Nuclear Regulatory Commission May 27, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The NRC is issuing its Final Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DC/ COL-ISG-01. This DC/COL-ISG provides guidance on Seismic Issues associated with High Frequency (HF) Ground Motion for Design Certification (DC) and Combined License (COL) applicants. Moreover, this COL/DC-ISG describes how the staff will review seismic issues associated with HF ground motion as addressed in DC applications and COL applications. Disposition: The draft form of the ISG was published for public comments on August 16, 2007 (ML072200566). The staff received industry comments dated September 12, 2007. This revised version incorporated changes resulting from the disposition of the industry comments and as a result of discussions at the December 20, 2007 and the February 13, 2008 meetings (ML080560592). The NRC staff issues DC/COL-ISGs to facilitate timely implementation of the current staff guidance and to facilitate activities associated with review of applications for DC and COLs by the Office of New Reactors. The NRC staff will also incorporate the approved DC/COL-ISGs into the next revision of review guidance documents used by the Office of New Reactors.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking dated March 24, 2008, filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (petitioner). The petition was docketed by the NRC and has been assigned Docket No. PRM- 50-90. The petitioner is requesting that the NRC amend the regulations that govern domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities, and special nuclear material to establish a date when the NRC will no longer license the use or export of highly enriched uranium (HEU) except for restricted use by a few specialized facilities. The petitioner believes that the amendment is needed to protect the public from potential exposure to an improvised nuclear explosive device made with HEU and used by terrorists.