[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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