[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17159-17160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7204]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0476; DC/COL-ISG-018]


Office of New Reactors; Final Interim Staff Guidance on Standard 
Review Plan, Section 17.4, ``Reliability Assurance Program''

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The NRC staff is issuing its Final Interim Staff Guidance 
(ISG) DC/COL-ISG-018 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) Accession No. ML103010113). The purpose of this ISG is to 
clarify the NRC staff guidance on the design reliability assurance 
program (RAP). This ISG updates the guidance provided to the staff in 
Standard Review Plan (SRP), Section 17.4, ``Reliability Assurance 
Program,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of 
Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,'' March 2007. This 
ISG revises the NRC staff's review responsibilities and further 
clarifies the acceptance criteria and evaluation findings contained in 
the SRP Section 17.4 in support of the NRC reviews of

[[Page 17160]]

the design certification (DC) and combined license (COL) applications. 
The NRC staff issues DC/COL-ISGs to facilitate timely implementation of 
current staff guidance and to facilitate activities associated with NRC 
review of applications for DCs and COLs. The NRC staff intends to 
incorporate the final approved DC/COL-ISG-018 into the next revisions 
of NUREG-0800, SRP Section 17.4 and Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.206, 
``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (LWR 
Edition),'' June 2007.
    Disposition: On October 30, 2009, the NRC staff issued proposed DC/
COL-ISG-018 on ``Reliability Assurance Program,'' ADAMS Accession No. 
ML092290791. The staff received only editorial comments which were 
incorporated. However, the ISG was further discussed at public meetings 
held at the NRC during 2010. These public meetings primarily focused on 
the Tier 1 inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria for 
the COL RAP during the design stage, which is specified in the ISG. 
This final issuance incorporates clarifications that resulted from 
these public meetings. A document comparing the version of the ISG that 
was issued for public comments and the final version of the ISG can be 
found under ADAMS Accession No. ML103010361.

ADDRESSES: The NRC maintains ADAMS, which provides text and image files 
of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the 
NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to 
ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in 
ADAMS should contact the NRC Public Document Room reference staff at 1-
800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Todd A. Hilsmeier, Project 
Manager, PRA and Severe Accidents Branch, Division of Safety Systems & 
Risk Assessment, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0525 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The agency posts its issued staff guidance 
in the agency external Web page (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg/).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of March 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

William F. Burton,
Chief, Rulemaking and Guidance Development Branch, Division of New 
Reactor Licensing, Office of New Reactor.
[FR Doc. 2011-7204 Filed 3-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P