Final Guidance Documents for Subsequent License Renewal, 32588 [2017-14747]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 134 (Friday, July 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 32588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14747]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0251]


Final Guidance Documents for Subsequent License Renewal

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: NUREG; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing final 
NUREG-2191, ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for Subsequent License 
Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report,'' Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and NUREG-2192, 
``Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal 
Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (SRP-SLR). These final 
documents describe methods acceptable to the NRC staff for granting a 
subsequent license renewal in accordance with the license renewal 
regulations, as well as techniques that will be used by the NRC staff 
in evaluating applications for subsequent license renewal.

DATES: July 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0251 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0251. 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.
     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 
``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for Subsequent License Renewal (GALL-
SLR) Report,'' Vol. 1.; ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for Subsequent 
License Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report,'' Vol. 2, and the ``Standard Review 
Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal Applications for Nuclear 
Power Plants'' (SRP-SLR) are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. 
ML17187A031, ML17187A204 and ML17188A158, respectively.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bennett Brady, telephone: 301-415-
2981, email: Bennett.Brady@nrc.gov or Sheldon Stuchell, telephone: 301-
415-1213, email: Sheldon.Stuchell@nrc.gov; both are staff of the Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    The Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended, authorizes the NRC 
to issue 40-year initial licenses and upon application and approval, 
subsequently renew licenses for nuclear power reactors. The NRC's 
regulations permit these licenses to be renewed beyond the initial 40-
year term for an additional period of time, limited to 20-year 
increments per renewal, based on the outcome of an assessment to 
determine if the nuclear facility can continue to operate safely during 
the period of extended operation. There are no limitations in the AEA 
or the NRC's regulations restricting the number of times a license may 
be renewed.
    The nuclear power industry has sent letters of intent to apply for 
subsequent license renewals in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Subsequent 
License Renewal is a term referring to all license renewals allowing a 
plant to operate beyond the 60-year period (40-year of an initial 
operating license and a 20-year period of the first license renewal). 
Based on a survey conducted by the nuclear power industry and provided 
to the NRC, the NRC staff believes that additional applications for 
subsequent license renewal will be submitted in future years.
    The NRC developed guidance for licensees that intend to apply for 
subsequent license renewal. The guidance documents for first license 
renewal (i.e., for operation from 40 to 60 years), the Generic Aging 
Lessons Learned Report, Revision 2 (GALL Report Rev. 2, ADAMS Accession 
No. ML103490041), and the Standard Review Plan for Review of License 
Renewal Applications, Revision 2 (SRP-LR Rev. 2, ADAMS Accession No. 
ML103490036) were revised to reflect aging differences for increased 
operating time from 60 to 80 years. The guidance was also revised to 
consider new operating experience and provide information identified as 
missing since the release of GALL Report Rev. 2. The GALL-SLR Report 
and SRP-SLR also include changes that have been previously issued for 
public comment as part of the staff's license renewal Interim Staff 
Guidance (ISG) process. These ISGs can be found at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/license-renewal.html. These ISGs 
(ML12286A275, ML11297A085, ML12138A296, ML12270A436, ML12044A215, 
ML12352A057, ML13227A361, ML15308A018, and ML16237A383) have been 
incorporated into the GALL-SLR Report and the associated sections of 
the SRP-SLR. The NRC has previously received public comments on these 
ISGs, and is not requesting additional comments.
    A notice of availability, requesting comment on the draft Guidance 
Documents was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2015 
(80 FR 79956). The public comment period ended on February 29, 2016. 
The NRC received 508 comments on these draft guidance documents. The 
NRC also published a supplement to the draft guidance documents in the 
Federal Register on March 29, 2016 (81 FR 17500). The public comment 
period ended on May 31, 2016. The NRC reviewed and dispositioned all of 
the comments and is publishing the disposition of the comments and the 
technical bases for their disposition in companion NUREGs. The NRC's 
resolution of these comments are incorporated into the final subsequent 
license renewal guidance documents.

II. Congressional Review Act

    This NUREG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of July 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson Jr.,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-14747 Filed 7-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P