Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 4.7, ``General Site Suitability Criteria for Nuclear Power Stations.'' This guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable to implement the site suitability requirements for nuclear power stations. It is intended to assist applicants in the initial stage of selecting potential sites for a nuclear power station. Each site that appears to be compatible with the general criteria discussed in this guide should be examined in greater detail before it can be considered a ``candidate'' site (i.e., one of the group of sites to be considered in selecting a ``proposed'' or ``preferred'' site).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is issuing for public comment Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) FSME-ISG-01, ``Evaluations of Uranium Recovery Facility Surveys of Radon and Radon Progeny in Air and Demonstrations of Compliance with 10 CFR 20.1301.'' This ISG provides guidance to the NRC staff for evaluating uranium recovery (UR) licensee demonstrations of compliance with the public dose limits.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-5038, ``Special Nuclear Material Doorway Monitors.'' This guidance addresses NRC requirements that individuals must be searched as they leave a material access area (MAA) for facilities that contain special nuclear material (SNM) of a type and quantity that require an MAA.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (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. The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on December 27, 2013 (78 FR 79016). 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: Comprehensive Decommissioning Program, Including Annual Data Collection. 3. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0206. 4. How often the collection is required: Annually. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: All Agreement States who have signed Section 274(b) Agreements with the NRC. 6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 37 (14 Agreement States respondents with sites of interest + 23 Agreement States respondents with no sites of interest). 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 37 (14 Agreement States respondents with sites of interest + 23 Agreement States respondents with no sites of interest). 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 469 (400 hours from Agreement States with sites of interest + 69 hours from Agreement States with no sites of interest). 9. Abstract: The Agreement States will be asked to provide information about uranium recovery and complex sites undergoing decommissioning regulated by the Agreement States on an annual basis. The information request will allow the NRC to compile, in a centralized location, more complete information on the status of decommissioning and decontamination in the United States in order to provide a national perspective on decommissioning. The information will be made available to the public by the NRC in order to ensure openness and promote communication to enhance public knowledge of the national decommissioning program. This does not apply to information, such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information provided by the Agreement States, that is considered privileged or confidential. Information such as financial assurance and the status of decommissioning funding would need to be identified by the Agreement State as privileged or confidential, whereupon the NRC would withhold such information from public access and treat it as sensitive or non- sensitive, per the considerations in 10 CFR 2.390 and 9.17. This does not apply to financial assurance or decommissioning funding information that is already available to the public. Although specific details of the funding mechanisms are treated as confidential, beneficial lessons learned regarding the improvement of decommissioning-related funding will be shared with the Agreement States. The public may examine, and have copied for a fee, publicly- available documents, including the final supporting statement, at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC's Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC's 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 April 23, 2014. 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. Danielle Y. Jones, Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0206), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be emailed to Danielle_Y_Jones@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at 202-395-1741. The Acting NRC Clearance Officer is Kristen Benney, telephone: 301- 415-6355.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) has received a request for an alternate decommissioning schedule from the Department of the Navy (Navy) for its Space and Naval Warfare Centers Pacific (SPAWARS) site, located in San Diego, California, permitted under the Navy's Master Materials License (MML) No. 45-23645- 01NA. Approval of the request would extend the time period for the Navy to submit a decommissioning plan and initiate decommissioning activities at SPAWARS.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has determined that the inspections, tests, and analyses have been successfully completed, and that the specified acceptance criteria are met for ITAAC 3.3.00.09, for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station Unit 2.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a request for an alternate decommissioning schedule from the Department of the Navy (Navy) for its Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake (China Lake) site, located in China Lake, California, permitted under the Navy's Master Materials License (MML) No. 45-23645-01NA. Approval of the request would extend the time period for the Navy to submit a decommissioning plan and initiate decommissioning activities at China Lake.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption in response to a June 25, 2013, request from NextEra Energy, Seabrook, LLC, requesting an exemption for the use of a different fuel rod cladding material (Optimized ZIRLO\TM\).

