Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Design Certification Renewal, 35023-35027 [2021-13802]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
b. During the interval from the date of
application for a license to the date the
Commission makes its finding required by
§ 52.103(g), the report must be submitted
semiannually. Updates to the plant-specific
DCD must be submitted annually and may be
submitted along with amendments to the
application.
c. After the Commission makes the finding
required by § 52.103(g), the reports and
updates to the plant-specific DCD must be
submitted, along with updates to the sitespecific portion of the final safety analysis
report for the facility, at the intervals
required by 10 CFR 50.59(d)(2) and
50.71(e)(4), respectively, or at shorter
intervals as specified in the license.
Dated: June 25, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2021–13940 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 52
[NRC–2017–0090]
RIN 3150–AK04
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
(ABWR) Design Certification Renewal
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule and
environmental assessment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend its regulations to renew the U.S.
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
standard design certification.
Applicants or licensees intending to
construct and operate a U.S. Advanced
Boiling Water Reactor standard design
may do so by referencing this design
certification rule. The applicant for the
renewal of the U.S. Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor standard design
certification is General Electric-Hitachi
Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC. The
NRC invites public comment on this
proposed rule and environmental
assessment.
SUMMARY:
Submit comments by August 2,
2021. 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.
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):
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DATES:
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• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0090. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn
Forder; telephone: 301–415–3407;
email: Dawn.Forder@nrc.gov. For
technical questions contact the
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• Email comments to:
Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you
do not receive an automatic email reply
confirming receipt, then contact us at
301–415–1677.
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:
Dennis Andrukat, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards,
telephone: 301–415–3561, email:
Dennis.Andrukat@nrc.gov, or James
Shea, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301–415–1388,
email: James.Shea@nrc.gov. Both are
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting
Comments
II. Rulemaking Procedure
III. Background
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Plain Writing
VI. Environmental Assessment and Final
Finding of No Significant Impact
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VIII. Availability of Documents
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2017–
0090 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 Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0090.
• 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, at
PO 00000
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35023
301–415–4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the
convenience of the reader, instructions
about obtaining materials referenced in
this document are provided in the
Availability of Documents section.
• Attention: The Public Document
Room (PDR), where you may examine
and order copies of public documents is
currently closed. You may submit your
request to the PDR via email at
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1–800–
397–4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00
p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
• Attention: The Technical Library,
which is located at Two White Flint
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, is open by
appointment only. Interested parties
may make appointments to examine
documents by contacting the NRC
Technical Library by email at
Library.Resource@nrc.gov between 8:00
a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic
comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://
www.regulations.gov). Please include
Docket ID NRC–2017–0090 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 will post all comment
submissions at https://
www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 into ADAMS.
II. Rulemaking Procedure
Because the NRC anticipates that this
action will be non-controversial, the
NRC is publishing this proposed rule
concurrently with a direct final rule in
the Rules and Regulations section of this
issue of the Federal Register. The direct
final rule will become effective on
September 29, 2021. However, if the
NRC receives significant adverse
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comments on this proposed rule or
environment assessment by August 2,
2021, then the NRC will publish a
document that withdraws the direct
final rule. If the direct final rule is
withdrawn, the NRC would address the
comments received in response to these
proposed revisions in any subsequent
final rule. Absent significant
modifications to the proposed revisions
requiring republication, the NRC does
not intend to initiate a second comment
period on this action in the event the
direct final rule is withdrawn.
A significant adverse comment is a
comment in which the commenter
explains why the rule (including the
environmental assessment) would be
inappropriate, including challenges to
the rule’s underlying premise or
approach, or would be ineffective or
unacceptable without a change. A
comment is adverse and significant if it
meets the following criteria:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and
provides a reason sufficient to require a
substantive response in a notice-andcomment process. For example, a
substantive response is required when—
(a) The comment causes the NRC to
reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or
conduct additional analysis;
(b) The comment raises an issue
serious enough to warrant a substantive
response to clarify or complete the
record; or
(c) The comment raises a relevant
issue that was not previously addressed
or considered by the NRC.
(2) The comment proposes a change
or an addition to the rule, and it is
apparent that the rule would be
ineffective or unacceptable without
incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC to
make a change (other than editorial) to
the rule.
For additional information, including
procedural information, see the direct
final rule published in the Rules and
Regulations section of this issue of the
Federal Register.
III. Background
The General Electric Company (GE)
submitted the U.S. Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor (U.S. ABWR) standard
design certification initial application
on September 29, 1987. The NRC
initially docketed the application
(Docket No. STN 50–605) on February
22, 1988, but later changed the docket
number to 52–001 on March 20, 1992
(57 FR 9749) to reflect GE’s request [or
the applicant’s request] to review the
application under part 52, ‘‘Licenses,
Certifications, and Approvals for
Nuclear Power Plants,’’ of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
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The NRC documented its review in
NUREG–1503, ‘‘Final Safety Evaluation
Report Related to the Certification of the
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
Design,’’ in July 1994 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML080670592), and
NUREG–1503, Supplement 1, ‘‘Final
Safety Evaluation Report Related to the
Certification of the Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor Design,’’ in May 1997
(ADAMS Accession No. ML080710134).
The NRC issued the agency’s first design
certification (DC) rule, for the U.S.
ABWR, in the Federal Register (62 FR
25800), effective June 11, 1997. In 2007,
GE and Hitachi Nuclear Energy formed
an alliance, and General Electric-Hitachi
Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC, (GEH)
became the entity retaining the U.S.
ABWR design from GE.
On December 7, 2010, GEH submitted
its application to renew the certification
of the U.S. ABWR standard design to the
NRC under subpart B, ‘‘Standard design
certifications,’’ to 10 CFR part 52. The
NRC published a notice of receipt of the
application in the Federal Register on
January 27, 2011 (76 FR 4948). On
February 18, 2011, the NRC formally
accepted the design certification
renewal application for docketing (76
FR 9612). The preapplication
information submitted before the NRC
formally accepted the application for
docketing can be found in ADAMS
under Docket No. PROJ0774.
