Regulatory Guide 1.156

((Draft Was Issued as DG-1254, Dated January 2011), Qualification of Connection Assemblies for Nuclear Power Plants

ML111730464
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Issue date:	07/31/2011
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DG-1254 RG 1.156, Rev 1
Download: ML111730464 (5)

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

July 2011

Revision 1 REGULATORY GUIDE

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH

The NRC issues regulatory guides to describe and make available to the public methods that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in implementing specific parts of the agencys regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in reviewing applications for permits and licenses. Regulatory guides are not substitutes for regulations, and compliance with them is not required. Methods and solutions that differ from those set forth in regulatory guides will be deemed acceptable if they provide a basis for the findings required for the issuance or continuance of a permit or license by the Commission.

This guide was issued after consideration of comments received from the public.

Regulatory guides are issued in 10 broad divisions; 1, Power Reactors; 2, Research and Test Reactors; 3, Fuels and Materials Facilities; 4, Environmental and Siting; 5, Materials and Plant Protection; 6, Products; 7, Transportation; 8, Occupational Health;

9, Antitrust and Financial Review; and 10, General.

Electronic copies of this guide and other recently issued guides are available through the NRCs public Web site under the Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ and through the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under Accession No. ML111730464. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML111730474.

Public comments and the NRC response to them may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML111730478.

REGULATORY GUIDE 1.156 (Draft was issued as DG-1254, dated January 2011)

QUALIFICATION OF CONNECTION ASSEMBLIES

FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

A.

INTRODUCTION

This guide describes a method that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

considers acceptable for complying with the Commissions regulations on the environmental qualification of connection assemblies and environmental seals in combination with cables or wires as assemblies for service in nuclear power plants. The environmental qualification helps ensure that connection assemblies can perform their safety functions during and after a design-basis event.

Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities (10 CFR Part 50) (Ref. 1), Appendix B, Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants, Criterion III, Design Control, requires, in part, that test programs used to verify the adequacy of specific design features include suitable qualification testing of a prototype unit under the most adverse design conditions.

In 10 CFR 50.49, Environmental Qualification of Electric Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants, the NRC requires that certain electric equipment important to safety be qualified for its application and specified performance. The regulation also identifies requirements for establishing environmental qualification methods and qualification parameters.

This regulatory guide contains information collection requirements covered by 10 CFR Part 50

that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved under OMB control number 3150-0011.

The NRC may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection request or requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number. This regulatory guide is a rule as designated in the Congressional Review Act

(5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the NRC has determined this regulatory guide is not a major rule as designated by the Congressional Review Act.

Rev. 1 of RG 1.156, Page 2 B.

DISCUSSION

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard (Std.) 572-2006, Qualification of Class 1E Connection Assemblies for Nuclear Power Generating Stations, issued June 2007 (Ref. 2),

was prepared by Subcommittee 2 (Qualification) of the IEEE Nuclear Power Engineering Committee and was approved by the IEEE Standards Board on December 6, 2006. This standard describes basic procedures for qualifying connection assemblies (e.g., connectors, terminations, and environmental seals in combination with related cables or wires as assemblies). The qualification requirements in this standard, when followed, demonstrate and document the ability of the equipment to perform safety functions under applicable service conditions, including design-basis events.

Regulatory Guide 1.100, Seismic Qualification of Electrical and Active Mechanical Equipment and Functional Qualification of Active Mechanical Equipment for Nuclear Power Plants (Ref. 3),

provides guidance on the seismic qualification of this equipment.

The regulations in 10 CFR 50.49 define three categories of electric equipment that must be environmentally qualified: (1) safety-related equipment, (2) nonsafety-related equipment if its failure could adversely affect safety-related equipment, and (3) certain postaccident monitoring equipment. This regulatory guide provides an acceptable method of qualifying connectors, terminations, and environmental seals in combination with cables or wires as assemblies for all three categories of equipment.

Other Codes and Standards

This regulatory guide endorses the use of one or more voluntary consensus codes or standards developed by external organizations. These codes or standards may contain references to other codes or standards. These references should be considered individually. If a referenced standard has been incorporated separately into NRC regulations, licensees and applicants must comply with that standard as set forth in the regulation. If the referenced standard has been endorsed in a regulatory guide, the standard constitutes a method acceptable to the NRC staff for meeting a regulatory requirement as described in the regulatory guide. If a referenced standard has been neither incorporated into NRC

regulations nor endorsed in a regulatory guide, licensees and applicants may consider and use the information in the referenced standard, if appropriately justified, consistent with current regulatory practice.

C.

REGULATORY POSITION

The NRC considers the use of the procedures in IEEE Std. 572-2006, when used in conjunction with Regulatory Guide 1.89, Environmental Qualification of Certain Electric Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants (Ref. 4), as an acceptable method of demonstrating compliance with the NRC regulations pertaining to the environmental qualification of connectors, terminations, and environmental seals in combination with cables or wires as assemblies for service in nuclear power plants to ensure that the connection assemblies can perform their safety functions.

