ML22195A067

Fee Exemption Request for Review and Meeting to Discuss Draft Nuclear Energy Institute Technical Report NEI 21-05, Reporting Guidance for Licensees with Risk-Informed Licensing Bases

ML22195A067
Person / Time
Site:	Nuclear Energy Institute
Issue date:	07/13/2022
From:	Tony Brown Nuclear Energy Institute
To:	Clay Johnson Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, NRC/OCIO
References
NEI 21-05
Download: ML22195A067 (2)

Text

TONY BROWN Technical Advisor Regulatory Affairs 1201 F Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20004 P: 202.739.8087 mab@nei.org nei.org July 13, 2022 Ms. Cherish K. Johnson Chief Financial Officer U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001

Subject:

Fee Exemption Request for Review and Meeting to Discuss Draft Nuclear Energy Institute Technical Report NEI 21-05, Reporting Guidance for Licensees with Risk-Informed Licensing Bases Project Number: 689

Dear Ms. Johnson:

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 1, on behalf of its members, is writing to request a waiver of fees 0F associated with the NRC staffs review of Draft NEI 21-05, "Reporting Guidance for Licensees with Risk-Informed Licensing Bases,". 2 NEI 21-05 provides guidance to licensees with risk-informed licensing bases for 1F complying with the reporting requirements of 10 CFR 50.72, 10 CFR 50.73, and 10 CFR 21. As more licensees have adopted and implemented risk-informed initiatives (e.g., 10 CFR 50.69, risk-informed completion times (RICT), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 805), a gap was identified in existing reporting guidance. These programs have been available for many years, but there is currently not any industry or NRC guidance that addresses the regulatory reporting aspects impacted by these initiatives.

Using risk-informed programs and approvals to evaluate reporting requirements complements the NRCs deterministic approach and promotes stability and efficiency.

NEI provided Draft NEI 21-05 to the NRC for review to collect any staff comments and observations to ensure there are no significant staff concerns with the guidance. At this time, NEI does not plan to seek NRC endorsement of the guidance.

1 The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is the organization responsible for establishing unified industry policy on matters affecting the nuclear energy industry, including the regulatory aspects of generic operational and technical issues. NEI's members include all entities licensed to operate commercial nuclear power plants in the United States, nuclear plant designers, major architect/engineering firms, fuel cycle facilities, nuclear materials licensees, and other organizations and entities involved in the nuclear energy industry.

2 ML22194A814

Ms. Cherish Johnson July 13, 2022 Page 2 The NRCs regulation governing fee exemptions is provided at 10 CFR 170.11, "Exemptions." This fee exemption request is based on 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1)(ii) which states:

(a) No application fees, license fees, renewal fees, inspection fees, or special project fees shall be required for:

(1) A special project that is a request/report submitted to the NRC-(ii) When the NRC, at the time the request/report is submitted, plans to use the information in response to an NRC request from the Office Director level or above to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or environmental issue, or to assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts (e.g., rules, regulatory guides, regulations, policy statements, generic letters, or bulletins).

Since existing industry and NRC event reporting guidance does not address risk-informed initiatives, we believe NRC review of Draft NEI 21-05 constitutes generic regulatory improvement as discussed in 10 CFR 170.11. NRC review of this guidance will benefit both the NRC and an appreciable portion of the commercial reactor fleet, thus providing broad public benefit. By providing comments and observations, the NRC staff can ensure that licensee adherence to this guidance will result in compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements. In addition, the NRC staffs review will provide licensees with confidence that the approach provided in the guidance is consistent with the NRCs expectations. Additionally, if the NRC decides to develop additional guidance on this topic, they will have a thorough understanding of the industry guidance that will be in use. Therefore, NEI is requesting that the NRCs review of this guidance document be granted a fee waiver pursuant to 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1)(ii).

NEI has requested that Draft NEI 21-05 be withheld from public disclosure in its entirety, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390. To ensure industry access, NEI will make the document available to all NEI members and to non-NEI members for a reasonable fee.

If you have any questions on this matter, please contact me at mab@nei.org.

Sincerely, Tony Brown cc: Chris Miller, DRO, NRC Bo Pham, DORL, NRC Mike Franovich, DRA, NRC