[Federal Register: February 11, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 28)]
[Notices]               
[Page 7766]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11fe08-96]                         

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 
Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 1.176.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina Antonescu, Reactor System 
Engineer, Division of Engineering, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6792 or e-mail: 
CEA1@NRC.GOV.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing Regulatory 
Guide (RG) 1.176, ``An Approach for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed 
Decisionmaking: Graded Quality Assurance,'' which was published in 
August 1998, but has been superseded by subsequent rulemaking.
    In November 2004, the NRC promulgated Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) section 50.69, ``Risk-informed 
categorization and treatment of structures, systems, and components for 
nuclear power reactors,'' (69 FR 68008) to permit power reactor 
licensees and license applicants to implement an alternative regulatory 
framework with respect to ``special treatment,'' where special 
treatment refers to those requirements that provides increased quality 
assurance beyond normal industrial practices that structures, systems, 
and components (SSCs) perform their design-basis functions. In support 
of 10 CFR 50.69, the staff issued RG 1.201, ``Guidelines for 
Categorizing Structures, Systems and Components in Nuclear Power Plants 
According to Their Safety Significance,'' in January 2006 for trial 
use. This new framework, consisting of the rule along with RG 1.201, 
has made the guidance in RG 1.176 obsolete.

II. Further Information

    The withdrawal of RG 1.176 does not, in and of itself, alter any 
prior or existing licensing commitments based on its use. The current 
version of RG 1.176 represents a method that is no longer acceptable to 
the staff. RGs may be withdrawn when their guidance is superseded by 
congressional action, the methods or techniques described in the RG no 
longer describe an acceptable approach, or the RG does not provide 
useful information.
    RGs are available for inspection or downloading through the NRC's 
public Web site under ``Regulatory Guides'' collection in the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections.
 RGs are also available for inspection at the NRC's Public 

Document Room (PDR), Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738. The PDR's mailing 
address is U.S. NRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR staff can 
be reached by telephone at 301-415-4737 or 800-397-4209, by fax at 301-
415-3548, and by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
    RGs are not copyrighted and NRC approval is not required to 
reproduce them.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of February, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E8-2423 Filed 2-8-08; 8:45 am]

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