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) (NUREG-1910, Supplement 5) for the Ross In-Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project (Ross Project). By letter dated January 4, 2011, Strata Energy, Inc. (Strata) submitted an application to the NRC for a new source and byproduct materials license for the Ross Project, which Strata proposes to be located in Crook County, Wyoming. Strata is proposing to recover uranium from the Ross Project site using the ISR process.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this draft generic letter to address degradation of neutron-absorbing materials in the spent fuel pool (SFP). The NRC has determined that it is necessary to obtain plant-specific information requested in the draft generic letter so that the NRC can determine if the degradation of the neutron-absorbing materials in the SFP is being managed to maintain reasonable assurance that the materials are capable of performing their intended safety function, and if the licensees are in compliance with the regulations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Transnuclear, Inc. Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 13 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004. Amendment No. 13 includes changes to: (1) Add two new dry shielded canisters (DSCs), the -37PTH and the -69BTH; (2) add new approved contents, including blended low enriched uranium fuel, and control components to already approved DSCs; and (3) extend the use of the high-seismic horizontal storage module for storage of already approved DSCs. In addition, the amendment makes several other changes as described in Section III of the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulation section of this issue of the Federal Register.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an exemption to allow a departure from the certification information of Tier 1 of the generic design control document (DCD) and issuing License Amendment No. 10 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-93 and NPF-94. The COLs were issued to South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G) and South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) (the licensee), for construction and operation of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station (VCSNS), Units 2 and 3 located in Fairfield County, South Carolina. The amendment changes the VCSNS Tier 1 (COL Appendix C) Figure 2.3.10-1, Liquid Radwaste System (WLS), and Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) Tier 2 tables, text and figures to align VCSNS Tier 1 with Tier 2 information provided in the UFSAR and to achieve consistency within VCSNS Tier 1 material by (1) changing the safety classification of the Passive Core Cooling System (PXS) and Chemical and Volume Control System (CVS) compartment drain hubs, (2) changing the connection type from the PXS Compartments drains A and B to a header to match the design description, (3) changing the valve types for three valves in the Tier 1 figure to conform to the design description and (4) changing depiction of Tier 1 WLS components to conform to Tier 1 Figure Conventions. The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 information asked for in the amendment. Because the acceptability of the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the withdrawal of draft Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Interim Staff Guidance No. 26A (SFST-ISG-26A), Revision 0, ``Shielding and Radiation Protection Review Effort and Licensing Parameters for 10 CFR Part 72 Applications.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comment on draft NUREG-1614, Volume 6, ``U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2014-2018.'' The draft Strategic Plan provides the agency's long-term, results-focused goals and objectives and its proposed strategies for achieving them for the planning period. The NRC encourages and welcomes public comments that can help it respond to challenges and shape its strategic direction over the next four years, particularly comments on the plan's goals, objectives, and strategies.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending Materials License No. SNM-2511 for the Diablo Canyon (DC) independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). Amendment No. 3 provides the following: (1) Changes the maximum allowable decay heat per storage location; (2) adds a new helium backfill pressure range for multipurpose canisters (MPCs) with heat loads less than or equal to 28.74kW, (3) clarifies that supplemental cooling was only applicable for unloading of high burnup fuel loaded in 2012 under the provisions of License Amendment No. 2, and (4) provides a maximum average yearly temperature of 65[emsp14][deg]F as the basis for a loaded overpack in the cask transfer facility, or storage on the ISFSI pad, and a maximum temperature of 100[emsp14][deg]F, averaged over a 3-day period, as the basis for transfer activities in the transfer cask to support revised thermal analyses.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (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. The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on November 8, 2013 (78 FR 67204). 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: New. 2. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 749, ``Manual License Verification Report.'' 3. Current OMB approval number: 3150-XXXX. 4. The form number if applicable: NRC 749. 5. How often the collection is required: On occasion. Licensees subject to Part 37 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Physical Protection of Byproduct Material'' license verification requirements must verify the legitimacy of the license with the issuing agency prior to transferring radioactive materials in quantities of concern. 6. Who will be required or asked to report: Licensees are required to complete license verification under the circumstances noted in 3 above. A License Verification System (LVS) has been developed, providing an electronic method for fulfilling this requirement. In cases where a licensee is unable to use the LVS to perform verification, they will provide NRC Form 749 for manual license verification. 7. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 91. 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 91. 9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 9.1 hours. 10. Abstract: When a licensee is unable to use the License Verification System to perform their license verification prior to transfer, a manual process has been developed; in which licensees submit the NRC Form 749, ``Manual License Verification Report.'' The form provides the information necessary for the issuing agencies to perform the verification on behalf of the transferring licensee. The public may examine and have copied for a fee publicly-available documents, including the final supporting statement, at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC's Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC's 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 April 2, 2014. 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. Danielle Y. Jones, Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-XXXX), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be emailed to Danielle_Y_Jones@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at 202-395-1741. The Acting NRC Clearance Officer is Kristen Benney, telephone: 301- 415-6355.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received and is considering approval of six amendment requests. The amendment requests are for Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3; Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2; McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2; Indian Point Nuclear Generating, Units 1, 2, and 3; Palisades Nuclear Plant; and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. For each amendment request, the NRC proposes to determine that they involve no significant hazards consideration. In addition, each amendment request contains sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is giving notice that by petition dated July 25, 2013, David L. Lochbaum, on behalf of the Alliance for Green Economy, Beyond Nuclear, Citizen's Awareness Network, and Union of Concerned Scientists (together referred to as petitioners) has requested that the NRC take enforcement action with regard to James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. The petitioners' requests are included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.