[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 166 (Monday, August 26, 1996)] [Notices] [Pages 43794-43795] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-21726] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Federal Emergency Management Agency Interim-Use and Comment Document: Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants (Criteria for Protective Action Recommendations for Severe Accidents) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have developed the interim-use and comment document entitled: Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants (Criteria for Protective Action Recommendations for Severe Accidents). The document has been published as Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Revision 1, and is available for interim use, public review, and comment. Studies of severe reactor accidents and their consequences since the publication of emergency planning guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 in 1980 clearly indicate that the preferred initial protective action is to evacuate promptly rather than shelter the population that is near the plant. Although the original guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 was never intended to imply that the appropriate protective action for severe accidents was to only shelter the population that is near the plant, the guidance was not explicit on this point. Thus, the NRC and FEMA have updated and simplified the guidance for the development of protective action recommendations for severe accidents in Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 to emphasize that evacuation is the preferred initial protective action for severe accidents, barring any constraints for evacuation. Nuclear power plant licensees and State and local offsite response organizations may use the updated and simplified guidance in Supplement 3 or, alternately, they may continue to follow the original guidance in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 to develop the appropriate protective actions for the public for severe reactor accidents utilizing the insights gained as a result of the NRC's severe accident studies. During the first few hours of an accident at a nuclear power plant, critical decisions may be necessary concerning protective actions for the public. Plant conditions are the major determining factors in developing early protective action recommendations. The licensee is responsible for mitigating the consequences of an accident and for recommending protective actions to offsite officials. State and local officials are responsible for making decisions on the actions necessary to protect the public and for implementing these decisions. The guidance contained in Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 applies to the development of protective actions for the public for severe reactor accidents involving actual or projected core damage with the potential for loss of containment integrity. Comments on Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 may be submitted for consideration by the NRC and FEMA staffs. Comments should be submitted within 90 days of the date of this Federal Register notice to: Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T-6D59, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may also be delivered to 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. For a copy of Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, write: Distribution Services, Printing and Mail Services Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. A copy of Draft Supplement 3 to NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 is available for inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public Document Room, Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555. For further information contact: Falk Kantor, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 415-2907; or O. Megs Hepler, Director, Exercises Division, Preparedness, Training, and Exercises Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20472. Telephone: (202) 646- 2867. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of August 1996. [[Page 43795]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brian K. Grimes, Acting Director, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. For the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Kay C Goss, Associate Director for Preparedness, Training, and Exercises Federal Emergency Management Agency. [FR Doc. 96-21726 Filed 8-23-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P