[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 131 (Monday, July 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40385-40386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16661]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0139]


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

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document is correcting the document published in the 
Federal Register on June 15, 2012 (77 FR 36017). Today's document 
supersedes that document and republishes it in its entirety with 
corrections. This document, by way of explanation, is including 
previously omitted text that establishes a better rationale for 
withdrawing the regulatory guide (RG). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) is withdrawing RG 7.3, ``Procedures for 
Picking Up and Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material.'' The RG is 
being withdrawn because it is outdated and the relevant information 
contained in it has been updated and incorporated into 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 28, 2012 (77 FR 18871).

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 any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0139. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol

[[Page 40386]]

Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-3668; email: [email protected].
     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 
document (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; email: [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 RG 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.
    Regulatory Guide 7.3 was issued after a rulemaking by the Atomic 
Energy Commission in 1974 that revised 10 CFR part 20, ``Standards for 
Protection Against Radiation.'' This rulemaking was in response to two 
incidents resulting in excessive contamination and radiation exposures 
from improperly packaged radioactive material. Since these requirements 
were new to the transportation community, the Atomic Energy Commission 
developed RG 7.3 to provide licensees with a method acceptable to the 
NRC staff for meeting the new requirements. In the 37 years since RG 
7.3 was issued, there has been extensive experience by the 
transportation community on receiving and opening packages and the 
regulations in 10 CFR 20.205 have been replaced with new U.S. 
Department of Transportation regulations and 10 CFR 20.1906, 
``Procedures for Receiving and Opening Packages.'' Regulatory Guide 7.3 
was not kept current. The NRC is withdrawing the RG because it is 
outdated and the relevant information contained in it has been updated 
and incorporated 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, a notice of its issuance was published in the Federal 
Register on March 28, 2012 (77 FR 18871).

II. Further Information

    As explained above, the guidance provided in this RG is no longer 
necessary. Regulatory guides may be withdrawn when their guidance no 
longer provides useful information, such as when the guidance is 
superseded by technological developments, congressional actions, or 
other events.
    Withdrawal of a RG means that the NRC staff no longer approves, as 
a generic matter, the guidance in the withdrawn RG. Therefore, an 
applicant or licensee who wishes to follow the guidance bears the 
responsibility of demonstrating in the appropriate circumstance, that 
the guidance in the withdrawn RG is applicable to the applicant's or 
licensee's specific situation. Current licensees who have included RG 
7.3 in their licensing basis may continue to use it and withdrawal of 
the RG does not affect their existing licenses or agreements. Changes 
to existing licenses must be accomplished in accordance with applicable 
NRC requirements.
    It states in NUREG/CR-4775, ``Guide to Preparing Operating 
Procedures for Shipping Packages,'' issued December 1988, that 
licensees should reference RG 7.3 in their operating procedures for 
shipping packages. Because RG 7.3 is being withdrawn, the 
recommendation in NUREG/CR-4775 to reference RG 7.3 should not be 
relied on in the future and an applicant or licensee who wishes to 
follow this portion of the guidance in NURGE/CR-4775 bears the 
responsibility of demonstrating, in the appropriate circumstance, that 
the guidance in the withdrawn regulatory guide is applicable to the 
applicant's or licensee's specific situation. Current licensees who 
have included RG 7.3 in their licensing basis because of the reference 
to it in NUREG/CR-4775 may continue to use RG 7.3, and withdrawal of 
the RG does not affect their existing licenses or agreements.
    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 29th day of June 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edward O'Donnell,
Acting Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-16661 Filed 7-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P