[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being withdrawn because it is outdated and the relevant information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]
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