Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material Written Reports and Clarifying Amendments, 143 [2014-30865]

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• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 2 (Monday, January 5, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30865]



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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 2015 / Rules 
and Regulations

[[Page 143]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 70

[NRC-2010-0271]
RIN 3150-AJ34


Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material Written Reports 
and Clarifying Amendments

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the 
effective date of January 26, 2015, for the direct final rule that was 
published in the Federal Register on September 26, 2014. This direct 
final rule amended regulations related to reportable safety events 
involving special nuclear material. This rule increases the time 
licensees are allowed to submit a written follow-up report from within 
30 days to within 60 days after the initial report of an event, updates 
the reporting framework for certain situations, and removes redundant 
reporting requirements.

DATES: The effective date of January 26, 2015, for the direct final 
rule published September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57721), is confirmed.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2010-0271 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2010-0271. 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.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
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 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith McDaniel, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-5252, email: 
Keith.McDaniel@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    On September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57721), the NRC published a direct 
final rule amending its regulations in part 70 of Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to increase the time licensees are 
allowed to submit a written follow-up report from within 30 days to 
within 60 days after the initial report of an event, update the 
reporting framework for certain situations, and remove redundant 
reporting requirements. These amendments affect a licensee or an 
applicant that is, or plans to be, authorized to possess greater than a 
critical mass of special nuclear material.

II. Public Comments on the Companion Proposed Rule

    A companion proposed rule was also published in the Federal 
Register on September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57840) which provided an 
opportunity for public comment. In the direct final rule, the NRC 
stated that if no significant adverse comments were received, the 
direct final rule would become effective on January 26, 2015. The 
substantive changes being made in this rulemaking are to reporting 
provisions in 10 CFR 70.74 and Appendix A to part 70. These changes 
increase the time--from 30 to 60 days--that licensees subject to part 
70, Subpart H (Additional Requirements for Certain Licensees Authorized 
to Possess a Critical Mass of Special Nuclear Material) will have to 
submit a written follow-up report after the initial report of certain 
significant events to the NRC Operations Center.
    The NRC received one public comment (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML14296A322). The commenter agrees with the proposed changes, but the 
commenter requested that the NRC also revise a 10 CFR 70.50 reporting 
provision that is within part 70, Subpart G (Special Nuclear Material 
Control, Records, Reports and Inspections). The commenter wants 
licensees subject to Subpart G to also be given 60 rather than 30 days 
to submit a written follow-up report.
    The comment letter does not warrant the withdrawal of the direct 
final rule. The direct final rule is of limited scope, and arose from 
PRM-70-8 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091110449, dated April 16, 2009, filed 
by the Nuclear Energy Institute) that did not seek changes to 10 CFR 
70.50. The commenter has not provided a sufficient basis to expand the 
direct final rule's scope to include revising the 30-day reporting 
requirement in 10 CFR 70.50, and the NRC does not agree with the 
commenter's claim that his proposal meets the criteria for being a 
significant adverse comment. Therefore, this rule will become effective 
as scheduled.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of December, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carol Gallagher,
Acting Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch, Division of 
Administrative Services, Office of Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-30865 Filed 1-2-15; 8:45 am]
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