2023-04601. Consideration of Current Operating Issues and Licensing Actions in License Renewal

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public comment on a draft regulatory issue summary (RIS) concerning how the NRC considers current operation of a facility in the NRC's license renewal review under NRC regulations. NRC regulations identify the technical information that must be submitted in a license renewal application (LRA) to enable the NRC staff to make a determination that the license may be renewed. In part, an applicant is required to demonstrate that the effects of aging on the functionality of structures and components subject to an aging management review will be adequately managed; the consideration of recent operating experience is an important aspect of that demonstration. In addition, as required by NRC regulations, license renewal applicants need to update their applications with new information related to any current licensing basis changes that could impact aging management of structures and components.

DATES:

Submit comments by May 8, 2023. 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 submit comments by any of the following methods; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0052. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information Contact section of this document.

• Mail commeIADnts to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Phyllis Clark, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0052 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0052.

• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. RIS 2014-06, Revision 1, “Consideration of Current Operating Issues and Licensing Actions in License Renewal,” is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22024A172.

• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to [e-mail] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website ( https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-2023-0052 in your comment submission.

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

II. Background

The NRC is issuing this regulatory issue summary (RIS) to provide information to applicants and licensees on how the NRC considers current operation of a facility in the NRC's license renewal review under part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.” Revision 1 of RIS 2014-06, “Consideration of Current Operating Issues and Licensing Actions in License Renewal,” provides additional clarity on NRC staff expectations of how operating experience that occurs in all stages of the license renewal process should be considered in an applicant's demonstration of the adequacy of proposed aging management activities. This RIS requires no action or written response on the part of any addressee.

The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad range of matters. It provides guidance to applicants and licensees on the scope and detail of information that should be provided in licensing applications to facilitate NRC review.

As noted in 83 FR 20858 (May 8, 2018), this document is being published in the “Proposed Rules” section of the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 10 CFR chapter I.

III. Proposed Action

The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. All comments that are to receive consideration in the final RIS must be submitted electronically or in writing as indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this document. The NRC staff will make a final determination regarding issuance of the RIS after it considers any public comments received in response to this request.

Dated: March 1, 2023.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Lisa M. Regner,

Chief, Generic Communication and Operating Experience Branch, Division of Reactor Oversight, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.