81_FR_11725 81 FR 11681 - Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment

81 FR 11681 - Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 44 (March 7, 2016)

Page Range11681-11686
FR Document2016-05028

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC), and Mr. Paul M. Blanch (collectively, the petitioners) on June 18, 2012. The petitioners requested that the NRC amend its regulations to clearly and unequivocally require the environmental qualification of all safety-related cables, wires, splices, connections and other ancillary electrical equipment that may be subjected to submergence and/or moisture intrusion during normal operating conditions, severe weather, seasonal flooding, and seismic events, and post-accident conditions, both inside and outside of a reactor's containment building. The NRC is denying this petition because the current regulations already address environmental qualification in both mild and design basis event conditions of electrical equipment located both inside and outside of the containment building that is important to safety, and the petition does not provide significant new or previously unconsidered information sufficient to justify rulemaking.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 44 (Monday, March 7, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11681-11686]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05028]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50, 52, 54, and 100

[Docket Nos. PRM-50-106; NRC-2012-0177]


Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; denial.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by the Natural Resources 
Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC), and Mr. Paul M. Blanch (collectively, the 
petitioners) on June 18, 2012. The petitioners requested that the NRC 
amend its regulations to clearly and unequivocally require the 
environmental qualification of all safety-related cables, wires, 
splices, connections and other ancillary electrical equipment that may 
be subjected to submergence and/or moisture intrusion during normal 
operating conditions, severe weather, seasonal flooding, and seismic 
events, and post-accident conditions, both inside and outside of a 
reactor's containment building. The NRC is denying this petition 
because the current regulations already address environmental 
qualification in both mild and design basis event conditions of 
electrical equipment located both inside and outside of the containment 
building that is important to safety, and the petition does not provide 
significant new or previously unconsidered information sufficient to 
justify rulemaking.

DATES: The docket for the petition for rulemaking, PRM-50-106, is 
closed on March 7, 2016.

[[Page 11682]]


ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0177 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this petition. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to the petition by 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0177. 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 (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
     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: Margaret Ellenson, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-0894; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. The Petition
II. NRC Analysis
III. Determination of Petition

I. The Petition

    On June 18, 2012, the NRC received a petition for rulemaking filed 
jointly by the NRDC and Mr. Paul Blanch (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML12177A377). The petitioners requested that the NRC amend its 
regulations in parts 50, 52, 54, and 100 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to clearly and unequivocally require the 
environmental qualification of all safety-related cables, wires, 
splices, connections and other ancillary electrical equipment that may 
be subjected to submergence and/or moisture intrusion during normal 
operating conditions, severe weather, seasonal flooding, and seismic 
events, and post-accident conditions, both inside and outside of a 
reactor's containment building.
    The petition was docketed by the NRC on June 22, 2012, and was 
assigned Docket No. PRM-50-106. On September 27, 2012 (77 FR 59345), 
the NRC published a notice of receipt in the Federal Register. The NRC 
did not request public comment on PRM-50-106.

II. NRC Analysis

    The petitioners raised three issues in support of their request 
that the NRC amend the regulations related to environmental 
qualification of electrical equipment at nuclear power plants. The 
three issues and the NRC's responses to each issue are presented in 
this section.
    Issue 1: Through the issuance of Generic Letter (GL) 82-09, 
``Environmental Qualification of Safety-Related Electrical Equipment,'' 
dated April 20, 1982 (ADAMS Accession No. ML031080281), the NRC staff 
limited the scope of Sec.  50.49 based on the location of the 
electrical equipment.
    The petitioners stated that as a result of the accident at Three 
Mile Island, the NRC strengthened the regulatory requirements for 
electrical equipment by, among other things, revising Sec.  50.49(e) to 
add paragraph (6) to address the possibility of electrical equipment 
submergence. The petitioners asserted that Sec.  50.49(e)(6), as 
written, did not limit or restrict its applicability based upon the 
location of the equipment, but that the NRC staff limited this 
applicability through a question and answer (Q&A) set in GL 82-09:
    Q. For equipment qualification purposes, what are the staff 
requirements concerning submergence of equipment outside containment?
    A. The staff requires that the licensee submit documentation on the 
qualification of safety-related equipment that could be submerged due 
to a high energy line break outside containment.
    The petitioners asserted that the problem with this excerpt from GL 
82-09 is that safety-related cables and wires outside containment are 
routinely submerged in water not only during high energy line breaks 
(HELBs), but also during a reactor's normal operation. The petitioners 
argued that the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and laboratory testing 
have shown that moisture intrusion and submergence of electrical cables 
and wires significantly increase the probability of failure, which also 
causes the failure of connected components such as emergency core 
cooling system motors and pumps, valves, controls, and instrumentation. 
The petitioners asserted that the safety implications from the failure 
of a safety-related cable inside containment submerged by an accident, 
outside containment submerged by a high energy line break, or outside 
containment submerged by nature, are identical--the safety function is 
lost.
    NRC Response to Issue 1: The regulations at Sec.  50.49, 
``Environmental qualification of electric equipment important to safety 
for nuclear power plants,'' are applicable to electrical equipment 
located outside containment as well as inside. The January 21, 1983, 
Federal Register notice of the final Sec.  50.49 rule (48 FR 2730) made 
this clear by noting that nuclear power plant equipment important to 
safety must be able to perform its safety functions throughout its 
installed life, and that this requirement applies to equipment inside 
as well as outside containment. (See 48 FR 2731.) The Q&A referenced by 
the petitioners is itself premised on the applicability of Sec.  50.49 
to important to safety electrical equipment outside of containment. 
Regardless of its location inside or outside containment, if any 
important to safety electrical equipment is near enough to a high 
energy line (e.g., steam line, feedwater, blow-down, charging, or 
letdown lines) that the equipment's performance could be adversely 
affected by a rupture of that line, Sec.  50.49 requires that the 
equipment be qualified to withstand any environmental conditions that 
may result from such an event. Section 50.49 was established to impose 
additional requirements beyond those established by Sec.  50.65, 
``Requirements for monitoring the effectiveness of maintenance at 
nuclear power plants;'' 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, ``General Design 
Criteria [GDC] For Nuclear Power Plants;'' \1\ and 10 CFR part 50, 
appendix B, ``Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and 
Fuel Processing Plants.'' The additional requirements in Sec.  50.49 
apply to important to safety electrical equipment that could be subject 
to postulated design basis events (DBEs) that could affect: (1) The 
integrity of the reactor coolant pressure boundary; (2) the capability 
to shut the reactor down safely and keep it safe; or (3) the capability 
to prevent or mitigate accidents that could result in potential

[[Page 11683]]

