ML15079A333

Letter Regarding Issuance of Draft Guidance

ML15079A333
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	03/20/2015
From:	Lindell J A NRC/OGC
To:	Arnold G S, Hirons T J, Spritzer R M Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
50-255-LA, ASLBP 15-936-03-LA-BD01, RAS 27402
Download: ML15079A333 (6)

Text

March 20, 2015 In the Matter of ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. (Palisades Nuclear Plant)

Docket No. 50-255-LA

Dear Administrative Judges:

The NRC Staff wishes to inform the Board that on March 6 th, 2015, it issued two draft regulatory guidance documents for public comment: (1) Draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1299, Regulatory Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock Rule, and (2) Draft NUREG-2163, Technical Basis for Regulatory Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock Rule. DG-1299 provides guidance for a method that the NRC Staff considers acceptable to permit use of the alternate fracture toughness requirements in 10 C.F.R. § 50.61a for protection against pressurized thermal shock events for pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactor pressure vessels. The draft NUREG provides the technical basis for DG-1299.

The Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of these documents, "Draft Guidance Regarding the Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock Rule," 80 Fed. Reg. 13,449 (Mar. 13, 2015), is attached. DG-1299 can be found in the Agencywide Documents and Access Management System (ADAMS) at Access ion No. ML14056A011. NUREG-2163 can be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML15058A677.

Respectfully submitted,

/Signed (electronically) by/

Joseph A. Lindell Counsel for NRC Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel UNITED STATESNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONWASHINGTON, DC 20555 - 0001 Administrative Judge Ronald M. Spritzer, Chair Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-001 Administrative Judge Dr. Gary S. Arnold Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Administrative Judge

Dr. Thomas J. Hirons Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop: T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001

Mail Stop - O-15D21 Washington, DC 20555 Telephone: (301) 415-1474 E-mail: joseph.lindell@nrc.gov Date of signature: March 20, 2015

Enclosure:

As stated

Cc w/Encl.: EIE 13449 Federal Register/Vol. 80, No. 49/Friday, March 13, 2015/Notices Submittal server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise

the Secretary that the participant will be

submitting a request or petition for

hearing (even in instances in which the

participant, or its counsel or

representative, already holds an NRC-

issued digital ID certificate). Based upon

this information, the Secretary will

establish an electronic docket for the

hearing in this proceeding if the

Secretary has not already established an

electronic docket.

Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on the

NRC's public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/

getting-started.html.

System requirements for accessing the E-

Submittal server are detailed in the

NRC's Guidance for Electronic

Submission, which is available on the

agency's public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-

submittals.html.

Participants may attempt to use other software not listed

on the Web site, but should note that the

NRC's E-Filing system does not support

unlisted software, and the NRC Meta

System Help Desk will not be able to

offer assistance in using unlisted

software.

If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC in

accordance with the E-Filing rule, the

participant must file the document

using the NRC's online, Web-based

submission form. In order to serve

documents through the Electronic

Information Exchange System, users

will be required to install a Web

browser plug-in from the NRC's Web

site. Further information on the Web-

based submission form, including the

installation of the Web browser plug-in,

is available on the NRC's public Web

site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-

submittals.html.

Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a docket has

been created, the participant can then

submit a request for hearing or petition

for leave to intervene. Submissions

should be in Portable Document Format

(PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance

available on the NRC's public Web site

at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.

A filing is considered complete at the time the documents are

submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be timely, an electronic

filing must be submitted to the E-Filing

system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern

Time on the due date. Upon receipt of

a transmission, the E-Filing system

time-stamps the document and sends

the submitter an email notice

confirming receipt of the document. The

E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access to the document to the NRC's Office of the

General Counsel and any others who

have advised the Office of the Secretary

that they wish to participate in the

proceeding, so that the filer need not

serve the documents on those

participants separately. Therefore,

applicants and other participants (or

their counsel or representative) must

apply for and receive a digital ID

certificate before a hearing request/

petition to intervene is filed so that they

can obtain access to the document via

the E-Filing system.

A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-Filing system

may seek assistance by contacting the

NRC Meta System Help Desk through

the Contact Us link located on the

NRC's public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-

submittals.html, by email to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. The NRC

Meta System Help Desk is available

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern

Time, Monday through Friday,

excluding government holidays.

Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not submitting

documents electronically must file an

exemption request, in accordance with

10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper

filing requesting authorization to

continue to submit documents in paper

format. Such filings must be submitted

by: (1) First class mail addressed to the

Office of the Secretary of the

Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555-

0001, Attention: Rulemaking and

Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier,

express mail, or expedited delivery

service to the Office of the Secretary,

Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North,

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland, 20852, Attention:

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.

Participants filing a document in this

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document on all other participants.

Filing is considered complete by first-

class mail as of the time of deposit in

the mail, or by courier, express mail, or

expedited delivery service upon

depositing the document with the

provider of the service. A presiding

officer, having granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require

a participant or party to use E-Filing if

the presiding officer subsequently

determines that the reason for granting

the exemption from use of E-Filing no

longer exists.

Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the NRC's

electronic hearing docket which is

available to the public at http://ehd1.nrc.gov/ehd/,

unless excluded pursuant to an order of the Commission, or the presiding officer. Participants are

requested not to include personal

privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, or

home phone numbers in their filings,

unless an NRC regulation or other law

requires submission of such

information. However, a request to

intervene will require including

information on local residence in order

to demonstrate a proximity assertion of

interest in the proceeding. With respect

to copyrighted works, except for limited

excerpts that serve the purpose of the

adjudicatory filings and would

constitute a Fair Use application,

participants are requested not to include

copyrighted materials in their

submission.

Dated at Arlington, Texas, this 27th day of February 2015.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jack E. Whitten, Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch B, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region

IV Office.

[FR Doc. 2015-05803 Filed 3-12-15; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION RIN 3150-AI01

[NRC-2014-0137]

Draft Guidance Regarding the Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock

Rule AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; draft NUREG; request for comment.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public

comment draft regulatory guide (DG),

DG-1299, Regulatory Guidance on the

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock

Rule and accompanying draft NUREG-

2163, Technical Basis for Regulatory

Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized

Thermal Shock Rule. The DG provides

new guidance for a method that the NRC

considers acceptable to permit use of

the alternate fracture toughness

requirements for protection against

pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events

for pressurized water reactor (PWR)

reactor pressure vessels (RPVs). The

draft NUREG provides the technical

basis for DG-1299.

DATES: Submit comments by May 12, 2015. Comments received after this date

will be considered if it is practical to do

so, but the NRC is able to ensure

13450 Federal Register/Vol. 80, No. 49/Friday, March 13, 2015/Notices consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES

You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless

this document describes a different

method for submitting comments on a specific subject):

• Federal Rulemaking Web site:

Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0137. Address

questions about NRC dockets to Carol

Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-3463;

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.

For technical questions, contact the

individuals listed in the FORFURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT section of this document.

• Mail comments to:

Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop:

OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555-0001.

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments,

see Obtaining Information and

Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION section of this document. FORFURTHERINFORMATIONCONTACT

Gary Stevens, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3608;

email: Gary.Stevens@nrc.gov; Mark Kirk, Office of Nuclear Regulatory

Research, telephone: 301-251-7631;

email: Mark.Kirk@nrc.gov; or Steve Burton, telephone: 301-415-7000;

email: Stephen.Burton@nrc.gov; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555-0001. SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION

I. Obtaining Information and

Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0137 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this

action. You may obtain publicly-

available information related to this

action by the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site:

Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0137.

• 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 in this document (if that document is available in

ADAMS) is provided the first time that

a document is referenced. Draft Guide-

1299, Regulatory Guidance on the

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock

Rule, is available in ADAMS under

Accession No. ML14056A011. Draft

NUREG-2163, Technical Basis for

Regulatory Guidance on the Alternate

Pressurized Thermal Shock Rule, is

available in ADAMS under Accession

No. ML15058A677.

• 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.

B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0137 in the subject line of 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 http://

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 for public comment a draft guide (DG) in the NRC's Regulatory Guide series. The

DG, titled Regulatory Guidance on the

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock

Rule, is temporarily identified by its

task number, DG-1299. This DG

provides new guidance for a method

that the NRC considers acceptable to

permit use of the alternate fracture

toughness requirements for protection

against PTS events for PWR RPVs in

part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR), Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization

Facilities, 10 CFR 50.61a, Alternate

Fracture Toughness Requirements for

Protection against Pressurized Thermal

Shock Events (RIN 3150-AI01). DG-

1299 is accompanied by draft NUREG-2163, Technical Basis for Regulatory Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized

Thermal Shock Rule. This NUREG

provides the technical basis for the

guidance recommended in DG-1299.

The NRC is issuing the draft NUREG for

public comment at the same time as the

DG to allow for common review of both

documents.

The alternate PTS requirements are based on updated analysis methods, and

are desirable because the requirements

in 10 CFR 50.61a are based on overly

conservative probabilistic fracture

mechanics analyses.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality The DG, if finalized, would provide guidance on the methods acceptable to the NRC for complying with the NRC's

regulations associated with alternate

fracture toughness requirements for

protection against PTS events for PWR

RPVs. The NUREG, if finalized, would

provide technical bases that support the

DG. The DG would apply to certain

current holders of power reactor

licenses and construction permits under

10 CFR part 50. The alternate PTS

requirements of 10 CFR 50.61a apply to

certain holders of operating licenses for

a PWR whose construction permit was

issued before February 3, 2010;

however, this DG also provides

guidance for licensees whose

construction permits were issued after

February 3, 2010, but wish to utilize the

alternate PTS criteria via exemption.

Therefore this guidance may also apply

to future applicants for operating

licenses and construction permits under

10 CFR part 50, as well as certain

current holders of and future applicants

for power reactor licenses under 10 CFR

part 52.

