Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants, 23017-23018 [2014-09443]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 80 / Friday, April 25, 2014 / Notices section of NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION this document. [NRC–2014–0093] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG–1310, ‘‘Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ which would be Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.134. The NRC proposes to update RG 1.134 based upon the regulatory experience gained since Revision 3 of RG 1.134 was issued and to endorse the 2013 revision to the underlying consensus standard, ANSI/ ANS 3.4, ‘‘Medical Certification and Monitoring of Personnel Requiring Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ The guide helps to ensure that medical certifications (and related medical evidence) are sufficient to meet the NRC’s nuclear power reactor operator licensing requirements. DATES: Submit comments by May 27, 2014. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject): • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2014–0093. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 3WFN–06–44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see ‘‘Accessing Information and Submitting Comments’’ in the mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:57 Apr 24, 2014 Jkt 232001 Lawrence Vick, 301–415–3181, email: Lawrence.Vick@nrc.gov, or Richard Jervey, 301/251–7404, email: Richard.Jervey@nrc.gov; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments A. Accessing Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2014– 0093 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access publicly-available information related to this document by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2014–0093. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The draft regulatory guide is available electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML13352A278. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13352A279. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC–2014– 0093 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket. The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https:// www.regulations.gov as well as enters the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 23017 comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information. If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS. II. Additional Information The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This series was developed to describe and make available to the public such information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC’s regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The DG, entitled, ‘‘Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ is temporarily identified by its task number, DG–1310. Draft regulatory guide, DG–1310, is proposed Revision 4 of RG 1.134. The guidance is intended for use by nuclear power plant license holders under part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,’’ and 10 CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.’’ Licensees of these facilities are required under 10 CFR 50.54, ‘‘Conditions of Licensees,’’ to use qualified licensed operators as described in 10 CFR Part 55, ‘‘Operators’ Licenses.’’ Regulatory Guide 1.134, ‘‘Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ Revision 3, was issued in 1998 to identify that the contemporary version of consensus standard ANSI/ANS 3.4 (1996), ‘‘Medical Certification and Monitoring of Personnel Requiring Operator Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ is a method acceptable to the staff for complying with those portions of the NRC’s regulations associated with approval or acceptance of medical examination certifications at nuclear power plants. The consensus standard ANSI/ANS 3.4 was issued in 2013 to provide clarification and comprehensive medical guidance to improve industry’s consistent implementation of the E:\FR\FM\25APN1.SGM 25APN1 23018 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 80 / Friday, April 25, 2014 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES standard. This included clarification of specific minimum requirements, disqualifying conditions, conditional restrictions, examination methods, and monitoring methods for each medical area. The 2013 issue also includes consideration of other industry medical standards, including those of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration as well as medical criteria that reflect progressions in medical science including updated terminology, current medical practices, criteria for normality, and risk assessments. Regulatory Guide 1.134 is under revision to identify to licensees that ANSI/ANS 3.4–2013 is acceptable for their use. The guide helps to ensure that medical certifications (and related medical evidence) used to meet the operator licensing requirements of 10 CFR part 55 are sufficient with respect to (1) an applicant’s or operator licensee’s medical examination, as described in 10 CFR 55.21, ‘‘Medical Examination’’; (2) a facility licensee’s medical certification, as described in 10 CFR 55.23, ‘‘Certification’’; (3) an operator licensee’s incapacitation because of disability or illness, as described in 10 CFR 55.25, ‘‘Incapacitation Because of Disability or Illness’’; (4) a facility licensee’s medical documentation, as described in 10 CFR 55.27, ‘‘Documentation’’; (5) the NRC’s disposition of an initial application for an operator license, as described in 10 CFR 55.33(a)(1) and (b); and (6) renewal of operator licenses, as described in 10 CFR 55.57(a)(6) and (b)(1). III. Backfitting and Issue Finality This DG, if finalized, would provide updated guidance on the methods acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC’s regulations associated with approval or acceptance of the medical assessment of an applicant for or holder of an operator or senior operator license at a nuclear power plant. The draft guide would apply to current and future applicants for and holders of power reactor licenses under 10 CFR parts 50 and 52 and power reactor operating licenses under 10 CFR part 55. Issuance of this DG in final form would not constitute backfitting under 10 CFR part 50 and would not be otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR Part 52. As discussed in the ‘‘Implementation’’ section of this DG, the NRC has no current intention to impose the RG on current holders of 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses or 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses. Part 55 does not contain backfitting or issue finality regulations, and power reactor VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:57 Apr 24, 2014 Jkt 232001 operating licensees are not protected by the backfitting provisions in 10 CFR 50.109 or the 10 CFR part 52 issue finality provisions because neither 10 CFR 50.109 nor 10 CFR part 52 applies to 10 CFR part 55 power reactor operating licensees. This RG could be applied to applications for 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses, 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses, or 10 CFR part 55 operator licenses. Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by 10 CFR 50.109 or the relevant issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of April, 2014. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thomas H. Boyce, Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 2014–09443 Filed 4–24–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments [NRC–2014–0068] Draft Program-Specific Guidance About Master Materials Licenses Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for comments. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is revising its licensing guidance for Master Materials Licenses. The NRC is requesting public comment on draft NUREG–1556, Volume 10, Revision 1, ‘‘Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses: Program-Specific Guidance about Master Materials Licenses.’’ The document has been updated from the previous revision to include safety culture, security of radioactive materials, protection of sensitive information, and changes in regulatory policies and practices. This document is intended for use by applicants, licensees, and the NRC staff. DATES: Submit comments by May 27, 2014. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is only able to assure consideration of comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: You may submit comment by any of the following methods (unless SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject): • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2014–0068. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 3WFN–06–A44MP, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see ‘‘Accessing Information and Submitting Comments’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tomas Herrera, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 7138; email: Tomas.Herrera@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A. Accessing Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2014– 0068 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access publicly-available information related to this action by the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2014–0068. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The draft NUREG–1556, Volume 10, Revision 1, is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14105A093. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The draft NUREG–1556, Volume 10, Revision 1, is also available on the E:\FR\FM\25APN1.SGM 25APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 80 (Friday, April 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23017-23018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09443]