Rev. 1 of RG 1.156, Page 3 D.

IMPLEMENTATION

The purpose of this section is to provide information on how applicants and licensees1 may use this guide and information regarding the NRCs plans for using this regulatory guide. In addition, it describes how the NRC staff complies with the Backfit Rule (10 CFR 50.109) and any applicable finality provisions in 10 CFR Part 52.

Use by Applicants and Licensees

Applicants and licensees may voluntarily2 use the guidance in this document to demonstrate compliance with the underlying NRC regulations. Methods or solutions that differ from those described in this regulatory guide may be deemed acceptable if they provide sufficient basis and information for the NRC staff to verify that the proposed alternative demonstrates compliance with the appropriate NRC

regulations. Current licensees may continue to use guidance the NRC found acceptable for complying with the identified regulations as long as their current licensing basis remains unchanged. The acceptable guidance may be a previous version of this regulatory guide.

Licensees may use the information in this regulatory guide for actions which do not require NRC

review and approval such as changes to a facility design under 10 CFR 50.59. Licensees may use the information in this regulatory guide or applicable parts to resolve regulatory or inspection issues.

Use by NRC Staff

During regulatory discussions on plant specific operational issues, the staff may discuss with licensees, various actions consistent with staff positions in this regulatory guide, as one acceptable means of meeting the underlying NRC regulatory requirement. Such discussions would not ordinarily be considered backfitting even if prior versions of this regulatory guide are part of the licensing basis of the facility. However, unless this regulatory guide is part of the licensing basis for a facility, the staff may not represent to the licensee that the licensees failure to comply with the positions in this regulatory guide constitutes a violation.

If an existing licensee voluntarily seeks a license amendment or change and (1) the NRC staffs consideration of the request involves a regulatory issue directly relevant to this new or revised regulatory guide and (2) the specific subject matter of this regulatory guide is an essential consideration in the staffs determination of the acceptability of the licensees request, then the staff may request that the licensee either follow the guidance in this regulatory guide or provide an equivalent alternative process that demonstrates compliance with the underlying NRC regulatory requirements. This is not considered backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1) or a violation of any of the issue finality provisions in 10

CFR Part 52.

The NRC staff does not intend or approve any imposition or backfitting of the guidance in this regulatory guide. The NRC staff does not expect any existing licensee to use or commit to using the

1 In this section, licensees refers to licensees of nuclear power plants under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52; and the term applicants, refers to applicants for licenses and permits for (or relating to) nuclear power plants under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, and applicants for standard design approvals and standard design certifications under 10 CFR Part 52.

2 In this section, voluntary and voluntarily means that the licensee is seeking the action of its own accord, without the force of a legally binding requirement or an NRC representation of further licensing or enforcement action.

Rev. 1 of RG 1.156, Page 4 guidance in this regulatory guide, unless the licensee makes a change to its licensing basi

s. The NRC

staff does not expect or plan to request licensees to voluntarily adopt this regulatory guide to resolve a generic regulatory issue. The NRC staff does not expect or plan to initiate NRC regulatory action which would require the use of this regulatory guide. Examples of such unplanned NRC regulatory actions include issuance of an order requiring the use of the regulatory guide, requests for information under

10 CFR 50.54(f) as to whether a licensee intends to commit to use of this regulatory guide, generic communication, or promulgation of a rule requiring the use of this regulatory guide without further backfit consideration.

Additionally, an existing applicant may be required to adhere to new rules, orders, or guidance if

10 CFR 50.109(a)(3) applies.

Conclusion

This regulatory guide is not being imposed upon current licensees and may be voluntarily used by existing licensees. In addition, this regulatory guide is issued in conformance with all applicable internal NRC policies and procedures governing backfitting. Accordingly, the NRC staff issuance of this regulatory guide is not considered backfitting, as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1), nor is it deemed to be in conflict with any of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR Part 52.

If a licensee believes that the NRC is either using this regulatory guide or requesting or requiring the licensee to implement the methods or processes in this regulatory guide in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in this Implementation section, then the licensee may file a backfit appeal with the NRC in accordance with the guidance in NUREG-1409 and NRC Management Directive 8.

4.

Rev. 1 of RG 1.156, Page 5 REFERENCES3

1.

10 CFR Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC.

2.

IEEE Std. 572-2006, Qualification of Class 1E Connection Assemblies for Nuclear Power Generating Stations, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway, NJ, June 2007.4

3.

Regulatory Guide 1.100, Seismic Qualification of Electrical and Active Mechanical Equipment and Functional Qualification of Active Mechanical Equipment for Nuclear Power Plants, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC.

4.

Regulatory Guide 1.89, Environmental Qualification of Certain Electric Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC.

3 Publicly available NRC-published documents are available electronically through the NRC Library on the NRCs public Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. The documents can also be viewed online or printed for a fee in the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD; the mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555; telephone 301-415-4737 or (800) 397-4209; fax (301) 415-3548; and e-mail PDR.Resource@nrc.gov.

4 Copies of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) documents may be purchased from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855 or through IEEEs public Web site at http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/index.html.