Increased Enrichment of Conventional and Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for Light-Water Reactors, 61986-61988 [2023-19452]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 173 (Friday, September 8, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61986-61988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19452]


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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. 88, No. 173 / Friday, September 8, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 61986]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50, 51, and 71

[NRC-2020-0034]
RIN 3150-AK79


Increased Enrichment of Conventional and Accident Tolerant Fuel 
Designs for Light-Water Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory basis; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting 
comments on a regulatory basis to support a rulemaking to amend the 
NRC's regulations related to the use of conventional and accident 
tolerant light-water reactor fuel designs. The NRC's goal is to 
establish effective and efficient licensing of applications using fuels 
enriched to greater than 5.0 and less than 20.0 weight percent uranium-
235. The NRC will hold a public meeting to promote a full understanding 
of the planned rulemaking and facilitate public comment on the 
regulatory basis.

DATES: Submit comments by November 22, 2023. 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.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0034. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the 
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. eastern time, Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip Benavides, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3246, email: 
[email protected] and Carla Roque-Cruz, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-1455, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0034 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0034.
     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 ``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 [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2020-0034 in your comment submission.
    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 enter 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 to not 
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 does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS. Please note that the 
NRC will not provide formal written responses to each of the comments 
received on the regulatory basis.

II. Discussion

    The NRC is requesting comments on a regulatory basis to support a 
rulemaking that would amend the NRC's regulations to facilitate the use 
of light-water reactor fuel containing uranium enriched to greater than 
5.0 weight percent uranium-235 (U-235) in part 50 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' 10 CFR part 51,

[[Page 61987]]

``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions,'' and 10 CFR part 71, ``Packaging and 
Transportation of Radioactive Material.'' This rulemaking would allow 
the NRC to prepare for the effective and efficient licensing of 
applications using fuels enriched to greater than 5.0 and less than 
20.0 weight percent U-235 without compromising reasonable assurance of 
adequate protection of public health and safety, reduce the need for 
exemptions from existing regulations and license amendment requests, 
provide licensees operational flexibility and certainty in licensing of 
accident tolerant fuel, and support the principles of good regulation. 
The rule changes would apply to any light-water power reactor 
application submitted to the NRC under 10 CFR part 50 and part 52, 
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
    On June 22, 2022, the NRC held a comment gathering public meeting 
to obtain feedback from external stakeholders on the development of the 
regulatory basis for this proposed rule. The NRC offered the 
opportunity for stakeholders to make presentations during this meeting. 
In addition, the NRC conducted a comment gathering session and provided 
three topics for discussion: (1) regulations and associated guidance 
documents that should be evaluated in this rulemaking, (2) regulations 
that would likely require a licensee to request an exemption if 
licensees chose to pursue fuel enriched above 5.0 weight percent U-235, 
and (3) rulemaking schedule and impact on stakeholders. Attendees at 
this meeting included nongovernmental organizations, licensees, nuclear 
power industry representatives, and other members of the public. The 
NRC staff has prepared a regulatory basis to describe and document the 
results of assessments performed by the NRC staff in support of this 
proposed rulemaking. This regulatory basis and the meeting summary, 
including transcript, are available as indicated in the ``Availability 
of Documents'' section of this document.
    The staff determined that the following regulations would be 
directly or indirectly affected by an increase in fuel enrichment level 
to greater than 5.0 and less than 20.0 weight percent U-235:
     Sec.  50.67, Accident source term
     Sec.  50.68, Criticality accident requirements
     Sec.  51.51(b), Uranium fuel cycle environmental data--
Table S-3
     Sec.  51.52, Environmental effects of transportation of 
fuel and waste--Table S-4
     Sec.  71.55, General requirements for fissile material 
packages
    In addition to amending the regulations listed, the Commission 
directed the staff in SRM-SECY-21-0109, ``Staff Requirements--SECY-21-
0109--Rulemaking Plan on Use of Increased Enrichment of Conventional 
and Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for Light-Water Reactors,'' to 
appropriately address and analyze fuel fragmentation, relocation, and 
dispersal (FFRD) issues relevant to fuels of higher enrichment and 
burnup levels in the regulatory basis.
    In the regulatory basis, the NRC staff concludes that there is 
sufficient basis to proceed with rulemaking and guidance development to 
address the regulatory issues associated with the use of fuel enriched 
to greater than 5.0 and less than 20.0 weight percent U-235. However, 
there are specific regulatory areas that would benefit from additional 
input from stakeholders before the NRC staff makes a final 
recommendation to the Commission on rulemaking.
    The Commission has not approved any specific recommendation in the 
regulatory basis at this time, and as such, any conclusions regarding 
the elements of the increased enrichment of conventional and accident 
tolerant fuel designs for light-water reactor rulemaking are subject to 
change.

