Nuclear Regulatory Commission April 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued Generic Letter (GL) 2006-03 to all holders of operating licenses for nuclear power reactors, except those who have permanently ceased operation and have certified that fuel has been removed from the reactor vessel. The NRC is issuing this GL to: (1) Request that addressees evaluate their facilities to confirm compliance with the existing applicable regulatory requirements in light of the information provided in this GL and, if appropriate, take additional actions. Specifically, although Hemyc and MT fire barriers in nuclear power plants (NPPs) may be relied on to protect electrical and instrumentation cables and equipment that provide safe shutdown capability during a fire, 2005 NRC testing has revealed that both materials failed to provide the protective function intended for compliance with existing regulations, for the configurations tested using the thermal acceptance criteria from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 251, ``Standard Methods of Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials.'' The NRC staff applied the supplemental guidance in GL 86-10, Supplement 1, ``Fire Endurance Test Acceptance Criteria for Fire Barrier Systems Used to Separate Redundant Safe Shutdown Trains Within the Same Fire Area'' for the test details of thermocouple number and location, and (2) Require that addressees submit a written response to the NRC in accordance with NRC regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 50.54(f). This Federal Register notice is available through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession Number ML061080011.

Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared a model Application related to changes to the Diesel Fuel Oil Testing Programs. The changes relocate references to specific American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for fuel oil testing to licensee-controlled documents and adds alternate criteria to the ``clear and bright'' acceptance test for new fuel oil. The NRC staff has also prepared a model safety evaluation (SE) and no significant hazards consideration (NSHC) determination relating to this matter. The purpose of these models is to permit the NRC to efficiently process amendments that propose to adopt the associated changes into plant-specific technical specifications (TS). Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which the models apply could request amendments confirming the applicability of the SE and NSHC determination to their reactors.

The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of continued approval of information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR part 40, Domestic Licensing of Source Material; and NRC Form 484, Detection Monitoring Data Report. 2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0020. 3. How often the collection is required: On occasion. Reports required under 10 CFR part 40 are collected and evaluated on a continuing basis as events occur. There is a one-time submittal of information to receive a license. Renewal applications need to be submitted every 5 to 10 years. Information in previous applications may be referenced without being resubmitted. In addition, recordkeeping must be performed on an on- going basis. NRC Form 484 is submitted biannually to report ground- water data necessary to implement EPA ground-water standards. 4. Who is required or asked to report: 10 CFR part 40: Applicants for and holders of NRC licenses authorizing the receipt, possession, use, or transfer of radioactive source and byproduct material. NRC Form 484: Uranium recovery facility licensees reporting ground- water monitoring data pursuant to 10 CFR 40.64. 5. The estimated number of annual respondents: 340 licensees (68 NRC licensees and 272 Agreement State licensees). 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 65,418 hours [20,769 NRC Licensees (16,067 hours reporting and 4,702 hours recordkeeping) and 44,649 Agreement State Licensees (26,923 hours reporting and 17,726 hours recordkeeping)]. 7. Abstract: 10 CFR part 40 establishes requirements for licenses for the receipt, possession, use and transfer of radioactive source and byproduct material. NRC Form 484 is used to report certain groundwater monitoring data required by 10 CFR part 40 for uranium recovery licensees. The application, reporting and recordkeeping requirements are necessary to permit the NRC to make a determination on whether the possession, use, and transfer of source and byproduct material is in conformance with the Commission's regulations for protection of public health and safety. Submit, by June 19, 2006, comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions about the information collection requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda Jo. Shelton, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, T-5 F52, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by Internet electronic mail to INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the availability of and is seeking comments on NUREG-1842, ``Evaluation of Human Reliability Analysis Methods Against Good Practices, Draft Report For Comment.''

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations revising the BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation (FuelSolutions\TM\) cask system listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 4 to the Certificate of Compliance. Amendment No. 4 would revise Technical Specification (TS) requirements related to periodic monitoring during storage operations. Specifically, the amendment would revise the TS to permit longer surveillance intervals for casks with heat loads lower than the design basis heat load and permit visual inspection of the cask vent screens or measurement of the cask liner temperature to satisfy the periodic monitoring requirements that govern general design criteria for spent fuel storage casks. TS 3.3.1 would be deleted to remove daily monitoring requirements. TS 3.3.2 would be revised for the W21 and W74 canisters to permit either visual inspection of vent screens or liner thermocouple temperature monitoring. Also, TS 5.3.8 would add a section to the Periodic Monitoring Program which establishes intervals for periodic monitoring that are less than the time required to reach the limiting short-term temperature limit. This program would establish administrative controls and procedures to assure that the licensee will be able to determine when corrective action is required. In addition, the amendment would update editorial changes associated with the company name change from BNFL Fuel Solutions Corporation to BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation and make other administrative changes.

