Quality Group Classifications and Standards for Water-, Steam-, and Radioactive-Waste-Containing Components of Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Regulatory guide; issuance.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 6 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.26 “Quality Group Classifications and Standards for Water-, Steam-, and Radioactive-Waste-Containing Components of Nuclear Power Plants.” Revision 6 to RG 1.26 incorporates additional information that provides guidance for alternative quality classification systems for components in light-water reactor (LWR) nuclear power plants and updates the staff position regarding classification of Quality Group C components to reflect the latest guidance on systems that contain radioactive material since Revision 5 (02/2017), of RG 1.26 was issued. The appendices to this revised RG provide guidance for alternative quality classification systems for components in LWR nuclear power plants.

DATES:

Revision 6 to RG 1.26 is available on December 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0252 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may obtain publicly available information related to this document using any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0252. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov . For technical questions, contact the individuals 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 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, at 301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this document.

• 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Revision 6 to RG 1.26 and the regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21232A142 and ML20168A893, respectively.

Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Scarbrough, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2794 email: Thomas.Scarbrough@nrc.gov or James Steckel, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1026 email: James.Steckel@nrc.gov. Both are staff members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

The NRC is issuing a revision in the NRC's “Regulatory Guide” series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the public information regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.

Revision 6 of RG 1.26 was issued with a temporary identification of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1371.

II. Additional Information

The NRC published a notice of availability of DG-1371 in the Federal Register on May 7, 2021 (86 FR 24672) for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period closed on July 6, 2021. Public comments on DG-1371 and the staff responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS under accession No. ML21235A011.

III. Congressional Review Act

This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

Revision 6 of RG 1.26 does not constitute backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Backfitting,” and as described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, “Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests”; constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4; or affect the issue finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, “Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.” As explained in Revision 6 of RG 1.26, applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the positions set forth in this RG.