[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 184 (Thursday, September 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57987-57989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23877]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2010-0302]
Evaluation of the Groundwater Task Force Report: Public Meeting
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting; solicitation of public comments.
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SUMMARY: In response to incidents involving radioactive contamination
of groundwater wells and soils at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) convened a Groundwater Task Force (GTF) in
March 2010 to determine whether past, current, and planned actions
should be augmented. The GTF, in its final report dated June 2010,
determined that the NRC is meeting its mission of protecting public
health, safety, and the environment. However, in view of stakeholder
concerns, the GTF recommended that the NRC consider changes to its
oversight of licensed material outside of its designed confinement. The
NRC established a senior management review group to evaluate the GTF
report, identify next steps, and make recommendations to the Commission
about potential policy changes. The NRC will host a meeting with the
public to discuss and solicit input on the potential policy changes
being considered. The meeting will serve as a forum for members of the
public to provide oral comments. The NRC is also requesting written
comments on the potential policy issues, particularly for those members
of the public unable to attend the meeting. The potential policy issues
can be found in Section C, ``Topics for Discussion: Potential Policy
Issues,'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
DATES: Public Meeting Date: Monday, October 4, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
Comment Dates: For individuals who wish to provide written comments
on the potential policy issues, the comments are requested by October
15, 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: The public meeting will be held in the Commission Hearing
Room at the NRC Headquarters building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. The NRC Headquarters building is located across the
street from the White Flint metro station. For most attendees, the
metro system is likely the most convenient mode of transportation, as
there is very limited parking available. Please also allow time to
register with building security. Individuals unable to travel to the
NRC Headquarters building may participate by teleconference or observe
by live Webcast. Please contact the individual listed below to get
details for participating in this manner.
You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please
include Docket ID NRC-2010-0302 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
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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.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2010-0302. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail
[email protected].
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements and
Directives Branch (RADB), Division of Administrative Services, Office
of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by fax to RADB at (301) 492-
3446.
You can access publicly available documents related to this notice
using the following methods:
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public
File Area 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 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]. The potential policy issues are available
electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML102460172.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments and supporting
materials related to this notice can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: NRC-2010-0302.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry Miller, (301) 415-4117, e-mail
address [email protected]. Public meeting attendees are requested to
pre-register with the meeting contact by September 30, 2010.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background and Purpose of the Public Meeting
The NRC convened the GTF in March 2010 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML100640188) to evaluate NRC actions taken in response to recent
releases of tritium into groundwater by nuclear facilities, reevaluate
the recommendations made in the Liquid Radioactive Release Lessons
Learned Task Force Final Report dated September 1, 2006 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML062650312), and review the actions taken in SECY-09-
0174 (Staff Progress in Evaluation of Buried Piping at Nuclear Reactor
Facilities, ADAMS Accession No. ML093160004). The purpose of the review
was to determine whether the actions taken in response to recent events
need to be augmented.
The GTF completed its work in June 2010, and provided the final
report to the NRC Executive Director for Operations (EDO) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML101680435). The GTF final report identified four major
themes that provided focus for the report's conclusions: Theme 1--
Reassess NRC's Regulatory Framework for Groundwater Protection, Theme
2--Maintain Barriers as Designed to Confine Licensed Material, Theme
3--Create More Reliable NRC Response, and Theme 4--Strengthen Trust.
As a result of this report, the EDO tasked a senior management
review group to evaluate the report's conclusions and recommendations
and identify actions that can be taken now, in addition to issues of
policy that should be raised for Commission consideration. The senior
management review group has completed their evaluation and compiled a
list of potential policy issues for consideration. The purpose of this
meeting is to receive input on these potential policy issues from a
diverse group of public and industry stakeholders to ensure we have
identified and are considering the right issues on which to focus our
attention as we move forward. The potential policy issues can be found
in Section C, Topics for Discussion: Potential Policy Issues, of this
notice. Many of the issues listed in Section C contain specific
references to the GTF report, with the references provided in
parentheses following the specific issue.
B. Public Meeting Agenda
A meeting notice and detailed agenda are available on the NRC
public meeting schedule Web site http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. The meeting will take place from 9 a.m.-5
p.m. and consist of four sessions with a short break in between each
one. Each session will correspond to one of the four themes identified
in the GTF final report: Theme 1, Reassess NRC's Regulatory Framework
for Groundwater Protection; Theme 2, Maintain Barriers as Designed to
Confine Licensed Material; Theme 3, Create More Reliable NRC Response;
and Theme 4, Strengthen Trust. Each session will have a panel
consisting of public and industry stakeholders, with the aim of
representing an array of perspectives. Each panelist will give an
approximately ten-minute presentation summarizing their views on the
policy issues covered by their session topic. These presentations will
be followed by a facilitated open discussion with the general
attendees, thereby providing an opportunity for any attendee to provide
input.