Subpart B to 10 CFR part 52 presents
the process for obtaining standard
design certifications. Under § 52.57(a),
an application for DC renewal must
contain all information necessary to
bring the information and data
contained in the previous application
up to date. Updates under § 52.57(a)
include clarifications consistent with
the original understanding of the design
information, and changes to correct
known errors, typographical errors, or
defects, as defined in § 21.3. For the
NRC to issue a rule granting the DC
renewal under § 52.59(a), the design,
either as originally certified or as
modified during the rulemaking on
renewal, must comply with (1) the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(AEA), (2) the NRC regulations
applicable and in effect at the time the
certification was issued, and (3) the
applicable requirements of § 50.150,
‘‘Aircraft impact assessment.’’ 1
1 The requirement for modifications in DC
renewals to address § 50.150 was added to
§ 52.59(a) by a rule published June 12, 2009,
requiring applicants for new nuclear power reactors
to perform a design-specific assessment of the
effects of the impact of a large, commercial aircraft
(74 FR 28111). This requirement is applicable to the
U.S. ABWR DC renewal because this is its first
renewal and the U.S. ABWR DC was in effect on
July 13, 2009.
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A DC renewal applicant may propose
to amend the design under § 52.59(c).
An amendment is an applicantproposed change that is not an update
under § 52.57(a) or a change to meet the
renewal standards in § 52.59(a).
Amendments must comply with the
AEA and the NRC’s regulations
applicable and in effect at the time of
renewal rather than the § 52.29(a)
standards. If the amendment request
entails such an extensive change to the
certified design that an essentially new
standard design is being proposed, a
new DC application must be submitted.
In addition, NRC regulations at
§ 52.59(b) state that the Commission
may impose other requirements if it
determines any of the following:
1. They are necessary for adequate
protection to public health and safety or
common defense and security;
2. They are necessary for compliance
with the NRC’s regulations and orders
applicable and in effect at the time the
certification was issued; or
3. There is a substantial increase in
overall protection of the public health
and safety or the common defense and
security to be derived from the new
requirements, and the direct and
indirect costs of implementing those
requirements are justified in view of this
increased protection.
The final U.S. ABWR DC rule for the
original certification, SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION, Section II.A.1, ‘‘Finality,’’
stated that the NRC ‘‘does not plan or
expect to be able to conduct a de novo
review of the entire design if a
certification renewal application is filed
under § 52.59[,]’’ ‘‘Criteria for renewal’’
(62 FR 25800, 25805). Instead, the NRC
stated that it expects that the focus of
the review would be on changes to the
design that are proposed by the
applicant and insights from relevant
operating experience with the certified
design or other designs, or other
material new information arising after
the NRC staff’s review of the design
certification. Furthermore, the standards
in § 52.59(b) control the imposition of
new requirements during the review of
applications for renewal. When GEH
applied to renew the U.S. ABWR DC,
the NRC affirmed this position,
reviewed only those aspects of the
design that were amended or modified,
and determined whether operating
experience or other material new
information indicated that additional
changes to the design were necessary.
The staff reviewed GEH’s proposed
amendments and modifications to the
design; the staff did not impose changes
under 10 CFR 52.59(b).
On June 12, 2009, the NRC published
a rule requiring applicants for new
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nuclear power reactors to perform a
design-specific assessment of the effects
of the impact of a large, commercial
aircraft (74 FR 28111). By letter dated
December 7, 2010, GEH submitted its
application to renew the U.S. ABWR DC
to the NRC, which included Revision 5
to the design control document. This
revision includes a containment reanalysis amendment and the necessary
changes to meet the requirements of
§ 50.150, ‘‘Aircraft impact assessment.’’
Revision 5 of the DCD also describes the
aircraft impact assessment results and
identifies and incorporates design
features and functional capabilities to
show, with reduced use of operator
actions, that the reactor core remains
cooled and spent fuel pool integrity is
maintained.
In a letter dated July 20, 2012, the
NRC identified proposed changes that
were regulatory improvements or that
could meet the criteria in § 52.59(b). The
NRC suggested that GEH consider the
recommendations contained in 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,’’ dated February 17, 2012,
addressing Recommendations 4.2, 7.1,
and 9.3 from SECY–11–0093, ‘‘NearTerm Report and Recommendations for
Agency Actions Following the Events in
Japan,’’ enclosure, ‘‘Recommendations
for Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st
Century; The Near-Term Task Force
Review of Insights from the Fukushima
Dai-Ichi Accident report,’’ dated July 12,
2011. Subsequently, during the
Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis
Events rulemaking that resulted in
§ 50.155, ‘‘Mitigation of beyond-designbasis events,’’ the Commission
determined that it would be
inappropriate to impose mitigation
strategies requirements on DCs.2
After the NRC’s July 20, 2012, letter
to GEH, the NRC issued several requests
for additional information to identity
additional items or clarify the items
2 In the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events
proposed rule regulatory analysis, dated October
2015, the Commission explained that its proposal
to make the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis
Events rule inapplicable to existing DCs, which
included the U.S. ABWR, was based on concluding
that ‘‘[t]he issues that may be resolved in a DC and
accorded issue finality may not include operational
matters, such as the elements of the [Mitigation of
Beyond-Design-Basis Events] proposed rule.’’
However, as discussed in SECY–19–0066, ‘‘Staff
Review of NuScale Power’s Mitigation Strategy for
Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,’’ the design
certification can provide for finality under 10 CFR
52.63 and Section VI of appendix A to 10 CFR part
52 for the adequacy of the structures, systems, and
components to perform their mitigation strategies
functions, as analyzed in the final safety analysis
report.
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communicated in the 2012 letter. By
letter dated February 19, 2016, GEH
submitted DCD, Revision 6, to
incorporate changes to the U.S. ABWR
DCD made in response to NRC’s 2012
letter and to the NRC’s requests for
additional information. In addition, this
revision transmitted corrections of
typographical errors that were identified
during document development, and
other required formatting changes.