The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of continued approval of information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR part 110, Export and Import of Nuclear Equipment and Material. 2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0036. 3. How often the collection is required: On occasion. 4. Who is required or asked to report: Any person in the U.S. who wishes to export: (a) Nuclear equipment and material subject to the requirements of a specific license, (b) radioactive waste subject to the requirements of a specific license, and (c) incidental radioactive material that is a contaminant of shipments of more than 100 kilograms of non-waste material using existing NRC general licenses. 5. The number of annual respondents: 62. 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 857 [478 reporting + 379 recordkeeping (0.66 hours per response)]. 7. Abstract: 10 CFR part 110 provides application, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements for export and imports of nuclear material and equipment subject to the requirements of a specific license or a general license and exports of incidental radioactive material. The information collected and maintained pursuant to 10 CFR part 110 enables the NRC to authorize only imports and exports which are not inimical to U.S. common defense and security and which meet applicable statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements. Submit, by June 12, 2006, comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions about the information collection requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda Jo. Shelton (T-5F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001, or by telephone 301-415-7233, or by Internet electronic mail to INFOCOLLECT@NRC.GOV.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations that govern the export and import of nuclear material and equipment concerning the use of NRC Form 7, ``Application for NRC Export/Import License, Amendment, or Renewal.'' Recently, the Commission revised NRC Form 7 to consolidate all license requests (i.e., applications for export, import, combined export/import, amendments and renewals) in one application form. Previously, NRC Form 7 was used only for applications for export of nuclear material and equipment. Import license applications, production or utilization facility export applications, and license amendment and renewal applications were filed by letter. As a result of the revision, these requests previously made by letter, now will be made using NRC Form 7. The purpose of this change is to amend the regulations that govern export and import of nuclear material and equipment to reflect that all license requests are to be made using NRC Form 7, as revised.

Notice is hereby given that the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared a model license amendment request (LAR), model safety evaluation (SE), and model proposed no significant hazards consideration (NSHC) determination related to changes to the completion times (CT) in Standard Technical Specification (STS) 3.6.6A, ``Containment Spray and Cooling Systems.'' The proposed changes would revise STS 3.6.6A by extending the CT for one containment spray system (CSS) train inoperable from 72 hours to seven days, and add a Condition describing required Actions and CT when one CSS and one containment cooling system (CCS) are inoperable. These changes are based on analyses provided in a joint applications report submitted by the Combustion Engineering Owner's Group (CEOG). The CEOG participants in the Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF) proposed this change to the STS in Change Traveler No. TSTF-409, Revision 2. The purpose of these models is to permit the NRC to efficiently process amendments to incorporate these changes into plant-specific STS for Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which the models apply can request amendments conforming to the models. In such a request, a licensee should confirm the applicability of the SE and NSHC determination to its plant, and provide the expected supplemental information requested in the model LAR. The NRC staff is requesting comments on the model LAR, model SE and NSHC determination before announcing their availability for referencing in license amendment applications.

The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of continued approval of information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: Billing Instructions for NRC Cost Type Contracts. 3. The form number if applicable: N/A. 4. How often the collection is required: Monthly and on occasion. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: NRC Contractors. 6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 2,140. 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 55. 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 1,070 hours (754 hours billing and 316 hours, License Fee Recovery Cost). 9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies: N/A. 10. Abstract: In administering its contracts, the NRC Division of Contracts provides billing instructions for its contractors to follow in preparing invoices. These instructions stipulate the level of detail in which supporting data must be submitted for NRC review. The review of this information ensures that all payments made by NRC for valid and reasonable costs are in accordance with the contract terms and conditions. A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by May 8, 2006. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. John A. Asalone, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0109), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be e-mailed to JohnA.Asalone@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at (202) 395-4650. The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233.