offsite exposures comparable to NRC emergency planning guidelines. As 
the cited GL 82-09 Q&A indicates, a HELB was the most probable such DBE 
involving submergence outside of containment for which the NRC staff 
believed that a power reactor's important to safety electrical 
equipment must be environmentally qualified.
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    \1\ The GDC pertains to water cooled nuclear plants and 
establishes the minimum requirements for their principal design 
criteria (36 FR 3256; February 20, 1971, as amended).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC agrees with the petitioners that safety-related cables and 
other electrical equipment must be fully able to function, not only 
within an operating environment affected by a HELB under Sec.  50.49, 
but also over the entire length of its system, even those portions not 
exposed to a HELB. Criterion 18 of 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, requires 
that electric power systems important to safety be designed so that 
important areas and features permit appropriate periodic inspection and 
testing. Example areas and features specified are the following: 
wiring, insulation, connections, and switchboards. Criterion 18 also 
requires the systems to be designed with a capability to test 
periodically the operability and functional performance of the 
components of the systems and the operability of the system as a whole.
    As the petitioners rightly point out, designing the entirety of an 
electrical safety system for inspectability and testability is 
essential because ``[i]t matters little if the portion of a safety-
related cable inside [or] outside containment in a high energy line 
break area survive[s] if another portion of that same cable routed 
underground fails due to submergence.'' It is also important to note 
that the NRC's design and qualification requirements for underground or 
inaccessible wires, cables, and ancillary equipment are inspected and 
enforced. The NRC's inspection procedures direct that inspections of 
electrical equipment at risk of flooding or exposure to moisture be 
conducted annually.
    The NRC disagrees with the petitioners' assertion that GL 82-09 has 
restricted the applicability of Sec.  50.49 regulatory requirements for 
safety-related equipment according to its location. Generic letters do 
not have the legal authority of a final rule promulgated after due 
public notice and comment, as was Sec.  50.49. The Q&A in GL 82-09 does 
not exempt any safety-related equipment that could be submerged, inside 
or outside containment, from the environmental qualifications (EQ) 
requirements of Sec.  50.49. The purpose of the GL 82-09 Q&A cited by 
the petitioners was simply to clarify that under Sec.  50.49, licensees 
must submit information on the EQ of important to safety equipment that 
could be submerged due to a high energy line break outside containment. 
The applicability of Sec.  50.49 is not limited to a HELB, although 
after more than 30 years of operating experience and risk analysis, a 
HELB remains the most probable DBE involving submergence outside 
containment that meets the Sec.  50.49 criteria for the subset of DBEs 
that could result in a severe accident. The clarifying Q&A was 
important because the GL was providing information in the event of a 
HELB, not describing the entire universe of postulated DBEs to which 
Sec.  50.49 could apply.
    Issue 2: Safety-related cable subject to submergence, condensation, 
or moisture located in a ``mild environment'' should not be exempted 
from the environmental qualification requirements of Sec.  50.49.
    The petitioners argued that rulemaking is necessary to ensure that 
electrical cables and wires will be properly qualified for 
environmental conditions they may experience during normal operation 
(i.e., a mild environment) as well as in an accident. The petitioners 
claimed the need for rulemaking and clarification of Sec.  50.49 to 
address cables that may be exposed to non-mild environments during 
normal, abnormal, and accident conditions. The petitioners noted that 
electrical cables and wires ``are prone to accelerated failure rates 
when submerged in water or exposed to high humidity unless designed and 
qualified for these environmental conditions.'' The petitioners stated 
that the NRC prioritized the inspection of cable penetrations after the 
1979 Three Mile Island accident based on the probability of their 
impairment, mostly due to submergence and moisture. The petitioners 
argued that ``[i]f these conditions cause a high probability of 
impairment following an accident, then it is logical to assume that 
these conditions produce a similar outcome in the absence of or prior 
to an accident as well.'' In support of their case for a rulemaking to 
address this impairment, the petitioners also referenced a 1996 study 
by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML031140264) and three studies by the Electric Power Research Institute 
(EPRI), ``Plant Support Engineering: Life Cycle Management Planning 
Sourcebooks: Medium-Voltage (MV) Cables and Accessories (Terminations 
and Splices),'' EPRI Product ID: 1013187; ``Plant Support Engineering: 
Aging Management Program Development Guidance for AC and DC Low-Voltage 
Power Cable Systems for Nuclear Power Plants,'' EPRI Product ID: 
1020804; and ``Plant Support Engineering: Aging Management Program 
Guidance for Medium-Voltage Cable Systems for Nuclear Power Plants,'' 
EPRI Product ID: 1020805. The EPRI documents are available for download 
from www.EPRI.com.
    Also in support of their request for rulemaking to extend Sec.  
50.49 requirements to electrical equipment in mild environments, the 
petitioners contended that the NRC's requirements state only that 
safety systems should remain functional and do not provide conditions 
or acceptance criteria for degraded cables.
    NRC Response to Issue 2: The NRC agrees that Sec.  50.49 does not 
apply to reactor cables and electrical equipment exposed to mild 
environments. This section of the rule applies EQ requirements only to 
important to safety cables and electrical equipment that may be exposed 
to non-mild environments during accident conditions. The purpose of the 
final Sec.  50.49 rule (48 FR 2730; January 21, 1983) was to codify 
accepted industry standards and NRC guidance for the EQ of safety-
related electrical equipment, and non-safety-related equipment relied 
on by safety-related equipment, that must perform a safety function 
under DBE conditions.
    The NRC disagrees with the petitioners' assertion that Sec.  50.49 
should be amended to extend EQ requirements to important to safety 
cables and electrical equipment exposed to submergence or moisture 
intrusion in mild environments. The existing rule specifically exempts 
from these requirements equipment exposed only to a ``mild 
environment,'' which is defined in Sec.  50.49(c) as an environment 
that would at no time be significantly more severe than the environment 
that would occur during normal plant operation, including anticipated 
operational occurrences.
    All important to safety equipment whether in mild or non-mild 
environments is subject to the requirements for monitoring the 
effectiveness of maintanence under the maintenance rule (Sec.  50.65). 
Furthermore, all important to safety equipment at plants with 
construction permits issued after May 21, 1971, is also subject to the 
design and quality requirements in 10 CFR part 50, appendix A. In 
addition to the above requirements, all safety-related equipment is 
also subject to the quality assurance requirements of 10 CFR part 50, 
appendix B. Therefore, equipment in mild environments exposed to 
submergence, condensation, and moisture intrusion, the kind of

[[Page 11684]]

degradation of concern to the petitioners, is subject to several 
existing requirements. For important to safety equipment that could be 
subject to environmental conditions that may result as a consequence of 
a DBE, Sec.  50.49 establishes additional requirements beyond those 
stipulated in Sec.  50.65; 10 CFR part 50, appendix A; and 10 CFR part 
50, appendix B.
    The maintenance rule (Sec.  50.65) establishes requirements for 
monitoring the effectiveness of maintenance at nuclear power plants. 
Under Sec.  50.65(a)(1), licensees are required to monitor the 
condition or performance of structures, systems, or components (SSCs) 
in a manner providing reasonable assurance that the intended SSC 
functions can be fulfilled. Section 50.65(b) describes the types of 
SSCs subject to its requirements. The maintenance rule (Sec.  50.65) 
applies to safety and non-safety SSCs that includes the following: SSCs 
used in the plant's emergency operating procedures or relied upon to 
mitigate accidents or transient unsafe conditions; SSCs whose failure 
could prevent safety-related SSCs from fulfilling their safety-related 
function; or SSCs whose failure could cause a reactor scram (unplanned 
action to stop the fission reaction) or the actuation of a safety-
related system. With this scope, the maintenance rule (Sec.  50.65) 
already covers the equipment specified in the petition (i.e., all 
safety-related cables, wires, splices, connections, and other ancillary 
electrical equipment that may be subjected to submergence and/or 
moisture intrusion). Section 50.65 covers this equipment under any 
normal or unusual operating or post-accident conditions, whether these 
conditions include severe weather, seasonal flooding, or seismic 
events, or whether the SSCs are inside or outside of containment. The 
rule also covers the petitioners' specified systems and components 
whether or not they are exposed to submergence in water, condensation, 
wetting, and other environmental stresses during routine operation and 
infrequent events (e.g., flooding).
    In its April 2012 Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.218, ``Condition-
Monitoring Techniques for Electric Cables Used In Nuclear Power 
Plants'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML103510447), the NRC described a 
programmatic approach and acceptable techniques for monitoring the 
condition of electric cable systems and their operating environments. 
As authority for this guidance, RG 1.218 cited 10 CFR part 50, 
Criterion XI, ``Test Control,'' of appendix B. Criterion XI specifies 
that power reactor licensees must have a program to assure that all 
testing required to show that SSCs will perform satisfactorily in 
service is identified and performed.
    The test program must include, as appropriate, operational tests of 
SSCs during nuclear power plant operation. Test procedures must include 
provisions for assuring that all prerequisites for the given test have 
been met, that adequate test instrumentation is available and used, and 
that the test is performed under suitable environmental conditions. 
Test results under Criterion XI must also be ``documented and 
evaluated'' to ensure that this Criterion's requirements have been 
satisfied. It is important to note that Criterion XI is only one of 18 
criteria that are applicable to a quality assurance program for the 
electrical equipment at issue in this petition. Appendix B criteria 
establish quality assurance requirements for the design, manufacture, 
construction, and operation of all safety-related equipment, and all 
activities affecting its functions, including not only testing, but 
designing, purchasing, fabricating, handling, shipping, storing, 
cleaning, installing, inspecting, operating, maintaining, repairing, 
and modifying this equipment. Criterion XVI, ``Corrective Action,'' 
also requires licensees to have measures assuring that conditions 
adverse to quality are promptly identified and corrected. Examples of 
such conditions are the following: failures, malfunctions, 
deficiencies, deviations, defective material and equipment, and 
nonconformances. For significant conditions adverse to quality, 
including the potential failure of electrical equipment to function as 
designed, licensees must determine the cause of the condition and 
``assure'' that corrective action is taken to preclude a repetition of 
the adverse condition. The identified condition, its cause, and the 
corrective action taken to prevent its recurrence must also be 
documented and the appropriate levels of management informed. In 
addition, for important to safety cables and electrical equipment 
located in an area meeting the definition of a mild environment in 
Sec.  50.49, 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, GDC 4 requires that this 
equipment be designed to manage the conditions it will experience 
during normal operation, maintenance, testing, and postulated 
accidents.
    The NRC does not agree that its existing regulations do not require 
sufficient protection of important to safety electrical equipment 
against expected or potential environmental conditions it experiences 
during its period of service. Regardless of whether a cable, switch, or 
other piece of electrical equipment must be environmentally qualified 
under Sec.  50.49, it must meet maintenance, design, and quality 
assurance requirements established by Sec.  50.65; 10 CFR part 50, 
appendix A; and 10 CFR part 50, appendix B (for safety-related 
equipment), to provide adequate protection for public health and 
safety. And regardless of whether the equipment is environmentally 
qualified, it is subject to the same degree of NRC oversight in the 
form of inspections and enforcement. A rulemaking to require the 
environmental qualification of all electrical equipment exposed only to 
mild environments is, therefore, unnecessary.
    Moreover, the 1996 DOE study and three EPRI studies cited by the 
petitioners are well known to the NRC and do not constitute significant 
new information justifying a rulemaking. The NRC recognized the concern 
regarding the reliability of low-voltage power cable systems at 
reactors that the petitioner references and acted accordingly. Among 
other things, the NRC has revised its inspection procedures to ensure 
annual inspections of underground bunkers and manholes in a continuing 
repeated cycle beginning with those containing the most risk-
significant cables. The NRC also issued RG 1.218, describing a 
programmatic approach and acceptable techniques for monitoring the 
condition of electric cable systems and their operating environments.
    The NRC disagrees with the petitioners' contention that the NRC's 
requirements do not provide conditions or acceptance criteria for 
degraded cables. Any requirement for safety-related systems to remain 
functional for a specified operating life is a design requirement, and 
any failure of the equipment before the end of that operating life 
would be a violation of that design requirement. Therefore, taken 
together, GDC 2, 4, and 18 in 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, the 
maintenance requirements under Sec.  50.65, and the quality assurance 
testing requirements in 10 CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XI, 
effectively provide an enforceable acceptance criterion for the 
continued use of cables or any other electrical equipment degrading 
during normal operation. Criterion XI states that the measured rate of 
degradation must not impair the equipment's ability to function in an 
emergency, even if the emergency were to occur on the last day of the 
performance period specified in the equipment's design requirement.