[[Page 23017]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0093]


Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1310, ``Medical 
Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants,'' which 
would be Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.134. The NRC proposes to 
update RG 1.134 based upon the regulatory experience gained since 
Revision 3 of RG 1.134 was issued and to endorse the 2013 revision to 
the underlying consensus standard, ANSI/ANS 3.4, ``Medical 
Certification and Monitoring of Personnel Requiring Licenses for 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' The guide helps to ensure that medical 
certifications (and related medical evidence) are sufficient to meet 
the NRC's nuclear power reactor operator licensing requirements.

DATES: Submit comments by May 27, 2014. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0093. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lawrence Vick, 301-415-3181, email: 
Lawrence.Vick@nrc.gov, or Richard Jervey, 301/251-7404, email: 
Richard.Jervey@nrc.gov; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0093 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this document by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0093.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
draft regulatory guide is available electronically under ADAMS 
Accession Number ML13352A278. The regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML13352A279.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0093 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enters the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled, ``Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel for 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, 
DG-1310. Draft regulatory guide, DG-1310, is proposed Revision 4 of RG 
1.134. The guidance is intended for use by nuclear power plant license 
holders under part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' and 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' Licensees of these facilities are 
required under 10 CFR 50.54, ``Conditions of Licensees,'' to use 
qualified licensed operators as described in 10 CFR Part 55, 
``Operators' Licenses.''
    Regulatory Guide 1.134, ``Medical Evaluation of Licensed Personnel 
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' Revision 3, was issued in 1998 to identify 
that the contemporary version of consensus standard ANSI/ANS 3.4 
(1996), ``Medical Certification and Monitoring of Personnel Requiring 
Operator Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is a method acceptable to 
the staff for complying with those portions of the NRC's regulations 
associated with approval or acceptance of medical examination 
certifications at nuclear power plants.
    The consensus standard ANSI/ANS 3.4 was issued in 2013 to provide 
clarification and comprehensive medical guidance to improve industry's 
consistent implementation of the

[[Page 23018]]

standard. This included clarification of specific minimum requirements, 
disqualifying conditions, conditional restrictions, examination 
methods, and monitoring methods for each medical area. The 2013 issue 
also includes consideration of other industry medical standards, 
including those of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal 
Aviation Administration as well as medical criteria that reflect 
progressions in medical science including updated terminology, current 
medical practices, criteria for normality, and risk assessments.
    Regulatory Guide 1.134 is under revision to identify to licensees 
that ANSI/ANS 3.4-2013 is acceptable for their use. The guide helps to 
ensure that medical certifications (and related medical evidence) used 
to meet the operator licensing requirements of 10 CFR part 55 are 
sufficient with respect to (1) an applicant's or operator licensee's 
medical examination, as described in 10 CFR 55.21, ``Medical 
Examination''; (2) a facility licensee's medical certification, as 
described in 10 CFR 55.23, ``Certification''; (3) an operator 
licensee's incapacitation because of disability or illness, as 
described in 10 CFR 55.25, ``Incapacitation Because of Disability or 
Illness''; (4) a facility licensee's medical documentation, as 
described in 10 CFR 55.27, ``Documentation''; (5) the NRC's disposition 
of an initial application for an operator license, as described in 10 
CFR 55.33(a)(1) and (b); and (6) renewal of operator licenses, as 
described in 10 CFR 55.57(a)(6) and (b)(1).

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This DG, if finalized, would provide updated guidance on the 
methods acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC's 
regulations associated with approval or acceptance of the medical 
assessment of an applicant for or holder of an operator or senior 
operator license at a nuclear power plant. The draft guide would apply 
to current and future applicants for and holders of power reactor 
licenses under 10 CFR parts 50 and 52 and power reactor operating 
licenses under 10 CFR part 55. Issuance of this DG in final form would 
not constitute backfitting under 10 CFR part 50 and would not be 
otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
Part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this DG, the 
NRC has no current intention to impose the RG on current holders of 10 
CFR part 50 operating licenses or 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses. 
Part 55 does not contain backfitting or issue finality regulations, and 
power reactor operating licensees are not protected by the backfitting 
provisions in 10 CFR 50.109 or the 10 CFR part 52 issue finality 
provisions because neither 10 CFR 50.109 nor 10 CFR part 52 applies to 
10 CFR part 55 power reactor operating licensees.
    This RG could be applied to applications for 10 CFR part 50 
operating licenses, 10 CFR part 52 combined licenses, or 10 CFR part 55 
operator licenses. Such action would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such 
applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by 10 CFR 
50.109 or the relevant issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of April, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-09443 Filed 4-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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