[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51369-51370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21512]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NUREG--1718]


Standard Review Plan for the Review of an Application for a Mixed 
Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued NUREG-1718 
entitled Standard Review Plan for the Review of an Application for a 
Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility in final.

ADDRESSES: NUREG-1718 is available for inspection and copying for a fee 
at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L 
Street, N.W., Washington, DC, and electronically from the ADAMS Public 
Library component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Public 
Electronic Reading Room).
    A free single copy of NUREG-1718, to the extent of supply, may be 
requested by writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Distribution Services, Washington, DC 20555-0001 or submitting an e-
mail to [email protected]. NUREG-1718 is available on the World Wide 
Web at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/indexnum.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding 
NUREG-1718 contact Andrew Persinko, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555, telephone (301) 415-6522.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The NRC expects to receive a license application from Duke Cogema 
Stone and Webster, commonly referred to as DCS, to license a Mixed 
Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility under 10 CFR Part 70. Under Part 
70, the MOX facility is classified as a plutonium processing and fuel 
fabrication plant. As an applicant for a license to possess and use 
special nuclear material (SNM) at a plutonium processing and fuel 
fabrication plant, DCS must obtain the NRC's approval prior to starting 
to construct the facility. DCS has indicated its intent to submit the 
license application in two parts, information for a construction permit 
and information for a possession and use license for SNM. The NRC will 
first determine if it can grant DCS construction approval. The NRC 
makes this determination based on contents of the license application 
that are specifically required by Part 70 for construction approval. 
The required material is described in detail in 10 CFR 70.22(f).
    Following the applicant's second submittal, the NRC will determine 
if it can grant DCS a possession and use license for SNM. The NRC makes 
this determination based on the full content of the license application 
as described in 10 CFR 70.22 and Subpart H to the revised 10 CFR Part 
70.
    The NRC developed NUREG-1718 to provide guidance to the NRC staff 
reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who 
will perform safety, safeguards, and environmental reviews of the 
anticipated application for a license to

[[Page 51370]]

possess and use special nuclear material for the MOX facility 
(including the construction approval review). The NRC developed NUREG-
1718 in parallel with NUREG-1520, Standard Review Plan for the Review 
of a License Application for a Fuel Cycle Facility, which the NRC staff 
developed to support uranium fuel fabrication facilities licensed under 
10 CFR Part 70. The NRC indicated its intent to issue a revision to 10 
CFR Part 70. The NRC staff has ensured that NUREG-1718 remained 
consistent with the requirements of the new rule as proposed and has 
also attempted to ensure that, where applicable for a MOX facility, 
NUREG-1718 is consistent with NUREG-1520. However, reviewers and other 
readers should be aware that NUREG-1718 contains specific guidance for 
a license application from DCS for a MOX facility. The NRC does not 
intend to apply this guidance to any other facility under its 
regulatory authority.
    NUREG-1718 is intended to ensure the quality, uniformity, 
stability, and predictability of the staff reviews. It presents a 
defined basis from which to evaluate proposed changes in the scope and 
requirements of the staff reviews. NUREG-1718 makes information about 
NRC acceptance criteria widely available to interested members of the 
public and the regulated industry. Each section of NUREG-1718 addresses 
the responsibilities of persons performing the review, the review 
areas, the Commission's regulations pertinent to specific technical 
matters, the acceptance criteria used by the staff, the method used to 
accomplish the review, and the conclusions that are appropriate for the 
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for both the construction approval 
review and the license review.

Analysis of Public Comments

    On February 1, 2000, the NRC issued a Notice of Availability that 
it was accepting public comments on the first draft of NUREG-1718 (65 
FRN 4856). The public comment period closed on March 27, 2000, 
including a two-week extension at the request of the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE-65 FRN 13063).
    The NRC received about 311 written comments from 12 commenters. On 
May 9, 2000, the NRC conducted a public meeting to discuss the public 
comments. In addition to NRC staff and other meeting participants, 6 of 
the commenters were represented. The NRC did not receive any 
significantly new comments at the public meeting. The NRC was able to 
consider all the comments it received in making revisions to NUREG-
1718. A summary of the public comments and staff responses is available 
on the World Wide Web at http://www.nrc.gov/NMSS/FCSS/fcssindex.html.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of August 2000.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert C. Pierson,
Deputy Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office 
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-21512 Filed 8-22-00; 8:45 am]
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