These corrections represent nonsubstantive changes that are editorial in
nature. The NRC reviewed these
typographical changes and determined
that the changes do not affect the NRC’s
findings in the final safety evaluation
report for original certification and are
acceptable. On December 20, 2019, the
applicant submitted DCD, Revision 7,
that incorporated the remaining changes
provided in earlier responses to requests
for additional information. The NRC
reviewed DCD, Revision 7, against the
changes proposed in responses to
requests for additional information and
noted that two short paragraphs were
missing from Chapter 5. On March 16,
2020, the applicant resubmitted DCD,
Revision 7, Chapter 5, including the
previously missing paragraphs. To
ensure that the public can reference a
single ADAMS package for this
document, the NRC copied the original
DCD, Revision 7, ADAMS package, and
replaced Chapter 5 with the corrected
file. This corrected ADAMS package is
the collection of DCD, Revision 7,
chapters that the NRC has reviewed
(ADAMS Accession No. ML20093K254).
The NRC’s review is documented in
Supplement 2 to NUREG–1503, ‘‘Final
Safety Evaluation Report Related to the
Certification of the Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor Design’’ (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20301A886). This
proposed rule would certify Revision 7
of the U.S. ABWR DCD as provided in
ADAMS Accession No. ML20093K254.
Separately, Toshiba Corporation
Energy Systems and Solutions Company
(Toshiba) sought renewal of the U.S.
ABWR DC, incorporating the Toshibaspecific aircraft impact assessment
amendment used in the STPNOC DCD.
On June 9, 2016, Toshiba withdrew its
renewal application for the U.S. ABWR
DC. The Toshiba ABWR was to
incorporate the Toshiba-specific aircraft
impact assessment amendment of the
U.S. ABWR design certification,
identified in the current appendix A to
10 CFR part 52 as the South Texas
Project Nuclear Operating Company
(STPNOC) DCD. The original U.S.
ABWR design certification has expired,
along with its STPNOC DCD aircraft
impact assessment amendment, and
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Toshiba has withdrawn its renewal U.S.
ABWR DC application; therefore,
Toshiba’s STPNOC DCD with its
Toshiba-specific aircraft impact
assessment amendment is not
considered to be in timely renewal as
described in § 52.57(b).
On June 22, 2018, the only U.S.
ABWR combined license (COL) holder,
Nuclear Innovation North America LLC,
requested NRC approval to withdraw
the COLs for South Texas Project, Units
3 and 4. The NRC approved the
termination of these COLs on July 12,
2018. Since the only COLs that
referenced the Toshiba STPNOC DCD
has been terminated, and no other
license or application referencing the
U.S. ABWR DC exists, the Toshiba
STPNOC DCD no longer meets the
requirement for validity beyond the date
of expiration under § 52.55(b). Finally,
GEH has not requested to renew the
STPNOC amendment. For all these
reasons, the NRC is not retaining the
original DCD or the STPNOC DCD
option in Appendix A to 10 CFR part
52. Instead, the NRC is proposing to
replace appendix A to 10 CFR part 52
with a rule certifying the renewed GEH
U.S. ABWR design.
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act of 1995, Public
Law 104–113, requires that Federal
agencies use technical standards that are
developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus standards bodies unless the
use of such a standard is inconsistent
with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. In this proposed rule, the
NRC intends to certify the renewal for
the U.S. ABWR standard design for use
in nuclear power plant licensing under
10 CFR part 50, ‘‘Domestic licensing of
production and utilization facilities,’’ or
part 52. Design certifications are not
generic rulemakings establishing a
generally applicable standard with
which all 10 CFR parts 50 and 52
nuclear power plant licensees must
comply. Design certifications are
Commission approvals of specific
nuclear power plant designs by
rulemaking. Furthermore, design
certifications are initiated by an
applicant for rulemaking, rather than by
the NRC. This action does not constitute
the establishment of a standard that
contains generally applicable
requirements.
V. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub.
L. 111–274) requires Federal agencies to
write documents in a clear, concise, and
well-organized manner that also follows
other best practices appropriate to the
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subject or field and the intended
audience. The NRC has written this
document to be consistent with the
Plain Writing Act as well as the
Presidential Memorandum, ‘‘Plain
Language in Government Writing,’’
published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883).
The NRC requests comment on the
proposed rule with respect to clarity
and effectiveness of the language used.
VI. Environmental Assessment and
Final Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC has determined under the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the
NRC’s regulations in subpart A of 10
CFR part 51, that this proposed rule, if
issued, would not be a major Federal
action significantly affecting the quality
of the human environment and,
therefore, an environmental impact
statement is not required. The
Commission has determined in § 51.32
that there is no significant
environmental impact associated with
the issuance of the standard design
certification or its amendment, as
applicable. This reflects the fact that a
DC rule does not authorize the siting,
construction, or operation of a facility
referencing any particular design, but
only codifies a standard design
certification in a rule (the U.S. ABWR
DC renewal in this case). The NRC will
evaluate the environmental impacts and
issue an environmental impact
statement as appropriate under NEPA as
part of the application for the
construction and operation of a facility
referencing a DC rule. Comments on the
environmental assessment will be
limited to the consideration of severe
accident mitigation design alternatives
as required by § 51.30(d).
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act
Statement
This proposed rule does not contain
any new or amended collections of
information subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.). Existing collections of
information were approved by the
Office of Management and Budget,
control number 3150–0151.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless the
document requesting or requiring the
collection displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
VIII. 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.
DOCUMENTS RELATED TO U.S. ABWR DESIGN CERTIFICATION RENEWAL RULE
ADAMS Accession
No./
Federal Register
Citation
Document
SECY–20–0112, ‘‘Direct Final Rule–Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design Certification Renewal (RIN 3150–AK04;
NRC–2017–0090),’’ December 9, 2020.
GE-Hitachi ABWR Design Control Document Tier 1 & 2, Revision 7, October 2019 (includes correction noted, as of March
2020).