[[Page 11685]]

    Guidance for the implementation of this criterion is provided in 
the August 25, 2009, NRC staff regulatory resolution issue protocol, 
``Cable Performance Issues at Nuclear Power Plants'' (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML092220419), which the petitioners cited as documentation of the 
NRC's requirements on cable and wire submergence issues. The NRC staff 
position in that protocol is: (1) Licensees should monitor cables 
within the scope of the maintenance rule (Sec.  50.65) at an 
appropriate frequency to demonstrate that they can perform their design 
functions when called upon; and (2) cables must be designed to fulfill 
their intended design function in the environment to which they are 
subject. Under the protocol, if cables have been exposed to conditions 
for which they are not designed or qualified, the licensee must 
demonstrate, through adequate testing or condition monitoring, that the 
cables can perform their intended design function for the duration of 
the qualified period specified in the license.
    The NRC also inspects underground cables through established 
inspection procedures. In particular, Inspection Procedure (IP) 
Attachment 71111.06, ``Flood Protection Measures'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML11244A012), specifically directs NRC inspectors to perform an annual 
review of cables located in underground bunkers or manholes. The IP 
Attachment directs inspectors to select bunkers or manholes subject to 
flooding that contain multiple train or multiple risk-significant 
cables, and inspect those that contain more risk-significant cables 
before inspecting those with less risk-significant cables. The IP notes 
that inspectors should rotate through the bunkers or manholes until all 
are inspected; and then the cycle should be recommenced. The IP 
Attachment also clarifies that these inspections may be in addition to 
those for the aging management programs of plants with renewed 
licenses. Where ``significant moisture'' is identified at such plants, 
inspectors are to verify that the licensee takes action to keep the 
cables dry and assess cable degradation in accordance with the 
licensee's aging management program.
    Issue 3: Although GDC 2 and 4 of the NRC's regulations require that 
cables be able to perform their design function when subjected to 
anticipated environmental conditions, the NRC does not apply these and 
other GDC to the 57 plants with construction permits issued before May 
21, 1971, the effective date of the GDC rule (36 FR 3256; February 20, 
1971).
    Citing the August 25, 2009, NRC staff regulatory issue resolution 
protocol, ``Cable Performance Issues at Nuclear Power Plants,'' the 
petitioners asserted that this statement defined the NRC's governing 
regulations on submerged cable performance as explicitly including GDC 
2 and GDC 4. The GDC 2 requires reactor SSCs that are important to 
safety be designed to withstand the effects of natural phenomena 
without loss of capability to perform their safety functions. The GDC 4 
requires that these SSCs be designed to accommodate the effects of and 
be compatible with the environmental conditions associated with normal 
operation, maintenance, testing, and postulated accidents.
    The petition stated that although these GDC may contain appropriate 
regulatory requirements for the qualification of electrical cables and 
wires, the NRC has determined that these requirements are not to be 
applied to the majority of reactors. The petitioners noted that, at the 
time the petition was submitted, at least 57 of the nation`s 104 
operating reactors had construction permits that were issued prior to 
the effective date of the GDC rule, and that the Commission, through 
guidance to the NRC staff, has determined that the GDC do not need to 
be applied to these 57 reactors.
    NRC Response to Issue 3: The NRC disagrees with the petitioners' 
suggestion that the 57 plants that received construction permits prior 
to May 21, 1971, are not operating safely with appropriately qualified 
important to safety equipment. In 1992, after more than 15 years of 
analysis, the NRC staff recommended that the Commission retain the 
current policy that no exemptions from or specific backfits for the GDC 
are required for plants with construction permits issued before that 
date. In its September 18, 1992, Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML003763736), the Commission endorsed the NRC 
staff's recommendation not to apply the GDC to plants with construction 
permits issued prior to the effective date of the GDC rule. This 
recommendation was based on the documented results of the NRC staff's 
evaluations of representative designs of 10 of the 57 plants against 
the design requirements of a 1975 Standard Review Plan for reactor 
license applications based on the approved GDC.
    The SRM explained that at the time the GDC were promulgated, the 
Commission had stressed that they were not new requirements and were 
promulgated to articulate more clearly the licensing requirements and 
practice in effect at that time. The Commission stated that while 
compliance with the intent of the GDC is important, each plant licensed 
before the GDC were formally adopted was evaluated on a plant-specific 
basis, determined to be safe, and licensed by the NRC. Furthermore, the 
Commission determined that existing regulatory processes were 
sufficient to ensure that plants continue to be safe and comply with 
the intent of the GDC. As the petitioners also noted, the Commission 
went on to say that backfitting these 57 plants to meet the GDC would 
provide little or no safety benefit while requiring an extensive 
commitment of resources. The petitioners have not provided any 
significant, new, or previously unconsidered information to justify a 
new rulemaking or to reverse this NRC position.

III. Reasons for Denial

    The NRC is denying PRM-50-106 because:
    (1) The NRC disagrees with the petitioners' assertion that GL 82-09 
has restricted the applicability of Sec.  50.49 regulatory requirements 
for safety-related equipment according to its location. This regulation 
is applicable to electrical equipment located outside containment as 
well as inside.
    (2) Section 50.49 explicitly excludes important to safety 
electrical equipment subject only to mild environments. The petitioners 
have not provided significant new information sufficient to justify a 
change to this rule. A rulemaking to require the environmental 
qualification of all electrical equipment exposed only to mild 
environments is unnecessary because existing NRC regulations require 
sufficient protection of important to safety electrical equipment 
against expected or potential environmental conditions it experiences 
during its period of service.
    (3) With regard to the reactors that received construction permits 
prior to May 21, 1971, the Commission determined in response to SECY-
92-223, ``Resolution of Deviations Identified During the Systematic 
Evaluation Program'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML12256B290) that these 
plants are operating safely with appropriately qualified important to 
safety equipment, and that no specific backfits of the GDC to these 
plants were required. The petitioners have not provided any 
significant, new, or previously unconsidered information justifying a 
rulemaking to apply the GDC to the 57 reactors that received 
construction permits prior to May 21, 1971.

