Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies, 52862 [2017-24672]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 52862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24672]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 52862]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2015-0225]
RIN 3150-AJ68


Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Small Modular Reactors 
and Other New Technologies

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory basis; availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making 
available a regulatory basis document in support of a rulemaking that 
would develop new emergency preparedness (EP) requirements for small 
modular reactors (SMRs) and other new technologies (ONTs), such as non-
light-water reactors and medical isotope production facilities. The 
regulatory basis concludes that there is sufficient justification to 
proceed with rulemaking to develop a clear set of rules and guidance 
for EP for SMRs and ONTs. The regulatory basis also concludes that the 
principle of using a dose-at-distance and consequence-oriented approach 
to determine the appropriate size of an emergency planning zone can be 
applied to SMRs and ONTs. The NRC is not seeking public comment on this 
document. There will be an opportunity for formal public comment on the 
proposed rule when it is published in the Federal Register.

DATES: The regulatory basis is available on November 15, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
obtain 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-2015-0225. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain 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 
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: Andrew Carrera, Office of New 
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-1078, email: Andrew.Carrera@nrc.gov; and 
Edward Roach, Office of Nuclear Security Incident and Response, 
telephone: 301-287-9228, email: Edward.Roach@nrc.gov. Both are staff of 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The NRC published the draft regulatory basis in the Federal 
Register on April 13, 2017 (82 FR 17768), for a 75-day public comment 
period. In the draft regulatory basis, the NRC requested feedback from 
the public on questions related to the scope of the draft regulatory 
basis, performance-based approach, regulatory impacts, and cumulative 
effects of regulation.
    The NRC received 57 written comments from governmental and non-
governmental organizations and individuals, which are available at 
https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. The 
commenters included approximately 45 individuals, 4 environmental 
groups, 3 industry groups, 1 Native American Tribal organization, 3 
State organizations, and 1 Federal agency. The comments discussed 
topics such as: Consequence-based approach, collocation, dose 
assessment, emergency planning zone and offsite EP, siting of multi-
module facilities, regulatory analysis, scope of the draft regulatory 
basis, safety, and general rulemaking principles such as performance-
based and technology-inclusive approaches. The NRC staff considered the 
comments in finalizing the regulatory basis. The regulatory basis is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17206A265 or on the Federal 
rulemaking Web site, www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-
0225.

II. Publicly-Available Documents

    As the NRC continues its ongoing proposed rulemaking effort to 
implement EP requirements for SMRs and ONTs in parts 50 and 52 of title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the NRC is making documents 
publicly available on the Federal rulemaking Web site, 
www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. The current status 
of this rulemaking effort, as well as other NRC planned rulemaking 
activities, can be found on the NRC public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/rulemaking-ruleforum/active/RuleIndex.html.
    The NRC may post additional materials relevant to this rulemaking 
at www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. Please take the 
following actions if you wish to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder: (1) Navigate to the docket folder 
(NRC-2015-0225); (2) click the ``Email Alert'' link; and (3) enter your 
email address and select how frequently you would like to receive 
emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November, 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-24672 Filed 11-14-17; 8:45 am]
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