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Transmittal of ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal Application Design Control
Document, Revision 5, Tier 1 and Tier 2, December 7, 2010.
GE-Hitachi ABWR Design Control Document Tier 1 & 2, Revision 5, December 7, 2010 .........................................................
Technical Report NEDO–33875, ABWR U.S. Certified Design—Aircraft Impact Assessment, Licensing Basis Information
and Design Details for Key Design Features, Rev. 3 (M170049), February 2017.
Licensing Technical Report NEDO–33878, ABWR ECCS Suction Strainer Evaluation of Long-Term Recirculation Capability, Rev. 3 (M180068), March 2018.
ML20170A520
ML20093K254
ML110040176
ML110040323
ML17059C523
ML18092A306
Final Safety Evaluation Report and Supplements
NUREG–1503, Supplement 2, ‘‘Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design,’’ October 2020.
NUREG–1503, Supplement 1, ‘‘Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design,’’ May 1997.
NUREG–1503, Vols. 1–2, ‘‘Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design,’’ July 1994.
ML20301A886
ML080710134
ML080670592
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Environmental Review
Environmental Assessment by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Relating to Renewal of the Certification of the
ABWR Standard Design, June 2021.
Staff Technical Analysis in Support of the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design Certification Renewal Environmental Assessment.
MFN 16–062, ‘‘Applicant’s Supplemental Environmental Report—Amendment to Standard Design Certification (ABWR Renewal Docket 52–045),’’ August 2016.
25A5680AA, ‘‘Amendment to Technical Support Document for the ABWR,’’ Sheet 1, November 30, 2010 (Renewal Application).
SECY–97–077, ‘‘Certification of Two Evolutionary Designs,’’ April 15, 1996 (Original ABWR Environmental Assessment) ....
Letter from GE Nuclear Energy Submitting the Enclosed ...........................................................................................................
‘‘Technical Support Document for the ABWR,’’ December 21, 1994 (Original NEPA/SAMDA Submittal) .................................
ML21147A381
ML20024D602
ML16235A415
ML110040178
ML003708129
ML100210563
Commission Papers, Original Design Certification, Interim Rule Amendments, and Other Supporting Documents
SECY–19–0066, ‘‘Staff Review of NuScale Power’s Mitigation Strategy for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,’’ June
26, 2019.
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,’’ February 17, 2012.
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DOCUMENTS RELATED TO U.S. ABWR DESIGN CERTIFICATION RENEWAL RULE—Continued
ADAMS Accession
No./
Federal Register
Citation
Document
SECY–11–0093, ‘‘Near-Term Report and Recommendations for Agency Actions Following the Events in Japan,’’ July 12,
2011.
The Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Accident, July 12, 2011 .....................................
Staff Requirements Memorandum on SECY–90–377, ‘‘Requirements for Design Certification Under 10 CFR Part 52,’’ February 15, 1991.
SECY–90–377, ‘‘Requirements for Design Certification under 10 CFR Part 52,’’ November 8, 1990 .......................................
NUREG-1948, ‘‘Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Aircraft Impact Amendment to the U.S. Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor (ABWR) Design Certification,’’ June 2011.
U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Aircraft Impact Design Certification Amendment, December 16, 2011 .........................
LBP–11–07, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Memorandum and Order in the South Texas Project Electric Generating
Station Units 3 and 4 Combined License Proceeding, February 28, 2011.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy; Acceptance for Docketing of an Application for Renewal of the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design Certification, February 18, 2011 (Acceptance Application).
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy; Notice of Receipt and Availability of an Application for Renewal of the U.S. Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor Design Certification, January 27, 2011 (Notice of Receipt of the Application).
ABWR–LIC–09–621, Revision 0, ‘‘Applicant’s Supplemental Environmental Report-Amendment to ABWR Standard Design
Certification,’’ November 2009.
Consideration of Aircraft Impacts for New Nuclear Power Reactors, June 12, 2009 .................................................................
Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants, August 28, 2007 (Revision of 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52) ..
Presidential Memorandum, ‘‘Plain Language in Government Writing,’’ June 10, 1998 ..............................................................
Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of Agreement States Programs, September 3, 1997 ...................................
Standard Design Certification for the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design, May 12, 1997 ........................................
(Original U.S. ABWR Design Certification) ..................................................................................................................................
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Transmittal of ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal Application Design Control
Document Revision 7, Chapter 5, March 16, 2020.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy—ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal Application Design Control Document
Revision 7, Tier 1 and Tier 2, December 20, 2019.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Submittal of ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal Application Design Control,
Document, Revision 6, Tier 1 and Tier 2, February 19, 2016.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy—ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal Application Design Control Document
Revision 6, Tier 1 and Tier 2, February 19, 2016.
Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events (MBDBE)—Regulatory Analysis—Proposed Rule Post-SRM, October 2015 .........
Letter from Nuclear Innovation North America LLC, South Texas Project Units 3 and 4 Termination of Combined Licenses
NPF–97 and NPF–98, July 12, 2018.
South Texas Project, Units 3 and 4, Request for Withdrawal of Combined Licenses, June 22, 2018 ......................................
Withdrawal of Toshiba Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design Certification Rule Renewal Application, June 9, 2016 .........
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy—U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Design Certification Renewal Application, July 20, 2012 .............
Reactor Regulatory History on Design Certification Rules, April 26, 2000 3 ...............................................................................
Notice of Issuance of Revised Final Design Approval for U.S. ABWR Standard Design, December 1, 1994 ..........................
Letter to GE Nuclear Energy Transmitting the Revised Final Design Approval for [the] U.S. ABWR Standard Design, November 23, 1994.
Issuance of Final Design Approval Pursuant to 10 CFR Part 52, Appendix O; U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design; GE Nuclear Energy, July 20, 1994.
Final Design Approval FDA–0 for GE Nuclear Energy U.S. ABWR Standard Design, July 13, 1994 (Docket No. 52–001) ....
GE Nuclear Energy; Receipt of Application for Design Certification, March 20, 1992 (Initial Application) ................................
