[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50032-50033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20842]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Availability of Internet Web Page for Discussion of the 
Nuclear Material Management and Safeguards System

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is 
making available an Internet web site for the purpose of facilitating 
comments from NRC stakeholders pertaining to the on-going upgrade of 
the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System. The Nuclear 
Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS) serves as the U.S. 
Government's nuclear materials information system. It contains current 
and historic data on the possession and shipment of source \1\ and 
special nuclear material.\2\ The NMMSS upgrade potentially could have 
an impact on the reporting burden of NRC licensees.
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    \1\ As used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 
the term ``source material'' means uranium containing the mixture of 
isotopes occurring in nature; uranium depleted in the isotope 235; 
thorium; any of the foregoing in the form of metal, alloy, chemical 
compound, or concentrate; any other material containing one or more 
of the foregoing in such concentration as the IAEA Board of 
Governors shall from time to time determine; and such other material 
as the Board of Governors shall from time to time determine.
    \2\ Special nuclear material means (1) plutonium, uranium 233, 
uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any 
other material which the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of 
section 51 of the Atomic Energy Act, determines to be special 
nuclear material, but does not include source material; or (2) any 
material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing but does not 
include source material.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry Mendelsohn, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
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Washington, DC 20555, telephone 301-415-7262, e-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    NMMSS satisfies the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 
as amended, for ``a program for Government control of the possession, 
use, and production of atomic energy and special nuclear material, 
whether owned by the Government or others, so directed as to make the 
maximum contribution to the common defense and security and the 
national welfare, and to provide continued assurance of the 
Government's ability to enter into and enforce agreements with nations 
or groups of nations for the control of special nuclear materials . . 
.'' It is used to satisfy obligations to the International Atomic 
Energy Agency for a State system of accountancy of source and special 
nuclear materials. Transaction, Inventory and Material Balance data are 
reported to NMMSS from 1130 facilities that are either operated for the 
Department of Energy (DOE) or regulated by the NRC.
    NMMSS is managed jointly by the NRC and the DOE. It is operated by 
NAC International under contract to DOE.
    The contractor currently runs NMMSS in a personal computer 
environment using the FoxPro data base management platform. The FoxPro 
platform is no longer supported by its owner. Because it is an obsolete 
platform, its use is a detriment to attracting and retaining competent 
contractor staff. Also, NMMSS is still based on the original 80-column 
design from 1965 main frame days. This limits the ability of 
programmers to make even minor format changes that users may request. 
Its current format does not adequately meet needs of the U.S. State 
Department for tracking foreign obligations attached to some foreign 
origin nuclear material.
    NMMSS is being upgraded by NAC International to an Oracle platform 
and redesigned in order to respond to customers' needs. The changes to 
NMMSS from this upgrade may eventually require NRC licensees and 
certificate holders to make some conforming changes to the formats of 
their own materials management software.
    The funding for the NMMSS contract is currently shared by the DOE 
and NRC with two-thirds provided by DOE and one-third by the NRC. The 
cost of the upgrade is also being shared, but with NRC being 
responsible for a somewhat lesser share of the funding. The NRC's NMMSS 
expenses contribute to fees charged to its licensees under the ``full-
fee recovery'' provision of its appropriation legislation.

[[Page 50033]]

Internet Web Site

    The full web address (URL) of the NRC's NMMSS web site is: http://techconf.llnl.gov/cgi-bin/library?source=html&library= 
nmmss__info&file=background
    The web site can also be reached by the following method:
    1. Go the main NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov
    2. Scroll down towards the bottom of that page and click on the 
word ``Rulemaking.''
    3. Scroll down on the Rulemaking page till you see the words 
``Technical Conference.'' Click on those words.
    4. On the page titled ``Welcome to the NRC Technical Conference 
Forum,'' click where it says to participate in Technical Conferences.
    5. Scroll down to the topic ``Nuclear Materials Management and 
Safeguards System.'' Comments may be submitted on-line by clicking on 
``comments.'' You may also view other comments submitted by clicking on 
``comments.''
    In addition to participating via the Internet, you may also submit 
comments in writing to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Attn: Barry 
T. Mendelsohn (ms T-8H7), Washington, DC 20555-0001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Charles W. Emeigh,
Section Chief, Safety and Safeguards Support Branch, Division of Fuel 
Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-20842 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
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