3. Applications for operating licenses submitted pursuant to this appendix N shall include the information required by §§ 50.33, 50.34 (b) and (c), and 50.34a(c) of this chapter. The applicant shall also submit the information required by $51.53 of this chapter. For the technical information required by §§ 50.34(b) (2) through (5) and 50.34a(c), reference may be made to a single final safety analysis of the design.

APPENDIX O TO PART 52-STANDARDIZATION OF DESIGN: STAFF REVIEW OF STANDARD DESIGNS

This appendix sets out procedures for the filing, staff review and referral to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards of standard designs for a nuclear power reactor of the type described in § 50.22 of this chapter or major portions thereof.

1. Any person may submit a proposed preliminary or final standard design for a nuclear power reactor of the type described in §50.22 to the regulatory staff for its review. Such a submittal may consist of either the preliminary or final design for the entire reactor facility or the preliminary or final design of major portions thereof.

2. The submittal for review of the standard design must be made in the same manner and in the same number of copies as provided in §§50.4 and 50.30 of this chapter for license applications.

3. The submittal for review of the standard design shall include the information described in §§ 50.33 (a) through (d) of this chapter and the applicable technical information required by §§ 50.34 (a) and (b), as appropriate, and 50.34a of this chapter (other than that required by §§ 50.34(a) (6) and (10), 50.34(b)(1), (6) (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) and 50.34(b) (7) and (8)). The submittal shall also include a description, analysis and evaluation of the interfaces between the submitted design and the balance of the nuclear power plant. With respect to the requirements of §§ 50.34(a)(1) of this chapter, the submittal for review of a standard design shall include the site parameters postulated for the design, and an analysis and evaluation of the design in terms of such postulated site parameters. The information submitted pursuant to §50.34(a)(7) of this chapter, shall be limted to the quality assurance program to be applied to the design, procurement and fabrication of the structures, systems, and components for which design review has been requested and the information submitted pursuant to § 50.34(a)(9) of this chapter shall be limited to the qualifications of the person submitting the standard design to design the reactor or major portion thereof. The submittal shall

also include information pertaining to design features that affect plans for coping with emergencies in the operation of the reactor or major portion thereof.

4. Once the regulatory staff has initiated a technical review of a submittal under this appendix, the submittal will be referred to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) for a review and report.

5. Upon completion of their review of a submittal under this appendix, the regulatory staff shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER a determination as to whether or not the preliminary or final design is acceptable, subject to such conditions as may be appropriate, and make available in the Public Document Room an analysis of the design in the form of a report. An approved design shall be utilized by and relied upon by the regulatory staff and the ACRS in their review of any individual facility license application which incorporates by reference a design approved in accordance with this paragraph unless there exists significant new information which substantially affects the earlier determination or other good cause.

6. The determination and report by the regulatory staff shall not constitute a commitment to issue a permit or license, or in any way affect the authority of the Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, and other presiding officers in any proceeding under subpart G of part 2 of this chapter.

7. Information requests to the approval holder regarding an approved design shall be evaluated prior to issuance to ensure that the burden to be imposed on respondents is justified in view of the potential safety significance of the issue to be addressed in the requested information. Each such evaluation performed by the NRC staff shall be in accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(f) and shall be approved by the Executive Director for Operations or his or her designee prior to issuance of the request.

[54 FR 15386, Apr. 18, 1989, as amended at 61 FR 9902, Mar. 12, 1996]

APPENDIX P TO PART 52 [RESERVED] APPENDIX Q TO PART 52-PRE-APPLICATION EARLY REVIEW OF SITE SUITABILITY ISSUES

This appendix sets out procedures for the filing, Staff review, and referral to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) of requests for early review of one or more site suitability issues relating to the construction and operation of certain utilization facilities separately from and prior to the submittal of applications for construction permits for the facilities. The appendix also sets out procedures for the preparation

and issuance of Staff Site Reports and for their incorporation by reference in applications for the construction and operation of certain utilization facilities. The utilization facilities are those which are subject to § 51.20(b) of this chapter and are of the type specified in §50.21(b) (2) or (3) or § 50.22 of this chapter or are testing facilities. This appendix does not apply to proceedings conducted pursuant to subpart F or part 2 of this chapter.

