83_FR_6273 83 FR 6243 - Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants

83 FR 6243 - Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 30 (February 13, 2018)

Page Range6243-6244
FR Document2018-02870

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.189, ``Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants.'' Revision 3 of RG 1.189 includes administrative changes involving editorial corrections that make the document consistent with existing policy. None of the revisions involve changes to the staff regulatory positions. This guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable to meet regulatory requirements for fire protection in nuclear power plants.

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6243-6244]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02870]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2018-0024]


Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; revision.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.189, ``Fire Protection for 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' Revision 3 of RG 1.189 includes administrative 
changes involving editorial corrections that make the document 
consistent with existing policy. None of the revisions involve changes 
to the staff regulatory positions. This guide describes a method that 
the NRC staff considers acceptable to meet regulatory requirements for 
fire protection in nuclear power plants.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0024 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0024. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. 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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. RG 1.189 is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML17340A875.

[[Page 6244]]

     NRC's Public Document Room: You may examine and purchase 
copies of public documents at the NRC's Public Document Room O1-F21, 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required 
to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Frumkin, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulations, telephone: 301-415-2280, email: 
Daniel.Frumkin@nrc.gov; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1067, email: 
Stanley.Gardocki@nrc.gov. Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides were developed to 
describe and make available to the public information methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The NRC is issuing Revision 3 of RG 1.189 directly as a final RG, 
because the changes between Revision 2 and Revision 3 are 
administrative and non-substantive. Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also updated 
the guide to the current program guidance for RGs. The NRC added 
language to Section 1, ``Fire Protection Program,'' to clarify the 
primary objectives of fire protection plans.
    Since the issuance of Revision 2 of RG 1.189 in 2009, the NRC 
issued a Regulatory Issuance Summary to inform licensees that 
Inspection Manual Part 9900, Technical Guidance (TG 9900), 
``Operability Determinations & Functionality Assessments for Resolution 
of Degraded and Nonconforming Conditions Adverse to Quality and 
Safety,'' was reissued as Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0326, 
``Operability Determinations and Functionality Assessments for 
Conditions to Quality or Safety,'' dated January 31, 2014. Revision 3 
of RG 1.189 now includes a reference to IMC 0326 (see Section 1.5, 
``Compensatory Measures'').
    Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also corrects typographic errors that 
previously appeared in Section 1.7.7, ``Nonconforming Items,'' Section 
1.7.4, ``Inspection,'' Section 2.1.1, ``Transient Fire Hazards,'' 
Section 3.2.1, ``Fire Protection Water Supply,'' and Section 3.2.3, 
``Fire Mains.'' Previously, these errors occurred during publishing of 
the final regulatory guide, when several paragraphs were incorrectly 
indented, resulting in incorrect sub-bullet numbering. These changes 
are intended to improve clarity and do not substantially alter the 
staff's regulatory guidance.

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final RG does not constitute backfitting as 
defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), (the Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The 
changes in Revision 3 of RG 1.189 are limited to editorial changes to 
improve clarity and correct errors. These changes do not fall within 
the kinds of agency actions that constitute backfitting or are subject 
to limitations in the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52. 
Accordingly, the NRC did not address the Backfit Rule or issue finality 
provisions of 10 CFR part 52.

III. Congressional Review Act

    Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.189 is not a rule as defined in 
the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808).

IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    Revision 3 of RG 1.189 is being issued without public comment. 
However, a member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to 
the NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new 
RGs to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's 
public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates 
and enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of February 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2018-02870 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P



                                                                                    Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices                                                                                  6243

