[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 232 (Monday, December 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 70441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20412]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Maximum 40-Year Licensing Terms for Certain Fuel Cycle Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has established a 
new policy extending the maximum license term for certain 10 CFR Part 
70 fuel cycle licensees who are required to submit Integrated Safety 
Analysis (ISA) summaries for approval. Such license terms are being 
extended from the current 10-year period to a 40-year period, on the 
next renewal of the affected license. The NRC is also extending the 
maximum license term to a 40-year period for new 10 CFR Part 70 license 
applicants, where the applicant is required to submit an ISA summary 
for approval. The 10-year term has been a matter of policy and practice 
since 1990 (55 FR 24948; June 19, 1990); it is not codified in the 
regulations.
    The NRC added Subpart H requirements to 10 CFR part 70 on September 
18, 2000 (65 FR56211). The Subpart H requirements apply to licensees 
possessing greater than a critical mass of special nuclear material. 
Under Subpart H, both new applicants and existing licensees are 
required to conduct an ISA and submit an ISA summary to the NRC for 
approval. An ISA is a systematic analysis to identify facility and 
external hazards; potential accident sequences, including likelihood 
and consequences; and items relied on for safety to prevent potential 
accidents or mitigate the consequences.
    Licensees are required to keep their ISAs up-to-date. In addition 
to the initial ISA summary, licensees must submit the following 
information to the NRC: certain facility changes for the NRC's 
approval; annual summaries of facility changes that did not need the 
NRC's preapproval; and annual updates to the ISA summaries.
    Before the Subpart H requirements were implemented, the NRC relied 
on the 10-year license renewal as the main opportunity to review the 
facility safety basis. Now, along with the annual updates of the ISA 
summaries, the NRC is conducting more frequent reviews of the 
licensees' facility safety basis. Through the annual update of the ISA 
summaries, the NRC is kept informed of changes due to material 
degradation and aging throughout the lifetime of a facility. Thus, the 
Subpart H requirements permit the NRC to continue to support safe 
operations of licensed facilities on an ongoing basis, regardless of 
the duration of the license.
    On August 24, 2006, the NRC staff provided the Commission with a 
paper, SECY-06-0186, `Increasing Licensing Terms for Certain Fuel Cycle 
Facilities,' which recommended that the Commission approve a maximum 
license term of 40 years for certain fuel cycle facilities. The paper 
provided the basis for the staff's recommendation, including a 
description of the link with 10 CFR Part 70 reviews and a discussion of 
consistency with the NRC strategic goals for safety and effectiveness. 
In response to SECY-06-0186, the Commission issued a staff requirements 
memorandum (SRM) establishing the new policy described above. The 
Commission also approved of license terms for less than 40 years, on a 
case-by-case basis, where there are concerns with safety risk to the 
facility or in cases involving a new process or technology.
    SECY-06-0186 and the SRM on SECY-06-0186 are available in the NRC's 
Public Document Room or electronically from the ADAMS Publicly 
Available Records (PARS) component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Electronic Reading Room).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Breeda Reilly, Project Manager, Fuel 
Manufacturing Branch, Fuel Facility Licensing Directorate, Division of 
Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. 
Telephone: (301) 415-8103; fax: (301) 415-5955; e-mail: [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 21st day of November, 2006.
    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gary S. Janosko,
Deputy Director, Fuel Facility Licensing Directorate, Division of Fuel 
Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E6-20412 Filed 12-1-06; 8:45 am]
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