[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 96 (Friday, May 18, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28084-28085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9658]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Regulatory Guide Update Prioritization

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide update prioritization.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is currently 
reviewing and updating numerous guides in the agency's Regulatory Guide 
(RG) Series. This series has been developed to describe and make 
available to the public 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 license amendments, permits, and licenses. The purpose of the 
ongoing review and update of the NRC's RGs is to ensure that the RGs 
contain complete, accurate, and current guidance for use by licensees 
and prospective applicants. The established regulatory guidance (as set 
forth in establishing new and revised RGs) provides a consistent 
approach for the staff to ensure that the regulatory requirements are 
met and thereby continue to protect the health and safety of the public 
and the environment.
    The NRC reviewed all of the approximately 480 RGs and draft RGs 
(DGs) to determine those that needed to be revised or developed. This 
resulted in categorizing the RGs and DGs into

[[Page 28085]]

five groups. The first group contains approximately 30 RGs that needed 
to be revised or developed by March 2007 to support anticipated new 
reactor licensing activities later this year. The second group includes 
RGs that are planned to be revised or developed, and published by 
December 2008. The third group contains RGs that are planned to be 
revised or developed, and published by December 2009. The fourth group 
includes RGs that will be considered for withdrawal. The fifth group 
contains all remaining RGs that are not planned to be updated by 
December 2009.
    The lists of RGs for each of these five groups, including 
publication schedules and public comment periods, can be found at the 
NRC's Electronic Reading Room on the agency's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/ and in the 
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) at 
ML071230154. The RG status information on the NRC's Web site will be 
updated periodically.
    Discussion: Through the years, the NRC has established 10 broad 
divisions of RGs. RGs in all 10 divisions were considered for updating 
under this program. The RG divisions can be found at the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room on the agency's public Web site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/ and are as follows:
     Division 1, Power Reactors
     Division 2, Research and Test Reactors
     Division 3, Fuels and Materials Facilities
     Division 4, Environmental and Siting
     Division 5, Materials and Plant Protection
     Division 6, Products
     Division 7, Transportation
     Division 8, Occupational Health
     Division 9, Antitrust and Financial Review
     Division 10, General
    Solicitation of Comments and Dates: The NRC is soliciting comments 
on the NRC's proposed prioritization of the groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 RGs. 
Specifically, comments are solicited for the following questions. Each 
comment should include supporting basis or rationale to enable the 
staff to fully understand the point of view being provided.
    1. Which, if any, RGs identified as group 3 need to be developed or 
revised sooner, and thus, should be in group 2?
    2. Which, if any, RGs identified as group 2 should not be developed 
or revised until after some other action is taken, and thus, should be 
in group 3?
    3. Which, if any, RGs identified as groups 2, 3 and 5 are no longer 
useful or the guidelines are adequately addressed elsewhere and should 
be withdrawn (added to group 4)? (If the guidelines are addressed 
elsewhere, please state specifically where they are located.)
    4. Which, if any, RGs that are not identified as group 2 or 3 need 
to be developed or revised by December 2009? (Please include specific 
reasons.)
    5. Which, if any, RGs identified in group 4 should not be 
considered for withdrawal? (Please provide specific examples which 
demonstrate the need to maintain the RG.)
    Comments are requested within 30 days from the date of this Federal 
Register notice. The list of the RGs in each group and by division can 
be found at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room on the agency's public 
Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/. 
The RG status information on the NRC's Web site will be updated 
periodically.
    Comment Procedures: Comments should be accompanied by relevant 
information or supporting data. Please mention RG Prioritization in the 
subject line of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in 
electronic form will be made available to the public in their entirety 
through the NRC's ADAMS. Personal information will not be removed from 
your comments. You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods:
     Mail comments to Rulemaking, Directives and Editing 
Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001 (MS T-6 D59).
     Hand-deliver comments to Rulemaking, Directives and 
Editing 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 Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, 
Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, at (301) 
415-5144.
     E-mail comments to [email protected].
     Submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at 
http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
    Contact Information: Comments and questions about our rulemaking 
website should be addressed to Carol A. Gallagher at (301) 415-5905 or 
by e-mail to [email protected]. Contact information for use in submitting 
comments is provided in the section on Comment Procedures. Comments or 
questions about the NRC's revision of regulatory guides should be 
addressed to Jimi T. Yerokun at (301) 415-0585 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of May, 2007.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Farouk Eltawila,
 Director, Division of Risk Assessment and Special Projects, Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. E7-9658 Filed 5-17-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P