[[Page 11686]]

IV. Conclusion

    For the reasons cited in this document, the NRC is denying PRM-50-
106. The NRC is denying this petition because the current regulations 
already address environmental qualification in both mild and design 
basis event conditions of electrical equipment located both inside and 
outside of the containment building that is important to safety, and 
the petitioners did not provide significant new or previously 
unconsidered information sufficient to justify rulemaking.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of February, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-05028 Filed 3-4-16; 8:45 am]
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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                                  11681

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                                                                                                            ■ 3. Revise paragraph (a) of § 989.81 to
                                                    handling of raisins produced from                                                                             be disposed of in such manner as the
                                                                                                            read as follows:
                                                    grapes grown in California shall be in                                                                        Secretary may determine to be
                                                    conformity to, and in compliance with,                  § 989.81    Accounting.                               appropriate; Provided, That to the extent
                                                    the terms and conditions of the said                       (a) If, at the end of the crop year, the           practicable, such funds shall be
                                                    order as hereby proposed to be amended                  assessments collected are in excess of                returned pro rata to the persons from
                                                    as follows:                                             expenses incurred, such excess shall be               whom such funds were collected.
                                                       The provisions of the proposed                       accounted for in accordance with one of
                                                    marketing order amending the order                                                                            *      *    *     *    *
                                                                                                            the following:                                        [FR Doc. 2016–04623 Filed 3–4–16; 8:45 am]
                                                    contained in the proposed rule issued
                                                                                                               (1) If such excess is not retained in a            BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
                                                    by the Administrator on October 15,
                                                                                                            reserve, as provided in paragraph (a)(2)
                                                    2015, and published in the Federal
                                                                                                            of this section, it shall be refunded
                                                    Register (80 FR 62506) on October 16,
                                                                                                            proportionately to the persons from
                                                    2015, will be and are the terms and                                                                           NUCLEAR REGULATORY
                                                                                                            whom collected in accordance with
                                                    provisions of this order amending the                                                                         COMMISSION
                                                                                                            § 989.80; Provided, That any sum paid
                                                    order and are set forth in full herein.
                                                                                                            by a person in excess of his or her pro
                                                                                                                                                                  10 CFR Parts 50, 52, 54, and 100
                                                    PART 989—RAISINS PRODUCED                               rata share of expenses during any crop
                                                    FROM GRAPES GROWN IN                                    year may be applied by the committee
                                                                                                                                                                  [Docket Nos. PRM–50–106; NRC–2012–
                                                    CALIFORNIA                                              at the end of such crop year as credit for            0177]
                                                                                                            such person, toward the committee’s
                                                    ■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR                   administrative operations for the                     Environmental Qualification of
                                                    part 989 continues to read as follows:                  following crop year; Provided further,                Electrical Equipment
                                                        Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.                        That the committee may credit the
                                                                                                            excess to any outstanding obligations                 AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory
                                                    ■ 2. Revise paragraph (c) of § 989.80 to                                                                      Commission.
                                                                                                            due the committee from such person.
                                                    read as follows:
                                                                                                               (2) The committee may carry over                   ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; denial.
                                                    § 989.80   Assessments.                                 such excess funds into subsequent crop
                                                                                                            years as a reserve; Provided, That funds              SUMMARY:   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
                                                    *      *    *      *     *                                                                                    Commission (NRC) is denying a petition
                                                       (c) During any crop year or any                      already in the reserve do not exceed one
                                                                                                            crop year’s budgeted expenses as                      for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by the
                                                    portion of a crop year for which volume
                                                                                                            averaged over the past six years. In the              Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
                                                    percentages are not effective for a
                                                                                                            event that funds exceed one crop year’s               (NRDC), and Mr. Paul M. Blanch
                                                    varietal type, all standard raisins of that
                                                    varietal type acquired by handlers                      expenses, funds in excess of one crop                 (collectively, the petitioners) on June 18,
                                                    during such period shall be free tonnage                year’s budgeted expenses shall be                     2012. The petitioners requested that the
                                                    for purposes of levying assessments                     distributed in accordance with                        NRC amend its regulations to clearly
                                                    pursuant to this section. The Secretary                 paragraph (1) above. Such funds may be                and unequivocally require the
                                                    shall fix the rate of assessment to be                  used:                                                 environmental qualification of all
                                                    paid by all handlers on the basis of a                     (i) To defray essential administrative             safety-related cables, wires, splices,
                                                    specified rate per ton. At any time                     expenses (i.e., staff wages/salaries and              connections and other ancillary
                                                    during or after a crop year, the Secretary              related benefits, office rent, utilities,             electrical equipment that may be
                                                    may increase the rate of assessment to                  postage, insurance, legal expenses, audit             subjected to submergence and/or
                                                    obtain sufficient funds to cover any later              costs, consulting, Web site operation                 moisture intrusion during normal
                                                    finding by the Secretary relative to the                and maintenance, office supplies,                     operating conditions, severe weather,
                                                    expenses of the committee. Each                         repairs and maintenance, equipment                    seasonal flooding, and seismic events,
                                                    handler shall pay such additional                       leases, domestic staff travel and                     and post-accident conditions, both
                                                    assessment to the committee upon                        committee mileage reimbursement,                      inside and outside of a reactor’s
                                                    demand. In order to provide funds to                    international committee travel,                       containment building. The NRC is
                                                    carry out the functions of the                          international staff travel, bank charges,             denying this petition because the
                                                    committee, the committee may accept                     computer software and programming,                    current regulations already address
                                                    advance payments from any handler to                    costs of compliance activities, and other             environmental qualification in both
                                                    be credited toward such assessments as                  similar essential administrative                      mild and design basis event conditions
                                                    may be levied pursuant to this section                  expenses) exclusive of promotional                    of electrical equipment located both
                                                    against such handler during the crop                    expenses during any crop year, prior to               inside and outside of the containment
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                                                    year. In the event cash flow needs of the               the time assessment income is sufficient              building that is important to safety, and
                                                    committee are above cash available                      to cover such expenses;                               the petition does not provide significant
                                                    generated by handler assessments, the                      (ii) To cover deficits incurred during             new or previously unconsidered
                                                    committee may borrow from a                             any period when assessment income is                  information sufficient to justify
                                                    commercial lending institution. The                     less than expenses;                                   rulemaking.
                                                    payment of assessments for the                             (iii) To defray expenses incurred                  DATES:The docket for the petition for
                                                    maintenance and functioning of the                      during any period when any or all                     rulemaking, PRM–50–106, is closed on
                                                    committee, and for such purposes as the                 provisions of this part are suspended;                March 7, 2016.


