[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 198 (Friday, October 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62462-62463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22300]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0231]


Guide for Assessing, Monitoring, and Mitigating Aging Effects on 
Electrical Equipment Used in Production and Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a new 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.248, ``Guide for Assessing, Monitoring, and 
Mitigating Aging Effects on Electrical Equipment Used in Production and 
Utilization Facilities.'' This RG describes an approach that is 
acceptable to the staff of the NRC to meet regulatory requirements for 
managing, monitoring, and mitigating the aging effects on electrical 
equipment. It endorses Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 1205 2014, ``IEEE Guide for Assessing, 
Monitoring, and Mitigating Aging Effects on Electrical Equipment Used 
in Nuclear Power Generating Stations and Other Nuclear Facilities.''

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 1.248 is available on October 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0231 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0231. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's Public Document Room (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 [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    RG 1.248 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML22221A220 and ML21288A112, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Eudy, telephone: 301-415-3104, 
email: [email protected] and Mohammad Sadollah, telephone: 301-415-
6804, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a new guide in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' 
series. This series was developed to describe methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff uses in 
evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to describe 
information that the staff needs in its review of applications for 
permits and licenses. RG 1.248 was issued with a temporary 
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1393.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1393 in the 
Federal Register on February 3, 2022 (87 FR 6204) for a 30-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on March 7, 2022. 
Public comments on DG-1393 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML22221A222.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG 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, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory 
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement, as 
appropriate. However, the NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance 
in this RG to support NRC staff actions in a manner that would 
constitute backfitting as that term is defined in section 50.109 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' 
and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests,'' nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect 
the issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants. The staff also 
does not intend to use the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a 
manner that constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined and 
described in MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using this 
RG in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in this Implementation 
section, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting 
appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.

V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the 
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs. 
Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/

[[Page 62463]]

contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates and 
enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: October 7, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-22300 Filed 10-13-22; 8:45 am]
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