III. Specific Requests for Comments

General Questions

    The NRC is requesting comment on the regulatory basis. As you 
prepare your comments, consider the following general questions:
    1. Is the NRC considering appropriate options for each regulatory 
area described in the regulatory basis? Please provide a basis for your 
response.
    2. Are there additional factors that the NRC should consider in 
each regulatory area? What are these factors? Please provide a basis 
for your response.
    3. Are there any additional options that the NRC should consider 
during development of the proposed rule? Please provide a basis for 
your response.
    4. Is there additional information concerning regulatory impacts 
that the NRC should include in its regulatory analysis for this 
rulemaking? Please provide a basis for your response.
    5. Discuss whether the proposed rule would present hardships to 
regulated small entities. How could rule provisions be modified to 
lessen these impacts? Please provide a basis for your response.
    6. What opportunities are there to increase the beneficial impacts 
of the rule on small entities? Please provide a basis for your 
response.

Specific Regulatory Issues

    In addition to the general questions, the NRC is requesting 
specific feedback from the public and has prepared specific questions 
related to control room design criteria; transportation of uranium 
hexafluoride; and FFRD.
Control Room Design Criteria
    The NRC is seeking comment on the alternatives proposed in Appendix 
A of the regulatory basis on control room design criteria.
    1. Would the numerical selection of the control room design 
criteria be better aligned with regulations designed to limit 
occupational exposures during emergency conditions (e.g., Sec. Sec.  
20.1206, ``Planned special exposures,'' and 50.54(x)) or regulations 
designed to limit annual occupational radiation exposures during normal 
operations (e.g., Sec.  20.1201, ``Occupational dose limits for 
adults,'' specifically the requirements in Sec.  20.1201 (a)(1)(i))? 
Please provide a basis for your response.
    2. Would a graded, risk-informed method, to demonstrate compliance 
with a range of acceptable control room design criterion values instead 
of a single selected value such as the current 5 rem (50 
millisievert(mSv)) total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) provide the 
necessary flexibilities for current and future nuclear technologies up 
to but less than 20.0 weight percent U-235 enrichment? Please provide a 
basis for your response.
Transportation of Uranium Hexafluoride
    The NRC is seeking comment on the alternatives proposed in Appendix 
E of the regulatory basis on fissile material package requirements. To 
date, industry plans communicated to the NRC have not indicated that 
there will be enough requests for package approvals for transporting 
UF6 enriched up to but less than 20.0 weight percent U-235 
to conclude that rulemaking would be the most efficient or effective 
process to support package approvals. Further, all alternatives to 
rulemaking that the NRC considered are nearly cost neutral in terms of 
implementation; however, rulemaking shifts the cost burdens to the NRC 
disproportionally when compared to taking no rulemaking action.
    1. Is there additional information that can be shared to augment 
comments made by the public in June 2022 regarding the need for 
rulemaking to

[[Page 61988]]