The NRC may post materials related
to this document, including public
comments, on the Federal Rulemaking
website at https://www.regulations.gov
under Docket ID NRC–2017–0090.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2021–13802 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am]
ML11186A950
ML111861807
ML003707892
ML003707889
ML11182A163
76 FR 78096
ML110591049
76 FR 9612
76 FR 4948
ML093170455
74
72
63
62
62
FR
FR
FR
FR
FR
28111
49351
31883
46517
25800
ML20076D961
ML20007E274
ML16081A268
ML16214A015
ML15266A133
ML18179A217
ML18184A338
ML16173A310
ML12125A385
ML003761550
59 FR 61647
ML20077A747
59 FR 37058
ML20070L506
57 FR 9749
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
[Docket No. FAA–2021–0212; Project
Identifier 2018–CE–032–AD]
Dated: June 23, 2021.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
RIN 2120–AA64
3 The regulatory history of the NRC’s design
certification reviews is a package of documents that
is available in the NRC’s PDR and NRC Library:
Reactor Regulatory History on Design Certification
Rules, April 26, 2000. This history spans the period
during which the NRC simultaneously developed
the regulatory standards for reviewing these designs
and the form and content of the rules that certified
the designs. This document predates this
rulemaking and therefore does not contain a
regulatory history for this rulemaking.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:17 Jun 30, 2021
Jkt 253001
PO 00000
Airworthiness Directives; DG
Flugzeugbau GmbH Gliders
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking
(NPRM).
AGENCY:
The FAA proposes to adopt a
new airworthiness directive (AD) for all
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 124 (Thursday, July 1, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35023-35027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13802]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 52
[NRC-2017-0090]
RIN 3150-AK04
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) Design Certification
Renewal
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule and environmental assessment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend its regulations to renew the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
standard design certification. Applicants or licensees intending to
construct and operate a U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor standard
design may do so by referencing this design certification rule. The
applicant for the renewal of the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
standard design certification is General Electric-Hitachi Nuclear
Energy Americas, LLC. The NRC invites public comment on this proposed
rule and environmental assessment.
DATES: Submit comments by August 2, 2021. 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.
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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0090. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407;
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
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: Dennis Andrukat, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3561, email:
[email protected], or James Shea, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1388, email: [email protected]. Both
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
II. Rulemaking Procedure
III. Background
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Plain Writing
VI. Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant
Impact
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VIII. Availability of Documents
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0090 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0090.
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, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the Availability of Documents section.
Attention: The Public Document Room (PDR), where you may
examine and order copies of public documents is currently closed. You
may submit your request to the PDR via email at [email protected] or
call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Attention: The Technical Library, which is located at Two
White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, is
open by appointment only. Interested parties may make appointments to
examine documents by contacting the NRC Technical Library by email at
[email protected] between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2017-0090 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 will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 into ADAMS.
II. Rulemaking Procedure
Because the NRC anticipates that this action will be non-
controversial, the NRC is publishing this proposed rule concurrently
with a direct final rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this
issue of the Federal Register. The direct final rule will become
effective on September 29, 2021. However, if the NRC receives
significant adverse
[[Page 35024]]
comments on this proposed rule or environment assessment by August 2,
2021, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct
final rule. If the direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC would
address the comments received in response to these proposed revisions
in any subsequent final rule. Absent significant modifications to the
proposed revisions requiring republication, the NRC does not intend to
initiate a second comment period on this action in the event the direct
final rule is withdrawn.
A significant adverse comment is a comment in which the commenter
explains why the rule (including the environmental assessment) would be
inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or
approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A
comment is adverse and significant if it meets the following criteria:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient
to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For
example, a substantive response is required when--
(a) The comment causes the NRC to reevaluate (or reconsider) its
position or conduct additional analysis;
(b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a
substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
(c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously
addressed or considered by the NRC.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable
without incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC to make a change (other than
editorial) to the rule.
For additional information, including procedural information, see
the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of
this issue of the Federal Register.
III. Background
The General Electric Company (GE) submitted the U.S. Advanced
Boiling Water Reactor (U.S. ABWR) standard design certification initial
application on September 29, 1987. The NRC initially docketed the
application (Docket No. STN 50-605) on February 22, 1988, but later
changed the docket number to 52-001 on March 20, 1992 (57 FR 9749) to
reflect GE's request [or the applicant's request] to review the
application under part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR). The NRC documented its review in NUREG-1503,
``Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design,'' in July 1994 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML080670592), and NUREG-1503, Supplement 1, ``Final Safety
Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor Design,'' in May 1997 (ADAMS Accession No. ML080710134).
The NRC issued the agency's first design certification (DC) rule, for
the U.S. ABWR, in the Federal Register (62 FR 25800), effective June
11, 1997. In 2007, GE and Hitachi Nuclear Energy formed an alliance,
and General Electric-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC, (GEH) became
the entity retaining the U.S. ABWR design from GE.
On December 7, 2010, GEH submitted its application to renew the
certification of the U.S. ABWR standard design to the NRC under subpart
B, ``Standard design certifications,'' to 10 CFR part 52. The NRC
published a notice of receipt of the application in the Federal
Register on January 27, 2011 (76 FR 4948). On February 18, 2011, the
NRC formally accepted the design certification renewal application for
docketing (76 FR 9612). The preapplication information submitted before
the NRC formally accepted the application for docketing can be found in
ADAMS under Docket No. PROJ0774.
Subpart B to 10 CFR part 52 presents the process for obtaining
standard design certifications. Under Sec. 52.57(a), an application
for DC renewal must contain all information necessary to bring the
information and data contained in the previous application up to date.
