[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 6, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 52942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17494]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 6, 2005 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 52942]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 1, 2, 10, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 72, 
73, 75, 95, 140, and 170

RIN 3150--AG24


Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Availability of draft proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making available 
the draft wording of a proposed amendment of its regulations. The 
proposal would amend Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR) part 52, ``Early Site Permits; Standard Design Certifications; and 
Combined Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,'' and associated 
regulations based on experience gained from early site permit (ESP) and 
design certification reviews and discussions with stakeholders on the 
ESP and combined license (COL) processes. The changes should improve 
the effectiveness and efficiency of the licensing processes for future 
applicants. The availability of the draft rule language is intended to 
inform stakeholders of the current status of the NRC staff's activities 
to amend 10 CFR part 52.
    Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be 
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR), O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor 
will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents can be viewed and 
downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
    Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after 
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic 
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. From this 
site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document 
Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image 
files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or 
if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, 
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanette V. Gilles, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-1180, e-mail [email protected]; or Jerry N. 
Wilson, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone (301) 415-3145; e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 3, 2003, the NRC published a 
proposed rulemaking (68 FR 40026) to (1) clarify and/or correct 10 CFR 
parts 2, 20, 21, 50, 51, 52 (including Appendices A, B, and C), 72, 73, 
140, and 170; (2) update 10 CFR part 52; and (3) incorporate 
stakeholder comments. Upon further consideration by the NRC staff, the 
staff intends to recommend that the Commission re-propose amendments to 
part 52 and other parts of 10 CFR with associated changes that would 
supersede the July 2003 proposed rule.
    The NRC has developed draft wording for the changes to its 
regulations and has made them available on the NRC's rulemaking Web 
site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. This draft rule language is 
preliminary and may be incomplete in one or more respects. This draft 
rule language is being released to inform our stakeholders of the 
current status of the part 52 update rulemaking. In order to facilitate 
stakeholder review, the draft rule language is posted in three separate 
files: part 52, part 50, and all of the remaining parts of 10 CFR that 
have proposed changes. The NRC is not requesting comments on this draft 
rule language. Rather, comments will be requested when the re-proposed 
rule is published in the Federal Register.
    Following the close of the public comment period on the July 2003 
rule, a number of factors led the staff to question whether the 
proposed rule would meet the Commission's objective of improving the 
effectiveness of NRC's regulatory processes for future nuclear power 
facilities. First, several public comments identified concerns 
regarding whether the proposed rule adequately addressed the 
relationship between part 50 and part 52 and clearly specified the 
applicable regulatory requirements for each of the regulatory processes 
in part 52. In addition, during the period of public comment and 
thereafter, the staff gained additional insights about ESPs as a result 
of the review of the first three ESP applications. The staff also had 
the benefit of public meetings with external stakeholders on developing 
NRC staff guidance on ESPs and COLs. As a result of these factors, the 
staff decided that a substantial rewrite and expansion of the original 
rulemaking would be necessary to ensure that the entire body of NRC 
regulations is able to support the agency's licensing and regulation of 
future nuclear power facilities under part 52.
    The proposed rule is intended to ensure that all regulatory 
processes in part 52 are addressed in that part and throughout the 
Commission's regulations and that there is no ambiguity with respect to 
the applicability of various requirements to each if the regulatory 
processes in part 52 (i.e., early site permit, standard design 
approval, standard design certification, combinded license and 
manufacturing license).
    Accordingly, the staff has developed this draft re-proposed rule 
and intends to recommend that it supersede the July 2003 proposed rule. 
The draft re-proposed rule contains a rewrite of part 52, as well as 
changes throughout 10 CFR to ensure that all regulatory processes in 
part 52 are addressed and to remove ambiguity with respect to the 
applicability of various requirements to each of the regulatory 
processes in part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of August, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William D. Beckner,
Director, New, Research, and Test Reactors Program, Division of 
Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Regulator 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-17494 Filed 9-2-05; 8:45 am]
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