[Federal Register: January 20, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 12)]
[Notices]               
[Page 3138-3139]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20ja99-97]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 
Draft Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued for public comment a 
draft of a guide planned for its Regulatory Guide Series. This series 
has been developed to describe and make available to the public such 
information as methods acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing 
specific parts of the Commission's regulations, techniques used by the 
staff in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data 
needed by the staff in its review of applications for permits and 
licenses.
    The draft guide, temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1074 
(which should be mentioned in all correspondence concerning this draft 
guide), is titled ``Steam Generator Tube Integrity.'' The guide is 
intended for Division 1, ``Power Reactors.'' This draft guide is being 
developed to describe methods acceptable to the NRC staff for 
monitoring and maintaining the integrity of the steam generator tubes 
at operating pressurized water reactors.
    The NRC staff is working with industry to resolve issues with a 
document prepared by the Nuclear Energy Institute, NEI 97-06, ``Steam 
Generator Program Guidelines.'' <SUP>1</SUP> NEI's chief objective with 
NEI 97-06 is for pressurized water reactor (PWR) licensees to evaluate 
their existing steam generator programs and, where necessary, to revise 
or strengthen program attributes to meet the intent of the NEI 97-06 
guidelines. The NEI 97-06 guidelines are intended to improve both the 
quality and the consistency of steam generator programs throughout the 
industry. Currently, technical differences remain between the industry 
and the staff, as well as issues regarding the appropriate regulatory 
framework for implementing the NEI guidelines.
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    \1\ Copies are available for inspection or copying for a fee 
from the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street NW., Washington, 
DC; the PDR's mailing address is Mail Stop LL-6, Washington, DC 
20555; telephone (202) 634-3273; fax (202) 634-3343.
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    Previous draft versions of DG-1074 have been made publicly 
available to support technical interactions with industry and for 
better understanding of the technical differences between the

[[Page 3139]]

DG-1074 guidance and the industry NEI 97-06 approach. As a result of 
these technical interactions, the staff is already familiar with 
industry's comments regarding the DG-1074 guidance. In order to 
minimize expenditure of additional industry resources for commenting on 
the DG-1074 guidance, the staff intends to consider as comments the 
information that the industry has provided in prior public meetings on 
this subject and suggests that industry reference previous interactions 
and submittals wherever possible as providing its comments. However, to 
date the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the DG-1074 
guidance. Accordingly, this Federal Register announcement provides an 
opportunity for the public, as a whole, to provide comments on the DG-
1074 guidance. The staff will consider the public comments both in its 
efforts to finalize the regulatory guidance and in its continuing 
interactions with industry regarding NEI 97-06.
    In addition, two documents in regard to a differing professional 
opinion (DPO) concerning steam generator tube integrity have been 
placed in the NRC's Public Document Room: a document containing the NRC 
staff's consideration of the DPO and a memorandum to the Commission 
from J. Hopenfeld dated September 25, 1998.\1\ The NRC staff requests 
public comments on the technical issues in these documents. The DPO 
consideration document discusses how the staff considered the issues of 
the DPO during the development of the DG-1074 guidance. The September 
25, 1998, memorandum informs the Commission of the DPO author's 
continuing concerns about steam generator tube integrity. The DPO 
author's memorandum to the Commission was sent after the NRC staff 
completed the DPO consideration document; consequently the DPO 
consideration document was not revised to reflect the contents of the 
memorandum. By making this memorandum publicly available, the NRC is 
not endorsing the memorandum nor its contents and is instead providing 
this additional information to enable the public to comment on the 
technical issues contained therein.
    The draft guide does not represent an official NRC staff position. 
Accordingly, the NRC staff does not expect licensees to revise their 
steam generator programs to be in accordance with DG-1074.
    Comments may be accompanied by relevant information or supporting 
data. Written comments may be submitted to the Rules and Directives 
Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555. Copies of comments received may be examined at 
the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC. 
Comments will be most helpful if received by June 30, 1999.
    You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking 
website through the NRC home page (http://www.nrc.gov). This site 
provides the availability to upload comments as files (any format), if 
your web browser supports that function. For information about the 
interactive rulemaking website, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-
5905; e-mail CAG@nrc.gov. For information about the draft guide and the 
related documents, contact Mr. Timothy A. Reed, (301) 415-1462; e-mail 
TAR@nrc.gov.
    Although a time limit is given for comments on this draft guide, 
comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in 
guides currently being developed or improvements in all published 
guides are encouraged at any time.
    Regulatory guides are available for inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC. Requests for 
single copies of draft or final guides (which may be reproduced) or for 
placement on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future 
draft guides in specific divisions should be made in writing to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: 
Reproduction and Distribution Services Section; or by fax to (301) 415-
2289, or by e-mail to <DISTRIBUTION@NRC.GOV>. Telephone requests cannot 
be accommodated. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission 
approval is not required to reproduce them.

(5 U.S.C. 552(a))

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of December 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John W. Craig,
Director, Division of Regulatory Applications, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 99-1197 Filed 1-19-99; 8:45 am]
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