[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11464-11465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5341]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Workshop To Discuss Combined License Topic 10 (COL-10), 10 CFR 
Part 52 Subpart C Emergency Planning Inspections, Tests, Analyses, and 
Acceptance Criteria (ITAAC)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of April 27, 2004, public workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is holding a workshop 
on April 27, 2004, to solicit comments on draft proposed emergency 
planning inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria (ITAAC). 
The NRC staff, in consultation with the Department of Homeland 
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS/FEMA), crafted the 
draft proposed EP ITAAC, which addresses 15 of the 16 EP planning 
standards in title 10 of Code of Federal Regulations part 50, Sec.  
50.47(b), and NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 1, ``Criteria for Preparation 
and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and 
Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants'' (NUREG-0654). (The 
excluded planning standard, 50.47(b)(13), pertains to the development 
of general plans for recovery and reentry, and was determined to not be 
applicable to EP ITAAC). The draft proposed EP ITAAC are available for 
public inspection in the Agencywide Document Access and Management 
System (ADAMS), Accession No. ML 033010440, and as described below. The 
NRC staff has scheduled the public workshop to discuss the draft 
proposed EP ITAAC issues and to solicit stakeholder comments on the 
staff's draft proposal. This workshop will be transcribed. To allow for 
timely registration on the day of the meeting, it is recommended that 
guests pre-register for the workshop. To pre-register for the workshop, 
contact Mr. Raj Anand (information provided below) and provide the 
following information: name, organization, phone number, and country of 
citizenship.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Raj K. Anand, New, Research and 
Test Reactors Program, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001. Mr. Anand can be reached by telephone at 301-415-1146, 
or by e-mail at [email protected]. Questions regarding the public meeting 
process should be directed to Mr. Francis (Chip) Cameron, Office of the 
General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, by telephone 301-415-1642, or by e-mail at [email protected]

DATES: The workshop will be held on April 27, 2004, from 10:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m. Written comments on the NRC staff's draft proposed EP ITAAC 
should be submitted by May 27, 2004. 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: The workshop will be held at the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission offices in the Two White Flint North Auditorium, 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    The NRC staff's draft proposed EP ITAAC are available for public 
inspection in the Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) in the NRC Public Document Room, located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Public File Area O-1F21, Rockville, 
Maryland. The information is also available electronically from the 
Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of ADAMS (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML033010440). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (Public Electronic Reading Room). 
For more information, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 
Reference staff at 800-397-4209, 202-634-3273, or by email at 
[email protected]. In addition, the draft proposed EP ITAAC and additional 
associated documentation can be found on NRC's Web site under the 
Combined Licenses discussion on the following Web page: http://[email protected]/reactors/new-licensing/ licensing-process.html.
    Written comments on the draft proposal may be sent to: Chief, Rules 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, Mail Stop T-6D59, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may also be hand-delivered to the 
NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between the hours of 
7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays, or submitted 
electronically by e-mail at [email protected]. All comments received by 
the Commission, including those made by Federal, State, and local 
agencies, Indian tribes, or other interested persons, will be made 
available at the Commission's PDR in Rockville, Maryland, or 
electronically from the PARS component of NRC's document system 
(ADAMS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1989, the NRC established new 
alternatives for nuclear plant licensing under title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 52, which describe, among other 
things, a process for issuing a combined construction and operating 
license, referred to as a combined license (COL). A COL authorizes 
construction and, with conditions, operation of a nuclear power plant. 
A COL application must describe the license conditions (i.e., 
inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria, referred to as 
ITAAC) that are necessary to ensure that the plant has been properly 
constructed and will operate safely. After issuing a COL, the NRC would 
verify that the licensee completed the required ITAAC before initial 
loading of fuel into the plant. The NRC would publish notices of the 
successful completion of the ITAAC. Following successful completion of 
all ITAAC, and not less than 180 days before the date scheduled for 
initial loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor, the NRC would publish 
in the Federal Register a notice of intended operation.

[[Page 11465]]

The notice would provide that any person whose interest may be affected 
by operation of the plant may, within 60 days, request that the 
Commission hold a hearing on whether the facility as constructed 
complies, or on completion will comply, with the acceptance criteria of 
the COL. A request for a hearing must show, prima facie, that (1) one 
or more of the acceptance criteria in the COL have not been, or will 
not be met, and (2) the specific operational consequences of non-
conformance that would be contrary to providing reasonable assurance of 
adequate protection of the public health and safety.
    The development of EP ITAAC is part of an NRC effort to develop 
guidance related to the structure and content of prospective COL 
applications, which would be submitted under subpart C of 10 CFR part 
52. The draft proposed EP ITAAC reflect the current collective efforts 
of NRC and FEMA staff to provide this guidance, while incorporating 
various lessons learned from previous design certification reviews 
under subpart B of 10 CFR part 52.
    The staff proposes to discuss the following issues with interested 
stakeholders:
    1. The draft proposed EP ITAAC contain high-level generic 
acceptance criteria. These criteria were adapted from those found in 
NUREG-0654. It is expected that a COL applicant will be able to provide 
more detailed EP ITAAC that are site-specific at the COL application 
stage. Such detailed EP ITAAC would satisfy the intent of the proposed 
generic EP ITAAC. Among the questions the staff will address with the 
interested stakeholders is whether it is necessary to capture guidance 
related to providing detailed EP ITAAC and, if so, what the best way is 
to capture such guidance.
    2. The offsite acceptance criteria in the draft proposed EP ITAAC 
assume State and local government participation. If State and local 
officials terminate or limit their cooperation between the time of COL 
issuance and fuel loading, the draft proposed EP ITAAC may no longer be 
valid. In that case, the EP ITAAC incorporated in the license under 10 
CFR 52.97(b)(1) would have to be changed by a license amendment, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 52.97(b)(2)(i). The staff will discuss with 
stakeholders the feasibility of developing offsite EP ITAAC, that cover 
both possibilities (i.e., assuming State and local government 
participation, as well as non-participation).
    3. The draft proposed EP ITAAC contain references to emergency 
plans. The staff attempted to distinguish those issues which should be 
resolved prior to issuance of a COL from those which can be resolved 
only after issuance of a COL. For example, the emergency plans and the 
EP ITAAC would be reviewed and approved prior to granting a COL, while 
compliance with the ITAAC would be assessed post-licensing, using the 
ITAAC to verify the implementation of the emergency plans. The staff 
will discuss stakeholder views on the need for clarification of the 
draft proposed EP ITAAC, in order to separate those issues which should 
be resolved prior to issuance of a COL from those which can be resolved 
only after the COL is issued.
    4. Compliance with some of the ITAAC in the draft proposed EP ITAAC 
could be assessed concurrently. Discussions with stakeholders will 
include this concurrent review and its implications.
    An agenda for the workshop will be developed and made available 
prior to the April 27, 2004, public workshop. In order to assure a 
diversity of viewpoints, the NRC is inviting stakeholders from the 
nuclear power industry, representatives from citizens groups, and State 
and local agencies to sit in a round table discussion. Although the 
focus of the public workshop will be on the round table discussion, 
there will be opportunities for members of the audience to offer 
comments and ask questions at the workshop.
    Prior to the workshop, questions relating to the staff's draft 
proposed EP ITAAC can be directed to Mr. Raj Anand. Questions related 
to the public meeting process should be directed to Mr. Francis 
Cameron. Contact information for Messrs. Anand and Cameron is provided 
above.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of March, 2004.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James E. Lyons,
Program Director, New, Research and Test Reactors Program, Division of 
Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-5341 Filed 3-9-04; 8:45 am]
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