 5, ‘‘Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring Period.’’ DATES: Submit comments by June 6, 2017. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2017–0065. 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: David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Mail Stop: T–5 F53, 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: 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMARY: I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2017– 0065 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–2017–0065. • 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 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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. ML17090A545. The supporting statement and Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring Period is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16357A680. • 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 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 Please include Docket ID NRC–2017– 0065 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https:// www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into ADAMS, and 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 into ADAMS. II. Background In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC is requesting public comment on its intention to request the OMB’s approval for the information collection summarized below. E:\FR\FM\07APN1.SGM 07APN1

Agencies

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 66 (Friday, April 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17042-17044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06939]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0110]


An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-
Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is re-issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1285, ``An Approach for 
Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on 
Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis.'' The guide was 
initially issued for public comment in 2012 as noticed in the Federal 
Register under NRC Docket number NRC-2012-0110. Subsequently, the NRC 
decided to incorporate additional information related to evaluation of 
the defense-in-depth philosophy that was not included in the original 
publication of DG-1285. This proposed revision of the guide, Revision 
3, includes significant expansion of the guidance on the meaning of, 
and the process for, assessing the defense-in-depth evaluation factors.

DATES: Submit comments by May 22, 2017. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. This

[[Page 17043]]

public review and comment period is 45 days. This is shorter than the 
typical public review and comment period for draft RGs of 60 days 
because the staff has discussed the defense-in-depth concepts in this 
RG in numerous public meetings and has addressed multiple comments from 
the public. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0110. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, 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: Anders Gilbertson, Telephone: 301-415-
1541, email: Anders.Gilbertson@nrc.gov, and Harriet Karagiannis, 
Telephone: 301-415-2493, email: Harriet.Karagiannis@nrc.gov. Both are 
staff members of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0110 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may 
obtain publically-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-2012-0110.
     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. The 
DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16358A153.
     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-2012-0110 in your comment submission 
in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission 
available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information 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 enters the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled, ``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk 
Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the 
Licensing Basis,'' is a proposed revision temporarily identified by its 
task number, DG-1285. Draft Guide 1285 is proposed revision 3 of RG 
1.174, ``An Approach for Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-
Informed Decisions on Plant-Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis.''
    This revision proposes revised guidance that uses precise language 
to assure that the defense-in-depth philosophy is interpreted and 
implemented consistently, as directed by the Commission in SRM-SECY-11-
0014, ``Staff Requirements--SECY-11-0014--Use of Containment Accident 
Pressure in Analyzing Emergency Core Cooling System and Containment 
Heat Removal System Pump Performance in Postulated Accidents'' (see 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML110740254). Significant changes in this 
proposed revision include expansion of the guidance on the meaning of, 
and the process for, assessing the defense-in-depth evaluation factors.
    Other changes include the introduction of language for new reactors 
related to the transitioning from large release frequency and 
conditional containment failure probability to large early release 
frequency after fuel loading; introduction of language related to 
containment performance expectations for new reactors; clarifications 
related to guidance on the treatment of uncertainty, combining risk 
results, and the nature of the acceptance guideline boundaries; 
incorporation of language on defense-in-depth from other NRC guidance 
documents; and changes to conform to the latest NRC staff program 
guidance for draft guides.
    In addition, the terms ``PRA quality'' and ``technical adequacy'' 
were replaced with the term ``PRA acceptability.'' The NRC is 
specifically requesting comment on this terminology changes to ensure 
the revised terms are clearly understood by the users of the guidance.
    The NRC staff conducted four public meetings to solicit public 
feedback on DG-1285, Revision 3, and keep the public informed regarding 
the proposed changes regarding defense-in-depth guidance as it was 
being developed. These public meetings were held on May 2, May 23, July 
7, and September 1, and the summaries are available in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML16148A758, ML16169A343, ML16215A455, and ML162565A448, 
respectively. Draft versions of the revised guidance on defense-in-
depth were made publicly available on May 19, June 20, and July 27, and 
are available in ADAMS under accession numbers ML16265A451, 
ML16172A343, and ML16209A221, respectively.
    The NRC is issuing for public comment the revised DG-1285 for the 
reasons mentioned above. Comments received from the public review and

[[Page 17044]]

comment period in 2012 were addressed as part of developing this 
proposed revision of DG-1285. Documentation of the NRC's resolution of 
public comments on DG-1285 from 2012 are available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML16348A180.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Draft guide 1285 describes an approach that the NRC staff considers 
acceptable for applications for licensing basis changes by considering 
engineering issues and applying risk insights at light-water reactors. 
Issuance of this DG, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and would not otherwise be 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As 
discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this DG, the NRC has no 
current intention to impose this guidance, if finalized, on holders of 
current operating licenses or combined licenses.
    This DG may be applied to applications for amendments to operating 
licenses or combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of 
issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications 
submitted after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would 
not constitute backfitting as defined in the Backfit Rule or be 
otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 
10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are 
not within the scope of entities protected by the Backfit Rule or the 
relevant issue finality provisions in part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of April 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2017-06939 Filed 4-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

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