Rules and Regulations. Regulatory guide, issuance

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Action: Regulatory guide, issuance
Citation: FR Doc. 2017-24333 · NRC-2016-0201

Summary

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.12, “Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation for Earthquakes.” This revision to the guide addresses new reactor plant configurations and the state of practice of seismic instrumentation since Revision 2 of RG 1.12 in 1997. The revision describes the seismic instrumentation criteria, including instrumentation type, locations, characteristics, and maintenance, that the NRC staff considers acceptable for nuclear power plants.

Dates

Revision 3 to RG 1.12 is available on November 8, 2017.

Supplementary Information

I. Discussion The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's “Regulatory Guide” series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the public information regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. Revision 3 of RG 1.12 was issued with a temporary identification of draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1332. The NRC revised the guide to incorporate advances in seismic instrumentation and operating experience since the issuance of Revision 2 of RG 1.12 in 1997. The revision describes the seismic instrumentation criteria, including instrumentation type, locations, characteristics, and maintenance, that the NRC staff considers acceptable for nuclear power plants. II. Additional Information The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1332 in the Federal Register on September 21, 2016 (81 FR 64954), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period closed on November 21, 2016. Public comments on DG-1332 and the staff responses to the public comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML17095A314. 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 and Issue Finality This RG describes the seismic instrumentation criteria, including instrumentation type, locations, characteristics, and maintenance, that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for nuclear power plants. Issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting as defined in § 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of the Federal Regulations (10 CFR), (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the “Implementation” section of this RG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guide on holders of current operating licenses or combined licenses. This RG may be applied to applications for operating licenses, combined licenses, early site permits, and certified design rules docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions in part 52. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31th day of October, 2017. 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. 2017-24333 Filed 11-7-17; 8:45 am]