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                                                    11682                    Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                    ADDRESSES:   Please refer to Docket ID                  moisture intrusion during normal                      connected components such as
                                                    NRC–2012–0177 when contacting the                       operating conditions, severe weather,                 emergency core cooling system motors
                                                    NRC about the availability of                           seasonal flooding, and seismic events,                and pumps, valves, controls, and
                                                    information regarding this petition. You                and post-accident conditions, both                    instrumentation. The petitioners
                                                    may obtain publicly-available                           inside and outside of a reactor’s                     asserted that the safety implications
                                                    information related to the petition by                  containment building.                                 from the failure of a safety-related cable
                                                    using any of the following methods:                       The petition was docketed by the NRC                inside containment submerged by an
                                                       • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to                 on June 22, 2012, and was assigned                    accident, outside containment
                                                    http://www.regulations.gov and search                   Docket No. PRM–50–106. On September                   submerged by a high energy line break,
                                                    for Docket ID NRC–2012–0177. Address                    27, 2012 (77 FR 59345), the NRC                       or outside containment submerged by
                                                    questions about NRC dockets to Carol                    published a notice of receipt in the                  nature, are identical—the safety
                                                    Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;                     Federal Register. The NRC did not                     function is lost.
                                                    email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For                     request public comment on PRM–50–                        NRC Response to Issue 1: The
                                                    technical questions, contact the                        106.                                                  regulations at § 50.49, ‘‘Environmental
                                                    individual listed in the FOR FURTHER                                                                          qualification of electric equipment
                                                                                                            II. NRC Analysis
                                                    INFORMATION CONTACT section of this                                                                           important to safety for nuclear power
                                                    document.                                                  The petitioners raised three issues in             plants,’’ are applicable to electrical
                                                       • NRC’s Agencywide Documents                         support of their request that the NRC                 equipment located outside containment
                                                    Access and Management System                            amend the regulations related to                      as well as inside. The January 21, 1983,
                                                    (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-                       environmental qualification of electrical             Federal Register notice of the final
                                                    available documents online in the                       equipment at nuclear power plants. The                § 50.49 rule (48 FR 2730) made this
                                                    ADAMS Public Documents collection at                    three issues and the NRC’s responses to               clear by noting that nuclear power plant
                                                    http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/                          each issue are presented in this section.             equipment important to safety must be
                                                    adams.html. To begin the search, select                    Issue 1: Through the issuance of                   able to perform its safety functions
                                                    ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then                     Generic Letter (GL) 82–09,                            throughout its installed life, and that
                                                    select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS                          ‘‘Environmental Qualification of Safety-              this requirement applies to equipment
                                                    Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,                      Related Electrical Equipment,’’ dated                 inside as well as outside containment.
                                                    please contact the NRC’s Public                         April 20, 1982 (ADAMS Accession No.                   (See 48 FR 2731.) The Q&A referenced
                                                    Document Room (PDR) reference staff at                  ML031080281), the NRC staff limited                   by the petitioners is itself premised on
                                                    1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by                     the scope of § 50.49 based on the                     the applicability of § 50.49 to important
                                                    email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The                      location of the electrical equipment.                 to safety electrical equipment outside of
                                                    ADAMS accession number for each                            The petitioners stated that as a result            containment. Regardless of its location
                                                    document referenced (if it is available in              of the accident at Three Mile Island, the             inside or outside containment, if any
                                                    ADAMS) is provided the first time that                  NRC strengthened the regulatory                       important to safety electrical equipment
                                                    it is mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY                    requirements for electrical equipment                 is near enough to a high energy line
                                                    INFORMATION section.                                    by, among other things, revising                      (e.g., steam line, feedwater, blow-down,
                                                       • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and                     § 50.49(e) to add paragraph (6) to                    charging, or letdown lines) that the
                                                    purchase copies of public documents at                  address the possibility of electrical                 equipment’s performance could be
                                                    the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One                         equipment submergence. The                            adversely affected by a rupture of that
                                                    White Flint North, 11555 Rockville                      petitioners asserted that § 50.49(e)(6), as           line, § 50.49 requires that the equipment
                                                    Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.                        written, did not limit or restrict its                be qualified to withstand any
                                                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                        applicability based upon the location of              environmental conditions that may
                                                    Margaret Ellenson, Office of Nuclear                    the equipment, but that the NRC staff                 result from such an event. Section 50.49
                                                    Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear                        limited this applicability through a                  was established to impose additional
                                                    Regulatory Commission, Washington,                      question and answer (Q&A) set in GL                   requirements beyond those established
                                                    DC 20555–0001, telephone: 301–415–                      82–09:                                                by § 50.65, ‘‘Requirements for
                                                    0894; email: Margaret.Ellenson@nrc.gov.                    Q. For equipment qualification
                                                                                                                                                                  monitoring the effectiveness of
                                                    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                                                                            purposes, what are the staff
                                                                                                                                                                  maintenance at nuclear power plants;’’
                                                                                                            requirements concerning submergence
                                                    Table of Contents                                                                                             10 CFR part 50, appendix A, ‘‘General
                                                                                                            of equipment outside containment?
                                                                                                               A. The staff requires that the licensee            Design Criteria [GDC] For Nuclear
                                                    I. The Petition                                                                                               Power Plants;’’ 1 and 10 CFR part 50,
                                                    II. NRC Analysis                                        submit documentation on the
                                                                                                            qualification of safety-related equipment             appendix B, ‘‘Quality Assurance Criteria
                                                    III. Determination of Petition
                                                                                                            that could be submerged due to a high                 for Nuclear Power Plants and Fuel
                                                    I. The Petition                                         energy line break outside containment.                Processing Plants.’’ The additional
                                                       On June 18, 2012, the NRC received                      The petitioners asserted that the                  requirements in § 50.49 apply to
                                                    a petition for rulemaking filed jointly by              problem with this excerpt from GL 82–                 important to safety electrical equipment
                                                    the NRDC and Mr. Paul Blanch                            09 is that safety-related cables and wires            that could be subject to postulated
                                                    (ADAMS Accession No. ML12177A377).                      outside containment are routinely                     design basis events (DBEs) that could
                                                    The petitioners requested that the NRC                  submerged in water not only during                    affect: (1) The integrity of the reactor
                                                    amend its regulations in parts 50, 52, 54,              high energy line breaks (HELBs), but                  coolant pressure boundary; (2) the
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                                                    and 100 of title 10 of the Code of                      also during a reactor’s normal operation.             capability to shut the reactor down
                                                    Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to clearly                 The petitioners argued that the 1979                  safely and keep it safe; or (3) the
                                                    and unequivocally require the                           Three Mile Island accident and                        capability to prevent or mitigate
                                                    environmental qualification of all                      laboratory testing have shown that                    accidents that could result in potential
                                                    safety-related cables, wires, splices,                  moisture intrusion and submergence of                   1 The GDC pertains to water cooled nuclear plants
                                                    connections and other ancillary                         electrical cables and wires significantly             and establishes the minimum requirements for their
                                                    electrical equipment that may be                        increase the probability of failure,                  principal design criteria (36 FR 3256; February 20,
                                                    subjected to submergence and/or                         which also causes the failure of                      1971, as amended).



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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                            11683

