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[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 201 (Thursday, October 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48728-48729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22670]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0079]

Quality Assurance Program Criteria (Design and Construction)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 5 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.28, ``Quality Assurance Program 
Criteria (Design and Construction).'' This regulatory guide (RG 1.28) 
updates the guidance to endorse, with clarification or exceptions, 
multiple revisions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
standard NQA-1 titled ``Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear 
Facility Applications.'' The proposed revision describes methods that 
the NRC considers acceptable for establishing and implementing a 
quality assurance (QA) program for the design and construction of 
nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing plants.

DATES: Revision 5 to RG 1.28 is available on October 19, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0079 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0079. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals 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 Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public

[[Page 48729]]

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by email to [email protected]. 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. The RG is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML17207A293.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Ferguson, Office of New 
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-6638, email: [email protected], and 
Stephen Burton, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-
415-7000, email: [email protected]. 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, 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 5 of RG 1.28 was issued with a temporary identification of 
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1326. This revision of the guide (Revision 
5) updates the guidance to endorse, with clarification or exceptions, 
multiple revisions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
standard NQA-1 titled ``Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear 
Facility Applications.''

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1326 in the 
Federal Register on March 27, 2017 (82 FR 15242), for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on May 26, 2017. 
Public comments on DG-1326 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17207A289.

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 1.28 describes methods that the NRC considers acceptable 
for establishing and implementing a QA program for the design and 
construction of nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing plants. 
Issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting as defined in Sec.  
50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), (the 
Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality 
provisions in part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section 
of this RG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guidance 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 this RG, 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 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 13th day of October, 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edward O'Donnell,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2017-22670 Filed 10-18-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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