1. Any person may submit information regarding one or more site suitability issues to the Commission's Staff for its review separately from and prior to an application for a construction permit for a facility. Such a submittal shall be accompanied by any fee required by part 170 of this chapter and shall consist of the portion of the information required of applicants for construction permits by §§ 50.33 (a)–(c) and (e) of this chapter, and, insofar as it relates to the issue(s) of site suitability for which early review is sought, by §§ 50.34(a)(1) and 50.30(f) of this chapter, except that information with respect to operation of the facility at the projected initial power level need not be supplied.

2. The submittal for early review of site suitability issue(s) must be made in the same manner and in the same number of copies as provided in §§ 50.4 and 50.30 of this chapter for license applications. The submittal must include sufficient information concerning range of postulated facility design and operation parameters to enable the Staff to perform the requested review of site suitability issues. The submittal must contain suggested conclusions on the issues of site suitability submitted for review and must be accompanied by a statement of the bases or the reasons for those conclusions. The submittal must also list, to the extent possible, any long-range objectives for ultimate development of the site, state whether any site selection process was used in preparing the submittal, describe any site selection process used, and explain what consideration, if any, was given to alternative sites.

3. The staff shall publish a note of docketing of the submittal in the FEDERAL REGISTER, and shall send a copy of the notice of docketing to the Governor or other appropriate official of the State in which the site is located. This notice shall identify the location of the site, briefly describe the site suitability issue(s) under review, and invite comments from Federal, State, and local agencies and interested persons within 120 days of publication or such other time as may be specified, for consideration by the staff in connection with the initiation or outcome of the review and, if appropriate by the ACRS, in connection with the outcome of their review. The person requesting review shall serve a copy of the submittal on the Governor or other appropriate official of the State in which the site is located, and on the

chief executive of the municipality in which the site is located or, if the site is not located in a municipality, on the chief executive of the county. The portion of the submittal containing information requested of applicants for construction permits by §§ 50.33 (a)-(c) and (e) and 50.34(a)(1) of this chapter will be referred to the ACRS for a review and report. There will be no referral to the ACRS unless early review of the site safety issues under § 50.34(a)(1) is requested.

4. Upon completion of review by the staff and, if appropriate by the ACRS, of a submittal under this appendix, the staff shall prepare a Staff Site Report which shall identify the location of the site, state the site suitability issues reviewed, explain the nature and scope of the review, state the conclusions of the staff regarding the issues reviewed and state the reasons for those conclusions. Upon issuance of a Staff Site Report, the staff shall publish a notice of the availability of the report in the FEDERAL REGISTER and shall place copies of the report in the Commission's Public Document at 2120 L Street NW., Lower Level (Room LL-6), Washington, DC 20037, and in a Local Public Document Room(s) located near the site identified in the Staff Site Report. The staff shall also send a copy of the report to the Governor or other appropriate official of the State in which the site is located, and to the chief executive of the municipality in which the site is located or, if the site is not located in a municipality, to the chief executive of the county.

5. Any Staff Site Report prepared and issued in accordance with this appendix may be incorporated by reference, as appropriate, in an application for a construction permit for a utilization facility which is subject to § 51.20(b) of this chapter and is of the type specific in §50.21(b) (2) or (3) or § 50.22 of this chapter or is a testing facility. The conclusions of the Staff Site Report will be reexamined by the staff where five years or more have elapsed between the issuance of the Staff Site Report and its incorporation by reference in a construction permit application.

