| Page Range | 60029-60030 | |
| FR Document | 2016-20873 |
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 169 (Wednesday, August 31, 2016)] [Notices] [Pages 60029-60030] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2016-20873] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2015-0211] Instrumentation and Controls Guidance AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Standard review plan-final section revision; issuance. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a final revision to Chapter 7, ``Instrumentation and Controls,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan (SRP) for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition.'' DATES: The effective date of this SRP update is September 30, 2016. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0211 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access publicly-available information related to this document using any of the following methods:Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0211. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415- 3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the individuals 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]. For the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this document. 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: Carolyn Lauron, telephone: 301-415- 2736; email: [email protected] or Mark Notich, telephone: 301-415- 3053; email: [email protected]; both are staff of the Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background On September 16, 2015 (80 FR 55654), the NRC published for public comment the proposed revisions to Chapter 7 of the SRP. The NRC made no changes to the proposed revisions after the consideration of comments received. A summary of the comments and the NRC staff's disposition of the comments are available in a separate document, ``Response to Public Comments on Draft SRP Sections in Chapter 7.'' The Office of New Reactors and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation are revising these sections from their current versions. Details of specific changes in the proposed revisions are included at the end of each of the proposed sections. The changes to this SRP chapter reflect current NRC staff's review methods and practices based on lessons learned from the NRC's reviews of design certification and combined license applications completed since the last revision of this chapter. II. Backfitting and Finality Provisions Issuance of these revised SRP sections does not constitute backfitting as defined in Sec. 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' (the Backfit Rule) and is not inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The NRC's position is based upon the following considerations: 1. The SRP positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with respect to their regulatory responsibilities. The SRP provides guidance to the staff on how to review an application for the NRC's regulatory approval in the form of licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52. 2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on current licensees and regulatory approvals either now or in the future. The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions described in the SRP to existing (already issued) licenses and regulatory approvals. Therefore, the issuance of a final SRP--even if considered guidance that is within the [[Page 60030]] purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders of already issued licenses in a manner which does not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision. 3. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions not applicable here--protect current or future applicants. Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions discussed in the next paragraph--were intended to apply to every NRC action which substantially changes the expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with specified issue finality provisions. The staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the SRP in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP in a manner which does not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision. III. Congressional Review Act This action is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act. IV. Availability of Documents The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ADAMS Document accession No. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary of Comments and NRC Staff Disposition of ML16050A366 Comments--Response to Public Comments on Draft SRP Sections in Chapter 7.................................. SRP 7.0, ``Instrumentation and Controls--Overview of ML16020A049 Review Process,'' Revision 7........................... SRP 7.1, ``Instrumentation and Controls--Introduction,'' ML16020A050 Revision 6............................................. Table 7-1, ``Table 7-1 Regulatory Requirements, ML16020A103 Acceptance Criteria, and Guidelines for Instrumentation and Control Systems Important to Safety,'' Revision 6.. SRP 7.2, ``Reactor Trip System,'' Revision 6............ ML16020A059 SRP 7.3, ``Engineered Safety Features Systems,'' ML16020A082 Revision 6............................................. SRP 7.4, ``Safe Shutdown Systems,'' Revision 6.......... ML16020A086 SRP 7.5, ``Information Systems Important to Safety,'' ML16020A088 Revision 6............................................. SRP 7.6, ``Interlock Systems Important to Safety,'' ML16020A092 Revision 6............................................. SRP 7.7, ``Control Systems,'' Revision 6................ ML16020A095 SRP 7.8, ``Diverse Instrumentation and Control ML16020A096 Systems,'' Revision 6.................................. SRP 7.9, ``Data Communication Systems,'' Revision 6..... ML16020A097 App. 7.0-A, ``Review Process for Digital Instrumentation ML16019A085 and Control Systems,'' Revision 6...................... App. 7.1-A, ``Acceptance Criteria and Guidelines for ML16019A088 Instrumentation and Controls Systems Important to Safety,'' Revision 6................................... App. 7.1-B, ``Guidance for Evaluation of Conformance to ML16019A091 IEEE Std 279,'' Revision 6............................. App. 7.1-C, ``Guidance for Evaluation of Conformance to ML16019A107 IEEE Std 603,'' Revision 6............................. App. 7.1-D, ``Guidance for Evaluation of the Application ML16019A114 of IEEE Std 7-4.3.2,'' Revision 1...................... BTP 7-1, ``Guidance on Isolation of Low-Pressure Systems ML16019A127 from the High-Pressure Reactor Coolant System,'' Revision 6............................................. BTP 7-2, ``Guidance on Requirements of Motor-Operated ML16019A299 Valves in the Emergency Core Cooling System Accumulator Lines,'' Revision 6.................................... BTP 7-3, ``Guidance on Protection System Trip Point ML16019A358 Changes for Operation with Reactor Coolant Pumps Out of Service,'' Revision 6.................................. BTP 7-4, ``Guidance on Design Criteria for Auxiliary ML16020A028 Feedwater Systems,'' Revision 6........................ BTP 7-5, ``Guidance on Spurious Withdrawals of Single ML16020A033 Control Rods in Pressurized Water Reactors,'' Revision 6...................................................... BTP 7-6, ``Guidance on Design of Instrumentation and ML16011A106 Controls Provided to Accomplish Changeover from Injection to Recirculation Mode,'' Revision 6.......... BTP 7-8, ``Guidance for Application of Regulatory Guide ML16020A044 1.22,'' Revision 6..................................... BTP 7-9, ``Guidance on Requirements for Reactor ML16011A062 Protection System Anticipatory Trips,'' Revision 6..... BTP 7-10, ``Guidance on Application of Regulatory Guide ML16019A169 1.97,'' Revision 6..................................... BTP 7-11, ``Guidance on Application and Qualification of ML16019A184 Isolation Devices,'' Revision 6........................ BTP 7-12, ``Guidance on Establishing and Maintaining ML16019A200 Instrument Setpoints,'' Revision 6..................... BTP 7-13, ``Guidance on Cross-Calibration of Protection ML16019A240 System Resistance Temperature Detectors,'' Revision 6.. BTP 7-14, ``Guidance on Software Reviews for Digital ML16019A308 Computer-Based Instrumentation and Control Systems,'' Revision 6............................................. BTP 7-17, ``Guidance on Self-Test and Surveillance Test ML16019A316 Provisions,'' Revision 6............................... BTP 7-18, ``Guidance on the Use of Programmable Logic ML16019A327 Controllers in Digital Computer-Based Instrumentation and Control Systems,'' Revision 6...................... BTP 7-19, ``Guidance for Evaluation of Diversity and ML16019A344 Defense-in-Depth in Digital Computer-Based Instrumentation and Control Systems,'' Revision 7...... BTP 7-21, ``Guidance on Digital Computer Real-Time ML16020A036 Performance,'' Revision 6.............................. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * No changes resulting from public comments. See documents in the package at ADAMS Accession No. ML16008B013 to see changes made since the last proposed revision. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of August, 2016. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Joseph Colaccino, Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Engineering Infrastructure and Advanced Reactors, Office of New Reactors. [FR Doc. 2016-20873 Filed 8-30-16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Standard review plan-final section revision; issuance. | |
| Dates | The effective date of this SRP update is September 30, 2016. | |
| Contact | Carolyn Lauron, telephone: 301-415- 2736; email: [email protected] or Mark Notich, telephone: 301-415- 3053; email: [email protected]; both are staff of the Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 0001. | |
| FR Citation | 81 FR 60029 |