Issuance of this DG and NUREG, if finalized, would not constitute

backfitting under 10 CFR part 50 and

would not otherwise be inconsistent

with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the

Implementation section of DG-1299,

the NRC has no current intention to

impose the DG, if finalized, on current

holders of 10 CFR part 50 operating

licenses or 10 CFR part 52 combined

licenses. This DG, if finalized, could be

applied to applications for certain 10

CFR part 50 operating licenses or

construction permits and 10 CFR part 52

combined licenses. Such action would

not constitute backfitting as defined in

10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise

inconsistent with the issue finality

provisions in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch

as such applicants are not within the

scope of entities protected by 10 CFR

50.109 or the issue finality provisions in

10 CFR part 52.

13451 Federal Register/Vol. 80, No. 49/Friday, March 13, 2015/Notices Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of March 2015.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Thomas H. Boyce, Chief, Regulatory Guide and Generic Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of

Nuclear Regulatory Research.

[FR Doc. 2015-05754 Filed 3-12-15; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0080]

Low-Level Radioactive Waste

Regulatory Program AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft programmatic assessment results; request for comment.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting

comment on a draft list of prioritized

low-level radioactive waste (LLW) tasks

based upon the assessment updates to

the strategic assessment (now called a

programmatic assessment) performed in

2007. The objective of this updated

assessment remains the same as the

2007 assessment; that is, to identify and

prioritize tasks that the NRC staff can

undertake to ensure a stable, reliable,

and adaptable regulatory framework for

effective LLW management, while also

considering future needs and changes

that may occur in the nation's

commercial LLW management system.

In 2014, through public meetings, webinars, and Federal Register

notices,

the NRC staff solicited public comment

on what changes, if any, should be made

to the current LLW program's regulatory

framework, as well as specific actions

that the staff might undertake to

facilitate such changes. The NRC staff

considered the comments received,

performed an assessment of the

comments, and developed a draft list of

prioritized LLW tasks.

DATES: Submit comments by April 13, 2015. Comments received after this date

will be considered if it is practical to do

so, but the NRC is able to assure

consideration only for comments

received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES

You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless

this document describes a different

method for submitting comments on a

specific subject):

• Federal Rulemaking Web site:

Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0080. Address

questions about NRC dockets to Carol

Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov

. For technical questions, contact the

individuals listed in the FORFURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT section of this document.

• Mail comments to:

Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop:

OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555-0001.

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments,

see Obtaining Information and

Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION section of this document. FORFURTHERINFORMATIONCONTACT

Stephen Dembek, telephone: 301-415-

2342, email:

Stephen.Dembek@nrc.gov

or Melanie C. Wong, telephone: 301-

415-2432, email:

Melanie.Wong@

nrc.gov, both are staff of the Office of

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555-0001. SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION

I. Obtaining Information and

Submitting Comments A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0080 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding

this document. You may obtain

publicly-available information related to

this document by any of the following

methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site:

Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0080.

• 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

Strategic Assessment of Low-Level

Radioactive Waste Regulatory Program

and Transcript of Public Workshop on

Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

Rulemaking and Strategic Assessment of

Low-Level Radioactive Waste are

available in ADAMS under Accession

Nos. ML071350291 and ML14086A540.

• 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.

B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0080 in the subject line of 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 http://

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 submissions into

ADAMS. II. Background In 2007, due to developments in the national program for LLW disposal, as well as changes in the regulatory

environment, the NRC's LLW program

faced new challenges and issues. New

technical issues related to protection of

public health and the environment and

security emerged. These challenges and

issues included (1) the need for greater

flexibility and reliability in LLW

disposal options; (2) increased storage of

Class B and Class C LLW because of the

potential closing of the Barnwell, South

Carolina disposal facility to out-of-

compact waste generators; (3) the

potential need to dispose of large

quantities of power plant

decommissioning waste, as well as

depleted uranium (DU) from enrichment

facilities; (4) increased safety concerns;

(5) the need for greater LLW program

resources than were available; (6)

increased security concerns related to

storing LLW in general and sealed

radioactive sources in particular; and (7)

the potential for generation of new

waste streams (for example, by the next

generation of nuclear reactors and the

potential reemergence of nuclear fuel

reprocessing in the United States).

Based on these challenges and issues, the NRC staff conducted a Strategic

Assessment of the NRC's LLW

regulatory program. Based on extensive

stakeholder input during public

meetings, the NRC staff received a

variety of tasks to be included in the

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD

In the Matter of ) ) ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. ) Docket No. 50-255-LA ) (Palisades Nuclear Plant) )

)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

Pursuant to 10 C.F.R § 2.305, I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing letter regarding the Issuance of Technical Basis and Draft Regulatory Guidance on 10 C.F.R. § 50.61a for Public Comment, dated March 20, 2015, has been filed through the Electronic Information Exchange,

the NRC's E-Filing System, in the above captioned proceeding, this 20 th day of March, 2015:

/Signed (electronically) by/

Joseph A. Lindell Counsel for NRC Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop - O-15D21 Washington, DC 20555 Telephone: (301) 415-1474

E-mail: joseph.lindell@nrc.gov Date of signature: March 20, 2015