                                                addition, for the convenience of the                                  Virginia. The renewed license SNM–                                     ISFSI license and concluded, based on
                                                reader, the ADAMS accession numbers                                   2507 authorizes and requires operation                                 that evaluation, the ISFSI will continue
                                                are provided in a table in the                                        of the North Anna ISFSI in accordance                                  to meet the regulations in 10 CFR part
                                                ‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section of                              with the provisions of the renewed                                     72. The NRC staff also prepared an
                                                this document.                                                        license and its technical specifications.                              environmental assessment and finding
                                                   • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and                                   The renewed license will expire on June                                of no significant impact for the renewal
                                                purchase copies of public documents at                                30, 2058.                                                              of this license, which were published on
                                                the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One                                          The licensee’s application for a                                    February 2, 2018 (83 FR 4932). The NRC
                                                White Flint North, 11555 Rockville                                    renewed license complies with the                                      staff’s consideration of the impacts of
                                                Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.                                      standards and requirements of the                                      continued storage of spent nuclear fuel
                                                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                                      Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended                                  (as documented in NUREG–2157,
                                                Kristina L. Banovac, Office of Nuclear                                (the Act), and the NRC’s rules and                                     ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact
                                                Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.                                  regulations. The NRC has made                                          Statement for Continued Storage of
                                                Nuclear Regulatory Commission,                                        appropriate findings as required by the                                Spent Fuel’’) was included in the
                                                Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:                                 Act and the NRC’s regulations in                                       environmental assessment. The NRC
                                                301–415–7116, email:                                                  chapter 1 of title 10 of the Code of                                   staff concluded that renewal of this
                                                Kristina.Banovac@nrc.gov.                                             Federal Regulations (10 CFR), and sets                                 ISFSI license will not have a significant
                                                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                                            forth those findings in the renewed                                    impact on the quality of the human
                                                                                                                      license. The agency afforded an                                        environment.
                                                I. Discussion                                                         opportunity for a hearing in the Notice                                II. Availability of Documents
                                                   Based upon the application dated                                   of Opportunity for a Hearing published
                                                May 25, 2016, as supplemented January                                 in the Federal Register on August 23,                                    The following table includes the
                                                20, 2017, February 28, 2017, June 5,                                  2016 (81 FR 57629). The NRC received                                   ADAMS accession numbers for the
                                                2017, July 10, 2017, and August 16,                                   no request for a hearing or petition for                               documents referenced in this notice. For
                                                2017, the NRC has issued a renewed                                    leave to intervene following the notice.                               additional information on accessing
                                                license to the licensee for the North                                    The NRC staff prepared a safety                                     ADAMS, see the ADDRESSES section of
                                                Anna ISFSI, located in Louisa County,                                 evaluation report for the renewal of the                               this document.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          ADAMS
                                                                                                                                  Document                                                                                             accession No.

                                                Licensee’s application, dated May 25, 2016 .................................................................................................................................          ML16153A140
                                                Response to First Request for Additional Information, dated January 20, 2017 ..........................................................................                               ML17025A128
                                                Response to Request for Referenced Information, dated February 28, 2017 ..............................................................................                                ML17065A248
                                                Decommissioning Cost Estimate Information, dated June 5, 2017 ..............................................................................................                          ML17160A300
                                                Response to Second Request for Additional Information, dated July 10, 2017 ...........................................................................                                ML17198A023
                                                Response to Second Request for Additional Information, Response to RAI 3–15, dated August 16, 2017 ...............................                                                    ML17233A170
                                                Special Nuclear Materials License No. SNM–2507 ......................................................................................................................                 ML18031A225
                                                SNM–2507 Technical Specifications .............................................................................................................................................       ML18031A227
                                                NRC Safety Evaluation Report ......................................................................................................................................................   ML18031A228
                                                NRC Environmental Assessment ..................................................................................................................................................       ML17311A450
                                                NUREG–2157, ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Fuel’’ Vols. 1 and 2 ......................                                                       ML14196A105,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ML14196A107



