[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14012-14015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6341]
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[[Page 14013]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Cost Beneficial Licensing Actions (CBLA) and Technical
Specifications Improvement Program (TSIP) Public Workshop
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of public workshop.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a public
workshop on April 13, 1995, to discuss the Commission's Cost Beneficial
Licensing Actions (CBLA) program, and its Administrative Letter
addressing the program. The Administrative Letter was issued to inform
licensees of the CBLA program. The CBLA program directs increased
management attention to license amendments designated as cost
beneficial licensing actions and provides for a more expeditious
review. Participation in the CBLA program is voluntary. However, the
purpose of the workshop is also to encourage licensees to develop CBLA
programs if they have not already done so, and receive public comments
on these activities.
Current activities within the Technical Specification Improvement
Program (TSIP) will also be discussed. The Technical Specification
Improvement Program was developed to establish criteria for relocating
certain technical specifications from the facility license to licensee-
controlled documents such as the final safety analysis report. In July
1994 the NRC proposed to amend the Technical Specification regulations
pertaining to nuclear power reactors in order to codify criteria for
determining the content of technical specifications. Licensees may
propose converting their current technical specifications either in
parts, or at once (the preferred method) to the improved Standard
Technical Specifications (STS). Participation in the TSIP is voluntary.
The principal focus of this workshop will be on both CBLA programs, and
conversion to STS at commercial power reactors. While the NRC
presentations will be broad in nature, NRC staff representatives will
be present to address specific questions with regard to the CBLA
process or STS conversions.
DATES: March 24, 1995--Advance notification of intent to attend the
workshop, desire to comment or make a statement during the workshop, or
both is requested by the NRC. Participants are encouraged to submit
written comments, summaries, or both to the staff by this date.
April 13, 1995--The Workshop will be held at the NRC Auditorium
from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.
May 26, 1995--All written comments on matters covered by the
workshop received by this date will be considered by the staff. Written
comments received after May 26, 1995, will be considered to the extent
practical. Written comments on the CBLA program and the TSIP will be
accepted before, during, and after the workshop. Advance comments,
which could serve to enhance the effectiveness of the workshop, are
particularly solicited.
ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held in the NRC Auditorium. The NRC
Auditorium is located on an underground level between the One White
Flint North Building and the Two White Flint North Building at 11545
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The NRC buildings are
located across from the entrance to the White Flint Metro Station.
Notification of intent to attend, and desire to make a statement
should be sent to Elizabeth L. Doolittle, Mail Stop 0-12-D-22, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. These
notifications can also be transmitted via facsimile or telephone. The
facsimile number is (301) 415-2279 and the telephone number is (301)
415-1247. The facsimile cover sheet should contain the address
information listed above. Letter or facsimile notifications should
contain, and people giving notification via telephone should be
prepared to provide, the following pre-registration information: full
name of participants/attendees, name of organization or business,
mailing address, daytime telephone, facsimile number, a statement
concerning whether the person or organization wishes to provide
comments or a statement during the workshop, a statement concerning
whether the person or organization intends to provide written comments
before or after the workshop, and any specific questions or comments
that the participant or organization would like to be considered and/or
addressed at the workshop.
Copies of documents cited in the Supplementary Information section
are available for inspection and/or for reproduction for a fee at the
NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW (Lower Level), Washington,
DC 20037.
Written comments may be sent to the Chief, Rules Review and
Directives Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Hand-delivered comments to Two White Flint North, 11545
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852 will be received between 7:30
am and 4:15 pm on Federal Workdays.
Copies of comments received and relevant reference documents may be
examined at the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street NW (Lower
Level), Washington, DC, between the hours of 7:45 am and 4:15 pm on
Federal workdays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Elizabeth L. Doolittle, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Mail Stop
OWFN 12-D-22, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone (301) 415-1247.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Tentative Agenda
III. Workshop Content and Structure
I. Background
Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' issued
by President Clinton on September 30, 1993, required all agencies to
perform a periodic review of existing regulations to eliminate
unnecessary and unproductive requirements. Although the NRC already had
several initiatives underway that were focused on improving the
regulatory process by identifying and eliminating requirements that
provided marginal safety benefits, in May 1994 the Commission
established the policies, practices and framework for
institutionalizing its ``Continuing Program for Regulatory
Improvement.'' The Continuing Program for Regulatory Improvement
described in SECY-94-090 consists of three NRC initiatives:
1. The Marginal to Safety Program,
2. The Regulatory Review Group Implementation Plan, and
3. The Cost Beneficial Licensing Actions Program.
The NRC initiated its Marginal to Safety Program (MSP) in the 1980s
with the purpose of identifying requirements that were considered to be
marginal to safety and impose a substantial regulatory burden on
licensees, and therefore should be relaxed or eliminated. Over time the
program was redirected to focus on petitions for rulemaking and
regulatory guidance identified by industry, since industry was
considered to be in the best position to identify inefficient
regulations that impose heavy economic burden.
Currently the NRC is proposing to modify its regulations in 10 CFR
2.802 to provide guidance on the scope and level of detail needed on
petitions for rulemaking to reduce regulatory burden. [[Page 14014]]
The NRC prepared its Regulatory Review Group (RRG) Implementation
Plan in 1993 with the purpose of identifying topic areas within NRC's
regulations and guidance where prescriptive requirements might be
substituted with performance-based requirements and guidance. The RRG
identified areas with significant potential for relief of burden with
little or no adverse safety impact, as did NRC as part of the MIS
program.
More than 60 recommendations for changes to the NRC's regulations
and guidance were made, and the NRC continues to make significant
progress toward completing these changes.