                                                    offsite exposures comparable to NRC                     could be submerged due to a high                      ‘‘Plant Support Engineering: Aging
                                                    emergency planning guidelines. As the                   energy line break outside containment.                Management Program Guidance for
                                                    cited GL 82–09 Q&A indicates, a HELB                    The applicability of § 50.49 is not                   Medium-Voltage Cable Systems for
                                                    was the most probable such DBE                          limited to a HELB, although after more                Nuclear Power Plants,’’ EPRI Product
                                                    involving submergence outside of                        than 30 years of operating experience                 ID: 1020805. The EPRI documents are
                                                    containment for which the NRC staff                     and risk analysis, a HELB remains the                 available for download from
                                                    believed that a power reactor’s                         most probable DBE involving                           www.EPRI.com.
                                                    important to safety electrical equipment                submergence outside containment that                     Also in support of their request for
                                                    must be environmentally qualified.                      meets the § 50.49 criteria for the subset             rulemaking to extend § 50.49
                                                       The NRC agrees with the petitioners                  of DBEs that could result in a severe                 requirements to electrical equipment in
                                                    that safety-related cables and other                    accident. The clarifying Q&A was                      mild environments, the petitioners
                                                    electrical equipment must be fully able                 important because the GL was providing                contended that the NRC’s requirements
                                                    to function, not only within an                         information in the event of a HELB, not               state only that safety systems should
                                                    operating environment affected by a                     describing the entire universe of                     remain functional and do not provide
                                                    HELB under § 50.49, but also over the                   postulated DBEs to which § 50.49 could                conditions or acceptance criteria for
                                                    entire length of its system, even those                 apply.                                                degraded cables.
                                                    portions not exposed to a HELB.                            Issue 2: Safety-related cable subject to              NRC Response to Issue 2: The NRC
                                                    Criterion 18 of 10 CFR part 50, appendix                submergence, condensation, or moisture                agrees that § 50.49 does not apply to
                                                    A, requires that electric power systems                 located in a ‘‘mild environment’’ should              reactor cables and electrical equipment
                                                    important to safety be designed so that                 not be exempted from the                              exposed to mild environments. This
                                                    important areas and features permit                     environmental qualification                           section of the rule applies EQ
                                                    appropriate periodic inspection and                     requirements of § 50.49.                              requirements only to important to safety
                                                    testing. Example areas and features                        The petitioners argued that                        cables and electrical equipment that
                                                    specified are the following: wiring,                    rulemaking is necessary to ensure that                may be exposed to non-mild
                                                    insulation, connections, and                            electrical cables and wires will be                   environments during accident
                                                    switchboards. Criterion 18 also requires                properly qualified for environmental                  conditions. The purpose of the final
                                                    the systems to be designed with a                       conditions they may experience during                 § 50.49 rule (48 FR 2730; January 21,
                                                    capability to test periodically the                     normal operation (i.e., a mild                        1983) was to codify accepted industry
                                                    operability and functional performance                  environment) as well as in an accident.               standards and NRC guidance for the EQ
                                                    of the components of the systems and                    The petitioners claimed the need for                  of safety-related electrical equipment,
                                                    the operability of the system as a whole.               rulemaking and clarification of § 50.49               and non-safety-related equipment relied
                                                       As the petitioners rightly point out,                to address cables that may be exposed                 on by safety-related equipment, that
                                                    designing the entirety of an electrical                 to non-mild environments during                       must perform a safety function under
                                                    safety system for inspectability and                    normal, abnormal, and accident                        DBE conditions.
                                                    testability is essential because ‘‘[i]t                 conditions. The petitioners noted that                   The NRC disagrees with the
                                                    matters little if the portion of a safety-              electrical cables and wires ‘‘are prone to            petitioners’ assertion that § 50.49 should
                                                    related cable inside [or] outside                       accelerated failure rates when                        be amended to extend EQ requirements
                                                    containment in a high energy line break                 submerged in water or exposed to high                 to important to safety cables and
                                                    area survive[s] if another portion of that              humidity unless designed and qualified                electrical equipment exposed to
                                                    same cable routed underground fails                     for these environmental conditions.’’                 submergence or moisture intrusion in
                                                    due to submergence.’’ It is also                        The petitioners stated that the NRC                   mild environments. The existing rule
                                                    important to note that the NRC’s design                 prioritized the inspection of cable                   specifically exempts from these
                                                    and qualification requirements for                      penetrations after the 1979 Three Mile                requirements equipment exposed only
                                                    underground or inaccessible wires,                      Island accident based on the probability              to a ‘‘mild environment,’’ which is
                                                    cables, and ancillary equipment are                     of their impairment, mostly due to                    defined in § 50.49(c) as an environment
                                                    inspected and enforced. The NRC’s                       submergence and moisture. The                         that would at no time be significantly
                                                    inspection procedures direct that                       petitioners argued that ‘‘[i]f these                  more severe than the environment that
                                                    inspections of electrical equipment at                  conditions cause a high probability of                would occur during normal plant
                                                    risk of flooding or exposure to moisture                impairment following an accident, then                operation, including anticipated
                                                    be conducted annually.                                  it is logical to assume that these                    operational occurrences.
                                                       The NRC disagrees with the                           conditions produce a similar outcome in                  All important to safety equipment
                                                    petitioners’ assertion that GL 82–09 has                the absence of or prior to an accident as             whether in mild or non-mild
                                                    restricted the applicability of § 50.49                 well.’’ In support of their case for a                environments is subject to the
                                                    regulatory requirements for safety-                     rulemaking to address this impairment,                requirements for monitoring the
                                                    related equipment according to its                      the petitioners also referenced a 1996                effectiveness of maintanence under the
                                                    location. Generic letters do not have the               study by the U.S. Department of Energy                maintenance rule (§ 50.65).
                                                    legal authority of a final rule                         (DOE) (ADAMS Accession No.                            Furthermore, all important to safety
                                                    promulgated after due public notice and                 ML031140264) and three studies by the                 equipment at plants with construction
                                                    comment, as was § 50.49. The Q&A in                     Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),             permits issued after May 21, 1971, is
                                                    GL 82–09 does not exempt any safety-                    ‘‘Plant Support Engineering: Life Cycle               also subject to the design and quality
                                                    related equipment that could be                         Management Planning Sourcebooks:                      requirements in 10 CFR part 50,
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                                                    submerged, inside or outside                            Medium-Voltage (MV) Cables and                        appendix A. In addition to the above
                                                    containment, from the environmental                     Accessories (Terminations and                         requirements, all safety-related
                                                    qualifications (EQ) requirements of                     Splices),’’ EPRI Product ID: 1013187;                 equipment is also subject to the quality
                                                    § 50.49. The purpose of the GL 82–09                    ‘‘Plant Support Engineering: Aging                    assurance requirements of 10 CFR part
                                                    Q&A cited by the petitioners was simply                 Management Program Development                        50, appendix B. Therefore, equipment in
                                                    to clarify that under § 50.49, licensees                Guidance for AC and DC Low-Voltage                    mild environments exposed to
                                                    must submit information on the EQ of                    Power Cable Systems for Nuclear Power                 submergence, condensation, and
                                                    important to safety equipment that                      Plants,’’ EPRI Product ID: 1020804; and               moisture intrusion, the kind of


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                                                    11684                    Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                    degradation of concern to the                           must have a program to assure that all                period of service. Regardless of whether
                                                    petitioners, is subject to several existing             testing required to show that SSCs will               a cable, switch, or other piece of
                                                    requirements. For important to safety                   perform satisfactorily in service is                  electrical equipment must be
                                                    equipment that could be subject to                      identified and performed.                             environmentally qualified under
                                                    environmental conditions that may                          The test program must include, as                  § 50.49, it must meet maintenance,
                                                    result as a consequence of a DBE,                       appropriate, operational tests of SSCs                design, and quality assurance
                                                    § 50.49 establishes additional                          during nuclear power plant operation.                 requirements established by § 50.65; 10
                                                    requirements beyond those stipulated in                 Test procedures must include                          CFR part 50, appendix A; and 10 CFR
                                                    § 50.65; 10 CFR part 50, appendix A;                    provisions for assuring that all                      part 50, appendix B (for safety-related
                                                    and 10 CFR part 50, appendix B.                         prerequisites for the given test have                 equipment), to provide adequate
                                                       The maintenance rule (§ 50.65)                       been met, that adequate test                          protection for public health and safety.
                                                    establishes requirements for monitoring                 instrumentation is available and used,                And regardless of whether the
                                                    the effectiveness of maintenance at                     and that the test is performed under                  equipment is environmentally qualified,
                                                    nuclear power plants. Under                             suitable environmental conditions. Test               it is subject to the same degree of NRC
                                                    § 50.65(a)(1), licensees are required to                results under Criterion XI must also be               oversight in the form of inspections and
                                                    monitor the condition or performance of                 ‘‘documented and evaluated’’ to ensure                enforcement. A rulemaking to require
                                                    structures, systems, or components                      that this Criterion’s requirements have               the environmental qualification of all
                                                    (SSCs) in a manner providing                            been satisfied. It is important to note               electrical equipment exposed only to
                                                    reasonable assurance that the intended                  that Criterion XI is only one of 18                   mild environments is, therefore,
                                                    SSC functions can be fulfilled. Section                 criteria that are applicable to a quality             unnecessary.
                                                    50.65(b) describes the types of SSCs                    assurance program for the electrical                     Moreover, the 1996 DOE study and
                                                    subject to its requirements. The                        equipment at issue in this petition.                  three EPRI studies cited by the
                                                    maintenance rule (§ 50.65) applies to                   Appendix B criteria establish quality                 petitioners are well known to the NRC
                                                    safety and non-safety SSCs that includes                assurance requirements for the design,                and do not constitute significant new
                                                    the following: SSCs used in the plant’s                 manufacture, construction, and                        information justifying a rulemaking. The
                                                    emergency operating procedures or                       operation of all safety-related                       NRC recognized the concern regarding
                                                    relied upon to mitigate accidents or                    equipment, and all activities affecting               the reliability of low-voltage power
                                                    transient unsafe conditions; SSCs whose                 its functions, including not only testing,            cable systems at reactors that the
                                                    failure could prevent safety-related                    but designing, purchasing, fabricating,               petitioner references and acted
                                                    SSCs from fulfilling their safety-related               handling, shipping, storing, cleaning,                accordingly. Among other things, the
                                                    function; or SSCs whose failure could                   installing, inspecting, operating,                    NRC has revised its inspection
                                                    cause a reactor scram (unplanned action                 maintaining, repairing, and modifying                 procedures to ensure annual inspections
                                                    to stop the fission reaction) or the                    this equipment. Criterion XVI,                        of underground bunkers and manholes
                                                    actuation of a safety-related system.                   ‘‘Corrective Action,’’ also requires                  in a continuing repeated cycle
                                                    With this scope, the maintenance rule                   licensees to have measures assuring that              beginning with those containing the
                                                    (§ 50.65) already covers the equipment                  conditions adverse to quality are                     most risk-significant cables. The NRC
                                                    specified in the petition (i.e., all safety-            promptly identified and corrected.                    also issued RG 1.218, describing a
                                                    related cables, wires, splices,                         Examples of such conditions are the                   programmatic approach and acceptable
                                                    connections, and other ancillary                        following: failures, malfunctions,                    techniques for monitoring the condition
                                                    electrical equipment that may be                        deficiencies, deviations, defective                   of electric cable systems and their
                                                    subjected to submergence and/or                         material and equipment, and                           operating environments.
                                                    moisture intrusion). Section 50.65                      nonconformances. For significant                         The NRC disagrees with the
                                                    covers this equipment under any normal                  conditions adverse to quality, including              petitioners’ contention that the NRC’s
                                                    or unusual operating or post-accident                   the potential failure of electrical                   requirements do not provide conditions
                                                    conditions, whether these conditions                    equipment to function as designed,                    or acceptance criteria for degraded
                                                    include severe weather, seasonal                        licensees must determine the cause of                 cables. Any requirement for safety-
                                                    flooding, or seismic events, or whether                 the condition and ‘‘assure’’ that                     related systems to remain functional for
                                                    the SSCs are inside or outside of                       corrective action is taken to preclude a              a specified operating life is a design
                                                    containment. The rule also covers the                   repetition of the adverse condition. The              requirement, and any failure of the
                                                    petitioners’ specified systems and                      identified condition, its cause, and the              equipment before the end of that
                                                    components whether or not they are                      corrective action taken to prevent its                operating life would be a violation of
                                                    exposed to submergence in water,                        recurrence must also be documented                    that design requirement. Therefore,
                                                    condensation, wetting, and other                        and the appropriate levels of                         taken together, GDC 2, 4, and 18 in 10
                                                    environmental stresses during routine                   management informed. In addition, for                 CFR part 50, appendix A, the
                                                    operation and infrequent events (e.g.,                  important to safety cables and electrical             maintenance requirements under
                                                    flooding).                                              equipment located in an area meeting                  § 50.65, and the quality assurance
                                                       In its April 2012 Regulatory Guide                   the definition of a mild environment in               testing requirements in 10 CFR part 50,
                                                    (RG) 1.218, ‘‘Condition-Monitoring                      § 50.49, 10 CFR part 50, appendix A,                  appendix B, Criterion XI, effectively
                                                    Techniques for Electric Cables Used In                  GDC 4 requires that this equipment be                 provide an enforceable acceptance
                                                    Nuclear Power Plants’’ (ADAMS                           designed to manage the conditions it                  criterion for the continued use of cables
                                                    Accession No. ML103510447), the NRC                                                                           or any other electrical equipment
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                                                                                                            will experience during normal
                                                    described a programmatic approach and                   operation, maintenance, testing, and                  degrading during normal operation.
                                                    acceptable techniques for monitoring                    postulated accidents.                                 Criterion XI states that the measured
                                                    the condition of electric cable systems                    The NRC does not agree that its                    rate of degradation must not impair the
                                                    and their operating environments. As                    existing regulations do not require                   equipment’s ability to function in an
                                                    authority for this guidance, RG 1.218                   sufficient protection of important to                 emergency, even if the emergency were
                                                    cited 10 CFR part 50, Criterion XI, ‘‘Test              safety electrical equipment against                   to occur on the last day of the
                                                    Control,’’ of appendix B. Criterion XI                  expected or potential environmental                   performance period specified in the
                                                    specifies that power reactor licensees                  conditions it experiences during its                  equipment’s design requirement.


