[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 98 (Thursday, May 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29350-29351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12292]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0209]
Nonmetallic Thermal Insulation for Austenitic Stainless Steel
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.36, ``Nonmetallic Thermal
Insulation for Austenitic Stainless Steel.'' The RG describes methods
and procedures that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) considers acceptable when selecting and using nonmetallic thermal
insulation to minimize any contamination that could promote stress-
corrosion cracking in the stainless steel portions of the reactor
coolant pressure boundary and other systems important to safety. This
guide applies to light-water-cooled reactors.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0209 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publically-available information related to this document,
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0209. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individuals 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 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 [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.36 is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML15026A664. The regulatory analysis may be found in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML14079A669.
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.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David W. Alley, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, 301-415-2178 email: [email protected] and Richard
A. Jervey, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 301-251-7404, email:
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides were developed to
describe and make available to the public information and methods that
are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
Revision 1 of RG 1.36 was issued with a temporary identification as
Draft
[[Page 29351]]
Regulatory Guide, DG-1312. RG 1.36, Revision 1, updates NRC guidance to
approve for use current voluntary consensus standards (specifications)
related to thermal insulation in contact with austenitic stainless
steel. The standards have been revised and improved in recent years;
thus they represent current best practices available for that purpose.
Significantly, the current standards offer more than one test method to
satisfy the objective of the standard. Additionally, several test
methods identified in the previous RG 1.36 are no longer in use and the
references to them have been removed.
II. Additional Information
Draft Guide (DG)-1312, was published in the Federal Register on
October 6, 2014 (79 FR 60188) for a 30-day public comment period. The
public comment period closed on November 5, 2014. Public comments on
DG-1312 and the staff responses to the public comments are available
under ADAMS Accession Number ML15026A678.
III. Congressional Review Act
This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act.
IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality
RG 1.36, Revision 1, provides guidance on one acceptable way of
meeting the requirements in GDC 1 and GDC 14 with respect to stress-
corrosion cracking in austenitic steel portions of the reactor coolant
pressure boundary which are caused in part by contact with nonmetallic
thermal insulation. This does not constitute backfitting as defined in
Section 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
(the Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC's position is based upon
the following considerations.
Existing licensees, part 50 construction permit holders and part 50
operating license holders, and applicants of final design certification
rules would not be required to comply with the positions set forth in
RG 1.36, Revision 1, unless the construction permit or an operating
license holder makes a voluntary change to their licensing basis with
respect to non-metallic thermal insulation in contact with austenitic
stainless steel, and the NRC determines that the safety review must
include consideration of the matters addressed in this regulatory
guide.
Existing design certification rules would not be required to be
amended to comply with the positions set forth in RG 1.36 unless the
NRC addresses the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 52.63(a).
Existing combined license holders (referencing the AP1000 design
certification rule in 10 CFR part 52, Appendix D) would not be required
to comply with the positions set forth in RG 1.36 unless the NRC
addresses the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 52.63(a).
RG 1.36 may be applied to current applications for operating
licenses, combined licenses, and certified design rules docketed by the
NRC as of the date of issuance of the revision to the regulatory guide,
as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of the
revised regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting
as defined in Sec. 50.109(a)(1) or be otherwise inconsistent with the
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under 10 CFR part 52. This is because neither the Backfit
Rule nor the issue finality provisions under part 52--with certain
exclusions discussed below--were intended to apply to every NRC action
which substantially changes the expectations of current and future
applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever a
combined license applicant references a 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. The NRC
does not, at this time, intend to impose the positions represented in
the RG, on combined license applicants in a manner that is inconsistent
with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the NRC seeks to
impose a position in the RG, in a manner which does not provide issue
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then
the NRC must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as
described in the applicable issue finality provision.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of May 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-12292 Filed 5-20-15; 8:45 am]
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