[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]


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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 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