Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 908489d1-a222-483d-b60e-5162228a4844
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Application of the Single-Failure Criterion to Safety Systems + HISTORY - HISTORY 12/2016 – Periodic Review of Revision 2 – Issues identified for future consideration 10/2011 – Periodic Review of Revision 2 – No issues identified Prior to the issuance of Revision 1, RG 1.53 was entitled "Application of the Single-Failure Criterion to Nuclear Power Plant Protection Systems" 05/2002 – DG-1118 , Proposed Revision 1 (Rev. 2)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1634/ML16349A071.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.53
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CFR Title: 

Content:
Regulatory Guide Periodic Review Regulatory Guide Number: 1.53 Revision number: 2 Title: Application of the Single-Failure Criterion to Safety Systems Office/division/branch: RES/DE/ICEEB Technical Lead: Bernard Dittman Staff Action Decided: Reviewed with issues identified for future consideration 1. What are the known technical or regulatory issues with the current version of the Regulatory Guide (RG)? Revision 2 of RG 1.53 was published in 2003. It endorses the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std) 379-2000, “IEEE Standard for Application of the Single-Failure Criterion to Nuclear Power Generating Station Safety Systems,” and there are no immediate technical issues with the current revision of RG 1.53. However, there are inconsistencies between the edition of IEEE Std 379-2000, which was cleanly endorsed in Revision 2 of RG 1.53, and other referenced and endorsed industry consensus standards such as IEEE Std 7-4.3.2, “IEEE Standard Criteria for Digital Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Generating Stations,” endorsed by RG 1.152. The NRC endorsed edition of an IEEE standard does not always agree with the edition identified as a normative reference within the IEEE standard. This cross referencing presents a regulatory clarity and efficiency challenge for equipment vendors, applicants, and the NRC staff due to the variations in the editions being endorsed by the NRC and those identified in the IEEE standards. There is a newer edition of the standard, IEEE Std 379-2014. It discusses treatment of common-cause failures (CCFs) in terms of screening CCFs from its scope. It applies the latest edition for undated references. For example, it identifies the latest editions of IEEE Std 7-4.3.2 and IEEE Std 352, “IEEE Guide for General Principles of Reliability Analysis of Nuclear Power Generating Station Protection Systems,” as indispensable normative references. IEEE Std 7-4.3.2 provides standard criteria for digital