Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Notices 7577 

www.nsf.gov/nsb for general 

information. 

Chris Blair, 

Executive Assistant to the National Science 

Board Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02084 Filed 1–27–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2019–0253] 

Final Revision to Branch Technical 

Position 7–19 Guidance for Evaluation 

of Defense in Depth and Diversity To 

Address Common-Cause Failure Due 

to Latent Design Defects in Digital 

Safety Systems 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Standard review plan-final 

section revision; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing a final 

revision to Branch Technical Position 

(BTP) 7–19, ‘‘Guidance for Evaluation of 

Defense in Depth and Diversity to 

Address Common-Cause Failure due to 

Latent Design Defects in Digital Safety 

Systems’’ of NUREG–0800, ‘‘Standard 

Review Plan for the Review of Safety 

Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power 

Plants: LWR Edition.’’ 

DATES: The update to this BTP takes 

effect on January 29, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2019–0253 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–2019–0253. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 

telephone: 301–287–9127; email: 

Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical 

questions, contact the individual 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 Document collection at 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For 

problems with ADAMS, contact the 

NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) 

reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. 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. 

• Attention: The PDR, where you may 

examine and order copies of public 

documents, is currently closed. You 

may submit your request to the PDR via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1– 

800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, 

between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

The NRC posts its issued staff 

guidance on the NRC’s public website at 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr0800/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark D. Notich, Office of New Reactors, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–3053, email: Mark.Notich@

nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On January 14, 2020 (85 FR 2152), the 

NRC published for public comment a 

proposed revision of BTP 7–19, 

‘‘Guidance for Evaluation of Potential 

Common Cause Failure Due to Latent 

Software Defects in Digital 

Instrumentation and Control Systems’’ 

of NUREG–0800, ‘‘Standard Review 

Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis 

Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR 

Edition.’’ The public comment period 

closed on March 16, 2020. Eight public 

comments were received regarding draft 

Revision 8 of BTP 7–19. The final 

Revision 8 to NUREG–0800, BTP 7–19, 

‘‘Guidance for Evaluation of Defense in 

Depth and Diversity to Address 

Common-Cause Failure due to Latent 

Design Defects in Digital Safety 

Systems’’ is available in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML20339A647. A 

summary of the public comments and 

the NRC staff’s disposition of the 

comments are available in ADAMS 

Accession No. ML20126G430. The 

redline/strikeout comparison between 

the draft version of BTP 7–19 and this 

final version, including revisions made 

in response to public comments and to 

improve organization, is shown in 

ML20364A212. 

II. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and 

Issue Finality 

Chapter 7 of the SRP provides 

guidance to the staff for reviewing 

instrumentation and controls 

information provided in applications for 

licensing actions. Part of Chapter 7, BTP 

7–19 provides guidance for the 

evaluation of diversity and defense-indepth in digital computer-based 

instrumentation and control systems. 

Issuance of this BTP revision 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 as described in 

Management Directive (MD) 8.4, 

‘‘Management of Backfitting, Forward 

Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 

Requests;’’ constitute forward fitting as 

that term is defined and described in 

MD 8.4; or affect issue finality of any 

approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, 

‘‘Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals 

for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ The NRC’s 

position is based upon the following 

considerations. 

First, the SRP provides guidance to 

the NRC staff on how to review an 

application for NRC regulatory approval 

in the form of licensing. Changes in 

guidance intended for use by only the 

staff are not matters that constitute 

backfitting as that term is defined in 10 

CFR 50.109(a)(1); constitute forward 

fitting as that term is defined and 

described in MD 8.4; or affect issue 

finality of any approval issued under 10 

CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certificates, and 

Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ 

Second, the NRC staff does not intend 

to use the guidance in this BTP SRP 

section to support NRC staff actions in 

a manner that would constitute 

backfitting or forward fitting. If, in the 

future, the NRC seeks to impose a 

position in this SRP section in a manner 

that constitutes backfitting or forward 

fitting or affects the issue finality for a 

10 CFR part 52 approval, then the NRC 

will address the backfitting provision in 

10 CFR 50.109, the forward fitting 

provision of MD 8.4, or the applicable 

issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 

52, respectively. 

III. Congressional Review Act 

This action is not a rule as defined in 

the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 

801–808). OMB’s clearance of BTP 7–19 

as a non-major rule is shown in ADAMS 

Accession No. ML21025A022. 

Dated: January 26, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Dennis C. Morey, 

Chief, Licensing Project Branch, Division of 

Operating Reactors, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01984 Filed 1–28–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES