[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 224 (Monday, November 20, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 69798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29636]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Summary and Categorization of Public Comments on the Control of 
Solid Materials: Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the 
completion and availability of NUREG/CR-6682, Final Report, entitled 
``Summary and Categorization of Public Comments on the Control of Solid 
Materials.''

ADDRESSES: Copies of NUREG/CR-6682, Final Report, may be obtained by 
writing to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing 
Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20402-9328. Copies are also 
available from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port 
Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161. A copy of the document is 
available for inspection and/or copying for a fee in the NRC Public 
Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1F21, Rockville, Maryland. 
A copy is also posted on the NRC's internet web site at URL = ``http://
www.nrc.gov/NMSS/IMNS/controlsolids.html.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Giorgio Gnugnoli, Division of Waste 
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 
(301) 415-7135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At this time, the NRC is in the preliminary 
stages of examining its approach for control of solid materials and has 
sought public input to its decision-making process through various 
forums. To aid in this process, the NRC prepared an Issues Paper that 
described issues and alternatives related to release of solid 
materials. This Issues Paper was published in the Federal Register on 
June 30, 1999, (64 FR 35090). That Federal Register Notice (FRN) 
provided for an opportunity to submit public comments on the Issues 
Paper, in general, and specifically on the NRC examination of its 
approach for control of solid material. The closing period for public 
comments was originally November 15, 1999, but was extended until 
December 22, 1999. The FRN invited public comment on the paper and, to 
provide further opportunity for public input, the NRC held a series of 
public meetings during Fall 1999 at the following four locations: (1) 
San Francisco, CA on September 15-16, 1999; (2) Atlanta, GA on October 
5-6, 1999; (3) Rockville, MD on November 1-2, 1999; (4) Chicago, IL on 
December 7-8, 1999.
    The Issues Paper described the following 2 process alternatives: 
(1) Continue current NRC practice of case-by-case consideration of 
licensee requests for release of solid material or consider updating 
existing guidance; and (2) conduct a rulemaking to establish criteria 
for control of solid materials.
    Over 800 comments have been received on the Issues Paper. The 
majority of the comments focused on the specific technical approaches. 
With the assistance of contractors, the public meeting transcripts and 
the public comments received by the NRC staff were collected and 
organized into a database to facilitate NRC staff review of the public 
comment. The NUREG/CR-6682 provides a summary and characterization of 
the public comments and meetings, as well as major trends in the 
comments.
    Various sections of the NUREG/CR-6682 summarize comments received 
on the process alternatives for establishing criteria for control of 
solid material. These alternatives include continuing the current case-
by-case approach or whether to conduct a rulemaking. Moreover, the 
NUREG/CR-6682 summarizes comments on the technical approaches as to 
what the criteria should be. Finally, comments on development of NRC's 
technical information base, other procedural issues, international 
issues, and materials that should be considered are also addressed.
    The public comments received were discussed in SECY-00-0070, dated 
March 23, 2000, which provided the Commission with a summary of results 
of the public meetings. They were also part of the information 
available to the Commission in making a decision, on August 18, 2000, 
to defer a final decision on whether to proceed with rulemaking and in 
providing direction to the NRC staff to proceed with a National Academy 
of Sciences study on alternatives and to continue with development of a 
technical information base. The comments will be used by the NRC in its 
continuing evaluation of this issue.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of November 2000.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 Patricia Holahan,
Chief, Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Industrial and 
Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS.
[FR Doc. 00-29636 Filed 11-17-00; 8:45 am]
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