Draft Regulatory Guide: Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power Plants, 14957-14958 [2023-04805]

Download as PDF 14957 Proposed Rules Federal Register Vol. 88, No. 47 Friday, March 10, 2023 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52 [NRC–2022–0143] Draft Regulatory Guide: Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power Plants Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed guide; request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG–1374, ‘‘Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.’’ This DG is proposed Revision 4 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.152, ‘‘Criteria for Use of Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.’’ DG–1374 describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff to meet regulatory requirements for promoting high functional reliability, design quality, and a secure development and operational environment (SDOE) for the use of programmable digital devices (PDDs) in the safety-related systems of nuclear power generating stations. DATES: Submit comments by April 10, 2023. 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; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website: • Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2022–0143. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301–415–0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individuals listed lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1 SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 259001 in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7– A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff. 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: Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301– 415–3104, email: Michael.Eudy@nrc.gov and Khoi Nguyen, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301– 415–6839, email: Khoi.Nguyen@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2022– 0143 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–2022–0143. • 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this document. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC’s PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415– 4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), 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–2022–0143 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. Additional Information The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This series was developed to describe methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the agency’s regulations, to explain techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The DG, entitled ‘‘Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in SafetyRelated Systems of Nuclear Power Plants,’’ is temporarily identified by its task number, DG–1374 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23012A242). This revision (Revision 4) of the guide endorses the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std) 7–4.3.2–2016, ‘‘IEEE Standard Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in Safety Systems of Nuclear E:\FR\FM\10MRP1.SGM 10MRP1 14958 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 47 / Friday, March 10, 2023 / Proposed Rules lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1 Power Generating Stations,’’ with some exceptions and clarifications. Specifically, this revision removes the previous SDOE guidance from this guide and instead endorses, with clarifications, the SDOE criteria within IEEE Std 7–4.3.2–2016. This revision also includes additional guidance for fault detection and self-diagnostics, if used, in Digital Instrumentation and Control systems. In addition, this revision endorses Annex D of IEEE Std 7–4.3.2–2016 and clarifies the applicability of the control of access guidance for safety-related PDDs. The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22132A293). The staff developed a regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action. As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), this document is being published in the ‘‘Proposed Rules’’ section of the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR chapter I. III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality If finalized, the NRC staff may use this DG as a reference in its regulatory processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this DG to support NRC staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that term is defined in Section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Backfitting,’’ and as described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ‘‘Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests,’’ nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ The staff also does not intend to use the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a manner that constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using this regulatory guide in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in this Implementation section, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in Management Directive 8.4. IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 259001 development of new RGs. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC’s public website at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/doc-collections/reg-guides/ contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates and enhancements to the ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. Dated: March 3, 2023. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Meraj Rahimi, Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 2023–04805 Filed 3–9–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 51 [NRC–2018–0296] RIN 3150–AK32 Renewing Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses—Environmental Review Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule; public meetings and request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to hold comment-gathering public meetings on a proposed rule to amend its environmental protection regulations by updating the Commission’s 2013 findings on the environmental effect of renewing the operating license of a nuclear power plant. The purpose of the meetings is to provide information and receive public comments on the proposed changes to NRC regulations, draft Revision 2 to NUREG–1437, ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants’’ (LR GEIS), and associated guidance. DATES: The NRC plans to hold public meetings in March and April 2023 during the 60-day public comment period. See Section III, ‘‘Request for Comments and Public Meetings,’’ of this document for more information on the meetings. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2018–0296 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this public meeting. 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–2018–0296. Address SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 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. • Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. 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: Yanely Malave-Velez, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301–415–1519, email: Yanely.Malave-Velez@nrc.gov; Jennifer Davis, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301–415– 3835, email: Jennifer.Davis@nrc.gov; or Kevin Folk, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301– 415–6944, email: Kevin.Folk@nrc.gov. All are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2018– 0296 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–2018–0296. • 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC’s PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, E:\FR\FM\10MRP1.SGM 10MRP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14957-14958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04805]


========================================================================
Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 47 / Friday, March 10, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 14957]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2022-0143]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices 
in Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed guide; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1374, ``Criteria for 
Programmable Digital Devices in Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power 
Plants.'' This DG is proposed Revision 4 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 
1.152, ``Criteria for Use of Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear 
Power Plants.'' DG-1374 describes an approach that is acceptable to the 
NRC staff to meet regulatory requirements for promoting high functional 
reliability, design quality, and a secure development and operational 
environment (SDOE) for the use of programmable digital devices (PDDs) 
in the safety-related systems of nuclear power generating stations.

DATES: Submit comments by April 10, 2023. 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; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0143. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    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: Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3104, email: 
[email protected] and Khoi Nguyen, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-6839, email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0143 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-2022-0143.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), 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-2022-0143 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff 
uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to 
describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in 
Safety-Related Systems of Nuclear Power Plants,'' is temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-1374 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML23012A242).
    This revision (Revision 4) of the guide endorses the Institute of 
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std) 7-4.3.2-2016, 
``IEEE Standard Criteria for Programmable Digital Devices in Safety 
Systems of Nuclear

[[Page 14958]]

Power Generating Stations,'' with some exceptions and clarifications. 
Specifically, this revision removes the previous SDOE guidance from 
this guide and instead endorses, with clarifications, the SDOE criteria 
within IEEE Std 7-4.3.2-2016. This revision also includes additional 
guidance for fault detection and self-diagnostics, if used, in Digital 
Instrumentation and Control systems. In addition, this revision 
endorses Annex D of IEEE Std 7-4.3.2-2016 and clarifies the 
applicability of the control of access guidance for safety-related 
PDDs.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML22132A293). The staff developed a 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a 
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of 
the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 
CFR chapter I.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    If finalized, the NRC staff may use this DG as a reference in its 
regulatory processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. 
However, the NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this DG 
to support NRC staff actions in a manner that would constitute 
backfitting as that term is defined in Section 50.109 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests,'' nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect 
the issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The staff 
also does not intend to use the guidance to support NRC staff actions 
in a manner that constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined 
and described in MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using 
this regulatory guide in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in 
this Implementation section, then the licensee may file a backfitting 
or forward fitting appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process 
in Management Directive 8.4.

IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the 
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs. 
Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. 
Suggestions will be considered in future updates and enhancements to 
the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: March 3, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-04805 Filed 3-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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