[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70898-70899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28063]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0253]
Fitness-for-Duty Programs for New Nuclear Power Plant
Construction Sites
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-5036, ``Fitness-for-Duty
[FFD] Programs at New Reactor Construction Sites.'' This DG provides
new guidance for implementing fitness for duty requirements at nuclear
power plant construction sites.
DATES: Submit comments by January 27, 2015. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date. Although a time limit is given, 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.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0253. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: 3WFN 06A-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wesley W. Held, Office of Nuclear
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-415-1583, email:
[email protected], or Richard A. Jervey, Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research, telephone: 301-251-7404, email: [email protected]. U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0253 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
obtain publicly-available information related to this document, by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0253. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then 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 [email protected]. The draft regulatory guide
is available electronically in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14205A141.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0253 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
[[Page 70899]]
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 http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions into ADAMS.
II. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and
make available to the public such information as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
The DG, entitled, ``Fitness-for-Duty Programs at New Reactor
Construction Sites,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
5036. This guidance is provided to ensure the effective and consistent
implementation of the requirements in subpart K, ``FFD Programs for
Construction,'' of part 26, ``Fitness-for-Duty Programs,'' in Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Part 26 requires certain
individuals involved in the construction of nuclear power plants to be
fit-for-duty. The requirements in part 26 are prescriptive in a number
of areas, such as drug and alcohol testing; however, in other areas,
such as those associated with subpart K, ``FFD Program for
Construction,'' the regulations contain less prescriptive, performance-
based requirements. The performance-based regulations in subpart K
enable licensees, applicants, and other entities to develop, implement,
and/or maintain site-specific (or fleet-wide) FFD programs in a manner
that best suits their needs while still meeting regulatory
requirements. However, this flexibility, without regulatory guidance,
can challenge consistent and effective rule implementation. For
example, a licensee can implement sanctions for FFD policy violations
that are markedly more or less severe than sanctions for an equivalent
violation at another licensee's construction site. This DG endorses the
methodologies described in industry guidance document Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) 06-06, ``Fitness for Duty Program Guidance for New
Nuclear Power Plant Construction Sites,'' revision 6, dated April 2013
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13093A340).
III. Backfitting and Issue Finality
This DG, if finalized, would provide guidance on the methods
acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC's regulations
associated with FFD programs of licensees or other entities during
construction of new power reactors. The guide would apply to certain
current and future applicants for, and holders of, power reactor
licenses and construction permits under 10 CFR part 50 and power
reactor licenses and early site permits under 10 CFR part 52. Issuance
of DG-5036, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting under 10 CFR
part 50 and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation''
section of DG-5036, the NRC has no current intention to impose the DG,
if finalized, on current holders of 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses
or 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses.
This DG, if finalized, could be applied to applications for certain
10 CFR part 50 operating licenses or construction permits and 10 CFR
part 52 combined licenses and early site permits. Such action would not
constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise
inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR
part 52, inasmuch as such applicants are not within the scope of
entities protected by 10 CFR 50.109 or the relevant issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of November, 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-28063 Filed 11-26-14; 8:45 am]
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