The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing Draft Regulatory Guide (DG) DG-1422, "Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Submittals." DG-1422 is being disc...
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing Draft Regulatory Guide (DG) DG-1422, “Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Submittals.” DG-1422 is being discontinued because the proposed guidance does not provide the clarity sought by the NRC staff for preparing regulatory applications using
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probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) as a technical basis.
DATES:
The discontinuation of DG-1422 takes effect on June 5, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0036 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
https://www.regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0036. 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.
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. 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.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher Nellis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-5973; email:
Christopher.Nellis@nrc.gov
and Vance Petrella, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1048; email:
Vance.Petrella@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is discontinuing DG-1422, “Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Submittals.” DG-1422 describes a framework to develop the contents of a licensing submittal that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable when performing PFM analyses in support of regulatory applications. This DG was intended to revise Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.245, “Preparing Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Submittals.” The NRC provided an opportunity for public comment on Revision 0 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23291A298) and Revision1 (ADAMS Accession No. ML24312A308) to DG-1422 in the
Federal Register
on February 29, 2024 (89 FR 14782), and August 8, 2025 (90 FR 38512), respectively. After reviewing the public comments, the staff found that the proposed guidance does not provide the clarity sought for preparing regulatory applications using PFM as a technical basis. In addition, the staff has determined that the expected benefit to nuclear stakeholders is not sufficient to justify further action to revise RG-1.245.
Although DG-1422 will not be issued as final guidance, the comments received during the public comment period may be considered by the NRC staff in the future for the development of any related guidance. Should the NRC develop such guidance, it will inform the public through a new notice of availability of the documents for public comment.
This notice documents final staff action on docket NRC-2024-0036. No further action is expected for this docket.
II. 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.