The NRC began its Cost Beneficial Licensing Actions (CBLA) program
on a pilot basis in mid-1993, and beginning in calendar year 1994, the
CBLA option was made available to all licensees with the purpose of
encouraging licensees to request plant specific license amendments that
reduce or eliminate license requirements that have an incrementally
small effect on safety but a high economic burden. In the past,
licensee submittals of marginal safety significance but high cost
savings were given the lowest priority for NRC staff review, which may
have discouraged licensees from submitting this type of request.
On February 23, 1995, the NRC issued Administrative Letter 95-02,
``Cost Beneficial Licensing Actions'' to inform addressees of the CBLA
program. The letter explains that the CBLA program will direct
increased management attention to license amendments designated as cost
beneficial licensing actions and will provide for a more expeditious
review of certain amendment requests. Participation in the CBLA program
is voluntary. Placing additional emphasis on processing CBLAs was meant
to directly improve safety by allowing licensees to shift resources
from activities that improve safety by only an incrementally small
amount to those that more significantly enhance safety.
CBLAs are not new. Many licensee requests seek to modify or delete
requirements that have a small effect on safety and are costly to
implement. However, before June 1993, the NRR priority ranking system
assigned the lowest priority (priority 4) to most licensing submittals
addressing items that benefited safety an incrementally small amount
without consideration of the cost of implementation or restriction of
operational flexibility. As discussed in Administrative Letter 95-02,
the priority ranking of CBLAs will be further increased within the
current priority 3 ranking, so that a CBLA could be expected to be
reviewed before other priority 3 licensing actions.
To assist in developing the CBLA policy and tracking CBLAs, members
of the NRC staff have been dedicated to serve in a CBLA group for a
limited time. The CBLA group, led by Eugene V. Imbro, gives general
CBLA policy guidance to NRC and licensee staffs, tracks and trends CBLA
submittal and approval data, and works with the staff and industry to
identify CBLAs with generic implications. The CBLA group has
determined, based on licensee estimates, that CBLAs approved in 1994
will result in an estimated industry lifetime saving in excess of
$257.2 million. Although the NRC licensing project manager remains the
primary point of contact for all licensing actions including CBLAs,
licensees should contact Mr. Imbro on (303) 415-2969 if they have
questions about the staff's implementation of the CBLA program.
One goal of the Technical Specification Improvement Program is
similar to the goal of the CBLA program, and that is to substantially
reduce regulatory burden. And, like the CBLA program, participation in
the Technical Specification Improvement Program is voluntary.
In July 1994, the NRC proposed to amend technical specification
regulations pertaining to nuclear power reactors through a rule change
to 10 CFR 50.36, Technical Specifications. The purpose of the rule was
to codify the July 1993, final policy statement criteria for
determining the content of technical specifications. These criteria
were developed in recognition that the broad use of technical
specifications to impose requirements has diverted both NRC and
licensee attention from the more important requirements in the
technical specification documents. Broad use of technical
specifications has resulted in an adverse but unquantifiable impact on
safety. Under this rule change licensees may voluntarily use the
criteria as a basis to propose relocation of existing technical
specifications that do not meet any of the criteria, from the facility
license to licensee-controlled documents, such as the final safety
analysis report. Voluntary licensee conversion of current technical
specifications in this manner is expected to produce an improvement in
the safety of nuclear power plants through a reduction in unnecessary
plant transients and more efficient use of NRC and industry resources.
While the NRC will allow licensees to take advantage of the opportunity
to convert their current technical specifications in parts, the NRC
strongly encourages and gives priority to licensees considering
complete conversion of their current technical specifications to the
improved Standard Technical Specifications. The conversion to the
improved Standard Technical Specifications can save licensees'
financial and staff resources by relocating 30 to 40% of existing
technical specifications to licensee-controlled documents and by
incorporating the benefits of numerous Generic Letters, at once. While
the benefits of converting to the new technical specifications are hard
to quantify, licensee owners' groups project annual saving of between
$150,000 and $1.13 million per unit. Licensees for about 40 units are
currently pursuing conversion to the improved Standard Technical
Specifications.
II. Tentative Agenda
April 13, 1995
7:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. Introduction
8:45 a.m. CBLA Administrative Letter Overview
9:45 a.m. BREAK
10:00 a.m. Participant Presentations/Panel Discussion in Response to
Participant Comments
11:45 a.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Technical Specification Improvement Program
2:30 p.m. BREAK
2:45 p.m. Participant Presentations/Panel Discussion in Response to
Participant Comments
4:15 p.m. Summary and Conclusions (NRC)
4:30 p.m. Adjourn
III. Workshop Content and Structure
The workshop is structured to include both NRC staff and licensees'
presentations during the morning and afternoon. An opportunity for
other questions and comments following the presentations is planned.
Participants will be allowed to express their views during specific
comment periods. Participants who wish to make statements will be
scheduled in the order in which they notified the staff of their desire
to make a statement, and as time permits. Comments will be taken from
parties in the order in which they notified the staff of their intent
to comment. The order of comments will be:
(1) Parties who notified the staff by April 10, 1995;
(2) Parties registering to comment before 8:30 am the day of the
workshop; and
(3) Parties who have not given prior notice.
Participants wishing to make comments will be limited to 5 minutes.
[[Page 14015]] These time limits may be adjusted depending on the
number of presentations and comment. The workshop will be transcribed,
and the transcript will be available at the NRC Public Document Room.
To foster meaningful discussions during this session and to aid
participants in preparing their presentations and comments,
participants should consider the following set of questions:
What impact will the CBLA Administrative Letter have on
those organizations that the NRC regulates?
Should the NRC develop a CBLA database that could be made
available to the public?
What are the reasons that the CBLA program has not been
used more widely by licensees?
What are the savings that can result from conversion to
the improved Standard Technical Specifications?
Dated In Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of March , 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eugene V. Imbro,
Director, RRG/CBLA Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-6341 Filed 3-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
