[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 16017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6665]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0062]


Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 8.5

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 8.5, ``Criticality and Other 
Interior Evacuation Signals.''

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheena A. Whaley, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Technical 
Support Branch, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-492-3200; or 
by e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing 
Regulatory Guide 8.5, ``Criticality and Other Interior Evacuation 
Signals,'' Revision 1, issued March 1981. Regulatory Guide 8.5 endorses 
the American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society 
(ANSI/ANS) Standard N2.3-1979 ``Immediate Evacuation Signal for Use in 
Industrial Installations,'' published September 13, 1979.
    In 1986, the ANS Standards Subcommittee combined ANSI/ANS-N2.3-1979 
with ANSI/ANS-8.3-1986, ``Criticality Accident Alarm System'' and 
withdrew ANSI/ANS-N2.3-1979. In December 2010 the NRC issued Revision 2 
of Regulatory Guide 3.71, ``Nuclear Criticality Safety Standards for 
Fuels and Material Facilities'' which endorses multiple ANSI/ANS 
standards including ANSI/ANS-8.3-1997, (Reaffirmed in 2003).
    The combining of ANSI/ANS-N2.3 and ANSI/ANS-8.3 by the ANS and the 
endorsement of ANSI/ANS-8.3 by the NRC in Revision 2 of Regulatory 
Guide 3.71 has made Regulatory Guide 8.5 unnecessary. Consequently, the 
NRC is withdrawing it and recommends using the guidance in ANSI/ANS-
8.3-1997 as endorsed with exceptions by Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 
3.71 instead.

II. Further Information

    The withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 8.5 does not alter any prior or 
existing licensing commitments based on their use. The guidance 
provided in this regulatory guide is no longer necessary. Regulatory 
guides may be withdrawn when their guidance no longer provides useful 
information, or is superseded by technological, congressional actions, 
or other events.
    Guides are revised for a variety of reasons, and the withdrawal of 
a regulatory guide should be thought of as the final revision of the 
guide. Although a regulatory guide is withdrawn, current licensees may 
continue to use it, and withdrawal does not affect any existing 
licenses or agreements. Withdrawal means that the guide should not be 
used for future NRC licensing activities. Changes to existing licenses 
can be accomplished using other regulatory products.
    Regulatory guides and publicly available NRC documents are 
available electronically through the Electronic Reading Room on the 
NRC's public Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. The documents can also be viewed on-line for free or 
printed for a fee in the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) at 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD; the mailing address is USNRC PDR, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4737, or 1-800-397-4209; 
fax 301-415-3548; or by e-mail to [email protected].
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of February, 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2011-6665 Filed 3-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P