2013-00912. Proposed Models for Plant-Specific Adoption of Technical Specifications Task Force Traveler TSTF-426, Revision 5, “Revise or Add Actions To Preclude Entry Into LCO 3.0.3-RITSTF Initiatives 6B & 6C”

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of opportunity for public comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting public comment on the proposed model safety evaluation (SE) for plant-specific adoption of Technical Specifications (TS) Task Force (TSTF) Traveler TSTF-426, Revision 5, “Revise or Add Actions to Preclude Entry into [Limiting Condition for Operation] LCO 3.0.3—RITSTF Initiatives 6B & 6C.”

The proposed change revises the Standard Technical Specification (STS), NUREG-1432, “Standard Technical Specifications Combustion Engineering Plants.” Specifically, the proposed change revises various TSs to add a Condition for loss of redundant features representing a loss of safety function for a system or component included within the scope of the plant TSs. It would replace Required Actions requiring either a default shutdown or explicit LCO 3.0.3 entry with a Required Action based on the risk significance for the system's degraded condition.

DATES:

Comment period expires on February 19, 2013. 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 access information and comment submissions related to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available, by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2013-0007. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0007. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].
• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
• Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.

For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see “Accessing Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mrs. Michelle C. Honcharik, Senior Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone [phone] or email at [e-mail]. For technical questions please contact Mr. Carl Schulten, Senior Reactor Systems Engineer, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone [phone] or email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0007 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access information related to this document by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0007.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC Library 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 Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [e-mail]. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. TSTF-426, Revision 5, includes a model application and is available under ADAMS Accession No. ML113260461. The proposed model SE for plant-specific adoption of TSTF-426, Revision 5, is available under ADAMS Accession No. ML12097A596.
• 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.

B. Submitting Comments

Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0007 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://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 submissions into ADAMS.

Additional Technical Details

TSTF-426, Revision 5, is applicable to all Combustion Engineering-designed nuclear power plants. The proposed change revises various TSs to add a Condition for loss of redundant features representing a loss of safety function for a system or component included within the scope of the plant TSs. It would replace Required Actions requiring either a default shutdown or explicit LCO 3.0.3 entry with a Required Action based on the risk significance for the system's degraded condition.

This notice provides an opportunity for the public to comment on proposed changes to the STS after a preliminary assessment and finding by the NRC staff that the agency will likely offer the changes for adoption by licensees. This notice solicits comment on proposed changes to the STS, which if implemented by a licensee will modify the plant-specific TS. The NRC staff will evaluate any comments received for the proposed changes and reconsider the changes or announce the availability of the changes for adoption by licensees. Licensees opting to apply for this TS change are responsible for reviewing the NRC staff's SE, and the applicable technical justifications, providing any necessary plant-specific information, and assessing the completeness and accuracy of their license amendment request (LAR). The NRC will process each amendment application responding to the notice of availability according to applicable NRC rules and procedures.

The proposed changes do not prevent licensees from requesting an alternate approach or proposing changes other than those proposed in TSTF-426, Revision 5. However, significant deviations from the approach recommended in this notice or the inclusion of additional changes to the license require additional NRC staff review. This may increase the time and resources needed for the review or result in NRC staff rejection of the LAR. Licensees desiring significant deviations or additional changes should instead submit an LAR that does not claim to adopt TSTF-426, Revision 5.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of January 2013.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Sheldon D. Stuchell,

Acting Chief, Licensing Processes Branch, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.