Nuclear Regulatory Commission October 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document corrects a notice appearing in the Federal Register on September 25, 2007 (72 FR 54472), that incorrectly referenced the licensee as Detroit Edison Company. This action is necessary to correct the erroneous reference.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations applicable to limited work authorizations (LWAs), which allow certain construction activities on production and utilization facilities to commence before a construction permit or combined license is issued. This final rule modifies the scope of activities that are considered construction for which a construction permit, combined license, or LWA is necessary, specifies the scope of construction activities that may be performed under an LWA, and changes the review and approval process for LWA requests. The NRC is adopting these changes to enhance the efficiency of its licensing and approval process for production and utilization facilities, including new nuclear power reactors.

NRC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) October 22-23, 2007. A sample of agenda items to be discussed during the public session includes: (1) NARM legislation, transition plan, and guidance; (2) status of specialty board applications for NRC recognition; (3) Y-90 microspheres guidance; (4) training and experience implementation issues; (4) recent security activities; (5) potential changes to 10 CFR Part 35; (6) licensing guidance for the Leksell Gamma-Knife[reg] PerfexionTM; and (7) review of recent medical events. A copy of the agenda will be available at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc- collections/acmui/agenda or by e-mailing Ms. Ashley M. Tull at the contact information below. Purpose: Discuss issues related to 10 CFR Part 35 Medical Use of Byproduct Material. Date and Time for Closed Sessions: October 22, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. This session will be closed so that NRC staff and ACMUI can discuss Committee business, which may include: Ethics training, personnel information, and other internal NRC issues. Date and Time for Open Sessions: October 22, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and October 23, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Address for Public Meeting: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White Flint North Building, Room T2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Public Participation: Any member of the public who wishes to participate in the meeting should contact Ms. Tull using the information below. Contact Information: Ashley M. Tull, e-mail: amt1@nrc.gov, telephone: (301) 415-5294 or (918) 488-0552.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is proposing to amend its regulations to require applicants for new standard design certifications that do not reference a standard design approval; new standard design approvals; combined licenses that do not reference a standard design certification, standard design approval, or manufactured reactor; and new manufacturing licenses that do not reference a standard design certification or standard design approval to assess the effects of the impact of a large, commercial aircraft on the nuclear power plant. Based on the insights gained from this assessment, the applicant shall include in its application a description and evaluation of design features, functional capabilities, and strategies to avoid or mitigate, to the extent practicable, the effects of the aircraft impact with reduced reliance on operator actions. The impact of a large, commercial aircraft is a beyond-design- basis event, and the NRC's requirements applicable to the design, construction, testing, operation, and maintenance of design features, functional capabilities, and strategies for design basis events would not be applicable to design features, functional capabilities, or strategies selected by the applicant solely to meet the requirements of this rule. The objective of this rule is to require nuclear power plant designers to perform a rigorous assessment of design features that could provide additional inherent protection to avoid or mitigate, to the extent practicable, the effects of an aircraft impact, with reduced reliance on operator actions.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to include jurisdiction over discrete sources of radium- 226, accelerator-produced radioactive materials, and discrete sources of naturally occurring radioactive material, as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), which was signed into law on August 8, 2005. The EPAct expanded the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 definition of Byproduct material to include any discrete source of radium-226, any material made radioactive by use of a particle accelerator, and any discrete source of naturally occurring radioactive material, other than source material, that the Commission, in consultation with other Federal officials named in the EPAct, determines would pose a similar threat to the public health and safety or the common defense and security as a discrete source of radium-226, that are extracted or converted after extraction for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity. In so doing, these materials were placed under the NRC's regulatory authority. The EPAct also mandated that the Commission, after consultation with the States and other stakeholders, issue final regulations establishing requirements that the Commission determines necessary under the EPAct. This rulemaking effort has been undertaken in response to that mandate and includes significant contributions from many States that have regulated the naturally occurring and accelerator-produced radioactive material, the Organization of Agreement States, Inc., the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc. (CRCPD), and other stakeholders. In addition, this final rule was informed and guided by the CRCPD's applicable Suggested State Regulations for the Control of Radiation. Licensees, individuals, and other entities who are engaged in activities involving the newly defined byproduct material in both Agreement States and non-Agreement States and United States Territories will be affected by this rulemaking.