Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has conducted a comprehensive review of all its Privacy Act systems of records notices. The NRC is revising and republishing all its systems of records notices as a result of this review. The revisions are minor corrective and administrative changes that do not meet the threshold criteria established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for either a new or altered system of records.

On November 6, 2009, the NRC published a draft policy statement,'' Safety Culture Policy Statement,'' in the Federal Register (FRN) (74 FR 57525; NRC ADAMS Accession Number ML093030375).\1\ The Statement of Policy (SOP) contained in the FRN focuses on the interface of nuclear safety and security in a positive safety culture, and highlights the Commission's expectation that all licensees and certificate holders \2\ establish and maintain a positive safety culture that protects public health and safety and the common defense and security when carrying out licensed activities. The FRN requested that interested persons provide comments within 90 days of its publication. On January 12, 2010, the comment period was extended to March 1, 2010 (75 FR 1656; ML100050288). As part of its outreach activities, the NRC held a Safety Culture Workshop in February 2010 that provided a venue for interested parties to provide comments on the draft safety culture policy statement. The additional goal of the workshop was for panelists representing a broad range of stakeholders to reach alignment on a common definition of safety culture and a high- level set of traits that describe areas important to a positive safety culture. The workshop panelists, with the assistance of the other workshop participants, developed both. Following the February workshop, the staff evaluated the public comments that were submitted in response to the November 2009 FRN. Additionally, the staff participated on panels and made presentations at various industry forums in order to provide information to stakeholders about the development of the safety culture policy statement and/or to obtain additional input and to ascertain whether the draft definition and traits developed at the workshop accurately reflect a broad range of stakeholders' views.

It is the policy of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to have its senior managers conduct an annual Agency Action Review Meeting (AARM). The AARM is an integral part of the evaluative process used by the agency to ensure the operational safety performance of licensees. As a part of the AARM process, the NRC reviews the agency's actions concerning fuel cycle facilities and other materials licensees (including Agreement State licensees) with significant performance concerns. In 2002, the NRC developed criteria for determining materials licensees that would be discussed at the AARM. The NRC revised the criteria to incorporate NRC's current policies and procedures in 2008. The criteria that is currently used to determine materials licensees that will be discussed at the AARM may be found in Enclosure 2 of SECY-08-0135, ``Revision of the Criteria for Identifying Nuclear Materials Licensees for Discussion at the Agency Action Review Meeting,'' dated September 16, 2008 (ADAMS Accession Number: ML082480564). Currently, the NRC is considering revisions to this criteria for Identifying Materials Licensees for Discussion at the AARM. A draft revised criterion found in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below provides an additional criterion to address licensees previously discussed at the AARM. The reason this additional criterion has been added is to allow NRC's senior management to address why the previously identified issues are not being resolved. The NRC is seeking public comment on this revised criterion.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities (GEIS), (NUREG-1910, Supplement 1) regarding the Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project in Campbell County, Wyoming. By letter dated October 2, 2007, Energy Metals Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uranium One Americas (Uranium One), submitted an application to the NRC for a new source material license for the proposed Moore Ranch Project, located in southwest Campbell County, Wyoming. Uranium One is proposing to recover uranium from the Moore Ranch site using the in-situ leach (also known as the in-situ recovery [ISR]) process. In this final SEIS, the NRC staff assessed the environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed Moore Ranch ISR Project.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking dated March 24, 2010, and supplemented on July 12, 2010, filed by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) (petitioner). The petition was docketed by the NRC and has been assigned Docket No. PRM- 26-4. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to add marriage and family therapists (MFT) as substance abuse experts (SAEs).