```

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4806-4808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00989]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2024-0217]

Draft Interim Staff Guidance: Content of Risk Assessment and 
Severe Accident Information in Light-Water Power Reactor Construction 
Permit Applications

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guidance; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) ``Content of 
Risk Assessment and Severe Accident Information in Light-Water Power 
Reactor Construction Permit Applications.'' This draft ISG clarifies 
the scope and depth of the NRC staff review of the content of risk 
assessment and severe accident information in a construction permit 
(CP) application for a light-water power reactor. The purpose of this 
draft ISG is to clarify existing guidance in NUREG-0800, ``Standard 
Review Plan [SRP] for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear 
Power Plants: LWR Edition

[[Page 4807]]

(NUREG-0800, formerly issued as NUREG-75 087),'' (``the SRP''; Ref. 1).

DATES: Submit comments by February 18, 2025. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website.
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0217. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information 
Contact section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Benney, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2767; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0217 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0217.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The draft ISG, ``Content of Risk 
Assessment and Severe Accident Information in Light-Water Power Reactor 
Construction Permit Applications,'' is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML24192A277.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0217 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC anticipates the submission of power reactor construction 
permit (CP) applications in the next few years based on pre-application 
engagement initiated by several prospective applicants and vendors. The 
review of these applications falls within the two-step licensing 
process under part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' and involves the issuance of a CP before an operating 
license (OL). The NRC last issued a power reactor CP in the 1970s. Most 
recently, the NRC issued combined construction permit and operating 
licenses (combined licenses or COLs) for power reactors through the 
one-step licensing process under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' using the 
guidance in the SRP and Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.206, ``Combined License 
Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (LWR Edition),'' issued June 2007 
(ADAMS Package Accession No. ML070720184). The NRC has periodically 
updated some of the SRP guidance and issued Revision 1 to RG 1.206, 
``Applications for Nuclear Power Plants,'' in October 2018 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML18131A181). The licensing process under 10 CFR part 50 
allows an applicant to begin construction with preliminary design 
information instead of the final design required for a COL under 10 CFR 
part 52. Although the two-step licensing process provides flexibility 
and allows a more limited safety review before construction, the 
proceeding on the CP does not resolve issues that may be considered in 
the OL proceeding except in limited circumstances. In particular, the 
CP proceeding does not in most cases finally resolve requests for 
specific exemptions to 10 CFR part 50 regulatory requirements. The 
final safety analysis report (FSAR) submitted with the OL application 
must describe in detail the final design of the facility as 
constructed; identify the changes from the criteria, design, and bases 
in the CP preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR); and discuss the 
bases for and safety significance of the changes from the PSAR. Before 
issuing an OL, the NRC staff will review the applicant's final design 
in the FSAR to determine whether all the Commission's safety 
requirements have been met. The SRP contains the NRC staff review 
guidance for light-water reactor (LWR) applications submitted under 10 
CFR part 50 or 10 CFR part 52. In addition to the CP review guidance in 
the SRP and RG 1.70, Revision 3, ``Standard Format and Content of 
Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition,'' issued 
November 1978 (Ref. 6) (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML011340122), 
offers some insights on the level of detail that is required for the 
PSAR included in the CP application, but these insights may be limited 
to the degree that the guidance does not account for subsequent 
requirements, positions, or advances in technical knowledge. RG 1.206, 
Revision 1, provides guidance for 10 CFR part 52 applications, 
including for early site permits and COLs, as well as insights on the 
level of detail needed for final design information if the CP applicant 
chooses to provide such information. On October 31, 2022, the NRC staff

[[Page 4808]]

issued ISG DNRL-ISG-2022-01, ``Safety Review of Light-Water Power 
Reactor Construction Permit Applications,'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML22189A099), to facilitate safety reviews of LWR CP applications and 
to supplement the guidance in the SRP. DNRL-ISG-2022-01 describes the 
regulatory requirements, applicable review guidance in the SRP, and 
special topics for an LWR CP application. DNRL-ISG-2022-01 provides 
guidance on the staff review of the preliminary design information in 
the PSAR including the description and safety assessment of the site on 
which the facility is to be located. DNRL-ISG-2022-01 does not provide 
specific information relevant to the review of probabilistic risk 
assessment and alternative risk evaluations supporting an LWR CP 
application but points generally to the SRP to provide the NRC staff 
with an acceptable approach for reviewing such information. The staff 
has developed this draft ISG to clarify the scope and depth of the 
staff review of the content of risk assessment and severe accident 
information in a CP application for a light-water power reactor.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    This draft ISG provides guidance for the NRC staff review of light-
water power reactor construction permit applications. Issuance of this 
ISG as final would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 
50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and as described in NRC Management Directive 
(MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, 
and Information Requests''; would not constitute forward fitting as 
that term is defined and described in MD 8.4; and would not affect the 
issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52. The 
guidance would not apply to any current licensees or applicants or 
existing or requested approvals under 10 CFR part 52, and therefore its 
issuance cannot be a backfit or forward fit or affect issue finality.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated: January 13, 2025.
Michelle Hayes,
Chief, Licensing and Regulatory Infrastructure Branch, Division of New 
and Renewed Licenses, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2025-00989 Filed 1-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
```