80 FR 16308 - Applicability of Risk-Informed Categorization Regulation to Combined Licenses

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 59 (March 27, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a petition for rulemaking from Michael D. Tschiltz, on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI or the petitioner), dated January 15, 2015, requesting that the NRC clarify the applicability of an NRC regulation to combined licenses (COLs). The NRC regulation allows structures, systems, and components (SSCs) of nuclear power reactors to be re-categorized based upon risk-informed considerations. Such re- categorization would result in changes in which NRC requirements would apply to those SSCs. The petition was docketed by the NRC on February 6, 2015, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-50-110. The NRC is not requesting public comment on PRM-50-110 at this time.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 59 (Friday, March 27, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16308-16309]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07092]


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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.

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 59 / Friday, March 27, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 16308]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-110; NRC-2015-0028]


Applicability of Risk-Informed Categorization Regulation to 
Combined Licenses

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking from Michael D. Tschiltz, on behalf of the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI or the petitioner), dated January 15, 
2015, requesting that the NRC clarify the applicability of an NRC 
regulation to combined licenses (COLs). The NRC regulation allows 
structures, systems, and components (SSCs) of nuclear power reactors to 
be re-categorized based upon risk-informed considerations. Such re-
categorization would result in changes in which NRC requirements would 
apply to those SSCs. The petition was docketed by the NRC on February 
6, 2015, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-50-110. The NRC is not 
requesting public comment on PRM-50-110 at this time.

DATES: The PRM is available on March 27, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0028 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this petition by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0028. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yanely Malave-Velez, Office of New 
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC, 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-1519; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. The Petitioner

    The petition states that ``NEI is the organization responsible for 
establishing unified nuclear industry policy on matters affecting the 
nuclear energy industry, including the regulatory aspects of generic 
operational and technical issues'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15037A481). 
The petition further states that ``NEI's members include all entities 
licensed to operate commercial nuclear power plants in the United 
States, nuclear plant designers, major architect/engineering firms, 
fuel fabrication facilities, nuclear material licensees, and other 
organizations and individuals involved in the nuclear energy industry. 
NEI asserts that it is responsible for coordinating the combined 
efforts of licensed facilities on matters involving generic NRC 
regulatory policy issues and generic operational and technical 
regulatory issues.''

II. The Petition

    Michael D. Tschiltz, Director, Risk Assessment, NEI, submitted the 
petition for rulemaking dated January 15, 2015, requesting that the NRC 
amend its regulations in Sec.  50.69 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of 
Structures, Systems, and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors,'' to 
clarify the scope of applicability to include holders of COLs. The NRC 
has determined that the petition meets the threshold sufficiency 
requirements for a petition for rulemaking under Sec.  2.802, 
``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition has been docketed as PRM-
50-110.

III. Discussion of the Petition

    The entities that may use Sec.  50.69, as set forth in paragraph 
(b)(1), are holders of a license to operate a light-water reactor (LWR) 
under 10 CFR part 50; holders of a renewed LWR license under 10 CFR 
part 54; applicants for a construction permit or operating license 
under 10 CFR part 50; and applicants for a design approval, a combined 
license, or manufacturing license under 10 CFR part 52. The regulation 
does not apply to holders of COLs.
    The petitioner is requesting that Sec.  50.69 be amended to clarify 
the scope of its applicability to include holders of COLs.

IV. Background Information

    Section 50.69 provides an alternative set of requirements for the 
treatment of SSCs. Under this framework, licensees (or applicants), 
using a risk-informed process to categorize SSCs according to their 
safety significance, can remove SSCs of low safety significance from 
the scope of certain identified special treatment requirements. For 
SSCs of safety significance, existing requirements are retained, and 
Sec.  50.69 would add requirements that ensure SSC performance remains 
consistent with that relied upon in the categorization process for 
beyond design basis conditions. These requirements can be voluntarily 
adopted by LWR licensees and applicants. Section 50.69 was most 
recently amended by the NRC in a rulemaking titled, ``Risk-Informed 
Categorization and Treatment of Structures, Systems and Components for 
Nuclear power Reactors,'' published in the Federal Register as a 
proposed rule on May 16, 2003 (68 FR 26511), and later as a final rule 
on November 22, 2004 (69 FR 68008). The final rule became effective on 
December 22, 2004.
    The applicability and scope of the NRC's regulations in Sec.  50.69 
currently

[[Page 16309]]

applies to a holder of a license to operate a LWR under 10 CFR part 50; 
a holder of a renewed LWR license under 10 CFR part 54; an applicant 
for a construction permit or operating license under 10 CFR part 50; or 
an applicant for a design approval, a COL, or manufacturing license 
under 10 CFR part 52. A holder of a COL issued under 10 CFR part 52 is 
not included in the group of entities that may take advantage of the 
provisions of Sec.  50.69.
    The specific reasons for excluding COL holders from the group of 
entities that may take advantage of the provisions of Sec.  50.69 were 
not discussed in the Federal Register notice for either the proposed or 
final ``Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of Structures, 
Systems and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors'' rule. However, as 
discussed at a public meeting on October 17, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML12341A153), the NRC staff provided the following reasons:
    1. After issuance of the COL, the staff was concerned primarily 
that implementation of the provisions of Sec.  50.69 in the midst of 
construction and Inspections, Tests, Analysis, and Acceptance Criteria 
(ITAAC) closure would lead to proposed changes in the NRC's approved 
requirements on some SSCs prior to the Commission making a finding 
regarding the COL ITAAC acceptance criteria in accordance with Sec.  
52.103(g). Such a situation could create an unexpected budget shortfall 
related to a higher resource burden for the NRC due to an increased 
number of license amendments submitted for review concurrent with 
supporting construction and ITAAC completion and complicate the NRC's 
ability to reach a finding under Sec.  52.103(g).
    2. Since the proposed rule allowed for the provisions of Sec.  
50.69 to be adopted as part of the COL application, COL applicants 
could take advantage of these provisions as part of the COL review. 
This approach would be consistent with the NRC's Principles of Good 
Regulation regarding efficiency, since the staff believed that 
implementation of the provisions of Sec.  50.69 following the 
Commission's making a finding per Sec.  52.103(g) would require 
substantial additional resources to conduct the review of license 
amendments necessary to implement the provisions of Sec.  50.69.
    The NRC did not receive any comments from the nuclear industry nor 
the general public on the absence of COL holders from the applicability 
provisions of the proposed rule. The final rule, as issued, retained 
this feature of the proposed rule.
    The NRC is examining the issues raised in PRM-50-110 to determine 
whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is not 
requesting public comment at this time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of March, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kenneth R. Hart,
Acting, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-07092 Filed 3-26-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P