Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to adjust the maximum civil monetary penalties it can assess under statutes enforced by the agency. These changes are mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The NRC is amending its regulations to adjust the maximum civil monetary penalty for a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or any regulation or order issued under the Atomic Energy Act from $326,163 to $351,424 per violation, per day. Additionally, the NRC is amending provisions concerning program fraud civil penalties by adjusting the maximum civil monetary penalty under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act from $12,537 to $13,508 for each false claim or statement.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), NUREG-2243, ``Environmental Impact Statement for the Disposal of Mine Waste at the United Nuclear Corporation Mill Site in McKinley County, New Mexico,'' for United Nuclear Corporation's (UNC) request for a license amendment to allow the disposition of about 1 million cubic yards of mine waste from the Northeast Church Rock (NECR) Mine Site at UNC's uranium mill site in McKinley County, New Mexico. The NRC is also issuing a final Programmatic Agreement (PA) under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) that provides requirements for the NRC, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and UNC to follow to ensure that cultural resources are protected during project activities.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the availability of the latest version of NRC Form 3, ``Notice to Employees.'' The NRC Form 3 describes certain responsibilities and rights of employers and employees who engage in NRC-regulated activities, including how employees can report violations or other safety concerns directly to the NRC. Licensees are required by law to post the form at prominent locations at the workplace to permit workers to view it easily.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has renewed Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-1373, to Idaho State University (ISU, the licensee) located in Pocatello, Idaho. The renewed license authorizes ISU to continue to possess and use SNM for a period of 10 years and will expire on January 5, 2033.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application for the renewal of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-2511, which currently authorizes Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E, the licensee) to receive, possess, transfer, and store spent fuel from the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (DCNPP) in the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The renewed license would authorize PG&E to continue to store spent fuel in the Diablo Canyon ISFSI for an additional 40 years beyond the current license expiration date of March 22, 2024.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, ``NRC Form 277, Request for Visit.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, ``NRC Form 314 Certificate of Disposition of Materials.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider in its rulemaking process issues raised in a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-35-22, submitted by Ronald K. Lattanze on behalf of Lucerno Dynamics, LLC. The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to require reporting of certain nuclear medicine injection extravasations as medical events.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of January 18, 2023, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on November 4, 2022. This direct final rule amended the NAC International, Inc. MAGNASTOR[supreg] Storage System listing within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks to include Amendment No. 10 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an exemption in response to an August 2, 2022 request from Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI) that would permit HDI to investigate and report to the NRC when the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station does not receive notification of receipt of a shipment, or part of a shipment, of low-level radioactive waste within 90 days after transfer, instead of the 20-day investigation requirement currently delineated in the NRC's regulations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Confirmatory Order to Cabell Huntington Hospital (CHH) to memorialize the agreement reached during an alternative dispute resolution mediation session held on August 24, 2022. The Confirmatory Order contains commitments made to resolve 14 apparent violations of NRC requirements related to the development and implementation of CHH's radiation protection program, CHH's compliance with occupational dose limits, and CHH's possession of licensed material at an unauthorized location. These violations were identified during NRC inspections and an investigation conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations. The Confirmatory Order is effective upon issuance.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted the request of Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, to withdraw its application dated August 2, 2021, as supplemented by letter dated June 6, 2022, for proposed amendments to Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and NPF-77, issued to the licensee for operation of the Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Will County, Illinois. The proposed amendments would have revised Technical Specification (TS) 3.7.9, ``Ultimate Heat Sink [UHS]'' for an inoperable UHS due to the average water temperature to allow utilization of existing margin in the design analysis to offset the increase in the TS UHS temperature. The proposed amendments also would have revised TS 3.7.9 Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.7.9.2 to delete the temporary allowance for the UHS average water temperature of 102.8 degrees Fahrenheit ([deg]F) until September 30, 2021.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.''

In response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Memorandum and Order, CLI-22-03 (February 24, 2022), the NRC received Subsequent License RenewalAppendix E Environmental Report Supplement 2 (ER Supplement), dated November 7, 2022, related to the subsequent renewal of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55, which authorizes Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke Energy, the applicant) to operate Oconee Nuclear Station (Oconee), Units 1, 2, and 3. The ER Supplement addresses certain environmental impacts of operating Oconee for an additional period of 20 years beyond the current license expiration dates. The NRC will conduct a limited scoping process to gather additional information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental impacts for the subsequent license renewal (SLR) of the operating licenses for Oconee. The NRC is seeking public comment on the proper scope of the EIS to be prepared for this action.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an order to extend the effectiveness of a September 24, 2019, order, which approved the direct transfer of Possession Only License No. DPR-45 for the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor from the current holder, LaCrosseSolutions, LLC, to Dairyland Power Cooperative and approved a conforming license amendment, for 3 months beyond its current December 24, 2022, expiration date.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a scoping process to gather information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental impacts for the license renewal of the operating licenses for Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant (CPNPP), Units 1 and 2. The NRC is seeking public comment on this action and has scheduled a public scoping meeting that will take place in Glen Rose, Texas.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is notifying the public that documents regarding draft and final Regulatory Guides that historically have been published in the ``Notices'' section of the Federal Register will now be published in the ``Proposed Rules'' and ``Rules and Regulations'' sections of the Federal Register. The Office of the Federal Register recently informed the NRC that under their guidelines, these documents fall into the ``Proposed Rules'' and ``Rules and Regulations'' categories and requested that the NRC reclassify these notices.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the SHINE Medical Technologies, LLC (SHINE) request to amend Construction Permit No. CPMIF-001 for the SHINE Medical Isotope Production Facility (SHINE facility) in Rock County, Wisconsin. The approved amendments extend the latest date for completion of the construction of the SHINE facility from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2025, and administratively change the name of the construction permit holder from SHINE Medical Technologies, LLC to SHINE Technologies, LLC.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a proposed collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, ``Equal Employment Opportunity Electronic Complaint System.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an amendment to Provisional Operating License No. DPR-5, and Renewed Facility License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64, issued to Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, on behalf of Holtec Indian Point 2, LLC and Holtec Indian Point 3, LLC, for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 1, 2, and 3, collectively referred to as the Indian Point Energy Center. The proposed amendment would remove the Cyber Security Plan requirements contained in License Condition 3.d of the Indian Point Unit 1 Provisional License, License Condition 2.H of the Indian Point Unit 2 Renewed Facility License, and License Condition 2.G of the Indian Point Unit 3 Renewed Facility License to reflect the cyber security requirements associated with decommissioning power reactors.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received and is considering approval of three amendment requests. The amendment requests are for Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Byron Station, Unit 2; and Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2. For each amendment request, the NRC proposes to determine that they involve no significant hazards consideration (NSHC). Because each amendment request contains sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI), an order imposes procedures to obtain access to SUNSI for contention preparation by persons who file a hearing request or petition for leave to intervene.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 27, 2022, amending its regulations to incorporate by reference the 2019 Edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 1, and Section XI, Division 1, 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. These amendments were made in accordance with NRC's policy to periodically update the regulations to incorporate by reference new editions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Codes and are intended to maintain the safety of nuclear power plants and to make NRC activities more effective and efficient. The final rule contained minor editorial errors, and this action is necessary to correct the final rule and the regulations.

Pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing this regular monthly notice. The Act requires the Commission to publish notice of any amendments issued, or proposed to be issued, and grants the Commission the authority to issue and make immediately effective any amendment to an operating license or combined license, as applicable, upon a determination by the Commission that such amendment involves no significant hazards consideration (NSHC), notwithstanding the pendency before the Commission of a request for a hearing from any person.