Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents, 37115-37116 [2020-13254]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 119 / Friday, June 19, 2020 / Notices for Docket ID NRC–2019–0246. A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing Docket ID NRC–2019–0246 on this website. • 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 ‘‘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. ML20162A172. The supporting statement is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20049A689. • 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. khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC–2019– 0246 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. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:17 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 250001 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. 1. The title of the information collection: Comprehensive Decommissioning Program Annual Site List and Point of Contact. 2. OMB approval number: 3150–0206. 3. Type of submission: Revision. 4. The form number, if applicable: N/ A. 5. How often the collection is required or requested: Annually. 6. Who will be required or asked to respond: All Agreement States that have signed Section 274(b) Agreements with the NRC. 7. The estimated number of annual responses: 39 (14 responses from Agreement States with sites undergoing decommissioning + 25 responses from Agreement States with no sites undergoing decommissioning). 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 39 (14 Agreement States with sites undergoing decommissioning + 25 Agreement States with no sites undergoing decommissioning). 9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 40.5 (28 hours for Agreement States with sites undergoing decommissioning + 12.5 hours for Agreement States with no sites undergoing decommissioning). 10. Abstract: The Agreement States will be asked to provide a list of uranium recovery and complex sites undergoing decommissioning regulated by their States on an annual basis. The Agreement States will also be asked to provide a point of contact who is cognizant of site status. The information request will allow the NRC to compile, in a centralized location, updated contact information and a list of sites decommissioning in the United States to provide a national perspective on decommissioning. The information will be made available to the public by the NRC in order to ensure openness and promote communication to enhance public knowledge of the national decommissioning program. III. Specific Requests for Comments The NRC is seeking comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 37115 2. Is the estimate of the burden of the information collection accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection on respondents be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? Dated: June 16, 2020. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. David C. Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 2020–13253 Filed 6–18–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2016–0233] Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing regulatory guide (RG) 1.236, ‘‘Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents.’’ This is a new RG that provides guidance for analyzing control rod accidents. It defines fuel cladding failure thresholds for ductile failure, brittle failure, and pellet-clad mechanical interaction. It also describes analytical limits and guidance for demonstrating compliance with regulations governing reactivity limits. RG 1.236 supersedes the guidance for control rod ejection accidents in RG 1.77, ‘‘Assumptions Used for Evaluation a Control Rod Ejection Accident for Pressurized Water Reactors,’’ which is being withdrawn in conjunction with the issuance of RG 1.236. DATES: RG 1.236 is available on June 19, 2020. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2016–0233 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2016–0233. Address questions about NRC dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\19JNN1.SGM 19JNN1 37116 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 119 / Friday, June 19, 2020 / Notices questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘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. RG 1.236 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML20055F490 and ML16124A198, respectively. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Clifford, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–415–4043, email: Paul.Clifford@nrc.gov and Edward O’Donnell, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301– 415–3317, email: Edward.ODonnell@ nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES I. Discussion The NRC is issuing a new guide 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 information that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The RG, titled ‘‘Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents,’’ describes one acceptable method for demonstrating compliance with appendix A of part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), General Design Criteria (GDC) 28, ‘‘Reactivity Limit,’’ with respect to control rod ejection (CRE) accidents for pressurized-water reactors and control rod drop (CRD) accidents for boilingwater reactors. RG 1.236 provides guidance for analyzing these reactivityinitiated accidents. It defines fuel cladding failure thresholds for ductile failure, brittle failure, and pellet-clad mechanical interaction. It also describes analytical limits and guidance for demonstrating compliance with regulations governing reactivity limits. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:17 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 250001 The guide incorporates new empirical data from in-pile, prompt power pulse test programs and analyses from several international publications that examine fuel rod performance under reactivityinitiated accident conditions to provide guidance on acceptable analytical methods, assumptions, and limits for evaluating a CRE and CRD accidents. The guide supersedes the guidance for control rod ejection accidents in RG 1.77, ‘‘Assumptions Used for Evaluation a Control Rod Ejection Accident for Pressurized Water Reactors,’’ which is being withdrawn in conjunction with the issuance of RG 1.236. II. Additional Information The NRC issued RG 1.236 as Draft Guide (DG)-1327 for public comment on November 21, 2016 (81 FR 83288), with a 60 day comment period that expired on February 21, 2017. A public meeting was held at NRC Headquarters on January 25, 2017, while the guide was issued for public comment. During the meeting NRC made a commitment to hold a second public meeting to discuss the staff’s proposed resolution of key comments prior to finalization of the guide. Following the public meeting the NRC extended the comment period to April 21, 2017 (82 FR 8998), to allow more time for comment. A second public meeting was held at NRC Headquarters on June 5, 2018, to discuss resolution of the public comments. To facilitate discussion at the meeting, drafts of the guide (ADAMS Accession No. ML18138A459) and a table showing resolution of the public comments (ADAMS Accession No. ML18138A458) were made publicly available. As a result of the written public comments and discussion at the two public meetings, the NRC made several changes to the draft guide and it was released a second time for public comment on July 30, 2019 (84 FR 36961). That comment period ended November 18, 2019. The guide was further revised to address the second round of public comments. The response to this second round of public comments is located in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20055F489. Among the changes resulting from the two public meetings and the two rounds of public comments were: (1) The pelletclad mechanical interaction cladding failure thresholds were revised; (2) the appendix that provided acceptable steady-state and transient fission product releases was removed; and (3) the implementation section was revised to be consistent with recent Commission direction on backfitting and forward fitting as found in Management Directive 8.4 ‘‘Management of PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests.’’ III. Congressional Review Act This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act. IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality RG 1.236 describes one acceptable method for demonstrating compliance with 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, GDC 28 with respect to CRE accidents for pressurized-water reactors and CRD accidents for boiling-water reactors. In general, issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ‘‘Backfitting,’’ and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4; does not constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in Management Directive 8.4; and does not affect the issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ As explained in this regulatory guide, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the positions set forth in this RG. Licensees using RG 1.77 may continue using that RG. In future requests or applications for NRC licensing actions related to the guidance in RG 1.77, those licensees should use RG 1.236, which contains the guidance in RG 1.77. Further information on the staff’s use of the RG is contained in the RG under Section D., ‘‘Implementation.’’ Dated: June 16, 2020. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Meraj Rahimi, Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 2020–13254 Filed 6–18–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50–331; NRC–2020–0148] NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Duane Arnold Energy Center; PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities Report Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of receipt; availability; public meeting and request for comment. AGENCY: On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\19JNN1.SGM 19JNN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 119 (Friday, June 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37115-37116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13254]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0233]


Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and Boiling-Water 
Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
regulatory guide (RG) 1.236, ``Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod 
Ejection and Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents.'' This 
is a new RG that provides guidance for analyzing control rod accidents. 
It defines fuel cladding failure thresholds for ductile failure, 
brittle failure, and pellet-clad mechanical interaction. It also 
describes analytical limits and guidance for demonstrating compliance 
with regulations governing reactivity limits. RG 1.236 supersedes the 
guidance for control rod ejection accidents in RG 1.77, ``Assumptions 
Used for Evaluation a Control Rod Ejection Accident for Pressurized 
Water Reactors,'' which is being withdrawn in conjunction with the 
issuance of RG 1.236.

DATES: RG 1.236 is available on June 19, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0233 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0233. Address 
questions about NRC dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical

[[Page 37116]]

questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 [email protected]. RG 1.236 and the regulatory analysis 
may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML20055F490 and ML16124A198, 
respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Clifford, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-4043, email: 
[email protected] and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a new guide 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 information that the staff needs in its review 
of applications for permits and licenses.
    The RG, titled ``Pressurized-Water Reactor Control Rod Ejection and 
Boiling-Water Reactor Control Rod Drop Accidents,'' describes one 
acceptable method for demonstrating compliance with appendix A of part 
50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), General 
Design Criteria (GDC) 28, ``Reactivity Limit,'' with respect to control 
rod ejection (CRE) accidents for pressurized-water reactors and control 
rod drop (CRD) accidents for boiling-water reactors. RG 1.236 provides 
guidance for analyzing these reactivity-initiated accidents. It defines 
fuel cladding failure thresholds for ductile failure, brittle failure, 
and pellet-clad mechanical interaction. It also describes analytical 
limits and guidance for demonstrating compliance with regulations 
governing reactivity limits.
    The guide incorporates new empirical data from in-pile, prompt 
power pulse test programs and analyses from several international 
publications that examine fuel rod performance under reactivity-
initiated accident conditions to provide guidance on acceptable 
analytical methods, assumptions, and limits for evaluating a CRE and 
CRD accidents. The guide supersedes the guidance for control rod 
ejection accidents in RG 1.77, ``Assumptions Used for Evaluation a 
Control Rod Ejection Accident for Pressurized Water Reactors,'' which 
is being withdrawn in conjunction with the issuance of RG 1.236.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC issued RG 1.236 as Draft Guide (DG)-1327 for public comment 
on November 21, 2016 (81 FR 83288), with a 60 day comment period that 
expired on February 21, 2017. A public meeting was held at NRC 
Headquarters on January 25, 2017, while the guide was issued for public 
comment. During the meeting NRC made a commitment to hold a second 
public meeting to discuss the staff's proposed resolution of key 
comments prior to finalization of the guide. Following the public 
meeting the NRC extended the comment period to April 21, 2017 (82 FR 
8998), to allow more time for comment. A second public meeting was held 
at NRC Headquarters on June 5, 2018, to discuss resolution of the 
public comments. To facilitate discussion at the meeting, drafts of the 
guide (ADAMS Accession No. ML18138A459) and a table showing resolution 
of the public comments (ADAMS Accession No. ML18138A458) were made 
publicly available.
    As a result of the written public comments and discussion at the 
two public meetings, the NRC made several changes to the draft guide 
and it was released a second time for public comment on July 30, 2019 
(84 FR 36961). That comment period ended November 18, 2019. The guide 
was further revised to address the second round of public comments. The 
response to this second round of public comments is located in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML20055F489. Among the changes resulting from the 
two public meetings and the two rounds of public comments were: (1) The 
pellet-clad mechanical interaction cladding failure thresholds were 
revised; (2) the appendix that provided acceptable steady-state and 
transient fission product releases was removed; and (3) the 
implementation section was revised to be consistent with recent 
Commission direction on backfitting and forward fitting as found in 
Management Directive 8.4 ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, 
Issue Finality, and Information Requests.''

III. Congressional Review Act

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

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    RG 1.236 describes one acceptable method for demonstrating 
compliance with 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, GDC 28 with respect to CRE 
accidents for pressurized-water reactors and CRD accidents for boiling-
water reactors. In general, issuance of this RG does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive 8.4; does not constitute forward 
fitting as that term is defined and described in Management Directive 
8.4; and does not affect the issue finality of any approval issued 
under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in this regulatory guide, 
applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the positions 
set forth in this RG. Licensees using RG 1.77 may continue using that 
RG. In future requests or applications for NRC licensing actions 
related to the guidance in RG 1.77, those licensees should use RG 
1.236, which contains the guidance in RG 1.77. Further information on 
the staff's use of the RG is contained in the RG under Section D., 
``Implementation.''

    Dated: June 16, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-13254 Filed 6-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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