6. Issuance of a Staff Site Report shall not constitute a commitment to issue a permit or license, to permit on-site work under § 50.10(e) of this chapter, or in any way affect the authority of the Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, and other presiding officers in any proceeding under subpart F and/or G of part 2 of this chapter. 7. The staff will not conduct more than one review of site suitability issues with regard to a particular site prior to the full construction permit review required by subpart A of part 51 of this chapter. The staff may decline to prepare and issue a Staff Site Report in response to a submittal under this appendix where it appears that, (a) in cases where no

review of the relative merits of the submitted site and alternative sites under subpart A of part 51 of this chapter is requested, there is a reasonable likelihood that further staff review would identify one or more preferable alternative sites and the staff review of one or more site suitability issues would lead to an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources prior to the submittal of the analysis of alternative sites in the Environmental Report that would prejudice the later review and decision on alternative sites under subpart F and/or G of part 2 and subpart A of part 51 of this chapter; or (b) in cases where, in the judgment of the staff, early review of any site suitability issue or issues would not be in the public interest, considering (1) the degree of likelihood that any early findings on those issues would retain their validity in later reviews, (2) the objections, if any, of cognizant state or local government agencies to the conduct of an early review on those issues, and (3) the possible effect on the public interest of having an early, if not necessarily conclusive, resolution of those issues.

PART 53 (RESERVED)

AUTHORITY: Secs. 102, 103, 104, 161, 181, 182, 183, 186, 189, 68 Stat. 936, 937, 938, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 1244, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2236, 2239, 2282); secs. 201, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, 1244, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842).

SOURCE: 60 FR 22491, May 8, 1995, unless otherwise noted.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

§ 54.1 Purpose.

This part governs the issuance of renewed operating licenses for nuclear power plants licensed pursuant to Sections 103 or 104b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 919), and Title II of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1242).

§ 54.3 Definitions.

(a) As used in this part,

Current licensing basis (CLB) is the set of NRC requirements applicable to a specific plant and a licensee's written commitments for ensuring compliance with and operation within applicable NRC requirements and the plant-specific design basis (including all modifications and additions to such commitments over the life of the license) that are docketed and in effect. The CLB includes the NRC regulations contained in 10 CFR Parts 2, 19, 20, 21, 26, 30, 40, 50, 51, 54, 55, 70, 72, 73, 100 and appendices thereto; orders; license conditions; exemptions; and technical specifications. It also includes the plantspecific design-basis information defined in 10 CFR 50.2 as documented in the most recent final safety analysis report (FSAR) as required by 10 CFR 50.71 and the licensee's commitments remaining in effect that were made in docketed licensing correspondence such as licensee responses to NRC bulletins, generic letters, and enforcement actions, as well as licensee commitments documented in NRC safety evaluations or licensee event reports.

Integrated plant assessment (IPA) is a licensee assessment that demonstrates that a nuclear power plant facility's

structures and components requiring aging management review in accordance with §54.21(a) for license renewal I have been identified and that the effects of aging on the functionality of such structures and components will be managed to maintain the CLB such that there is an acceptable level of safety during the period of extended operation.

Nuclear power plant means a nuclear power facility of a type described in 10 CFR 50.21(b) or 50.22.

Time-limited aging analyses, for the purposes of this part, are those licensee calculations and analyses that:

(1) Involve systems, structures, and components within the scope of license renewal, as delineated in §54.4(a);

(2) Consider the effects of aging;

(3) Involve time-limited assumptions defined by the current operating term, for example, 40 years;

(4) Were determined to be relevant by the licensee in making a safety determination;

(5) Involve conclusions or provide the basis for conclusions related to the capability of the system, structure, and component to perform its intended functions, as delineated in §54.4(b); and (6) Are contained or incorporated by reference in the CLB.

(b) All other terms in this part have the same meanings as set out in 10 CFR 50.2 or Section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act, as applicable.

§ 54.4 Scope.

(a) Plant systems, structures, and components within the scope of this part are

(1) Safety-related systems, structures, and components which are those relied upon to remain functional during and following design-basis events (as defined in 10 CFR 50.49 (b)(1)) to ensure the following functions

(i) The integrity of the reactor coolant pressure boundary;

(ii) The capability to shut down the reactor and maintain it in a safe shutdown condition; or

(iii) The capability to prevent or mitigate the consequences of accidents that could result in potential offsite exposure comparable to the guidelines in §50.34(a)(1) or § 100.11 of this chapter, as applicable.

(2) All nonsafety-related systems, structures, and components whose failure could prevent satisfactory accomplishment of any of the functions identified in paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section.

