Nuclear Regulatory Commission July 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering amending Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and NPF-77, which authorize Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, (Constellation, the licensee) to operate Braidwood Station (Braidwood), Units 1 and 2. The proposed amendments would change Technical Specification (TS) Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.7.9.2 to allow an ultimate heat sink (UHS) temperature of less than or equal to 102.8 degrees Fahrenheit ([deg]F) through September 30, 2024. The NRC staff is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed amendments.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No. NPF-2 and NPF-8, issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee), for operation of the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, (Farley) Units 1 and 2. The requested amendment would revise the operating license, Appendix A, Technical Specification (TS) 3.6.5, "Containment Air Temperature," actions upon exceeding the containment average air temperature limit of 120 degrees Fahrenheit ([deg]F) and remove an expired Note provision. Specifically, the proposed amendment would revise TS 3.6.5 Required Actions and Completion Time A.1, add Required Actions and Completion Times A.2 and A.3, as well as remove an expired Note in TS 3.6.5 Limiting Conditions for Operation. For this amendment request, the NRC proposes to determine that it involves no significant hazards consideration. Because this amendment request contains sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI), an order imposes procedures to obtain access to SUNSI for contention preparation.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, "Voluntary Reporting of Performance Indicators."

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-108, to ensure the system of records notices remain accurate, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff reviews each notice on a periodic basis. As a result of this review, the NRC is republishing 16 of its system of records notices and has made various revisions to ensure that the NRC's notices remain clear, accurate, and up to date. Three of the system noticesNRC 37, Information Security Files and Associated Records, NRC 44, Employee Fitness Center Records, and NRC 46, Health Emergency Recordsare subject to a 30-day comment period based on the nature of their revisions. The revisions to these systems are in effect upon this publication with the exception of the NRC 37, NRC 44 and NRC 46 modifications, which will go into effect 30 days after this publication. The remaining systems revisions are minor corrective and administrative changes that do not meet the threshold criteria established by OMB for either a new or altered system of records. The minor modifications include updating authorities, system managers, retention schedules, and various other minor updates, in accordance with OMB Circular A-108.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an exemption in response to a request dated September 28, 2023, as supplemented by letter dated March 14, 2024, from Tennessee Valley Authority related to the use of a locked door or gate with a monitored alarm at the access control point to radioactive waste that contains category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive material at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, site.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a single notice to announce the issuance of two exemptions in response to requests from two licensees. These exemptions were requested as a result of a change to NRC's regulations published in the Federal Register on March 14, 2023.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to incorporate by reference revisions of three regulatory guides to approve new, revised, and reaffirmed code cases published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This action allows nuclear power plant licensees and applicants for construction permits, operating licenses, combined licenses, standard design certifications, standard design approvals, and manufacturing licenses to use the code cases listed in these regulatory guides as voluntary alternatives to engineering standards for the construction, inservice inspection, and inservice testing of nuclear power plant components. These engineering standards are set forth in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code and American Society of Mechanical Engineers Operation and Maintenance Code, which are currently incorporated by reference into the NRC's regulations. Further, this final rule announces the availability of a related regulatory guide, not incorporated by reference into the NRC's regulations, that lists code cases that the NRC has not approved for use. Finally, this rulemaking provides more flexibility to licensees by expanding the code of record interval from ten years to two consecutive inservice testing and inservice inspection intervals.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeks qualified candidates for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS or Committee).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Holtec International HI- STORM Flood/Wind Multi-purpose Canister Storage System listing within the "List of approved spent fuel storage casks" to include Amendment No. 7 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1032. Amendment No. 7 revises the certificate of compliance to add a new overpack, add new multi- purpose canisters MPC-44 and MPC-37P, and add new fuel type 10x10J to approved content. Amendment No. 7 also incorporates other technical changes and several editorial changes.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) on August 29, 2024, to discuss the ACMUI's draft subcommittee report on its review and recommendations on staff's regulatory basis for the rulemaking to amend financial assurance requirements for disposition of category 1-3 byproduct material radioactive sealed sources. Meeting information, including a copy of the agenda and handouts, will be available on the ACMUI's Meetings and Related Documents web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ acmui/meetings/2024.html or by emailing Ms. L. Armstead at the contact information below. Date: August 29, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is giving notice that by petition dated December 5, 2023, Beyond Nuclear, Michigan State Energy Future, and Don't Waste Michigan (the petitioners) filed a petition to intervene and a request for hearing on a proceeding to exempt the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant (Palisades) from certain requirements in NRC regulations. In denying the request for hearing, the Commission referred Contention 2 of the request, regarding the misuse of decommissioning funds, to the enforcement petition process under NRC regulations. The petitioner's requests are included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, "Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2024-02, "Required Assessment of U.S. Department of Energy Laboratories by Licensees, Applicants, and Suppliers to Verify the Effective Implementation of Their Quality Assurance Programs." RIS 2024-02 clarifies the agency's regulatory position regarding the required assessment of U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories by licensees, applicants, and vendors to verify the effective implementation of the laboratories' quality assurance programs.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations on categorical exclusions for licensing, regulatory, and administrative actions that individually or cumulatively do not have a significant effect on the human environment. The proposed revisions would eliminate the preparation of environmental assessments for such NRC actions. The proposed rule would not change any requirements for applicants or licensees. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of the proposed rule and facilitate public comment.