[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60706-60707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24440]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Consolidated 
Decommissioning Guidance: Decommissioning Process for Materials 
Licensees; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) is announcing the availability of 
a final document ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance: 
Decommissioning Process for Materials Licensees'' (NUREG-1757, Vol. 1). 
This document provides guidance for planning and implementing the 
termination of licenses issued through NMSS's licensing programs. The 
guidance is intended for NRC staff, licensees, and the public. The 
guidance was developed in response to the NMSS performance goals, in 
the NRC's Strategic Plan, of: (1) making NRC activities and decisions 
more effective, efficient, and realistic; and (2) reducing unnecessary 
regulatory burden on stakeholders. The guidance in final NUREG-1757, 
Volume 1, should be used by fuel cycle, fuel storage, and materials 
licensees in preparing decommissioning license amendment requests, 
decommissioning plans, and related compliance documents. NRC staff will 
use the policies and procedures discussed in Volume 1 to evaluate a 
licensee's decommissioning actions.

ADDRESSES: NUREG-1757, Volume 1, is available for inspection and 
copying for a fee at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. NRC's 
Headquarters Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (First Floor), Rockville, 
Maryland. The Public Document Room is open from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays. NUREG-1757, Volume 
1, is also available electronically from the ADAMS Electronic Reading 
Room on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, 
and on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff.
    Copies of NUREG-1757, Volume 1, may also be purchased from one of 
these two sources: (1) The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government 
Printing Office, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001; Internet: 
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/; telephone: 202-512-1800; fax: 202-512-2250; 
(2) The National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161-
0002, Internet: www.ntis.gov; telephone 1-800-553-6847 or, locally, 
703-605-6000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Duane W. Schmidt, Mail Stop T-7F27, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Telephone: (301) 415-6919; Internet: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its redesign of the materials 
license program, NMSS is consolidating and updating numerous 
decommissioning guidance documents into a three-volume NUREG report. 
The three volumes are as follows: (1) Decommissioning Process for 
Materials Licensees; (2) Characterization, Survey, and Determination of 
Radiological Criteria; and (3) Financial Assurance, Recordkeeping, and 
Timeliness. Volume 1 of this NUREG series, entitled ``Consolidated NMSS 
Decommissioning Guidance: Decommissioning Process for Materials 
Licensees,'' is the first of these three volumes and is intended for 
use by applicants, licensees, NRC license reviewers, other NRC 
personnel, and Agreement State staff.
    The approaches to license termination described in Volume 1 of 
NUREG-1757 will help to identify the information (subject matter and 
level of detail) needed to terminate a license by considering the wide 
range of radioactive materials users licensed by NRC. Volume 1 of the 
NUREG provides guidance for planning and implementing the termination, 
under the License Termination Rule (10 CFR part 20, subpart E), of 
licenses issued through NMSS's licensing programs. Volume 1 
incorporates the risk-informed and performance-based alternatives of 
the rule. Volume 1 updates and builds upon the risk-informed approach 
in, and in part incorporates, the NMSS Decommissioning Handbook (NUREG/
BR-0241, ``NMSS Handbook for Decommissioning Fuel Cycle and Materials 
Facilities,'' March 1997). Volume 1 also incorporates the parts of the 
``NMSS Decommissioning Standard Review Plan,'' NUREG-1727, September 
2000, that provide guidance for developing those parts of a 
decommissioning plan addressing general site description and current 
radiological conditions; decommissioning activities, management, and 
quality assurance; and modifications to decommissioning programs and 
procedures. This final Volume 1 describes and makes available to the 
public (1) methods acceptable to the NRC staff in implementing specific 
parts of the Commission's regulations; (2) techniques and criteria used 
by the staff in evaluating decommissioning actions; and (3) guidance to 
licensees responsible for decommissioning NRC-licensed sites.
    The guidance in final NUREG-1757, Volume 1, should be used by fuel 
cycle, fuel storage, and materials licensees in preparing 
decommissioning license amendment requests, decommissioning plans, and 
related compliance documents. Other NRC licensees, e.g., uranium 
recovery facilities and reactors, may find this information useful, but 
they are not the subject of this NUREG. NRC staff will use the policies 
and procedures discussed in Volume 1 to evaluate a licensee's 
decommissioning actions. This NUREG does not substitute for 
regulations, and compliance with it is not required. Methods and 
solutions different from those in this NUREG will be acceptable, if 
they provide a basis for concluding that the decommissioning

[[Page 60707]]

actions are in compliance with the Commission's regulations.
    Further information on the overall decommissioning guidance 
consolidation and updating project can be found in the Federal Register 
notice publishing the plan for the project (66 FR 21793).

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 20th day of September, 2002.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-24440 Filed 9-25-02; 8:45 am]
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