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                             11685

                                                       Guidance for the implementation of                      Citing the August 25, 2009, NRC staff              in effect at that time. The Commission
                                                    this criterion is provided in the August                regulatory issue resolution protocol,                 stated that while compliance with the
                                                    25, 2009, NRC staff regulatory resolution               ‘‘Cable Performance Issues at Nuclear                 intent of the GDC is important, each
                                                    issue protocol, ‘‘Cable Performance                     Power Plants,’’ the petitioners asserted              plant licensed before the GDC were
                                                    Issues at Nuclear Power Plants’’                        that this statement defined the NRC’s                 formally adopted was evaluated on a
                                                    (ADAMS Accession No. ML092220419),                      governing regulations on submerged                    plant-specific basis, determined to be
                                                    which the petitioners cited as                          cable performance as explicitly                       safe, and licensed by the NRC.
                                                    documentation of the NRC’s                              including GDC 2 and GDC 4. The GDC                    Furthermore, the Commission
                                                    requirements on cable and wire                          2 requires reactor SSCs that are                      determined that existing regulatory
                                                    submergence issues. The NRC staff                       important to safety be designed to                    processes were sufficient to ensure that
                                                    position in that protocol is: (1)                       withstand the effects of natural                      plants continue to be safe and comply
                                                    Licensees should monitor cables within                  phenomena without loss of capability to               with the intent of the GDC. As the
                                                    the scope of the maintenance rule                       perform their safety functions. The GDC               petitioners also noted, the Commission
                                                    (§ 50.65) at an appropriate frequency to                4 requires that these SSCs be designed                went on to say that backfitting these 57
                                                    demonstrate that they can perform their                 to accommodate the effects of and be                  plants to meet the GDC would provide
                                                    design functions when called upon; and                  compatible with the environmental                     little or no safety benefit while requiring
                                                    (2) cables must be designed to fulfill                  conditions associated with normal                     an extensive commitment of resources.
                                                    their intended design function in the                   operation, maintenance, testing, and                  The petitioners have not provided any
                                                    environment to which they are subject.                  postulated accidents.                                 significant, new, or previously
                                                    Under the protocol, if cables have been                    The petition stated that although                  unconsidered information to justify a
                                                    exposed to conditions for which they                    these GDC may contain appropriate                     new rulemaking or to reverse this NRC
                                                    are not designed or qualified, the                      regulatory requirements for the                       position.
                                                    licensee must demonstrate, through                      qualification of electrical cables and
                                                                                                            wires, the NRC has determined that                    III. Reasons for Denial
                                                    adequate testing or condition
                                                    monitoring, that the cables can perform                 these requirements are not to be applied                The NRC is denying PRM–50–106
                                                    their intended design function for the                  to the majority of reactors. The                      because:
                                                    duration of the qualified period                        petitioners noted that, at the time the                 (1) The NRC disagrees with the
                                                    specified in the license.                               petition was submitted, at least 57 of the            petitioners’ assertion that GL 82–09 has
                                                                                                            nation‘s 104 operating reactors had                   restricted the applicability of § 50.49
                                                       The NRC also inspects underground
                                                                                                            construction permits that were issued                 regulatory requirements for safety-
                                                    cables through established inspection
                                                                                                            prior to the effective date of the GDC                related equipment according to its
                                                    procedures. In particular, Inspection
                                                                                                            rule, and that the Commission, through                location. This regulation is applicable to
                                                    Procedure (IP) Attachment 71111.06,
                                                                                                            guidance to the NRC staff, has                        electrical equipment located outside
                                                    ‘‘Flood Protection Measures’’ (ADAMS
                                                                                                            determined that the GDC do not need to
                                                    Accession No. ML11244A012),                                                                                   containment as well as inside.
                                                                                                            be applied to these 57 reactors.
                                                    specifically directs NRC inspectors to                     NRC Response to Issue 3: The NRC                     (2) Section 50.49 explicitly excludes
                                                    perform an annual review of cables                      disagrees with the petitioners’                       important to safety electrical equipment
                                                    located in underground bunkers or                       suggestion that the 57 plants that                    subject only to mild environments. The
                                                    manholes. The IP Attachment directs                     received construction permits prior to                petitioners have not provided
                                                    inspectors to select bunkers or manholes                May 21, 1971, are not operating safely                significant new information sufficient to
                                                    subject to flooding that contain multiple               with appropriately qualified important                justify a change to this rule. A
                                                    train or multiple risk-significant cables,              to safety equipment. In 1992, after more              rulemaking to require the environmental
                                                    and inspect those that contain more                     than 15 years of analysis, the NRC staff              qualification of all electrical equipment
                                                    risk-significant cables before inspecting               recommended that the Commission                       exposed only to mild environments is
                                                    those with less risk-significant cables.                retain the current policy that no                     unnecessary because existing NRC
                                                    The IP notes that inspectors should                     exemptions from or specific backfits for              regulations require sufficient protection
                                                    rotate through the bunkers or manholes                  the GDC are required for plants with                  of important to safety electrical
                                                    until all are inspected; and then the                   construction permits issued before that               equipment against expected or potential
                                                    cycle should be recommenced. The IP                     date. In its September 18, 1992, Staff                environmental conditions it experiences
                                                    Attachment also clarifies that these                    Requirements Memorandum (SRM)                         during its period of service.
                                                    inspections may be in addition to those                 (ADAMS Accession No. ML003763736),                      (3) With regard to the reactors that
                                                    for the aging management programs of                    the Commission endorsed the NRC                       received construction permits prior to
                                                    plants with renewed licenses. Where                     staff’s recommendation not to apply the               May 21, 1971, the Commission
                                                    ‘‘significant moisture’’ is identified at               GDC to plants with construction permits               determined in response to SECY–92–
                                                    such plants, inspectors are to verify that              issued prior to the effective date of the             223, ‘‘Resolution of Deviations
                                                    the licensee takes action to keep the                   GDC rule. This recommendation was                     Identified During the Systematic
                                                    cables dry and assess cable degradation                 based on the documented results of the                Evaluation Program’’ (ADAMS
                                                    in accordance with the licensee’s aging                 NRC staff’s evaluations of representative             Accession No. ML12256B290) that these
                                                    management program.                                     designs of 10 of the 57 plants against the            plants are operating safely with
                                                       Issue 3: Although GDC 2 and 4 of the                 design requirements of a 1975 Standard                appropriately qualified important to
                                                    NRC’s regulations require that cables be                Review Plan for reactor license                       safety equipment, and that no specific
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                                                    able to perform their design function                   applications based on the approved                    backfits of the GDC to these plants were
                                                    when subjected to anticipated                           GDC.                                                  required. The petitioners have not
                                                    environmental conditions, the NRC does                     The SRM explained that at the time                 provided any significant, new, or
                                                    not apply these and other GDC to the 57                 the GDC were promulgated, the                         previously unconsidered information
                                                    plants with construction permits issued                 Commission had stressed that they were                justifying a rulemaking to apply the
                                                    before May 21, 1971, the effective date                 not new requirements and were                         GDC to the 57 reactors that received
                                                    of the GDC rule (36 FR 3256; February                   promulgated to articulate more clearly                construction permits prior to May 21,
                                                    20, 1971).                                              the licensing requirements and practice               1971.