                                                   Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day                         Protection for Nuclear Power Plants.’’                                 technical questions, contact the
                                                of February, 2018.                                                    Revision 3 of RG 1.189 includes                                        individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER
                                                   For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.                             administrative changes involving                                       INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
                                                Hipolito J. Gonzalez,                                                 editorial corrections that make the                                    document.
                                                Acting Chief, Renewals and Materials Branch,                          document consistent with existing                                         • NRC’s Agencywide Documents
                                                Division of Spent Fuel Management, Office                             policy. None of the revisions involve                                  Access and Management System
                                                of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.                            changes to the staff regulatory positions.                             (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-
                                                [FR Doc. 2018–02904 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am]                           This guide describes a method that the                                 available documents online in the
                                                BILLING CODE 7590–01–P                                                NRC staff considers acceptable to meet                                 ADAMS Public Documents collection at
                                                                                                                      regulatory requirements for fire                                       http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
                                                                                                                      protection in nuclear power plants.                                    adams.html. To begin the search, select
                                                NUCLEAR REGULATORY                                                    ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID                                   ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
                                                COMMISSION                                                            NRC–2018–0024 when contacting the                                      select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
                                                [NRC–2018–0024]                                                       NRC about the availability of                                          Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
                                                                                                                      information regarding this document.                                   please contact the NRC’s Public
                                                Fire Protection for Nuclear Power                                     You may obtain publicly-available                                      Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
                                                Plants                                                                information related to this document                                   1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory                                           using any of the following methods:                                    email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
                                                Commission.                                                             • Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to                                  ADAMS accession number for each
                                                ACTION: Regulatory guide; revision.                                   http://www.regulations.gov and search                                  document referenced (if it is available in
                                                                                                                      for Docket ID NRC–2018–0024. Address                                   ADAMS) is provided the first time that
                                                SUMMARY:  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory                                 questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer                                it is mentioned in this document. RG
                                                Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 3                                Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127;                                       1.189 is available at ADAMS Accession
                                                to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.189, ‘‘Fire                                email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For                                    No. ML17340A875.


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                                                6244                        Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices

