Regulatory Guide: Acceptability of ASME OM-2 Code, Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Facilities
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.220, Revision 0, "Acceptability of ASME OM-2 Code, Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Faci...
Direct final guide; issuance and post-promulgation comment period.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.220, Revision 0, “Acceptability of ASME OM-2 Code, Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Facilities.” This new RG endorses, with a regulatory position, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Operation and Maintenance OM-2 Code,
Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Facilities,
2024 Edition, and describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff for the development and implementation of an Inservice Testing (IST) Program for all types of nuclear facilities. This RG is effective on the date of
Federal Register
Notice publication, with a 30-day post-promulgation comment period.
DATES:
RG 1.220, Revision 0, takes effect on June 4, 2026. Post-promulgation comments must be received by July 6, 2026. Comments received after this date
( printed page 33771)
will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit comments on RG 1.220, Revision 0, by any of the following methods; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website.
Federal Rulemaking Website:
Go to
https://www.regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2025-0677. Address questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov
to Bridget Curran; telephone: 301-415-1003; email:
Bridget.Curran@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this document.
Mail comments to:
Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-5-A85, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Scarbrough, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2794; email:
Thomas.Scarbrough@nrc.gov
and Amir Mobasheran, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8112; email:
Amir.Mobasheran@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0677 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of the following methods:
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin ADAMS Public Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov.
RG 1.220, Revision 0, “Acceptability of ASME OM-2 Code, Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Facilities,” is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML25329A088. The regulatory analysis for the RG can be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML25329A089. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them.
NRC's PDR:
The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website (
https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-2025-0677 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov
as well as enter the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
The NRC is issuing, with a post-promulgation comment period, a RG in the NRC's “Regulatory Guide” series. This series was developed to describe methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
The NRC staff is issuing Revision 0 of RG 1.220 to provide applicants and licensees of all types of nuclear facilities with an acceptable method for developing and implementing an IST program that would demonstrate compliance with NRC regulations for submission of an operating license or a combined operating license under part 50 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), “Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities” or 10 CFR 52 “Licenses, Certification, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” respectfully. This RG endorses, with a regulatory position, the ASME Operation and Maintenance OM-2 Code for use by applicants of all types of nuclear facilities that may have different types of reactor and component designs.
The staff is also issuing a final regulatory analysis with a post-promulgation comment period (ADAMS Accession No. ML25329A089). The staff developed a regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing an RG as well as an alternative course of action.
III. Post-Promulgation Comment Procedure
The NRC considers this action to be non-controversial, and is issuing this guidance document as a direct final RG with a 30-day post-promulgation comment period. This RG is effective on June 4, 2026. However, if the NRC receives comments that causes the NRC to make a change to this direct final RG by July 6, 2026, then the NRC will publish a
Federal Register
Notice that withdraws the guidance document and will address the comments received in a subsequent final RG or as otherwise appropriate.
IV. Congressional Review Act
This RG 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.
V. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
Issuance of RG 1.220 does not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, “Backfitting,” and as described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, “Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests”; constitute
( printed page 33772)
forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4; or affect the issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.” As explained in Revision 0 of RG 1.220, applicants and licensees generally are not required to comply with the positions in the RG.
VI. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides
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. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public website at
https://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.
VII. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determined that this RG is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866.