[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 156 (Friday, August 11, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49207-49208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20418]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 156 / Friday, August 11, 2000 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 49207]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 30 and 61

[Docket No. PRM-30-64]


Charles T. Gallagher, Gammatron, Inc.; Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; Notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and 
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by Mr. 
Charles T. Gallagher of Gammatron, Inc. The petition, docketed on June 
6, 2000, has been assigned Docket No. PRM-30-64. The petitioner 
requests that NRC modify its financial assurance and recordkeeping 
requirements for decommissioning to require financial assurance for all 
licensees, expand the method for payment of decommissioning for small 
business operators, and exempt licensees whose radioactive materials 
are categorized as greater than Class C waste.

DATES: Submit comments by October 25, 2000. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to assure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
    Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.
    For a copy of the petition, write to David L. Meyer, Chief, Rules 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking 
website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. This site allows you to upload 
comments as files in any format, if your web browser supports the 
function. For information about the interactive rulemaking website, 
contact Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-5905 e-mail:[email protected].
    The petition and copies of comments received may be inspected, and 
copied for a fee, at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW. 
(Lower Level), Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David L. Meyer, Chief, Rules and 
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Telephone: 301-415-7162 or Toll Free: 1-800-368-5642 or e-
mail:[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Basis for Petition

    The petitioner, who is the holder of a radioactive license in the 
Agreement State of Texas, indicates that he and other Agreement State 
licensees were not given the opportunity by the Agreement State 
regulatory agencies to comment on the original proposed rules for 
financial assurance requirements. The petitioner asserts that NRC 
licensees hold only 27% of the radioactive licenses in the United 
States, while Agreement State licensees hold almost 75%. According to 
the petitioner, the Agreement State regulatory agencies failed to 
recognize the impact of the ruling on its licensees.

Background

    The NRC requires each holder of a specific license to provide 
financial assurance for decommissioning in accordance with the criteria 
set forth in Sec. 30.35(c). Section 30.35(c) provides the minimum 
quantity levels of licensed material possessed by licensees above which 
financial assurance requirements are applicable. Also, Sec. 30.35 
(f)(1) and (2) requires that financial assurance for decommissioning be 
provided by one or more of the following methods: (1) prepayment; or 
(2) a surety method, insurance, or other guarantee method.

Petitioners' Concern

    1. The petitioner believes that financial assurance requirements 
should be required for all licensees, irrespective of the quantity of 
licensed material a licensee may possess.
    The petitioner agrees that funds should be available to 
decommission a facility; however, he believes that requiring security 
from specific types of licensees based on the quantity of licensed 
material is arbitrary. The petitioner believes that the premise is 
false that a licensee who is licensed for greater quantities is a 
greater financial risk than the licensee licensed for smaller 
quantities. According to the petitioner, the larger the quantity of 
radioactive material a licensee processes, the larger the licensee's 
safety program, the more careful the licensee's handling procedures, 
the more elaborate the licensee's equipment, and the more extensive the 
licensee's experience and education. As an example, the petitioner 
states that a 100 millicurie Cesium 137 source, that would not require 
any financial assurance, is quite capable of producing a million dollar 
decontamination problem, if handled improperly or by unauthorized 
persons.
    2. The petitioner believes that the methods included in the rule by 
which a small business licensee can provide surety should be expanded 
over a longer timeframe.
    The petitioner states that the rule requires that a surety payment 
be paid at one time, and that this requirement places an undue burden 
and insurmountable hardship on small businesses licensed by the NRC or 
by Agreement States. The petitioner states that the small business 
operator cannot obtain bonds and parent company guarantees like the 
large businesses and public institutions. The petitioner believes that 
if the financial assurance rules are to require licensees to clean up 
after themselves, then the rules must allow a method of financial 
assurance that does not force the small business licensee out of 
business. The petitioner notes that the Environmental Protection Agency 
and their designated state agencies allow payment to be made over the 
life of their facilities.
    The petitioner acknowledges that the subject of the following 
recommendation is separate from the issues listed above.
    3. The petitioner believes that licensees that use radioactive 
materials that fall into the category of ``orphan waste'' (greater than 
Class C) should be exempted from the regulations because,

[[Page 49208]]

according to the petitioner, the disposal of greater than Class C waste 
is the responsibility of the Department of Energy (DOE).
    The petitioner believes that a licensee that has ``orphan waste'' 
should not be required to calculate and fund its disposal when there is 
no disposal site to accept the waste. As an example, the petitioner 
notes that DOE has an Americium 241 neutron source recovery program 
that includes compiling a list of unwanted or abandoned AmBe sources 
throughout the U.S. and is actively consolidating these sources for the 
recovery of Am-241. The petitioner believes that by initiating this 
program, the DOE has effectively recognized its responsibility for 
their disposal.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of August, 2000.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 00-20418 Filed 8-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P