Issuance of NUREG-0588, "Interim Staff Position on Equipment Qualifications of Safety-Related Electrical Equipment" (Generic Letter 80-10)

GL80010 

                                FEB 05 1980 

TO ALL CONSTRUCTION PERMIT AND OPERATING LICENSE APPLICANTS 

SUBJECT:  ISSUANCE OF NUREG-0588, "INTERIM STAFF POSITION ON EQUIPMENT 
          QUALIFICATION OF SAFETY-RELATED ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT" 

A task force composed of members of the NRC staff has prepared a report 
entitled "Interim Staff Position on Environmental Qualification of Safety-
Related Electrical Equipment" (NUREG-0588), dated November 1979. The report 
provides the staff's resolution of the NRC's Generic Technical Activity A-
24, which is an "Unresolved Safety Issue" pursuant to SEction 210 of the 
Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. Copies of this "For Comment" edition of 
the report were mailed to all applicants on January 9, 1980.  A notice of 
issuance and availability was published in the Federal Register (Vol. 45, 
No. 11, page 3124) on January 16, 1980. A copy of the notice is enclosed. 

NUREG-0588 provides the NRC staff's technical positions on selected areas of
environmental qualification, and provides guidance and describes methods 
which, when implemented, will ensure compliance with the Commission's 
requirements. The areas addressed include requirements for establishing the 
service conditions for areas inside and outside containment, to which 
equipment should be qualified; the selection of the qualification methods to
be used for the equipment in these areas; and the preparation of 
qualification documentation. This report also defines the applicability of 
these positions to the different vintage plants undergoing a review for a 
construction permit or an operating license, that are required to conform to
either the 1971 or the 1974 version of IEEE Standard 323. 

In Implementing the positions described in NUREG-0588 the staff will require
that applicants for operating licenses document the degree to which their 
qualification programs comply with the staff's positions described in NUREG-
0588, and their basis for any deviations. You will shortly receive, by 
separate letter, a request for additional information to be inserted in 
Section 3.11 of your Final Safety Analysis Report. 

In addition, the staff plans to modify slightly its implementation of IEEE 
Std. 323-1974. Regulatory Guide 1.89, issued in November of 1974, requires 
that all CP applications for which a staff Safety Evaluation Report was 
issued after July 1, 1974, should comply with the requirements of IEEE Std. 
323-1974. It has been staff practice to require that all other applicants 
comply with IEEE Std. 323-1971. This continues to be the staff practice with
the following exceptions. 

8007280380 
.

TO ALL PWR AND BWR APPLICANTS     - 2 -                        FEB 05 1980 

     Equipment which would normally be qualified in accordance with IEEE 
     Std. 323-1971, but which has not yet undergone qualification testing, 
     should be qualified in accordance with IEEE Std. 323-1974. In 
     implementing this guidance, the staff will use IEEE Std. 323-1974 and 
     the provisions of Sections 2 through 5 of the Category I positions 
     described in NUREG-0588 in assessing the adequacy of all equipment 
     purchased six months from the date of issuance of NUREG-0588. The 
     service conditions developed in accordance with Section 1, Category II 
     of NUREG-0588 may be used in meeting this requirement. 
     
     Beginning 12 months from the date of issuance of NUREG-0588, equipment 
     which must undergo requalification testing should also be qualified in 
     accordance with IEEE Std. 323-1974 and the provisions of Sections 2 
     through 5 of Category I positions described in NUREG-0588. The service 
     conditions developed in accordance with Section I, Category II may be 
     used in meeting this requirement. 

Public comments are being solicited from interested organizations, groups, 
and individuals. Because of the need to review and resolve any comments 
received from the public, we do not anticipate full implementation of these 
requirements until May 1980. However, in the interim, the positions 
described in NUREG-0588 are being used as guidance to the staff in reviewing
applicants's qualification programs. 

At the completion of the 60-day period, the staff will evaluate the comments
received and, if needed, will issue a supplement or revision to NUREG-0588. 
The target for issuing the supplement or revision is late April 1980. 

All comments on NUREG-0588 and this letter should be forwarded to Mr. Andrew
J. Szukiewicz, Instrumentation and Control Systems Branch, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, D. C. 20555 by March 17, 1980. 

                                        Sincerely, 


                                        D. F. Ross, Jr., Acting Director 
                                        Division of Project Management 
                                        Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Enclosure:
As stated