Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making available for comment an Emergency Action Level (EAL) frequently asked question (FAQ). This EALFAQ will be used to provide clarification of endorsed Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) guidance related to the development of security related EALs. This EALFAQ was developed by the NRC at the request of NEI. The NRC is publishing this preliminary result to inform the public and solicit comments.

This notice revises a notice published on Friday, December 11, 2009, in the Federal Register (74 FR 65808), which announced, in part, that the public comment period for the NRC's Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for the Nichols Ranch In- Situ Recovery (ISR) Project closes on February 1, 2010. The purpose of this notice is to extend the public comment period on the Draft SEIS for the Nichols Ranch ISR Project to March 3, 2010.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued for public comment a document entitled ``NUREG-1921 (EPRI 1019196), EPRI/NRC-RES Fire Human Reliability Analysis Guidelines, Draft Report for Comment'' (December 11, 2009; 74 FR 65810). This document extends the public comment period from February 15, 2010, to March 19, 2010.

The NRC staff is soliciting public comment on its proposed Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DC/COL-ISG-021 titled ``Interim Staff Guidance on the Review of Nuclear Power Plant Designs Using a Gas Turbine Driven Standby Emergency Alternating Current Power System,'' (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML092640035). This ISG provides new guidance information for applicants submitting a combined license (COL) or design certification (DC) for construction and operation of new reactors submitted under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 52. In addition, it supplements the guidance provided to the NRC staff in other sections of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,'' March 2007, Standard Review Plan (SRP), Section 8.3.1 and Sections 9.5.4 through 9.5.8. The NRC staff issues DC/COL-ISGs to facilitate timely implementation of current staff guidance and to facilitate activities associated with review of applications for DCs and COLs by the Office of New Reactors (NRO). The NRC staff intends to incorporate the final approved DC/COL-ISG-021 into the next revision of SRP Section 8.3.1 and Sections 9.5.4 through 9.5.8 and Regulatory Guide 1.206, ``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (LWR Edition),'' June 2007.

This document corrects a rule that appeared in the Federal Register on January 4, 2010 (75 FR 13), that amends the NRC's regulations to provide alternate fracture toughness requirements for protection against pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events for pressurized water reactor (PWR) pressure vessels. This document is necessary to correct formatting and typographical errors in paragraph (g).

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a notice of opportunity for public comment on ``NUREG-1934 (EPRI 1019195), Nuclear Power Plant Fire Modeling Application Guide (NPP FIRE MAG), Draft Report for Comment'' in the Federal Register (74 FR 68873) on December 29, 2009. Issues encountered during the holiday season delayed publication of NUREG-1934. In addition, the final document has been revised to correct some editorial issues resulting from the conversion to a pdf file.

The NRC is issuing its Final Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) ESP/ DC/COL-ISG-015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML093561416). This ISG supplements the guidance provided to the NRC staff in Section 1.0, ``Introduction and Interfaces,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,'' concerning the review of applications to support early site permit (ESP), design certification (DC) and combined license (COL) applications. In addition, this ISG supplements the guidance provided in Section C.III.4 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.206, ``Regulatory Guide for Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants,'' June 2007.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (PRM- 50-90). The petitioner requested that the NRC amend the regulations that govern domestic licensing of highly enriched uranium (HEU) production and utilization facilities to establish a date when the NRC would no longer license the domestic use or export of HEU except for restricted use by a few specialized facilities. The petitioner has not demonstrated that existing NRC licensing, security and export regulations do not currently provide for reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the public health and safety, and the common defense and security of the United States.

By letter dated August 10, 2009, Powertech (USA) (Powertech) submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) an application for a new source material license. The requested license, or the proposed action, would authorize the construction, operation, and decommissioning of Powertech's proposed in-situ uranium recovery (ISR, also known as in-situ leach) facilities, and would require restoration of the aquifer from which the uranium would be extracted. A notice of receipt and availability of the license application, including the Environmental Report (ER), and opportunity to request a hearing was published in the Federal Register on January 05, 2010 (75 FR 467-471).