Updates under Sec. 52.57(a) include clarifications consistent with the
original understanding of the design information, and changes to
correct known errors, typographical errors, or defects, as defined in
Sec. 21.3. For the NRC to issue a rule granting the DC renewal under
Sec. 52.59(a), the design, either as originally certified or as
modified during the rulemaking on renewal, must comply with (1) the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), (2) the NRC regulations
applicable and in effect at the time the certification was issued, and
(3) the applicable requirements of Sec. 50.150, ``Aircraft impact
assessment.'' \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The requirement for modifications in DC renewals to address
Sec. 50.150 was added to Sec. 52.59(a) by a rule published June
12, 2009, requiring applicants for new nuclear power reactors to
perform a design-specific assessment of the effects of the impact of
a large, commercial aircraft (74 FR 28111). This requirement is
applicable to the U.S. ABWR DC renewal because this is its first
renewal and the U.S. ABWR DC was in effect on July 13, 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A DC renewal applicant may propose to amend the design under Sec.
52.59(c). An amendment is an applicant-proposed change that is not an
update under Sec. 52.57(a) or a change to meet the renewal standards
in Sec. 52.59(a). Amendments must comply with the AEA and the NRC's
regulations applicable and in effect at the time of renewal rather than
the Sec. 52.29(a) standards. If the amendment request entails such an
extensive change to the certified design that an essentially new
standard design is being proposed, a new DC application must be
submitted.
In addition, NRC regulations at Sec. 52.59(b) state that the
Commission may impose other requirements if it determines any of the
following:
1. They are necessary for adequate protection to public health and
safety or common defense and security;
2. They are necessary for compliance with the NRC's regulations and
orders applicable and in effect at the time the certification was
issued; or
3. There is a substantial increase in overall protection of the
public health and safety or the common defense and security to be
derived from the new requirements, and the direct and indirect costs of
implementing those requirements are justified in view of this increased
protection.
The final U.S. ABWR DC rule for the original certification,
Supplementary Information, Section II.A.1, ``Finality,'' stated that
the NRC ``does not plan or expect to be able to conduct a de novo
review of the entire design if a certification renewal application is
filed under Sec. 52.59[,]'' ``Criteria for renewal'' (62 FR 25800,
25805). Instead, the NRC stated that it expects that the focus of the
review would be on changes to the design that are proposed by the
applicant and insights from relevant operating experience with the
certified design or other designs, or other material new information
arising after the NRC staff's review of the design certification.
Furthermore, the standards in Sec. 52.59(b) control the imposition of
new requirements during the review of applications for renewal. When
GEH applied to renew the U.S. ABWR DC, the NRC affirmed this position,
reviewed only those aspects of the design that were amended or
modified, and determined whether operating experience or other material
new information indicated that additional changes to the design were
necessary. The staff reviewed GEH's proposed amendments and
modifications to the design; the staff did not impose changes under 10
CFR 52.59(b).
On June 12, 2009, the NRC published a rule requiring applicants for
new
[[Page 35025]]
nuclear power reactors to perform a design-specific assessment of the
effects of the impact of a large, commercial aircraft (74 FR 28111). By
letter dated December 7, 2010, GEH submitted its application to renew
the U.S. ABWR DC to the NRC, which included Revision 5 to the design
control document. This revision includes a containment re-analysis
amendment and the necessary changes to meet the requirements of Sec.
50.150, ``Aircraft impact assessment.'' Revision 5 of the DCD also
describes the aircraft impact assessment results and identifies and
incorporates design features and functional capabilities to show, with
reduced use of operator actions, that the reactor core remains cooled
and spent fuel pool integrity is maintained.
In a letter dated July 20, 2012, the NRC identified proposed
changes that were regulatory improvements or that could meet the
criteria in Sec. 52.59(b). The NRC suggested that GEH consider the
recommendations contained in 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,'' dated February
17, 2012, addressing Recommendations 4.2, 7.1, and 9.3 from SECY-11-
0093, ``Near-Term Report and Recommendations for Agency Actions
Following the Events in Japan,'' enclosure, ``Recommendations for
Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st Century; The Near-Term Task Force
Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Accident report,'' dated
July 12, 2011. Subsequently, during the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-
Basis Events rulemaking that resulted in Sec. 50.155, ``Mitigation of
beyond-design-basis events,'' the Commission determined that it would
be inappropriate to impose mitigation strategies requirements on
DCs.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ In the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events proposed
rule regulatory analysis, dated October 2015, the Commission
explained that its proposal to make the Mitigation of Beyond-Design-
Basis Events rule inapplicable to existing DCs, which included the
U.S. ABWR, was based on concluding that ``[t]he issues that may be
resolved in a DC and accorded issue finality may not include
operational matters, such as the elements of the [Mitigation of
Beyond-Design-Basis Events] proposed rule.'' However, as discussed
in SECY-19-0066, ``Staff Review of NuScale Power's Mitigation
Strategy for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events,'' the design
certification can provide for finality under 10 CFR 52.63 and
Section VI of appendix A to 10 CFR part 52 for the adequacy of the
structures, systems, and components to perform their mitigation
strategies functions, as analyzed in the final safety analysis
report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the NRC's July 20, 2012, letter to GEH, the NRC issued
several requests for additional information to identity additional
items or clarify the items communicated in the 2012 letter. By letter
dated February 19, 2016, GEH submitted DCD, Revision 6, to incorporate
changes to the U.S. ABWR DCD made in response to NRC's 2012 letter and
to the NRC's requests for additional information. In addition, this
revision transmitted corrections of typographical errors that were
identified during document development, and other required formatting
changes. These corrections represent non-substantive changes that are
editorial in nature. The NRC reviewed these typographical changes and
determined that the changes do not affect the NRC's findings in the
final safety evaluation report for original certification and are
acceptable. On December 20, 2019, the applicant submitted DCD, Revision
7, that incorporated the remaining changes provided in earlier
responses to requests for additional information. The NRC reviewed DCD,
Revision 7, against the changes proposed in responses to requests for
additional information and noted that two short paragraphs were missing
from Chapter 5. On March 16, 2020, the applicant resubmitted DCD,
Revision 7, Chapter 5, including the previously missing paragraphs. To
ensure that the public can reference a single ADAMS package for this
document, the NRC copied the original DCD, Revision 7, ADAMS package,
and replaced Chapter 5 with the corrected file. This corrected ADAMS
package is the collection of DCD, Revision 7, chapters that the NRC has
reviewed (ADAMS Accession No. ML20093K254). The NRC's review is
documented in Supplement 2 to NUREG-1503, ``Final Safety Evaluation
Report Related to the Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML20301A886). This proposed rule
would certify Revision 7 of the U.S. ABWR DCD as provided in ADAMS
Accession No. ML20093K254.
