Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, "Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption for Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-77 and DPR-79 held by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA, the licensee) for the operation of Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Sequoyah). The exemption would exempt TVA from the requirement to install a monitored alarm at the access control point of the storage facilities where the old steam generators are stored. The exemption is being requested to address a regulatory noncompliance which has resulted in the issuance of minor violations at the Sequoyah site. The NRC staff is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed exemption.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), as the lead agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Loan Programs Office (LPO), as a cooperating agency, will conduct a scoping process to gather information to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the environmental impacts from proposed Federal actions related to reauthorizing power operations at the Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP). Specifically, the NRC is considering an exemption request, a license transfer request, and license amendment requests to support reauthorizing operation under the NRC license. DOE LPO's proposed action is to provide federal financial support (a loan guarantee) to support power operations at PNP. The NRC and DOE LPO are seeking public comment on the proposed actions and will hold a hybrid public scoping meeting.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Confirmatory Order to Curium US LLC to memorialize the agreement reached during an alternative dispute resolution mediation session held on March 5-6, 2024. The Confirmatory Order contains commitments made to resolve 10 apparent violations of NRC requirements relating to an August 2019 contamination incident involving molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m. The commitments include actions by Curium US LLC to enhance its operating procedures, corrective action program, employee training, and safety culture. The Confirmatory Order is effective upon issuance.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of amendments to Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF- 39 and NPF-85, issued to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC for operation of the Limerick Generating Station, Units 1 and 2. The proposed amendments would revise the technical specifications for detecting and responding to leakage in the turbine enclosure main steam line tunnel.

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 considering an application for the subsequent license renewal of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-19 and DPR-25, which authorize Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (CEG, the applicant) to operate Dresden Nuclear Power Station (Dresden), Units 2 and 3. The subsequent renewed licenses would authorize CEG to operate Dresden for an additional 20 years beyond the period specified in each of the current licenses. The current operating license for Dresden, Unit 2, expires December 22, 2029. The current operating license for Dresden, Unit 3, expires January 12, 2031.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensees. These amendments are necessary to comply with the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, which requires the NRC to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget less certain amounts excluded from this fee-recovery requirement.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, "Financial Protection Requirements and Indemnity Agreements."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, "Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG), 1.210, "Qualification of Class 1E Battery Chargers, Inverters, and Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems for Production and Utilization Facilities." This RG describes an approach that is acceptable to the staff of the NRC to meet regulatory requirements for the qualification of safety related or Class 1E battery chargers, inverters, and uninterruptible power supply systems for production and utilization facilities.