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                                                    11686                    Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 44 / Monday, March 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                    IV. Conclusion                                          and information in response to the                    and/or RIN in the subject line of the
                                                       For the reasons cited in this                        NOPR received no later than March 14,                 message.
                                                    document, the NRC is denying PRM–                       2016.                                                   3. Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S.
                                                    50–106. The NRC is denying this                         ADDRESSES: See the section ‘‘Public                   Department of Energy, Building
                                                    petition because the current regulations                Participation’’ for details on submitting             Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–5B,
                                                    already address environmental                           comments.                                             1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
                                                    qualification in both mild and design                                                                         Washington, DC 20585–0121. If
                                                                                                            FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
                                                    basis event conditions of electrical                                                                          possible, please submit all items on a
                                                                                                            Ashley Armstrong, U.S. Department of                  CD. It is not necessary to include
                                                    equipment located both inside and                       Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and
                                                    outside of the containment building that                                                                      printed copies.
                                                                                                            Renewable Energy, Building                               4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda
                                                    is important to safety, and the                         Technologies Program, EE–5B, 1000
                                                    petitioners did not provide significant                                                                       Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy,
                                                                                                            Independence Avenue SW.,                              Building Technologies Program, 950
                                                    new or previously unconsidered                          Washington, DC 20585–0121.
                                                    information sufficient to justify                                                                             L’Enfant Plaza SW., Suite 600,
                                                                                                            Telephone: 202–586–6590. Email:                       Washington, DC 20024. Telephone:
                                                    rulemaking.                                             ashley.armstrong@ee.doe.gov; or Mr.                   (202) 586–2945. If possible, please
                                                      Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day           Steven Goering, U.S. Department of                    submit all items on a CD. It is not
                                                    of February, 2016.                                      Energy, Office of the General Counsel,                necessary to include printed copies.
                                                      For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.                Forrestal Building, GC–32, 1000                          Docket: The docket, which includes
                                                    Annette L. Vietti-Cook,                                 Independence Avenue SW.,                              Federal Register notices, public meeting
                                                    Secretary of the Commission.                            Washington, DC 20585–0121.                            attendee lists and transcripts,
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–05028 Filed 3–4–16; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                            Telephone: 202–286–5691. Email:                       comments, and other supporting
                                                                                                            steven.goering@hq.doe.gov.                            documents/materials, is available for
                                                    BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
                                                                                                            SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On                         review at regulations.gov. All
                                                                                                            December 29, 2015, the U.S. Department                documents in the docket are listed in
                                                    DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                    of Energy (DOE) published a notice of                 the regulations.gov index. However,
                                                                                                            proposed rulemaking in the Federal                    some documents listed in the index,
                                                    10 CFR Part 429                                         Register proposing that a person                      such as those containing information
                                                                                                            importing into the United States any                  that is exempt from public disclosure,
                                                    [Docket No. EERE–2015–BT–CE–0019]
                                                                                                            covered product or equipment subject to               may not be publicly available.
                                                    RIN 1990–AA44                                           an applicable energy conservation                        A link to the docket Web page can be
                                                                                                            standard provide, prior to importation,               found at: http://www.regulations.gov/
                                                    Energy Conservation Program:                            a certification of admissibility to the               #!docketDetail;D=EERE-2015-BT-CE-
                                                    Certification and Enforcement—Import                    DOE. (80 FR 81199) The comment                        0019. This Web page will contain a link
                                                    Data Collection; Notice of Extension of                 period ended February 12, 2016. On                    to the docket for this notice on the
                                                    Comment Period                                          February 17, 2016, after receiving                    regulations.gov site. The regulations.gov
                                                    AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel,                  several requests for additional time to               Web page will contain simple
                                                    Department of Energy.                                   prepare and submit comments, DOE                      instructions on how to access all
                                                                                                            reopened the comment period until                     documents, including public comments,
                                                    ACTION: Notice of reopening of comment
                                                                                                            February 29, 2016 (81 FR 8022). At a                  in the docket.
                                                    period.
                                                                                                            public meeting held on February 19,                      For further information on how to
                                                    SUMMARY:   On December 29, 2015, the                    2016, DOE again received requests for                 submit a comment, review other public
                                                    U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)                         additional time to prepare and submit                 comments and the docket, or to request
                                                    published a notice of proposed                          comments. DOE is reopening the period                 a public meeting, contact Ms. Brenda
                                                    rulemaking in the Federal Register                      for submitting comments.                              Edwards at (202) 586–2945 or by email:
                                                    proposing that a person importing into                    DOE will accept comments, data, and                 Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov.
                                                    the United States any covered product                   information in response to the NOPR                     Issued in Washington, DC, on February 26,
                                                    or equipment subject to an applicable                   received no later than March 14, 2016.                2016.
                                                    energy conservation standard provide,                   DOE will consider any comments in                     Kathleen B. Hogan,
                                                    prior to importation, a certification of                response to the NOPR received by                      Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy
                                                    admissibility to the DOE. The comment                   midnight of March 14, 2016, and deems                 Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable
                                                    period ended February 12, 2016. On                      any comments received by that time to                 Energy.
                                                    February 17, 2016, after receiving                      be timely submitted.                                  [FR Doc. 2016–04829 Filed 3–4–16; 8:45 am]
                                                    several requests for additional time to
                                                                                                            Public Participation                                  BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
                                                    prepare and submit comments, DOE
                                                    reopened the comment period until                         Any comments submitted must
                                                    February 29, 2016. At a public meeting                  identify the NOPR for Import Data                     DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
                                                    held on February 19, 2016, DOE again                    Collection, and provide docket number
                                                    received requests for additional time to                EERE–2015–BT–CE–0019 and/or                           10 CFR Part 900
                                                    prepare and submit comments. DOE is                     regulatory information number (RIN)
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                                                    reopening the period for submitting                     number 1990–AA44. Comments may be                     RIN 1901–AB36
                                                    comments until March 14, 2016.                          submitted using any of the following
                                                                                                            methods:                                              Coordination of Federal Authorizations
                                                    DATES: The DOE is reopening the
                                                                                                                                                                  for Electric Transmission Facilities;
                                                    comment period for the notice of                          1. Federal eRulemaking Portal:
                                                                                                                                                                  Notice of Public Meeting
                                                    proposed rulemaking published on                        www.regulations.gov. Follow the
                                                    December 29, 2015 (80 FR 81199) and                     instructions for submitting comments.                 AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery
                                                    extended on February 29, 2016 (81 FR                      2. Email: ImportData2015CE0019@                     and Energy Reliability, Department of
                                                    8022). We will accept comments, data,                   ee.doe.gov. Include the docket number                 Energy.


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Document Created: 2018-02-02 15:08:04
Document Modified: 2018-02-02 15:08:04
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionProposed Rules
ActionPetition for rulemaking; denial.
DatesThe docket for the petition for rulemaking, PRM-50-106, is closed on March 7, 2016.
ContactMargaret Ellenson, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-0894; email: [email protected]
FR Citation81 FR 11681 
CFR Citation10 CFR 100
10 CFR 50
10 CFR 52
10 CFR 54

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