Separately, Toshiba Corporation Energy Systems and Solutions
Company (Toshiba) sought renewal of the U.S. ABWR DC, incorporating the
Toshiba-specific aircraft impact assessment amendment used in the
STPNOC DCD. On June 9, 2016, Toshiba withdrew its renewal application
for the U.S. ABWR DC. The Toshiba ABWR was to incorporate the Toshiba-
specific aircraft impact assessment amendment of the U.S. ABWR design
certification, identified in the current appendix A to 10 CFR part 52
as the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) DCD. The
original U.S. ABWR design certification has expired, along with its
STPNOC DCD aircraft impact assessment amendment, and Toshiba has
withdrawn its renewal U.S. ABWR DC application; therefore, Toshiba's
STPNOC DCD with its Toshiba-specific aircraft impact assessment
amendment is not considered to be in timely renewal as described in
Sec. 52.57(b).
On June 22, 2018, the only U.S. ABWR combined license (COL) holder,
Nuclear Innovation North America LLC, requested NRC approval to
withdraw the COLs for South Texas Project, Units 3 and 4. The NRC
approved the termination of these COLs on July 12, 2018. Since the only
COLs that referenced the Toshiba STPNOC DCD has been terminated, and no
other license or application referencing the U.S. ABWR DC exists, the
Toshiba STPNOC DCD no longer meets the requirement for validity beyond
the date of expiration under Sec. 52.55(b). Finally, GEH has not
requested to renew the STPNOC amendment. For all these reasons, the NRC
is not retaining the original DCD or the STPNOC DCD option in Appendix
A to 10 CFR part 52. Instead, the NRC is proposing to replace appendix
A to 10 CFR part 52 with a rule certifying the renewed GEH U.S. ABWR
design.
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,
Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical
standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is inconsistent with
applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this proposed rule, the NRC
intends to certify the renewal for the U.S. ABWR standard design for
use in nuclear power plant licensing under 10 CFR part 50, ``Domestic
licensing of production and utilization facilities,'' or part 52.
Design certifications are not generic rulemakings establishing a
generally applicable standard with which all 10 CFR parts 50 and 52
nuclear power plant licensees must comply. Design certifications are
Commission approvals of specific nuclear power plant designs by
rulemaking. Furthermore, design certifications are initiated by an
applicant for rulemaking, rather than by the NRC. This action does not
constitute the establishment of a standard that contains generally
applicable requirements.
V. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized
manner that also follows other best practices appropriate to the
[[Page 35026]]
subject or field and the intended audience. The NRC has written this
document to be consistent with the Plain Writing Act as well as the
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in Government Writing,''
published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883). The NRC requests comment on the
proposed rule with respect to clarity and effectiveness of the language
used.
VI. Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC has determined under the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the NRC's regulations in subpart A of
10 CFR part 51, that this proposed rule, if issued, would not be a
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human
environment and, therefore, an environmental impact statement is not
required. The Commission has determined in Sec. 51.32 that there is no
significant environmental impact associated with the issuance of the
standard design certification or its amendment, as applicable. This
reflects the fact that a DC rule does not authorize the siting,
construction, or operation of a facility referencing any particular
design, but only codifies a standard design certification in a rule
(the U.S. ABWR DC renewal in this case). The NRC will evaluate the
environmental impacts and issue an environmental impact statement as
appropriate under NEPA as part of the application for the construction
and operation of a facility referencing a DC rule. Comments on the
environmental assessment will be limited to the consideration of severe
accident mitigation design alternatives as required by Sec. 51.30(d).
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This proposed rule does not contain any new or amended collections
of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing collections of information were approved
by the Office of Management and Budget, control number 3150-0151.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
VIII. 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.
Documents Related to U.S. ABWR Design Certification Renewal Rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS Accession No./
Document Federal Register Citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECY-20-0112, ``Direct Final Rule-Advanced ML20170A520
Boiling Water Reactor Design Certification
Renewal (RIN 3150-AK04; NRC-2017-0090),''
December 9, 2020.
GE-Hitachi ABWR Design Control Document Tier ML20093K254
1 & 2, Revision 7, October 2019 (includes
correction noted, as of March 2020).
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Transmittal of ML110040176
ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification
Renewal Application Design Control
Document, Revision 5, Tier 1 and Tier 2,
December 7, 2010.
GE-Hitachi ABWR Design Control Document Tier ML110040323
1 & 2, Revision 5, December 7, 2010.
Technical Report NEDO-33875, ABWR U.S. ML17059C523
Certified Design--Aircraft Impact
Assessment, Licensing Basis Information and
Design Details for Key Design Features,
Rev. 3 (M170049), February 2017.
Licensing Technical Report NEDO-33878, ABWR ML18092A306
ECCS Suction Strainer Evaluation of Long-
Term Recirculation Capability, Rev. 3
(M180068), March 2018.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Safety Evaluation Report and Supplements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUREG-1503, Supplement 2, ``Final Safety ML20301A886
Evaluation Report Related to the
Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design,'' October 2020.
NUREG-1503, Supplement 1, ``Final Safety ML080710134
Evaluation Report Related to the
Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design,'' May 1997.
NUREG-1503, Vols. 1-2, ``Final Safety ML080670592
Evaluation Report Related to the
Certification of the Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design,'' July 1994.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Assessment by the U.S. Nuclear ML21147A381
Regulatory Commission Relating to Renewal
of the Certification of the ABWR Standard
Design, June 2021.
