Nuclear Regulatory Commission December 28, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to update the access authorization fees charged to NRC licensees for work performed under the Material Access Authorization Program and the Information Access Authority Program. The change in fees is due to an increase in the review time for each application for access authorization. This amendment is prompted by a recent audit of fees performed by an external certified public accounting and financial management services firm and ensures that the NRC continues to recover the full costs of processing access authorization requests from NRC licensees. The proposed rule also would make two administrative changes to revise definitions to include new naming conventions for background investigation case types and to specify the electronic process for completing security forms.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) is issuing an exemption from the Commission's regulations in response to a November 5, 2021, request, as supplemented by letter dated November 12, 2021, from Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (SNC), as applicable to Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4. Specifically, SNC requested a schedular exemption from NRC requirements, which require, in part, a holder of a combined license (COL) after the Commission finds that the acceptance criteria in the COL are met for the unit to implement all fitness for duty (FFD) requirements, except for certain FFD requirements for construction, before the receipt of special nuclear material in the form of fuel assemblies. Approval of this exemption would allow VEGP Units 3 and 4 to delay implementation of the requirements of an FFD program that meets all FFD requirements, except for certain FFD requirements for construction, until a point before each unit's initial fuel load into the reactor.