[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 107 (Monday, June 6, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-13689]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 6, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 

Clearance of Form-EIA-858, ``Uranium Industry Annual Survey''

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of proposed changes to form.

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SUMMARY: Under its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and reporting 
burden for respondents (as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1980, Pub. L. 96-511, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Energy Information 
Administration (EIA) conducts a consultation program to provide the 
general public and other Federal agencies an opportunity to comment on 
its continuing and newly proposed survey forms. This program helps to 
assure that: (a) Data can be reported by respondents in the requested 
format; (b) burden of reporting is minimized; (c) survey forms are 
clearly understood; and (d) the impact of collection requirements on 
respondents can be accurately assessed. Currently, EIA is soliciting 
comments concerning proposed changes to Form EIA-858, ``Uranium 
Industry Annual Survey,'' for the collection of 1994 data.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted July 6, 1994. If you 
anticipate that you will be submitting comments but find it difficult 
to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should, 
as soon as possible, advise the EIA contact listed below of your 
intention to provide comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Luther Smith, Energy Information 
Administration, EI-522; U.S. Department of Energy; Washington, DC 
20585; Phone (202) 254-5565. Requests for additional information or 
copies of the form and instructions should be directed to Luther Smith.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) and the Department of 
Energy (DOE) Organization Act (Public Law 95-91), the Energy 
Information Administration is conducting a comprehensive energy data 
and information program to collect, evaluate, assemble, and analyze 
periodic data and information on the domestic uranium industry and 
economic and statistical information related to the adequacy of 
domestic uranium resources and production capability to meet the 
Nation's near- and longer-term future needs. The information collected 
is used by the Energy Information Administration to fulfill its 
monitoring and data dissemination functions as mandated by the 
Congress.
    Data collected on these forms provide a comprehensive statistical 
characterization of the domestic uranium industry in these areas: (a) 
Uranium exploration, mining, reserves, uranium concentrate production, 
and employment related to those activities, and (b) uranium marketing 
activities, inventory status, imports and exports, enrichment feed 
deliveries, purchases of enrichment services, and use of unirradiated 
uranium in new fuel assemblies. Published data from these surveys are 
used by the Congress, Federal and State agencies, the uranium and 
electric-utility industries, and the general public. National and State 
level data are published in the EIA reports ``World Nuclear Capacity 
and Fuel Cycle Requirements,'' ``Uranium Purchases Report,'' ``Uranium 
Industry Annual,'' and the ``Annual Energy Review.''

II. Current Actions

Summary of Changes

    In the December 7, 1993, Federal Register notice (58 FR 64399), the 
EIA proposed that 1994 data on uranium contracts (Item 1, Schedule B, 
annual Form EIA-858) would be collected on a new quarterly survey form, 
Schedule M. Under this proposal also, the collection of 1994 data under 
Schedule A and under Items 2-7 of Schedule B, Form EIA-858, would have 
been done annually.
    After review of comments received in response to the Federal 
Register notice, the EIA has decided not to implement the proposed new 
Schedule M for 1994. Instead, the technical suggestions for improving 
the Form EIA-858 survey provided in the comments will be used, where 
applicable, to revise the annual Schedule B as described below.
    For the EIA-858 survey for 1994, the EIA also has dropped the 
proposed new criteria that would have expanded the number of data 
elements that would be releasable. The ``Provisions for 
Confidentiality'' declaration on the 1994 Form EIA-858 will remain the 
same as it was on the 1993 Form EIA-858.
    In the December 7, 1993, Federal Register notice, the EIA also 
proposed to use a one-page survey, Form EIA-851, to collect quarterly 
data on uranium concentrate production for 1994. The EIA has decided 
not to pursue at this time implementation of a formal survey form for 
the EIA-851 collection. Instead, the current mode of monthly reporting 
of uranium concentrate production data through collection of internal 
company production reports and phone surveys will be continued. The 
production data collected under the EIA-851 survey will continue to be 
treated as confidential.

Detailed Description of Changes

    Form EIA-858: On the 1994 Form EIA-858, Schedule B data items have 
been reordered (compared with the 1993 Form EIA-858) as described in 
the following table:

            Numbering of Schedule B Data Items, Form EIA-858            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           1993 (Current)                       1994 (Change)           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Item                                 Item                              
  No.           Item title             No.            Item title        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.....  Contract...................      1   Contract.                  
2.....  Inventories................      2   Inventories.               
3.....  Inventory policy...........      3   Inventory policy.          
4.....  Actual enrichment feed           4   Unirradiated new assemblies
         deliveries.                          loaded.                   
5.....  Projected feed deliveries..      5   Actual enrichment feed     
                                              deliveries.               
6.....  Unirradiated new assemblies      6   Projected feed deliveries. 
         loaded.                                                        
7.....  Enrichment services              7   Now Item 1.J, under        
         purchased by utilities.              ``Contract''.             
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On the 1993 Form EIA-858 (left-hand column above), Items 1 and 6 
(now Item 4) will be modified as described below. Items 2, 3, 4 (now 
Item 5), and Item 5 (now Item 6) of Schedule B will continue to be 
collected without modifications. Item 7, ``Enrichment Services 
Purchased by Utilities,'' on the 1993 Schedule B will be incorporated 
under Item 1.J, ``Utility Purchases of Enrichment Services,'' on the 
1994 Schedule B.
    For Item 1 (Contract)
    Item 1 will be modified as explained under ``a'' through ``h'' 
below:
    a. A check off box will be added to Item 1.B to identify contracts 
that have been renegotiated based on price-related issues.
    b. Item 1.C will be a new item to collect information on the term-
of-delivery arrangement specified in a contract: i.e., Whether the 
respondent classifies the reported contract as having a ``spot,'' 
short-term,'' ``medium-term,'' or a ``long-term'' delivery period.
    c. Item 1.D, ``Transaction Type,'' will provide separate check off 
boxes to indicate whether uranium materials were sent or received under 
an Exchange transaction.
    d. Item 1.E will display a listing of applicable country 
identification codes from which respondents can choose to report the 
country or countries of origin and/or destination for deliveries of 
natural uranium and the country of enrichment services for enriched 
uranium. An ``Other'' space will be provided for respondents to write 
in a country name and its identification code not listed under item 
1.E.
    e. Item 1.F will be designed to collect data on individual 
quantities of delivered uranium and the type of material delivered, its 
price, delivery date (DD/MM), whether the material was imported or 
exported, and country of origin. For deliveries of enriched uranium 
product (EUP), the quantity will be reported as kilograms of uranium 
(KgU). The transaction tails assay, the product assay, and the feed 
assay also will be reported to allow the EIA to calculate the natural 
uranium feed component quantity as equivalent U3O8 for each 
delivered quantity. For EUP, the country of enrichment will be reported 
instead of the country of uranium origin. For deliveries of both 
natural uranium and EUP, forecast for firm and optional deliveries will 
be requested for a five-year forward period.
    f. Reporting the contract pricing mechanism under Item 1.H will be 
simplified to: (a) Request respondents to report whether a pricing 
arrangement under a market-price related contract specifies a ``floor 
price'' or a ``no floor price''; (b) add a check off box to capture 
``spot-market price'' pricing arrangements; and (c) allow pricing 
arrangements other than for ``market-price related'' and ``contract 
price'' to be reported as ``Other'' and briefly described in the space 
provided.
    g. Under Item 1.I, respondents will be requested to briefly 
describe the options that are allowed under the contract for the seller 
and/or the buyer (purchaser).
    h. Utility purchases of enrichment services (formerly Item 7 of 
Schedule B) will be reported under Item 1.J in order to collect the 
reporting of all utility contracting activities under Item 1. This new 
format will permit the respondent to report individual quantities of 
separative work units (SWU) purchased by a utility by the date of 
delivery, seller's name, and the country of enrichment origin.

For Item 6 (Unirradiated New Fuel Assemblies Loaded into the Reactor)

    The data element title will be changed to make clear the data being 
requested, which is the quantity of uranium used in unirradiated, new 
fuel assemblies loaded into a reactor(s) during the survey year.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on these proposed changes. The following general guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of responses.
    As a potential respondent:
    A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions require clarification?
    B. Can the data be submitted using the definitions provided in the 
instructions?
    C. Can data be submitted in accordance with the response period 
specified in the instructions?
    D. Will the estimated burden of reporting for the Form EIA-858 
survey, currently 25 hours per response, be reduced or increased due to 
the proposed form changes.
    E. Will the estimated cost of completing the form, including the 
direct and indirect costs associated with the data collection, be 
reduced or increased as a result of these changes? Direct costs should 
include all costs, such as administrative costs, directly attributable 
to providing the requested information.
    F. How can the revised Form EIA-858, Schedules A and B, be 
improved?
    G. Do you know of another Federal, State, or local agency that 
collects similar data? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), 
and the means of collection.
    H. What definitions does your company use for: spot, short-term, 
medium-term, and/or long-term contracts?
    As a potential data user:
    A. Will these changes improve the usefulness of the data?
    B. Can you use data at the levels of detail indicated on the Form 
EIA-858?
    C. For what purposes do you use the data? Please be specific.
    D. How could the form be improved to better meet your specific 
needs?
    E. Are there alternate sources of data and do you use them? What 
are their deficiencies and/or strengths
    F. What data should be published that are not now being published? 
Please specifically address any data publication issues as they might 
relate to changes in the survey form and/or the data collected.
    The EIA also is interested in receiving comments from persons 
regarding their views on the need for the information contained in the 
survey Form EIA-858.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of these forms changes. 
The comments also will become a matter of public record.

Statutory Authority

    Sections 5(a), 5(b), 13(b), and 52 of Public Law 93-275, Federal 
Energy Administration Act of 1974, 15 U.S.C. 764(a), 764(b), 772(b), 
790a, and section 205, Public Law 95-91, Department of Energy 
Organization Act, 42 U.S.C. 7135.

    Issued in Washington, DC, May 25, 1994.
John Gross,
Acting Director, Office of Statistical Standards, Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 94-13689 Filed 6-3-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P