[Federal Register: September 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 45884-45885]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04se09-88]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2009-0385]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Issuance and Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide,
DG-1226.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald Helton, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 251-7594 or e-
mail to Donald.Helton@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft guide in the agency's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. This
series was developed to describe and make available to the public such
information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for
implementing specific parts of the NRC'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.
The draft regulatory guide (DG), titled, ``An Approach for Using
Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Risk-Informed Decisions on Plant-
Specific Changes to the Licensing Basis,'' is temporarily identified by
its task number, DG-1226, which should be mentioned in all related
correspondence. DG-1226 is proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide
1.174, dated November 2002. The NRC's policy statement on probabilistic
risk assessment (PRA) encourages greater use of this analysis technique
to improve safety decisionmaking and
[[Page 45885]]
improve regulatory efficiency. A description of current risk-informed
initiatives may be found in (1) recent updates to the NRC staff's Risk-
Informed and Performance-Based Plan (RPP) formerly known as the Risk-
Informed Regulation Implementation Plan, and (2) the agency Internet
site at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/risk-informed.html.
One significant activity undertaken in response to the policy
statement is the use of PRA to support decisions to modify an
individual plant's licensing basis (LB). This regulatory guide provides
guidance on the use of PRA findings and risk insights to support
licensee requests for changes to a plant's LB, as in requests for
license amendments and technical specification changes under Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sections 50.90,
``Application for Amendment of License, Construction Permit, or Early
Site Permit,'' through 50.92, ``Issuance of Amendment.'' It does not
address licensee-initiated changes to the LB that do NOT require NRC
review and approval (e.g., changes to the facility as described in the
final safety analysis report (FSAR), the subject of 10 CFR 50.59,
``Changes, Tests, and Experiments'').
II. Further Information
The NRC staff is soliciting comments on DG-1226. Comments may be
accompanied by relevant information or supporting data and should
mention DG-1226 in the subject line. Comments submitted in writing or
in electronic form will be made available to the public in their
entirety through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS).
Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying
or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including any
information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly
disclosed.
The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not
include any information in their comments that they do not want
publicly disclosed. You may submit comments by any of the following
methods:
1. Mail comments to: Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Mail Stop:
TWB-05-B01M, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
2. Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov
and search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2009-0385]. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 301-492-3668; e-mail
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
3. Fax comments to: Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 492-3446.
Requests for technical information about DG-1226 may be directed to
the NRC contact, Donald Helton at (301) 251-7594 or e-mail to
Donald.Helton@nrc.gov.
Comments would be most helpful if received by November 3, 2009.
Comments received after that date will be considered if it is practical
to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments
received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given,
comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in
guides currently being developed or improvements in all published
guides are encouraged at any time.
Electronic copies of DG-1226 are available through the NRC's public
Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the ``Regulatory Guides''
collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies are also available in
ADAMS (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html), under Accession No.
ML091200100.
In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) located at 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland. The PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at
(301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548, and by e-
mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is
not required to reproduce them.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25 day of August 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E9-21470 Filed 9-3-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P