Production and utilization facilities; domestic licensing: Nuclear power reactors— significant systems and equipment; reporting reliability and availability information; withdrawn,

[Federal Register: December 2, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 231)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 66497-66498]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr02de98-29]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

RIN 3150-AF33

Reporting Reliability and Availability Information for Risk- Significant Systems and Equipment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule: Withdrawal.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a notice of proposed rulemaking that solicited comments on proposed amendments to its regulations that would have required licensees for commercial nuclear power reactors to report to the NRC, plant-specific summary reliability and availability data for certain risk-significant systems and equipment. The proposed rule would have also required licensees to maintain onsite, and to make available for NRC inspection, records and documentation that provide the basis for the summary data reported to the NRC. The systems and equipment for which data would be provided are a subset of the systems and equipment within the scope of the NRC's maintenance rule. The Commission has decided to accept industry's proposed alternative to the rule to voluntarily provide reliability and availability information for risk-significant systems and equipment and, therefore, withdraws this rulemaking.

ADDRESSES: The Commission paper, the staff requirement memoranda (SRM), and associated documents are available for public inspection, and copying for a fee, at the NRC Public Document Room

[[Page 66498]]

located at 2120 L Street NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20012-7082, telephone: (202) 512-2249.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Allison, Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6835, e-mail dpa@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On February 12, 1996 (61 FR 5318), the NRC published in the Federal Register proposed amendments to 10 CFR Part 50 that would have required operating reactor licensees to report reliability and availability information for certain risk-significant systems and equipment. The reporting requirements would have applied to the event-mitigating systems and equipment that have or could have a significant effect on risk in terms of avoiding core damage accidents or preserving containment integrity. The data that would have been reported would have included: the number of demands and the number of failures to start associated with those demands, along with additional descriptive information; the number of hours of operation following each successful start including whether or not the run was terminated by equipment failure, along with additional descriptive information; the number of hours equipment is unavailable, along with additional descriptive information; for each period equipment is unavailable due to component failure, descriptive information on that failure; and the number of hours when two or more trains from the same or different systems were concurrently unavailable, along with additional descriptive information.

The public comment period closed on June 11, 1996. The NRC received 31 comment letters. One comment letter supported the rule, stating that the public and industry could expect significant benefits. Most of the remaining comments opposed the rule, stating that the proposed reporting requirements costs were underestimated, benefits were overestimated, the rule would be overly burdensome, the rule would be premature, and that the rule is not justified.

The Commission SRM dated June 28, 1995, issued in response to SECY- 95-129, and the SRM on SECY-95-215 dated October 24, 1995, directed the NRC staff to continue to work with industry on voluntary submittal of reliability data under a program that will meet the needs of all parties. On October 1, 1996, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) provided the NRC with a sample of data available from its Safety System Performance Indicator (SSPI) system, as part of a voluntary nuclear industry data sharing initiative. A revised Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between INPO and the NRC was signed on December 24, 1996, providing NRC with access to SSPI data. In addition, on March 21, 1997, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) provided the NRC with a description of a new INPO data collection system, Equipment Performance and Information Exchange (EPIX). Based upon a review of data available in SSPI and EPIX, as well as the information available from Licensee Event Reports and Monthly Operating Reports, the Commission has determined that under the voluntary approach, the NRC can estimate risk parameters and construct a reliability database that reflects the parameters needed for effective use in risk-informed applications. Thus, the intended benefits of the proposed rule would be realized and the main advantages of the voluntary approach (i.e., the lower cost, schedule, and industry support) outweigh any disadvantages. The NRC will continue to work with industry representatives to improve thecontent of the voluntary data. Because of industry's voluntary alternative approach to the rule, the Commission is withdrawing this proposed rulemaking.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of November, 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. John C. Hoyle, Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 98-32106Filed12-1-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P