Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1093, "Guidance and Examples For Identifying 10 CFR 50.2 Design Bases

November 12, 1999

Dr. William D. Travers
Executive Director for Operations
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001

Dear Dr. Travers:

SUBJECT: DRAFT REGULATORY GUIDE DG-1093, "GUIDANCE AND EXAMPLES FOR IDENTIFYING 10 CFR 50.2 DESIGN BASES"

During the 466th and 467th meetings of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, September 30-October 2 and November 4-6, 1999, we met with representatives of the NRC staff and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to discuss the status of resolution of issues associated with DG-1093 regarding design bases information. We also discussed the revised Appendix B of NEI 97-04, "Design Bases Program Guidelines," which the staff proposes to endorse in DG-1093 as an acceptable method to meet NRC requirements. We had the benefit of the documents referenced.

Although the staff has not yet updated DG-1093 to reflect agreements reached during meetings with NEI and other industry representatives, we believe that the technical issues have been resolved satisfactorily. We recommend that DG-1093 be issued for public comment. We plan to review the proposed final version of DG-1093 following the reconciliation of public comments. We commend the staff and NEI for their efforts on this difficult task.

Sincerely,

/s/

Dana A. Powers
Chairman

References:

1. Memorandum dated September 24, 1999, from David B. Matthews, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, NRC, to John T. Larkins, Executive Director, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, transmitting Draft Regulatory DG-1093, "Guidance and Examples for Identifying 10 CFR 50.2 Design Bases."

2. Letter dated October 28, 1999, from Anthony R. Pietrangelo, Nuclear Energy Institute, to David B. Matthews, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, NRC, Subject: Revised Appendix B of NEI 97-04, "Design Bases Program Guidelines."