                                                  • NRC’s Public Document Room: You                     ‘‘Inspection,’’ Section 2.1.1, ‘‘Transient            NUCLEAR REGULATORY
                                                may examine and purchase copies of                      Fire Hazards,’’ Section 3.2.1, ‘‘Fire                 COMMISSION
                                                public documents at the NRC’s Public                    Protection Water Supply,’’ and Section
                                                                                                                                                              [Docket Nos. 72–1014, 72–59, and 50–271;
                                                Document Room O1–F21, One White                         3.2.3, ‘‘Fire Mains.’’ Previously, these              NRC–2018–0020]
                                                Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,                      errors occurred during publishing of the
                                                Rockville, Maryland 20852. Regulatory                   final regulatory guide, when several                  Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.;
                                                guides are not copyrighted, and NRC                     paragraphs were incorrectly indented,                 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
                                                approval is not required to reproduce                   resulting in incorrect sub-bullet                     Station; Independent Spent Fuel
                                                them.                                                   numbering. These changes are intended                 Storage Installation
                                                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                        to improve clarity and do not
                                                Daniel Frumkin, Office of Nuclear                                                                             AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory
                                                                                                        substantially alter the staff’s regulatory
                                                Reactor Regulations, telephone: 301–                                                                          Commission.
                                                                                                        guidance.
                                                415–2280, email: Daniel.Frumkin@                                                                              ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
                                                nrc.gov; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of                 II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
                                                                                                                                                              SUMMARY:   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
                                                Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone:                    Issuance of this final RG does not                 Commission (NRC) is issuing an
                                                301–415–1067, email:
                                                                                                        constitute backfitting as defined in                  exemption in response to a request
                                                Stanley.Gardocki@nrc.gov. Both are staff
                                                                                                        section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of             submitted by Entergy Nuclear
                                                members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
                                                                                                        Federal Regulations (10 CFR), (the                    Operations, Inc. (ENO) on May 16, 2017,
                                                Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
                                                                                                        Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise                   and supplemented on September 7,
                                                0001.
                                                                                                        inconsistent with the issue finality                  2017 and December 7, 2017, for its
                                                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                              provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The                     general license to operate an
                                                I. Discussion                                           changes in Revision 3 of RG 1.189 are                 independent spent fuel storage
                                                                                                        limited to editorial changes to improve               installation (ISFSI) at the Vermont
                                                   The NRC is issuing a revision to an                                                                        Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS).
                                                existing guide in the NRC ‘‘Regulatory                  clarity and correct errors. These changes
                                                                                                        do not fall within the kinds of agency                This exemption would permit the
                                                Guide’’ series. Regulatory guides were                                                                        VYNPS to use a new regionalized
                                                developed to describe and make                          actions that constitute backfitting or are
                                                                                                        subject to limitations in the issue                   loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
                                                available to the public information                                                                           least 2 years, and establish a per-cell
                                                methods that are acceptable to the NRC                  finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
                                                                                                                                                              maximum average burnup limit at
                                                staff for implementing specific parts of                Accordingly, the NRC did not address
                                                                                                                                                              65,000 megawatt days per metric ton of
                                                the agency’s regulations, techniques that               the Backfit Rule or issue finality
                                                                                                                                                              uranium (MWD/MTU) in HI–STORM
                                                the staff uses in evaluating specific                   provisions of 10 CFR part 52.                         100 multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M
                                                problems or postulated accidents, and                                                                         using Certificate of Compliance (CoC)
                                                                                                        III. Congressional Review Act
                                                data that the staff needs in its review of                                                                    No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
                                                applications for permits and licenses.                     Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.189
                                                   The NRC is issuing Revision 3 of RG                                                                        DATES: February 13, 2018.
                                                                                                        is not a rule as defined in the
                                                1.189 directly as a final RG, because the                                                                     ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
                                                                                                        Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C.                    NRC–2018–0020 when contacting the
                                                changes between Revision 2 and                          801–808).
                                                Revision 3 are administrative and non-                                                                        NRC about the availability of
                                                substantive. Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also                IV. Submitting Suggestions for                        information regarding this document.
                                                updated the guide to the current                        Improvement of Regulatory Guides                      You may obtain publicly-available
                                                program guidance for RGs. The NRC                                                                             information related to this document
                                                added language to Section 1, ‘‘Fire                        Revision 3 of RG 1.189 is being issued             using any of the following methods:
                                                Protection Program,’’ to clarify the                    without public comment. However, a                       • Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
                                                primary objectives of fire protection                   member of the public may, at any time,                http://www.regulations.gov and search
                                                plans.                                                  submit suggestions to the NRC for                     for Docket ID NRC–2018–0020. Address
                                                   Since the issuance of Revision 2 of RG               improvement of existing RGs or for the                questions about NRC dockets to Carol
                                                1.189 in 2009, the NRC issued a                         development of new RGs to address new                 Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–9127;
                                                Regulatory Issuance Summary to inform                   issues. Suggestions can be submitted on               email: Jennifer.Broges@nrc.gov. For
                                                licensees that Inspection Manual Part                   the NRC’s public website at http://                   technical questions, contact the
                                                9900, Technical Guidance (TG 9900),                     www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-                           individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
                                                ‘‘Operability Determinations &                          collections/reg-guides/contactus.html.                INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
                                                Functionality Assessments for                           Suggestions will be considered in future              document.
                                                Resolution of Degraded and                              updates and enhancements to the                          • NRC’s Agencywide Documents
                                                Nonconforming Conditions Adverse to                     ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series.                          Access and Management System
                                                Quality and Safety,’’ was reissued as                                                                         (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-
                                                Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0326,                      Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day         available documents online in the
                                                ‘‘Operability Determinations and                        of February 2018.                                     ADAMS Public Documents collection at
                                                Functionality Assessments for                              For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.             http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
                                                Conditions to Quality or Safety,’’ dated                Thomas H. Boyce,                                      adams.html. To begin the search, select
                                                                                                                                                              ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                January 31, 2014. Revision 3 of RG 1.189                Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic
                                                now includes a reference to IMC 0326                    Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office        select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
                                                (see Section 1.5, ‘‘Compensatory                        of Nuclear Regulatory Research.                       Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
                                                Measures’’).                                            [FR Doc. 2018–02870 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am]           please contact the NRC’s Public
                                                   Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also corrects                                                                       Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
                                                                                                        BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
                                                typographic errors that previously                                                                            1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
                                                appeared in Section 1.7.7,                                                                                    email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
                                                ‘‘Nonconforming Items,’’ Section 1.7.4,                                                                       ADAMS Accession No. for each


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Document Created: 2018-02-13 02:32:14
Document Modified: 2018-02-13 02:32:14
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionRegulatory guide; revision.
ContactDaniel Frumkin, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulations, telephone: 301-415-2280, email: [email protected]; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1067, email: [email protected] Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
FR Citation83 FR 6243 

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