[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8843-8844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3989]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 38 / Friday, February 26, 2010 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 8843]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-94; RC-2010-0004]


Sherwood Martinelli; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for 
public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking, dated 
December 23, 2009, which was filed with the NRC by Sherwood Martinelli. 
The petition was docketed by the NRC on December 24, 2009, and has been 
assigned Docket No. PRM-50-94. The petitioner requests that the NRC 
amend its regulations regarding the domestic licensing of production 
and utilization facilities. Specifically, the petitioner requests that 
the NRC revise its regulations as they relate to decommissioning and 
decommissioning funding.

DATES: Submit comments by May 12, 2010. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2010-0004 in the subject line 
of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form 
will be posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web 
site Regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to 
remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you 
against including any information in your submission that you do not 
want to be publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
    Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2010-0004. Comments may 
be submitted electronically through this Web site. Address questions 
about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 301-492-3668, e-mail 
[email protected].
    Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
    E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not 
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, 
contact us directly at (301) 415-1677.
    Hand-deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays (telephone (301) 
415-1677).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
(301) 415-1101.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
petition, including the incoming petition for rulemaking, using the 
following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents the NRC's PDR, Room O1 
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC, including 
the incoming petition for rulemaking (ADAMS Accession No. ML093620175), 
are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public 
can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's 
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's 
PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Public comments and supporting 
materials related to this petition for rulemaking can be found at 
http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID NRC-2010-0004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Telephone: 301-492-3663 or Toll Free: 800-368-5642.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Sherwood Martinelli (petitioner) submitted a petition for 
rulemaking dated December 23, 2009. The petitioner requests that the 
NRC revise its regulations as they relate to decommissioning and 
decommissioning funding. The NRC has determined that the petition meets 
the threshold sufficiency requirements for a petition for rulemaking 
under 10 CFR 2.802. The petition has been docketed as PRM-50-94. The 
NRC is requesting public comment on the petition for rulemaking.

Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner believes that with the current state of the economy, 
a 2-year reporting requirement is not adequate to ensure the safety and 
adequacy of funds set aside for the decommissioning of a nuclear power 
plant. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to 
require yearly reporting by licensees on the status of these financial 
mechanisms used to ensure funding, and biannual reporting if the 
license is within 5 years of expiration. The petitioner further 
requests that the NRC require additional deposits to the funding 
accounts within 90 days from the time a shortage is noted in the annual 
reports.
    According to the petitioner, licensees may choose from three 
alternative decommissioning strategies: DECON (immediate removal or 
decontamination), SAFSTOR (``delayed DECON''), or ENTOMB (permanent 
encasement onsite). The petitioner believes that the SAFSTOR 
decommissioning option allows licensees to turn the reactor sites into 
long-term high-level waste storage facilities. The petitioner cites the 
NRC Fact Sheet, Decommissioning Nuclear

[[Page 8844]]

Power Plants, which states that a decision by a licensee to adopt a 
combination of DECON and SAFSTOR may be based on factors such as the 
availability of waste disposal sites. The petitioner believes that this 
wording creates a loophole whereby a site choosing the SAFSTOR option 
would not be returned to unrestricted use within a period of 60 years 
from the time reactor operation ceases. The petitioner requests that 
the NRC amend its regulations to clarify that a licensee's choice of 
alternative decommissioning strategy must result in the return of the 
site to unrestricted use within 60 years and that the NRC eliminate the 
ENTOMB strategy as an option.
    The petitioner believes that, if implemented, the reporting and 
financial assurance amendments proposed would provide reasonable 
assurance that funds will be available when needed to clean up a plant 
site and avoid costly legacy sites to be cleaned up at taxpayer 
expense. With respect to the proposal to clarify the decommissioning 
strategies available to licensees, the petitioner believes that these 
proposed amendments assure that portions of the facility containing 
radioactive contaminants would be removed or decommissioned to a level 
that permits release of the property for unrestricted use within 60 
years after the cessation of operations.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of February, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-3989 Filed 2-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P