[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 76 (Thursday, April 20, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19686-19688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9764]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
Public Meeting on Results of Pilot Site Visits and Revision to
Maintenance Inspection Guidance
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Announcement of meeting.
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SUMMARY: The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) will
hold a public workshop to discuss the results of nine pilot site visits
which were conducted to assess the adequacy of the draft maintenance
rule inspection procedure developed for use by NRC inspectors to verify
the implementation of the maintenance rule. This document is necessary
to inform the public that the meeting is open to the public as
observers.
DATES: The meeting will be held on June 27, 1995, from 9:00 am to 5:00
pm. The workshop will provide the participants an opportunity to ask
questions, make comments during the discussion, or submit written
comments for NRC consideration. Written comments received from
interested parties unable to attend the workshop will also be
considered through July 15, 1995.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Stouffers Concourse
(Airport) Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63134, (Fax)
(314) 429-3466. Written comments may be provided at this meeting or
submitted after the meeting. Registration forms or further information
should be addressed to Ronald Frahm (See FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
To ensure that adequate seating is available, persons planning to
attend the workshop are requested to either call the contact designated
below or complete and forward the attached registration form to the
same contact by May 30, 1995. A block of rooms has been reserved at the
Stouffers Concourse Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 429-1100, for the
convenience of meeting attendees. These rooms will be available at a
reduced group rate until May 22, 1995. Attendees should identify
themselves with the NRC Maintenance Workshop NRC-0626 to ensure the
group rate. The NRC, however, does not encourage nor support
frequenting this or any other specific establishment.
The original draft procedure ``Maintenance Inspection Procedure
XXXXX'' (dated July 25, 1994) is publicly available at the NRC Public
Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20555-
0001. A revised draft revision of the inspection procedure, including
changes from the previous workshop (March 31, 1994), and lessons
learned from the pilot site visits will be made available at the
workshop for discussion.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ronald Frahm, Jr. M/S 010-A19 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Washington, DC 20555, Telephone
(301) 415-2986; FAX 301-415-2260; INTERNET:[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The draft NRC Inspection Procedure
``Maintenance Inspection Procedure XXXXX'' was developed for inspectors
to ascertain whether licensees have satisfactorily implemented the
requirements of the maintenance rule. The procedure is also structured
to verify conformance with the maintenance rule for licensees using
NUMARC 93-01, ``Industry Guidance for Monitoring the Effectiveness of
Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants,'' as implementing guidance.
At the workshop, NRC representatives will present an overview of
the pilot site visit program, revisions to the draft inspection
procedure and, as applicable, issues related to the maintenance rule
and the NUMARC 93-01 industry guidance. NRC regional inspection
representatives will be available to participate in the discussions.
The workshop will conclude with a summary of the major issues
identified at the meeting.
On July 10, 1991 (56 FR 31306), the NRC published the
``Requirements for Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at
Nuclear Power Plants'' as Sec. 50.65 of 10 CFR 50 ``Domestic Licensing
of Production and Utilization Facilities.'' The maintenance rule will
become effective on July 10, 1996. The five year period to implement
the rule permits time to develop implementation guidance, inspection
procedures, and sufficient time for licensees to have in place the
necessary controls that ensure conformance with the rule requirements.
The Commission's determination that a maintenance rule was needed arose
from the conclusion that proper maintenance is essential to plant
safety, especially as plants age. Shortly after the maintenance rule
was published, the NRC and the Nuclear Management and Resource Council
(NUMARC) embarked on parallel efforts to develop rule implementation
guidance. The NRC staff review of the NUMARC document found that it
provided an acceptable method for licensees to implement the
requirements of the maintenance rule. In June 1993, the Commission
issued Regulatory Guide 1.160 which endorsed the NUMARC guidance NUMARC
93-01, ``Industry Guideline for Monitoring the Effectiveness of
Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated May 1993. Subsequently a
verification and validation (V & V) program was also conducted by
NUMARC, with NRC staff observation, to test its guidance on several
representative systems by eight nuclear utilities at nine nuclear
units. The V & V effort concluded that the guidelines were adequate to
implement the maintenance rule.
The NRC staff developed a draft inspection procedure to be used by
NRC inspectors to verify the implementation of the maintenance rule
requirements. The NRC staff, with NEI representatives observing,
validated the inspection procedure during pilot inspection visits at
nine volunteer nuclear power facilities between September 1994 and
March 1995. After considering the comments obtained from the previous
maintenance rule inspection procedure workshop conducted in March 1994,
and information gathered during the pilot site visits, the NRC staff
revised the inspection procedure and is conducting this workshop to
provide interested parties another opportunity to participate in
discussions on the lessons learned from the pilot site visits and the
final revision of the inspection procedure.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of April 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard Correia,
Chief, Reliability and Maintenance Section, Quality Assurance and
Maintenance Branch, Division of Technical Support, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
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[FR Doc. 95-9764 Filed 4-19-95; 8:45 am]
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