[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33494-33495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8975]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 8.38, entitled ``Control of Access
to High and Very High Radiation Areas in Nuclear Power Plants,''
describes an acceptable program for implementing the requirements of
Title 10, Part 20, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 20),
``Standards for Protection Against Radiation.'' In particular, 10 CFR
20.1101, ``Radiation Protection Programs,'' requires licensees to
develop and implement a radiation protection program appropriate to the
scope of licensed activities and potential hazards. To augment that
requirement, 10 CFR 20.2102, ``Records of Radiation Protection
Programs,'' requires licensees to document those radiation protection
programs. An important aspect of such programs at nuclear power plants
is the institution of a system of controls that includes procedures,
training, audits, and physical barriers to protect workers against
unplanned exposures in high and very high radiation areas. Toward that
end, 10 CFR 20.1601 provides specific requirements applicable to
controlling access to high radiation areas, while 10 CFR 20.1602
provides additional requirements to prevent unauthorized or inadvertent
entry into very high radiation areas. Appendix A to the revised guide
augments this guidance with recommended procedures for good operating
practices for underwater diving operations in high and very high
radiation areas. In addition, Appendix B summarizes past experience
with very high and potentially very high radiation areas, so that
pertinent historical information is readily accessible.
Dose rates in areas of nuclear power plants that are accessible to
individuals can vary over several orders of magnitude. High radiation
areas, where personnel can receive doses in excess of the regulatory
limits in a relatively short time, require special controls. Very high
radiation areas require much stricter monitoring and controls, because
failure to adequately implement effective radiological controls can
result in radiation doses that result in a significant health risk.
Thus, it is important that licensees have effective programs for
controlling access to high
[[Page 33495]]
and very high radiation areas because of the potential for
overexposure.
The primary purpose of this revision is to clarify the terminology
related to the physical barriers that licensees could use to prevent
unauthorized personnel access to high and very high radiation areas.
The original version of Regulatory Guide 8.38 used the term
``inadvertent entry'' with two different connotations. As used in
Section 1.5, ``Physical Controls,'' the term was intended to connote
``not a willful violation.'' In several other sections, however,
``inadvertent entry'' was used to mean ``an accidental, or unintended,
entry.'' This disparity led to inconsistent readings of the staff's
regulatory position by licensees and other stakeholders. Consequently,
in preparing this revision, the NRC staff rewrote Section 1.5 to
eliminate the use of the term ``inadvertent entry,'' and provide
additional guidance on the acceptability of physical barriers used to
control access to high radiation areas.
The staff also revised Section 1.6, ``Shielding,'' and Section 4.2,
``Materials,'' to explicitly state the staff's regulatory positions,
which were only implied in the original version. In addition, the staff
updated Appendix B to include recent references that discuss industry
experiences with high and very high radiation areas.
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide 8.38 does not change previous staff
positions. Therefore, this revision does not constitute a backfit, as
defined in 10 CFR 50.109.
The NRC previously solicited public comment on this revised guide
by publishing a Federal Register notice (70 FR 58490) concerning Draft
Regulatory Guide DG-8028 on October 6, 2005. Following the closure of
the public comment period on December 5, 2005, the staff considered all
stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 1 of
Regulatory Guide 8.38. The staff's responses to all comments received
are available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, under
Accession ML061350247.
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. 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.
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 Revision 1 of Regulatory
Guide 8.38 may be directed to Harriet Karagiannis at (301) 415-6377 or
by e-mail to [email protected].
Regulatory guides are available for inspection or downloading
through the NRC's public Web site in the Regulatory Guides document
collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies of Revision 1 of
Regulatory Guide 8.38 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 ML061350096.
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 31st day of May, 2006.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E6-8975 Filed 6-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P