[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36017-36018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14680]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0139]


Regulatory Guide 7.3, Procedures for Picking Up and Receiving 
Packages of Radioactive Material

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is 
withdrawing Regulatory Guide (RG) 7.3, ``Procedures for Picking Up and 
Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material.'' The guide is being 
withdrawn because it is obsolete and new guidance has been included in 
Revision 1 of RG 7.7, ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance 
with Packaging Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive 
Material'' which was issued in March 2012 and announced in the Federal 
Register (77 FR 18871; March 28, 2012).

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0139 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information on this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and are publicly available, using the following methods:
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC 
are available online in the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin 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, or 301-415-4737, or by email at [email protected]. 
The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. The review for the withdrawal of RG 7.3 
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML120900195.
     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, MD 20852.
    The documents are not copyrighted and NRC approval is not required 
to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 
Transportation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-492-3303; or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is withdrawing RG 7.3 because its guidance has been 
superseded and is no longer needed. The guide was published in May 1975 
to provide guidance on meeting the requirements in Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.205, ``Procedures for Picking Up, 
Receiving, and Opening Packages.'' Regulatory Guide 7.3 provided 
guidance to licensees on making arrangements for receipt, pickup, and 
monitoring of packages containing radioactive material; and reporting 
when received packages showed evidence of leakage or excessive 
radiation levels. The NRC is withdrawing this regulatory guide because 
the information it contained has been combined into Revision 1 of RG 
7.7, ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance with Packaging 
Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive Material.'' 
Revision 1 of RG 7.7 was finalized in March 2012 and announced in the 
Federal Register (77 FR 18871; March 28, 2012).
    Regulatory Guide 7.3 was issued as part of an immediately effective 
rule making by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1974. The rule 
making was issued in response to two incidents that resulted in 
excessive contamination and radiation exposures from improperly 
packaged radioactive material. Since these requirements were new to the 
transportation community, the AEC developed RG 7.3 to provide licensees 
with guidance and describe a method for meeting the new requirements 
that the NRC staff found acceptable. In the 37 years since RG 7.3 was 
issued, the transportation community has gained extensive experience on 
transporting, receiving and opening packages containing radioactive 
material. The regulations have been updated several times, but RG has 
not been kept current.

[[Page 36018]]

II. Further Information

    The withdrawal of RG 7.3 does not alter any prior or existing 
licensing commitments based on its use. The guidance provided in this 
RG is no longer necessary. Regulatory guides may be withdrawn when 
their guidance no longer provides useful information, or is superseded 
by technological innovations, congressional actions, or other events.
    Regulatory guides are revised for a variety of reasons and the 
withdrawal of an RG should be thought of as the final revision of the 
guide. Although an RG is withdrawn, current licensees may continue to 
use it, and withdrawal does not affect any existing licenses or 
agreements. Withdrawal of a guide means that the guide should not be 
used for future NRC licensing activities. However, although a 
regulatory guide is withdrawn, changes to existing licenses can be 
accomplished using other regulatory products.
    Regulatory guides and publicly available NRC documents are 
available on line in the NRC Library at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. The documents can also be viewed online for free or 
printed for a fee in the NRC's 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 
email to [email protected]. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, 
and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them.

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

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-14680 Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
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