(3) All systems, structures, and components relied on in safety analyses or plant evaluations to perform a function that demonstrates compliance with the Commission's regulations for fire protection (10 CFR 50.48), environmental qualification (10 CFR 50.49), pressurized thermal shock (10 CFR 50.61), anticipated transients without scram (10 CFR 50.62), and station blackout (10 CFR 50.63).

(b) The intended functions that these systems, structures, and components must be shown to fulfill in §54.21 are those functions that are the bases for including them within the scope of license renewal as specified in paragraphs (a)(1)–(3) of this section.

[60 FR 22491, May 8, 1995, as amended at 61 FR 65175, Dec. 11, 1996]

EFFECTIVE DATE NOTE: At 61 FR 65175, Dec. 11, 1996, §54.4 was amended by revising paragraph (a)(1)(iii), effective Jan. 10, 1997. For the convenience of the user, the superseded text is set forth as follows:

$54.4 Scope.

(a) ***

(1) ***

(iii) The capability to prevent or mitigate the consequences of accidents that could result in potential offsite exposure comparable to the 10 CFR Part 100 guidelines.

§ 54.5 Interpretations.

Except as specifically authorized by the Commission in writing, no interpretation of the meaning of the regulations in this part by any officer or employee of the Commission other than a written interpretation by the General Counsel will be recognized to be binding upon the Commission.

$54.7 Written communications.

All applications, correspondence, reports, and other written communications shall be filed in accordance with applicable portions of 10 CFR 50.4.

$54.9 Information collection requirements: OMB approval.

(a) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has submitted the information collection requirements contained in this part to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). OMB has approved the information collection requirements contained in this part under control numbers 150-0155.

(b) The approved information collection requirements contained in this part appear in §§ 54.13, 54.17, 54.19, 54.21, 54.22, 54.23, 54.33, and 54.37.

§ 54.11 Public inspection of applications.

Applications and documents submitted to the Commission in connection with renewal applications may be made available for public inspection in accordance with the provisions of the regulations contained in 10 CFR Part 2.

§ 54.13 Completeness and accuracy of

information.

(a) Information provided to the Commission by an applicant for a renewed license or information required by statute or by the Commission's regulations, orders, or license conditions to be maintained by the applicant must be complete and accurate in all material respects.

(b) Each applicant shall notify the Commission of information identified by the applicant as having, for the regulated activity, a significant implication for public health and safety or common defense and security. An applicant violates this paragraph only if the applicant fails to notify the Commission of information that the applicant has identified as having a significant implication for public health and safety or common defense and security. Notification must be provided to the Administrator of the appropriate regional office within 2 working days of identifying the information. This requirement is not applicable to information that is already required to be provided to the Commission by other reporting or updating requirements.

$54.15 Specific exemptions.

Exemptions from the requirements of this part may be granted by the Commission in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12.

§ 54.17 Filing of application.

(a) The filing of an application for a renewed license must be in accordance with Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 2 and 10 CFR 50.4 and 50.30.

(b) Any person who is a citizen, national, or agent of a foreign country, or any corporation, or other entity which the Commission knows or has reason to know is owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, a foreign corporation, or a foreign government, is ineligible to apply for and obtain a renewed license.

(c) An application for a renewed license may not be submitted to the Commission earlier than 20 years before the expiration of the operating license currently in effect.

(d) An applicant may combine an application for a renewed license with applications for other kinds of licenses.

(e) An application may incorporate by reference information contained in previous applications for licenses or license amendments, statements, correspondence, or reports filed with the Commission, provided that the references are clear and specific.

(f) If the application contains Restricted Data or other defense information, it must be prepared in such a manner that all Restricted Data and other defense information are separated from unclassified information in accordance with 10 CFR 50.33(j).

(g) As part of its application and in any event prior to the receipt of Restricted Data or the issuance of a renewed license, the applicant shall agree in writing that it will not permit any individual to have access to Restricted Data until an investigation is made and reported to the Commission on the character, association, and loyalty of the individual and the Commission shall have determined that permitting such persons to have access to Restricted Data will not endanger the common defense and security. The agreement of the applicant in this regard is part of the renewed license, whether so stated or not.