support licensing new or existing UF6 transportation package 
designs?
Fuel Fragmentation, Relocation, and Dispersal
    The NRC staff has identified that additional feedback from 
stakeholders would be beneficial before making a final recommendation 
on rulemaking on FFRD. The NRC is seeking comment on the alternatives 
proposed in Appendix F of the regulatory basis on FFRD.
    1. Are there any other alternatives not described in Appendix F of 
the regulatory basis on FFRD that the NRC should consider? Are there 
elements of the alternatives presented or other alternatives that the 
NRC should consider? Please provide a basis for your response.
    2. Stakeholders previously expressed concerns on the proposed Sec.  
50.46a rule when it was initially proposed in 2010. What concerns about 
Sec.  50.46a (i.e., Alternative 2) exist in today's landscape? Please 
provide a basis for your response.
    3. Under Alternative 2, as currently proposed in the regulatory 
basis, the staff would apply the regulatory precedent under which fuel 
dispersal that would challenge current regulatory requirements would 
not be permitted under loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions. 
Would the increased flexibilities gained from best-estimate assumptions 
and methods employed during large-break LOCA analyses make this 
alternative reasonable? Please provide a basis for your response.
    4. What changes to plant operations, fuel designs, or safety 
analysis tools and methods would be necessary under each proposed 
alternative? Please provide a basis for your response.
    5. Provide any information that would be relevant to more 
accurately estimate costs associated with each proposed alternative. 
Please provide a basis for your response.
    6. What are the pros and cons of each alternative, including the 
degree to which each alternative is consistent with the principles of 
good regulation?

IV. Cumulative Effects of Regulation

    The cumulative effects of regulation (CER) describe the challenges 
that licensees or other impacted entities (such as Agreement State 
agency partners) may face while implementing new regulatory positions, 
programs, and requirements (e.g., rules, generic letters, backfits, 
inspections). The CER is an organizational effectiveness challenge that 
results from a licensee or impacted entity implementing a number of 
complex positions, programs, or requirements within a limited 
implementation period and with available resources (which may include 
limited available expertise to address a specific issue). The NRC has 
implemented CER enhancements to the rulemaking process to facilitate 
public involvement throughout the rulemaking process. Therefore, the 
NRC is specifically requesting comment on the cumulative effects that 
may result from this proposed rulemaking. In developing comments on the 
regulatory basis, consider the following questions:
    1. In light of any current or projected CER challenges, how should 
the NRC provide sufficient time to implement the new proposed 
requirements, including changes to programs and procedures?
    2. If CER challenges currently exist or are expected, what should 
be done to address them? For example, if more time is required for 
implementation of the new requirements, what period of time is 
sufficient?
    3. What other (NRC or other agency) regulatory actions (e.g., 
orders, generic communications, license amendment requests inspection 
findings of a generic nature) influence the implementation of the 
proposed rule's requirements?
    4. What are the unintended consequences, and how should they be 
addressed?
    5. Please comment on the NRC's cost and benefit estimates in the 
regulatory basis.

V. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, well-organized manner. 
The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the Plain 
Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in 
Government Writing,'' published in the Federal Register on June 10, 
1998 (63 FR 31885). The NRC requests comment on this document with 
respect to the clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

VI. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the methods, as indicated.

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                                            ADAMS Accession No./web link/
                 Document                     Federal Register citation
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Rulemaking: Regulatory Basis for Increased  ML23032A504
 Enrichment of Conventional and Accident
 Tolerant Fuel Designs for Light-Water
 Reactors, September 5, 2023.
6/22/2022--Summary of Public Meeting to     ML22208A001
 Discuss the Proposed Rulemaking on
 Increased Enrichment of Conventional and
 Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for Light-
 Water Reactors, July 1, 2022.
06/22/2022--Transcript of Public Meeting    ML22201A017
 to Discuss the Proposed Rulemaking
 onIncreased Enrichment of Conventional
 and Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for
 Light-Water Reactors, June 22, 2022.
SRM-SECY-21-0109, ``Staff Requirements--    ML22075A103
 SECY-21-0109--Rulemaking Plan on Use of
 Increased Enrichment of Conventional and
 Accident Tolerant Fuel Designs for Light-
 Water Reactors,'' March 16, 2022.
``Plain Language in Government Writing,''   63 FR 31885
 June 10, 1998.
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    The NRC may post additional materials related to this rulemaking 
activity to the Federal rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2020-0034. These documents will 
inform the public of the current status of this activity and/or provide 
additional material for use at future public meetings.
    The Federal rulemaking website allows you to receive alerts when 
changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) 
navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2020-0034); (2) click the 
``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter your email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

    Dated: September 5, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dafna E. Silberfeld,
Acting Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial 
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-19452 Filed 9-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P