[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61847-61848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-5948]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Final Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a 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.
    Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 3.71, entitled ``Nuclear Criticality 
Safety Standards for Fuels and Material Facilities,'' 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. In 10 CFR Part 70, ``Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear 
Material,'' Section 70.20, ``General License To Own Special Nuclear 
Material,'' states that a specific license is required 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 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 decided to update this guide to clarify which standards the 
agency endorses and to clearly state exceptions to individual 
standards. Toward that end, the staff issued this revised regulatory 
guide as Draft Regulatory Guide DG-3023, with a Federal Register notice 
(70 FR 25128), dated May 12, 2005, to solicit stakeholder comments. The 
public comment period closed on June 20, 2005, without the submission 
of any stakeholder comments; however, the NRC staff further revised RG 
3.71 based on review of additional changes to the consensus standards 
in the guide.
    This revision does not change any of the guidance provided in the 
initial issuance of Regulatory Guide 3.71; rather, it provides guidance 
concerning changes that have occurred since the NRC published the 
original guide in 1998. For completeness, this guide restates the 
endorsements and exceptions stated in Regulatory Guide 3.71, as 
applicable, while identifying endorsements of or exceptions to new or 
modified standards.
    Since the ANSI/ANS-8 standards are constantly being issued, 
revised, reaffirmed, or withdrawn, the NRC staff plans to revise this 
guide on a regular basis. The NRC staff encourages and welcomes 
comments and suggestions in connection with improvements to published 
regulatory guides, as well as items for inclusion in regulatory guides 
that are currently being developed. Comments may be accompanied by 
relevant information or supporting data. Please mention the guide 
number in the subject line of your submission. Comments 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

[[Page 61848]]

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.
    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 RG 3.71 may be directed to 
H.D. Felsher, at (301) 415-5521 or via e-mail to [email protected].
    Electronic copies of RG 3.71 are available through the NRC's public 
Web site under 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 No. ML051940351.
    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 
email 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 17th day of October, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E5-5948 Filed 10-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P