ML22319A150
| ML22319A150 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/27/2023 |
| From: | Gerond George Licensing Processes Branch |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML22318A211 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-2023-0079 | |
| Download: ML22319A150 (1) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2023-0079]
Proposed Revision to Standard Review Plan Section 15.0, Introduction - Transient and Accident Analyses AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for comment.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting public comment on draft NUREG-0800, Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition, Section 15.0, Revision 4, Introduction - Transient and Accident Analyses. The NRC seeks comments on the proposed draft section revision of the Standard Review Plan (SRP), concerning the evaluation of the safety of a nuclear power plant that requires analyses of the plants responses to postulated equipment failures or malfunctions. Such analyses help to determine the limiting conditions for operation, limiting safety system settings, and design specifications for components and systems to protect public health and safety.
DATES: Submit comments by October 2, 2023. Comments received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 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-2023-0079. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the individuals listed in the For Further Information Contact section of this document.
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, 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: Ekaterina Lenning, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3151, email: Ekaterina.Lenning@nrc.gov and Brent Ballard, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0680, email:
Brent.Ballard@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-2023-0079 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:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0079.
NRCs 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 Web-based ADAMS Search. For problems with ADAMS, please 2
contact the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The draft SRP Section 15.0, Revision 4, Introduction - Transient and Accident Analyses is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22319A149.
NRCs PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRCs PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 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-2023-0079 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.
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II. Discussion The NRC seeks public comment on the proposed draft section revision of SRP Section 15.0, Introduction - Transient and Accident Analyses. This section has been developed to assist the NRC staff in the evaluation of the safety of a nuclear power plant that requires analyses of the plants responses to postulated equipment failures or malfunctions. The effects of anticipated process disturbances and postulated component failures are examined to determine their consequences and to evaluate the capability built into the plant to control or accommodate such failures and situations. Additionally, such analyses help determine the limiting conditions for operation, limiting safety system settings, and design specifications for components and systems to protect public health and safety under parts 50 and 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
Following the NRC staff evaluation of public comments, the NRC intends to finalize SRP Section 15.0, Revision 4, Introduction - Transient and Accident Analyses Review, in ADAMS and post it on the NRCs public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0800. The SRP is guidance for the NRC staff. The SRP is not a substitute for the NRC regulations, and compliance with the SRP is not required.
III. Backfitting, Issue Finality, and Forward Fitting The guidance in this draft SRP is updated to ensure alignment of the acceptance criteria with the regulations and provide staff guidance related to the Commissions policies for new passive light-water power reactors. Issuance of this draft SRP, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4, Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests; would not affect the issue 4
finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52; and would not constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4. The staffs position is based upon the following considerations:
- 1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting or forward fitting or affect issue finality, inasmuch as the SRP would be internal guidance to the NRC staff.
The SRP provides guidance to the NRC staff on how to review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance, without further NRC action, are not matters that meet the definition of backfitting or forward fitting or affect the issue finality of a 10 CFR part 52 approval.
- 2. Current or future applicants are notwith limited exceptions not applicable herewithin the scope of the backfitting and issue finality regulations and forward fitting policy.
Applicants are not, with certain exceptions, within the scope of the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52. The backfitting and issue finality regulations include language delineating when those provisions begin; in general, they begin after the issuance of a license, permit, or other approval. Furthermore, neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52with certain exclusions discussed in this noticewere intended to apply to NRC actions that substantially change the expectations of current and future applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable when an applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with specified issue finality provisions or a construction permit under 10 CFR part 50. The NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner that would 5
constitute backfitting or affect the issue finality of a 10 CFR part 52 approval. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner that constitutes backfitting or affects the issue finality of a 10 CFR part 52 approval, then the staff would need to address the Backfit Rule or the criteria described in the applicable issue finality provision.
The Commissions forward fitting policy generally does not apply when an applicant files an initial licensing action for a new facility. Nevertheless, the NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner that would constitute forward fitting. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in the draft SRP (if finalized) in a manner that constitutes forward fitting, then the staff would need to address the forward fitting criteria in MD 8.4.
Dated: July 27, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Gerond A. George, Chief, Licensing Project Branch, Division of Operating Reactors, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
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