80 FR 79956 - Notice of Availability of Draft Guidance Documents for Subsequent License Renewal

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 246 (December 23, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment a draft NUREG, NUREG-2191, ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for Subsequent License Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report, Volume 1 and Volume 2,'' and draft NUREG-2192, ``Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (SRP-SLR). These draft documents describe methods acceptable to the NRC staff for granting a subsequent license renewal in accordance with license renewal regulations, as well as techniques used by the NRC staff in evaluating applications for subsequent license renewal. Public meetings related to the issuance of these NUREGs are planned to be held on January 27 and 28, 2016, and February 23, 2016, at NRC's headquarters. Information about the public meetings will be posted on the NRC's Web site at http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79956-79958]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32368]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0251]


Notice of Availability of Draft Guidance Documents for Subsequent 
License Renewal

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft NUREG; public meeting and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft NUREG, NUREG-2191, ``Generic Aging Lessons 
Learned for Subsequent License Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report, Volume 1 and 
Volume 2,'' and draft NUREG-2192, ``Standard Review Plan for Review of 
Subsequent License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' 
(SRP-SLR). These draft documents describe methods acceptable to the NRC 
staff for granting a subsequent license renewal in accordance with 
license renewal regulations, as well as techniques used by the NRC 
staff in evaluating applications for subsequent license renewal. Public 
meetings related to the issuance of these NUREGs are planned to be held 
on January 27 and 28, 2016, and February 23, 2016, at NRC's

[[Page 79957]]

headquarters. Information about the public meetings will be posted on 
the NRC's Web site at http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg.

DATES: Submit comments by February 29, 2016. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission 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:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0251. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual (s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    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: Bennett Brady, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2981, email: 
[email protected] or Steven Bloom, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2431, email: [email protected]; 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-2015-0251 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0251.
     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 
draft NUREG-2191; ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned for Subsequent 
License Renewal (GALL-SLR) Report, Volumes 1 and 2,'' and draft NUREG-
2192; ``Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal 
Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (SRP-SLR) are available in 
ADAMS under ADAMS Accession Nos ML15348A111, ML15348A153, and 
ML15348A265, respectively.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0251 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 http://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. Discussion

    The Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended, authorizes the NRC 
to issue 40-year initial licenses and upon application and approval, 
subsequently renew licenses for nuclear power reactors. The NRC 
regulations permit these licenses to be renewed beyond the initial 40-
year term for an additional period of time, limited to 20-year 
increments per renewal, based on the outcome of an assessment to 
determine if the nuclear facility can continue to operate safely during 
the proposed period of extended operation. There are no limitations in 
the AEA or the NRC's regulations restricting the number of times a 
license may be renewed.
    Based on interactions with the nuclear power industry, the NRC 
staff believes the first applications for subsequent license renewal, a 
term referring to all license renewals allowing a plant to operate 
beyond the 60-year period (40-year of an original operating license and 
a 20-year period of the first license renewal), may be submitted in 
2018 or 2019.
    The NRC has developed draft guidance for utilities wishing to apply 
for subsequent license renewal. The guidance documents for first 
license renewal (i.e., for operation from 40 to 60 years), the Generic 
Aging Lessons Learned Report, Revision 2 (GALL Report Rev. 2, ADAMS 
Accession Number ML103490041), and the Standard Review Plan for Review 
of License Renewal Applications, Revision 2 (SRP-LR Rev. 2, ADAMS 
Accession Number ML103490036) have been revised to reflect aging 
differences for increased operating time from 60 to 80 years, to 
consider new operating experience since the release of GALL Report Rev. 
2, and to cover gaps identified in the GALL Report Rev 2. The GALL-SLR 
Report and SRP-SLR also include changes that have been previously 
issued for public comment as part of the staff's license renewal 
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) process. These ISGs can be found at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/license-renewal.html. The 
NRC issued a draft ISG-2015-01, ``Changes to Buried and Underground 
Piping and Tank Recommendations,'' for public comment in the Federal 
Register (80 FR 37028; June 29, 2015; ADAMS Accession No ML15125A377). 
The staff is in the final process of reviewing this ISG for issuance as 
a final document. Upon issuance, the changes to the aging management 
program XI.M41, ``Buried and Underground Piping and Tanks,'' will be 
incorporated into the GALL-SLR Report and the associated sections of 
the SRP-SLR. Because the staff has previously sought and received 
public comments on these ISGs, the staff is not seeking further 
comments on these changes. They will be incorporated in the Final GALL-
SLR Report and Final SRP-SLR.
    The NRC is also announcing public meetings during the public 
comment period. Scheduled for January 27 and 28, 2016, and February 23, 
2016, these meetings will be held at the NRC headquarters in Rockville, 
MD. The formal meeting notices are available at http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. It is anticipated that the public meetings 
will provide the participants an opportunity to obtain additional 
information, ask questions, and to otherwise facilitate the public in 
formulating and preparing written comments for NRC's staff

[[Page 79958]]

consideration on these guidance documents. However, as these meetings 
will not be transcribed, the NRC encourages participants in these 
meetings to provide written comments to ensure that their comments and 
the reasons or justifications for their comments are clearly understood 
and considered.
    Submitted comments should include detailed, supporting 
justification for the NRC staff to evaluate the need for changes in 
guidance, as well as references to the operating experience, industry 
standards, or other relevant reference materials that provide a sound 
technical basis for such changes. The NRC is also interested in 
comments that will improve the clarity of the documents so that the 
final guidance will provide a stable and acceptable evaluation standard 
for future subsequent license renewal applications. These guidance 
documents describe an acceptable, but not required, means for nuclear 
power plants to meet the license renewal regulations for operation 
during the subsequent period of extended operation. Editorial and style 
comments are not necessary and will not be considered, because the 
final versions will reflect any necessary editorial and style changes.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of December 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christopher G. Miller,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-32368 Filed 12-22-15; 8:45 am]
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