Nuclear Regulatory Commission July 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is advertising for nominations for the position of Agreement State representative on the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI).

On July 14, 2011 (76 FR 41527), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) re-issued Draft Regulatory Guide, DG- 3037, ``Guidance for Fuel Cycle Facility Change Processes'' in the Federal Register for a 30 day public comment period. The NRC is extending the public comment period for DG-3037 from August 12, 2011 to September 16, 2011. DG-3037 describes the types of changes for fuel cycle facilities for which licensees are to seek prior approval from the NRC. The guidance discusses how licensees can evaluate potential changes to determine whether NRC approval is required before implementing a change. This regulatory guide also describes the level of information that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in documenting and reporting changes made without prior NRC approval.

The 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 May 6, 2011. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOEDs) for Operating Power Reactors and Gaseous Diffusion Plants (GDP) (NRC Enforcement Policy). 3. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0136. 4. The form number if applicable: N/A. 5. How often the collection is required: On occasion. 6. Who will be required or asked to report: Nuclear power reactor licensees and gaseous diffusion plant certificate holders. 7. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 21. 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: Approximately 11. 9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 1,705. 10. Abstract: The NRC's Enforcement Policy addresses circumstances in which the NRC may exercise enforcement discretion. A specific type of enforcement discretion is designated as a NOED and relates to circumstances which may arise where a nuclear power plant licensee's compliance with a Technical Specification Limiting Condition for Operation or other license conditions would involve: (1) An unnecessary plant shutdown; (2) performance of testing, inspection, or system realignment that is inappropriate for the specific plant conditions; or (3) unnecessary delays in plant startup without a corresponding health and safety benefit. Similarly, for a gaseous diffusion plant, circumstances may arise where compliance with a Technical Safety Requirement or other condition would unnecessarily require a total plant shutdown, or, compliance would unnecessarily place the plant in a condition where safety, safeguards, or security features were degraded or inoperable. A licensee or certificate holder seeking the issuance of a NOED, must document the safety basis for the request, including: an evaluation of the safety significance and potential consequences of the proposed request, a description of proposed compensatory measures, a justification for the duration of the request, the basis for the licensee's or certificate holder's conclusion that the request does not have a potential adverse impact on the public health and safety, that there will be no adverse consequences to the environment, and any other information the NRC staff deems necessary before the NRC staff makes a decision whether to exercise discretion. In addition, the NRC's Enforcement Policy includes a provision allowing licensees to voluntarily adopt fire protection requirements contained in the National Fire Protection Association Standard 805, ``Performance Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants, 2001 Edition'' (NFPA 805). Licensees who wish to implement the risk-informed process in NFPA 805 must submit a letter of intent (LOI) to the NRC. Licensees who wish to withdraw from the NFPA 805 risk-informed process must submit a letter of retraction. 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. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc- comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC 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 August 22, 2011. 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.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1270, ``Evaluations of Explosions Postulated to Occur at Nearby Facilities and on Transportation Routes Near Nuclear Power Plants''. This draft regulatory guide describes for applicants and licensees of nuclear power reactors some methods and assumptions the NRC's staff finds acceptable for evaluating postulated explosions at nearby facilities and transportation routes.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Commission or NRC) is seeking input from the public, licensees, Agreement States, non- Agreement States, and other stakeholders on a potential rulemaking to address prompt remediation of residual radioactivity during the operational phase of licensed material sites and nuclear reactors. The NRC has not initiated a rulemaking, but is in the process of gathering information and seeking stakeholder input on this subject for developing a technical basis document. To aid in this process, the NRC is requesting comments on the issues discussed in Section III, ``Specific Questions,'' in the Supplementary Information Section of this document. Additionally, the NRC will hold a public Webinar to facilitate the public's and other stakeholders' understanding of these issues and the submission of comments.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is revising its interim Enforcement Policy on enforcement discretion for certain fire protection issues to extend the enforcement discretion to correspond with a submittal schedule for new license amendment requests (LARs). This interim policy affects licensees that are transitioning to use the National Fire Protection Association Standard 805, ``Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants'' (NFPA 805).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is seeking public comment on NUREG/CR-6112, ``Impact of Reduced Dose Limits on NRC Licensed Activities,'' published in May 1995 (ADAMS Accession No. ML110960355). This document is being revised to support the technical basis development for possible changes to NRC's radiation protection regulations, as appropriate and where scientifically justified, to achieve greater alignment with the 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) contained in ICRP Publication 103.

The NRC invites public comment about our intention to request