[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10602-10603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03457]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0159]


Design Limits, Loading Combinations, Materials, Construction and 
Testing of Concrete Containments

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.136, ``Design Limits, Loading 
Combinations, Materials, Construction and Testing of Concrete 
Containments.'' It updates the guidance for materials, design, 
construction, fabrication, examination, and testing of concrete 
containments in nuclear power plants through endorsement, with 
exceptions, of the 2019 edition of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers (ASME) Boiler & Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code, Section III, 
Division 2 (American Concrete Institute (ACI) Standard 359-19), ``Code 
for Concrete Containments.''

DATES: Revision 4 to RG 1.136 is available on February 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0159 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0159. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7f2c0b1e1c06512c1c170a121e11113f110d1c51181009"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b4e7c0d5d7cd9ae7d7dcc1d9d5dadaf4dac6d79ad3dbc2">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e6968294c89483958993948583a6889485c8818990"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5e2e3a2c702c3b2d312b2c3d3b1e302c3d70393128">[email protected]</span></a>. Revision 4 to RG 1.136 and the 
regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. 
ML20301A167 and ML20105A216, respectively.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1d6d796f336f786e72686f7e785d736f7e337a726b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a4a5e4814485f49554f48595f7a544859145d554c">[email protected]</span></a> 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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Thomas, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-6181, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4f082a203d282a611b2720222e3c7d0f213d2c61282039"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8fc8eae0fde8eaa1dbe7e0e2eefcbdcfe1fdeca1e8e0f9">[email protected]</span></a> and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7d38190a1c0f195332391213131811113d130f1e531a120b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5f1a3b283e2d3b71101b3031313a33331f312d3c71383029">[email protected]</span></a>. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

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, 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.
    Revision 4 of RG 1.136 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1372. This revision provides guidance to 
meet regulatory requirements for materials, design, construction, 
fabrication, examination, and testing of concrete containments in 
nuclear power plants.
    This revision of the guide endorses, with exceptions, the 2019 
edition of Division 2 of the ASME B&PV Code, Section III (ACI Standard 
359-19), ``Code for Concrete Containments.'' This revision of the guide 
also addresses the acceptability of the Section III Code Cases related 
to Division 2 of the ASME B&PV Code, Section III.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1372 in the 
Federal Register on July 8, 2020 (85 FR 41071) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on September 8, 2020. 
Public comments on DG-1372 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20301A168.

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

    This regulatory guide provides guidance for materials, design, 
construction, fabrication, examination, and testing of concrete 
containments in nuclear power plants through endorsement, with 
exceptions, of the 2019 edition of Division 2 of the ASME B&PV Code, 
Section III (ACI Standard 359-19), ``Code for Concrete Containments.'' 
The issuance of this regulatory guide does not constitute backfitting 
as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC Management 
Directive 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue 
Finality, and Information Requests,'' or affect issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' because, as explained in this 
regulatory guide, licensees are not required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this regulatory guide.

    Dated: February 16, 2021.


[[Page 10603]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-03457 Filed 2-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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