10 CFR Part 50, Domestic
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
03/26/2021
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
05/31/2022
43,595
43,617
3,705,602
3,710,882
272,062
272,062
American Society of Mechanical
Engineers 2019–2020 Code Editions Incorporation by Reference
Proposed Rule - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference the
2019 Edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler
and Pressure Vessel Code and the 2020 Edition of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers Operation and Maintenance of
Nuclear Power Plants, Division 1: OM Code: Section IST, for nuclear
power plants. The NRC is also proposing to incorporate by reference
the 2011 Addenda to ASME NQA-1-2008, Quality Assurance Requirements
for Nuclear Facility Applications (ASME NQA-1b-2011), and the 2012
and 2015 Editions of ASME NQA 1, Quality Assurance Requirements for
Nuclear Facility Applications. This action is in accordance with
the NRC’s policy to periodically update the regulations to
incorporate by reference new editions of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers Codes and is intended to maintain the safety
of nuclear power plants and to make NRC activities more effective
and efficient.
The proposed rule would
decrease the burden for 10 CFR Part 50 from 3,710,882 hours and
43,617 responses to 3,705,602 hours and 43,595 responses, a
reduction of 5,280 hours and 22 responses. The proposed rule
incorporates by reference OM and BPV Codes from ASME as described
above, which reduce the burden on industry and the NRC by a
reduction in alternative requests submitted and reviewed as a
result of aspects of plant operation covered by these codes. A
recent review of Code alternative requests submitted to the NRC
over the last 5 year span found that submittals ranged from a few
pages to several hundred pages, with an average of approximately 32
pages. However, the burden hours have been reduced as requests have
become less complex to review over time. Therefore, the NRC
estimates that a request requires an average of 150 hours of effort
to develop the technical justification and an additional 80 hours
to perform research, review, approve, process, and submit the
document to the NRC for use of alternatives under 10 CFR 50.55a(z).
Therefore, the total for estimated burden is 230 hours per request.
In the same manner, the NRC estimates that the total burden to
perform the technical review (including resolving technical
issues), document the evaluation, and respond to the licensee’s
request is 115 hours per request. Following the implementation
phase, the industry will see a reduced burden for the aspects of
plant operation covered by the code cases in the proposed
rule.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
6_Proposed_Rule_Supporting Statement_ASME 2019-2020 031621.docx
10 CFR Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities