98-32106. Reporting Reliability and Availability Information for Risk- Significant Systems and Equipment

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 231 (Wednesday, December 2, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66497-66498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32106]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

RIN 3150-AF33


Reporting Reliability and Availability Information for Risk-
Significant Systems and Equipment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule: Withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a 
notice of proposed rulemaking that solicited comments on proposed 
amendments to its regulations that would have required licensees for 
commercial nuclear power reactors to report to the NRC, plant-specific 
summary reliability and availability data for certain risk-significant 
systems and equipment. The proposed rule would have also required 
licensees to maintain onsite, and to make available for NRC inspection, 
records and documentation that provide the basis for the summary data 
reported to the NRC. The systems and equipment for which data would be 
provided are a subset of the systems and equipment within the scope of 
the NRC's maintenance rule. The Commission has decided to accept 
industry's proposed alternative to the rule to voluntarily provide 
reliability and availability information for risk-significant systems 
and equipment and, therefore, withdraws this rulemaking.

ADDRESSES: The Commission paper, the staff requirement memoranda (SRM), 
and associated documents are available for public inspection, and 
copying for a fee, at the NRC Public Document Room

[[Page 66498]]

located at 2120 L Street NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20012-7082, 
telephone: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Allison, Office for Analysis 
and Evaluation of Operational Data, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone [phone], e-mail 
[e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    On February 12, 1996 (61 FR 5318), the NRC published in the Federal 
Register proposed amendments to 10 CFR Part 50 that would have required 
operating reactor licensees to report reliability and availability 
information for certain risk-significant systems and equipment. The 
reporting requirements would have applied to the event-mitigating 
systems and equipment that have or could have a significant effect on 
risk in terms of avoiding core damage accidents or preserving 
containment integrity. The data that would have been reported would 
have included: the number of demands and the number of failures to 
start associated with those demands, along with additional descriptive 
information; the number of hours of operation following each successful 
start including whether or not the run was terminated by equipment 
failure, along with additional descriptive information; the number of 
hours equipment is unavailable, along with additional descriptive 
information; for each period equipment is unavailable due to component 
failure, descriptive information on that failure; and the number of 
hours when two or more trains from the same or different systems were 
concurrently unavailable, along with additional descriptive 
information.
    The public comment period closed on June 11, 1996. The NRC received 
31 comment letters. One comment letter supported the rule, stating that 
the public and industry could expect significant benefits. Most of the 
remaining comments opposed the rule, stating that the proposed 
reporting requirements costs were underestimated, benefits were 
overestimated, the rule would be overly burdensome, the rule would be 
premature, and that the rule is not justified.
    The Commission SRM dated June 28, 1995, issued in response to SECY-
95-129, and the SRM on SECY-95-215 dated October 24, 1995, directed the 
NRC staff to continue to work with industry on voluntary submittal of 
reliability data under a program that will meet the needs of all 
parties. On October 1, 1996, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations 
(INPO) provided the NRC with a sample of data available from its Safety 
System Performance Indicator (SSPI) system, as part of a voluntary 
nuclear industry data sharing initiative. A revised Memorandum of 
Agreement (MOA) between INPO and the NRC was signed on December 24, 
1996, providing NRC with access to SSPI data. In addition, on March 21, 
1997, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) provided the NRC with a 
description of a new INPO data collection system, Equipment Performance 
and Information Exchange (EPIX). Based upon a review of data available 
in SSPI and EPIX, as well as the information available from Licensee 
Event Reports and Monthly Operating Reports, the Commission has 
determined that under the voluntary approach, the NRC can estimate risk 
parameters and construct a reliability database that reflects the 
parameters needed for effective use in risk-informed applications. 
Thus, the intended benefits of the proposed rule would be realized and 
the main advantages of the voluntary approach (i.e., the lower cost, 
schedule, and industry support) outweigh any disadvantages. The NRC 
will continue to work with industry representatives to improve 
thecontent of the voluntary data. Because of industry's voluntary 
alternative approach to the rule, the Commission is withdrawing this 
proposed rulemaking.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of November, 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-32106 Filed 12-1-98; 8:45 am]
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