[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 91 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25128-25129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2349]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public 
comment a draft revision to an existing guide in the agency's 
Regulatory Guide Series. This series has been developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 3.71, entitled ``Nuclear 
Criticality Safety Standards for Fuels and Material Facilities,'' is 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-3023, which should be 
mentioned in all related correspondence. Like its predecessor, the 
proposed revision describes methods that the NRC staff finds acceptable 
for complying with the NRC's regulations in Title 10, parts 70 and 76, 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR parts 70 and 76).
    In 10 CFR Part 70, ``Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear 
Material,'' Section 70.20, ``General License To Own Special Nuclear 
Material,'' defines a specific license to acquire, deliver, receive, 
possess, use, transfer, import, or export special nuclear material. 
According to 10 CFR 70.22, ``Contents of Applications,'' each 
application for such a license must contain proposed procedures to 
avoid nuclear criticality accidents. In 10 CFR Part 76, ``Certification 
of Gaseous Diffusion

[[Page 25129]]

Plants,'' Section 76.87, ``Technical Safety Requirements,'' states that 
the technical safety requirements should reference procedures and 
equipment that are applicable to criticality prevention.
    The NRC initially issued Regulatory Guide 3.71 in 1998 to provide 
guidance concerning procedures that the staff considered acceptable for 
complying with these portions of the NRC's regulations. Toward that 
end, the original guide endorsed specific nuclear criticality safety 
standards developed by the American Nuclear Society's Standards 
Subcommittee 8 (ANS-8), ``Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside 
Reactors.'' Those national standards provide guidance, criteria, and 
best practices for use in preventing and mitigating criticality 
accidents during operations that involve handling, processing, storing, 
and/or transporting special nuclear material at fuel and material 
facilities. The original guide also took exceptions to certain portions 
of individual ANS-8 standards. In addition, the original guide 
consolidated and replaced a number of earlier NRC regulatory guides, 
thereby providing all of the relevant guidance in a single document.
    Since that time, several ANS-8 nuclear criticality safety standards 
have been added, reaffirmed, revised, or withdrawn. Consequently, the 
NRC staff has decided to update this guide to clarify which standards 
the agency endorses and to clearly state exceptions to individual 
standards. This proposed revision does not change any of the guidance 
provided in Regulatory Guide 3.71; rather, it provides guidance 
concerning changes that have occurred since the NRC published the 
original guide in 1998.
    The NRC staff is soliciting comments on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
3023. Comments may be accompanied by relevant information or supporting 
data. Please mention DG-3023 in the subject line of your comments. 
Comments on this draft regulatory guide submitted in writing or in 
electronic form will be made available to the public in their entirety 
on the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). 
Personal information will not be removed from your comments. You may 
submit comments by any of the following methods.
    Mail comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    E-mail comments to: [email protected]. You may also submit comments 
via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address 
questions about our rulemaking Web site to Carol A. Gallagher (301) 
415-5905; e-mail [email protected].
    Hand-deliver comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on 
Federal workdays.
    Fax comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-5144.
    Requests for technical information about Draft Regulatory Guide DG-
3023 may be directed to H.D. Felsher, at (301) 415-5521 or via e-mail 
to [email protected].
    Comments would be most helpful if received by June 20, 2005. 
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, 
comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in 
guides currently being developed or improvements in all published 
guides are encouraged at any time.
    Electronic copies of Draft Regulatory Guide DG-3023 are available 
through the NRC's public Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the 
Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading 
Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic 
copies are also available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, 
under Accession ML050390450. Note, however, that the NRC has 
temporarily limited public access to ADAMS so that the agency can 
complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove 
potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for 
updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS.
    In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at 
(301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548; and by e-
mail to [email protected]. Requests for single copies of draft or final 
guides (which may be reproduced) or for placement on an automatic 
distribution list for single copies of future draft guides in specific 
divisions should be made in writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Reproduction and 
Distribution Services Section; by e-mail to [email protected]; or by 
fax to (301) 415-2289. Telephone requests cannot be accommodated.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is 
not required to reproduce them. (5 U.S.C. 552(a)).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of April, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mabel F. Lee,
Director, Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis Staff, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E5-2349 Filed 5-11-05; 8:45 am]
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