[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28407-28408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11585]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0109]


Special Nuclear Material Control and Accounting Systems for 
Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 28408]]


ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-5028, 
``Special Nuclear Material Control and Accounting Systems for Nuclear 
Power Plants.'' In DG-5028, the NRC proposes to endorse a revised 
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) document, ANSI N15.8-2009, 
``Methods of Nuclear Material Control--Material Control Systems--
Special Nuclear Material Control and Accounting Systems for Nuclear 
Power Plants.''

DATES: Submit comments by July 16, 2012. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under 
Docket ID NRC-2012-0109. You may submit comments by the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0109. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Jervey, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-251-7401 or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0109 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0109.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. DG-5028 is located under 
ADAMS Accession Number ML113550061. The regulatory analysis may be 
found under ADAMS Accession Number ML113550062.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0109 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS, and the NRC does not edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Further Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a draft guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as 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 permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Special Nuclear Material 
Control and Accounting Systems for Nuclear Power Plants,'' is 
temporarily identified by its task number, DG-5028. DG-5028 is proposed 
revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 5.29, dated June 1975.
    The NRC withdrew Regulatory Guide 5.29 Revision 1 in January 1998 
(63 FR 2426; January 15, 1998), because the underlying basis standard, 
ANSI N15.8-1974, ``Methods of Nuclear Material Control--Material 
Control Systems--Special Nuclear Material Control and Accounting 
Systems for Nuclear Power Plants,'' did not include direction to 
support accountability of partial fuel assemblies. ANSI revised ANSI 
N15.8 in February 2009. ANSI N15.8-2009 provides guidance on the 
fundamentals of an SNM control and accounting system, including 
criteria for the receipt, internal control, physical inventory, and 
shipment of SNM. Additionally, ANSI N15.8-2009 provides specific 
guidance on the control and accounting of 1) fuel rods that are 
separated from their parent assemblies; and 2) pieces of irradiated 
material that are separated as a result of fuel damage. In DG-5028, the 
NRC is proposing to endorse ANSI N15.8-2009 as an acceptable method for 
implementing material control and accounting requirements at nuclear 
power plants.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of May 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-11585 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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