Staff Technical Analysis in Support of the ML20024D602
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design
Certification Renewal Environmental
Assessment.
MFN 16-062, ``Applicant's Supplemental ML16235A415
Environmental Report--Amendment to Standard
Design Certification (ABWR Renewal Docket
52-045),'' August 2016.
25A5680AA, ``Amendment to Technical Support ML110040178
Document for the ABWR,'' Sheet 1, November
30, 2010 (Renewal Application).
SECY-97-077, ``Certification of Two ML003708129
Evolutionary Designs,'' April 15, 1996
(Original ABWR Environmental Assessment).
Letter from GE Nuclear Energy Submitting the ML100210563
Enclosed.
``Technical Support Document for the ABWR,''
December 21, 1994 (Original NEPA/SAMDA
Submittal).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commission Papers, Original Design Certification, Interim Rule
Amendments, and Other Supporting Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECY-19-0066, ``Staff Review of NuScale ML19148A443
Power's Mitigation Strategy for Beyond-
Design-Basis External Events,'' June 26,
2019.
SECY-12-0025, ``Proposed Orders and Requests ML12039A111
for Information in Response to Lessons
Learned from Japan's March 11, 2011, Great
Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami,'' February
17, 2012.
[[Page 35027]]
SECY-11-0093, ``Near-Term Report and ML11186A950
Recommendations for Agency Actions
Following the Events in Japan,'' July 12,
2011.
The Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights ML111861807
from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Accident, July
12, 2011.
Staff Requirements Memorandum on SECY-90- ML003707892
377, ``Requirements for Design
Certification Under 10 CFR Part 52,''
February 15, 1991.
SECY-90-377, ``Requirements for Design ML003707889
Certification under 10 CFR Part 52,''
November 8, 1990.
NUREG[dash]1948, ``Final Safety Evaluation ML11182A163
Report Related to the Aircraft Impact
Amendment to the U.S. Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor (ABWR) Design
Certification,'' June 2011.
U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Aircraft 76 FR 78096
Impact Design Certification Amendment,
December 16, 2011.
LBP-11-07, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ML110591049
Memorandum and Order in the South Texas
Project Electric Generating Station Units 3
and 4 Combined License Proceeding, February
28, 2011.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy; Acceptance for 76 FR 9612
Docketing of an Application for Renewal of
the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
Design Certification, February 18, 2011
(Acceptance Application).
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy; Notice of Receipt 76 FR 4948
and Availability of an Application for
Renewal of the U.S. Advanced Boiling Water
Reactor Design Certification, January 27,
2011 (Notice of Receipt of the Application).
ABWR-LIC-09-621, Revision 0, ``Applicant's ML093170455
Supplemental Environmental Report-Amendment
to ABWR Standard Design Certification,''
November 2009.
Consideration of Aircraft Impacts for New 74 FR 28111
Nuclear Power Reactors, June 12, 2009.
Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for 72 FR 49351
Nuclear Power Plants, August 28, 2007
(Revision of 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52).
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in 63 FR 31883
Government Writing,'' June 10, 1998.
Policy Statement on Adequacy and 62 FR 46517
Compatibility of Agreement States Programs,
September 3, 1997.
Standard Design Certification for the U.S. 62 FR 25800
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design, May
12, 1997.
(Original U.S. ABWR Design Certification)...
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Transmittal of ML20076D961
ABWR Standard Plant Design Certification
Renewal Application Design Control Document
Revision 7, Chapter 5, March 16, 2020.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy--ABWR Standard ML20007E274
Plant Design Certification Renewal
Application Design Control Document
Revision 7, Tier 1 and Tier 2, December 20,
2019.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Submittal of ABWR ML16081A268
Standard Plant Design Certification Renewal
Application Design Control, Document,
Revision 6, Tier 1 and Tier 2, February 19,
2016.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy--ABWR Standard ML16214A015
Plant Design Certification Renewal
Application Design Control Document
Revision 6, Tier 1 and Tier 2, February 19,
2016.
Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events ML15266A133
(MBDBE)--Regulatory Analysis--Proposed Rule
Post-SRM, October 2015.
Letter from Nuclear Innovation North America ML18179A217
LLC, South Texas Project Units 3 and 4
Termination of Combined Licenses NPF-97 and
NPF-98, July 12, 2018.
South Texas Project, Units 3 and 4, Request ML18184A338
for Withdrawal of Combined Licenses, June
22, 2018.
Withdrawal of Toshiba Advanced Boiling Water ML16173A310
Reactor Design Certification Rule Renewal
Application, June 9, 2016.
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy--U.S. Advanced ML12125A385
Boiling Water Design Certification Renewal
Application, July 20, 2012.
Reactor Regulatory History on Design ML003761550
Certification Rules, April 26, 2000 \3\.
Notice of Issuance of Revised Final Design 59 FR 61647
Approval for U.S. ABWR Standard Design,
December 1, 1994.
Letter to GE Nuclear Energy Transmitting the ML20077A747
Revised Final Design Approval for [the]
U.S. ABWR Standard Design, November 23,
1994.
Issuance of Final Design Approval Pursuant 59 FR 37058
to 10 CFR Part 52, Appendix O; U.S.
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Design; GE
Nuclear Energy, July 20, 1994.
Final Design Approval FDA-0 for GE Nuclear ML20070L506
Energy U.S. ABWR Standard Design, July 13,
1994 (Docket No. 52-001).
GE Nuclear Energy; Receipt of Application 57 FR 9749
for Design Certification, March 20, 1992
(Initial Application).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC may post materials related to this document, including
public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2017-0090.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The regulatory history of the NRC's design certification
reviews is a package of documents that is available in the NRC's PDR
and NRC Library: Reactor Regulatory History on Design Certification
Rules, April 26, 2000. This history spans the period during which
the NRC simultaneously developed the regulatory standards for
reviewing these designs and the form and content of the rules that
certified the designs. This document predates this rulemaking and
therefore does not contain a regulatory history for this rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: June 23, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2021-13802 Filed 6-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P