Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference the latest revisions of three regulatory guides (RGs) approving new and revised Code Cases published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). This proposed action would allow nuclear power plant licensees, and applicants for construction permits (CPs), operating licenses (OLs), combined licenses (COLs), standard design certifications, standard design approvals and manufacturing licenses, to use the Code Cases listed in these RGs as alternatives to engineering standards for the construction, inservice inspection (ISI), and inservice testing (IST) of nuclear power plant components. This rulemaking also includes consideration of a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-50-89, submitted by Mr. Raymond West. This rulemaking also proposes resequencing NRC's requirements governing Codes and standards in order to comply with the Office of the Federal Register's (OFR) guidelines for incorporation by reference.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1233, ``ASME Code Cases not Approved for Use.'' This regulatory guide lists the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Cases that the NRC has determined not to be acceptable for use on a generic basis.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2, Supplement 1 (RG 4.2S1), ``Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Applications.'' This regulatory guide provides guidance to applicants in the preparation of environmental reports that are submitted with the application for the renewal of a nuclear power plant operating license. Applicants should use this regulatory guide when preparing an environmental report for license renewal to ensure that the information they submit to the NRC is complete and facilitates the NRC staff's review.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has determined that the inspections, tests, and analyses have been successfully completed, and that the specified acceptance criteria are met for Inspections, Tests, Analyses, and Acceptance Criteria (ITAAC) E.2.5.04.05.05.01, for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 3.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published the final version of Supplement 2 to NUREG-0498, ``Final Environmental Statement, Related to the Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Unit 2'' (SFES).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a revision to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.68, ``Initial Test Programs for Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Plants.'' This guide describes the general scope and depth that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for Initial Test Programs (ITPs) for light water cooled nuclear power plants.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting public comment on NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' on a proposed Revision 0 to Standard Review Plan (SRP), Section 19.4 ``Strategies and Guidance to Address Loss of Large Areas of the Plant due to Explosions and Fires.'' The current SRP does not contain guidance for staff review of the subject of loss-of-large areas of the plant due to explosions and fires.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for comment a petition for rulemaking (PRM) filed with the Commission by Mr. James Lieberman (the petitioner) on April 15, 2013. The petitioner requests that the NRC expand its ``regulatory framework to make it a legal obligation for those non-licensees who seek NRC regulatory approvals be held to the same legal standards for the submittal of complete and accurate information as would a licensee or an applicant for a license.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on March 8, 2013 (78 FR 15054). 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: New. 2. The title of the information collection: Reactor Oversight Process External Survey. 3. Current OMB approval number: 3150-XXXX. 4. The form number if applicable: N/A. 5. How often the collection is required: Once every 2 years. 6. Who will be required or asked to report: Members of the public, licensees, and other interested stakeholders. 7. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 13.3. 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 13.3. 9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 13.3. 10. Abstract: The mission of the NRC is to regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment. One way to support this mission is through the implementation of the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP), which is the agency's program to inspect, measure, and assess the safety performance of commercial nuclear power plants and to respond to any decline in performance. The NRC seeks to achieve continuous improvement of the ROP through the ROP self-assessment process. The CY 2013 and 2015 ROP self- assessments will rely, in part, on direct feedback from external stakeholders. The information collected through the voluntary survey will support this purpose, and a summary of the survey results will be included in the annual ROP self-assessment report to the Commission. The public may examine and have copied for a fee publicly available documents, including the final supporting statement, at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC's Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC's home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by July 10, 2013. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-70-9, submitted by the American Physical Society (APS or the petitioner). The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to require that each applicant for an enrichment or reprocessing (ENR) facility license include an assessment of the proliferation risks that construction and operation of the proposed facility might pose. The NRC is also responding to comments received from interested members of the public.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment about our intention to request the OMB's approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: The Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs Requests to Agreement States for Information. 2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0029. 3. How often the collection is required: One-time or as-needed. 4. Who is required or asked to report: Thirty-seven Agreement States who have signed Section 274(b) Agreements with the NRC. 5. The number of annual respondents: 37. 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 3,690. 7. Abstract: The Agreement States are asked on a one-time or as- needed basis to respond to a specific incident, to gather information on licensing and inspection practices or other technical and training- related information. In 2007, the NRC policy changed to begin funding training for Agreement State materials licensing and inspection staff and associated travel to attend courses offered through the NRC training program. The results of such information requests, which are authorized under Section 274(b) of the Atomic Energy Act, are utilized in part by the NRC in preparing responses to Congressional inquiries. The Agreement State comments are also solicited in the areas of proposed procedures, implementing guidance, and in the development of new and revised regulations and policies. Submit, by August 5, 2013, 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? 2. Is the burden estimate 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 be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? The public may examine and have copied for a fee publicly available documents, including the draft supporting statement, at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/public- involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC's home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available for public inspection. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including any information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. Comments submitted should reference Docket No. NRC- 2013-0108. You may submit your comments by any of the following methods: Electronic comments: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No. NRC-2013-0108. Mail comments to NRC Clearance Officer, Tremaine Donnell (T-5 F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Questions about the information collection requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Tremaine Donnell (T-5 F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-6258, or by email to INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making available for comment Emergency Preparedness (EP) frequently asked questions (EPFAQs) No. 2012-007, No. 2013-001, No. 2013-002, No. 2013- 003, and No. 2013-005. These EPFAQs will be used to provide clarification of guidance documents related to the development and maintenance of EP program elements. The NRC is publishing these preliminary results to inform the public and solicit comments.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the final License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance (LR-ISG), LR-ISG-2011-04, ``Updated Aging Management Criteria for Reactor Vessel Internal Components for Pressurized Water Reactors.'' This final LR-ISG revises the guidance in NUREG-1800, Revision 2, ``Standard Review Plan for Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (SRP- LR) and NUREG-1801, Revision 2, ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned Report'' (GALL Report), for the aging management of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) reactor vessel internals components exposed to reactor coolant environments.