C. Topics for Discussion: Potential Policy Issues
Provided below are the potential policy issues identified by the
senior management review group from the GTF final report. The
parenthetical notation following many of the potential policy issues is
a reference to a conclusion in the GTF final report. For example, C.3.2
is referencing conclusion C.3.2 in Appendix C of the report.
Theme 1: Reassess NRC's Regulatory Framework for Groundwater Protection
Should NRC's programs be modified to ensure harmonization of the
approaches we have taken to groundwater protection that are applied to
different licensees under NRC regulations? (C.3.2)
How should the NRC's programs accommodate or encourage industry
initiatives that go beyond NRC requirements?
E.g., for reactors, is the industry's voluntary initiative
on groundwater protection sufficiently comprehensive? Should it be
taken into account in NRC's regulatory framework? (B.3.4)
How should NRC's programs address protection of the environment?
Should requirements be promulgated to require prompt
remediation of unintended releases of radioactive liquids? (C.3.3)
Should the NRC consider modifying Part 20 to address those
portions of International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
103 related to environmental protection? (E.3.4)
Should changes be made to the radiological effluent performance
indicator in the Reactor Oversight Process to make it more reflective
of performance in the area of plant releases, both planned and
unplanned? Should the performance indicator take into account public
confidence in addition to the current risk-informed approach to
radiation protection that
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verifies the effluent release program performance? (B.3.1)
Should a policy statement be developed based upon NRC's existing
regulations and guidance to address: (1) Protection of the environment
within NRC's regulatory framework, (2) NRC's expectations of licensees,
(3) the relationship to other regulatory schemes, and (4) NRC's desire
to work cooperatively with other Federal agencies and States in
protecting the environment?
Should NRC's regulatory framework be informed by experience or
guidance developed or applied by the International Atomic Energy
Agency, the international community or by other U.S. agencies, e.g.,
Department of Energy directives (DOE STD 1153) and activities?
Theme 2: Maintain Barriers as Designed To Confine Licensed Material
Should NRC's programs be modified to ensure that systems and
components better contain radioactive liquids and gases?
Are additional requirements appropriate for the design,
operation and maintenance of systems and components that contain
radioactive liquids and gases? (C.3.1)
Should a more quantitative definition of the ``As Low As
Is Reasonably Achievable'' (ALARA) concept be adopted with respect to
leakage of radioactive liquids and gases?
Is it feasible to apply the ALARA concept in 10 CFR 50.36a
to ``unmonitored releases'' and to restricted areas as well as
unrestricted areas?
How could the principles in 10 CFR 20.1406 be applied to
operating reactors?
Do the existing General Design Criteria (GDC) (e.g., GDC
60 and 64) in 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, provide a basis to require
new licensee programs with respect to leakage of radioactive liquids
and gases?
Theme 3: Create More Reliable NRC Response
Should NRC's programs be modified to ensure greater consistency
when addressing low risk, high public interest/confidence issues?
Should NRC's oversight programs be modified to include
more specific guidance on responding to reported incidents where risk
is low but there is high stakeholder interest? Should this guidance
address the follow up and disposition of a licensee's immediate
actions, extent of condition, root cause, corrective action, and
communication with the stakeholders? (A.3.1, A.3.2, B.3.3)
How can the NRC improve communications and support to other
regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and the States, in understanding and exercising respective roles and
responsibilities related to groundwater protection? (D.3.3)
Theme 4: Strengthen Trust
How can the NRC increase confidence in its actions and
communications related to groundwater protection?
What role could third party verification or assessment play in
responding to groundwater protection? (D.3.3)
What would be the benefit of using the International Nuclear Event
Scale for communicating the safety significance of events at Levels 0
or 1 that attract high domestic or international public interest? Would
this approach lead to confusion on the significance of the issue?
How can greater clarity be given to the interplay between NRC
regulations and existing State and other Federal regulations with
respect to the objectives and level of protection provided by adherence
to the regulations?
D. Conduct of the Meeting.
This is a Category 3 Meeting. The public is invited to participate
in this meeting by providing comments and asking questions throughout
the meeting. The NRC's Policy Statement, ``Enhancing Public
Participation on NRC Meetings,'' (May 28, 2002; 67 FR 36920), applies
to this meeting. The policy contains information regarding visitors and
security. The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If a member of the public needs a
reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting, or needs the
meeting notice or the transcript or other information from the meeting
in another format (e.g., Braille, large print), please notify the NRC's
meeting contacts. Determinations on requests for reasonable
accommodations will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of September 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael R. Johnson,
Deputy Executive Director for Reactor and Preparedness Programs, Acting
Office of the Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-23877 Filed 9-22-10; 8:45 am]
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