[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38739-38741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15427]
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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.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.29, ``Special Nuclear Material
Control and Accounting Systems for Nuclear Power Plants.'' This
regulatory guide provides guidance on recordkeeping and reporting
requirements with respect to material control and accounting. This
guide applies to all nuclear power plants.
ADDRESSES: 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, which the NRC
possesses and is publicly available, using 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]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
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]. 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. Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 5.29, is available in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML13051A421. The regulatory analysis may be found
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13051A418.
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.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Jervey, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-251-7404; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and
make available to the public information such as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
agency'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.
Revision 2 of RG 5.29 was issued with a temporary identification as
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-5028. This guide describes a method that the
NRC staff considers acceptable to implement special nuclear material
control and accounting system requirements for nuclear power plants.
This guide applies to all nuclear power plants.
Part 74 of Title 10, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Material Control and Accounting of Special Nuclear Material,''
Subpart B, ``General Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements,''
establishes the material control and accounting performance
requirements for special nuclear material at nuclear power plants. The
regulations at 10 CFR 74.11, ``Reports of Loss or Theft or Attempted
Theft or Unauthorized Production of Special Nuclear Material,''
require, in part, that nuclear power reactor licensees notify the NRC
of any such events within 1 hour of discovery. The regulations at 10
CFR 74.13, ``Material Status Reports,'' require nuclear power reactor
licensees to submit material status reports for certain quantities of
special nuclear material. The regulations at 10 CFR 74.15, ``Nuclear
Material Transaction Reports,'' require nuclear power reactor licensees
to complete transaction reports when transferring, receiving, or making
adjustments to specified quantities of special nuclear material. The
regulations at 10 CFR 74.19, ``Recordkeeping,'' require, in part, that
nuclear power reactor licensees keep records that show the receipt,
inventory (including location and unique identity), acquisition,
transfer, and disposal of all special nuclear material in their
possession. Additionally, 10 CFR 74.19 requires, in part, that
licensees establish, maintain, and follow written material control and
accounting procedures, and that they conduct physical inventories of
special nuclear material at intervals not to exceed once every 12
months.
Regulatory Guide 5.29 endorses American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) N15.8-2009, ``Methods of Nuclear Material Control--
Material Control Systems--Special Nuclear Material Control and
Accounting Systems for Nuclear Power Plants.'' ANSI N15.8-2009 provides
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.
II. Additional Information
DG-5028, was published in the Federal Register on May 14, 2012 (77
FR 28407), for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment
period closed on July 16, 2012. Public comments on DG-5028 and the
staff responses to the public comments are available under ADAMS
Accession Number ML13051A437.
This regulatory guide is a rule as designated in the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, OMB has not found it to be a
major rule as designated in the congressional Review Act.
III. Congressional Review Act
This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act.
IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality
This regulatory guide provides guidance on recordkeeping and
reporting requirements with respect to material control and accounting,
as set forth in 10 CFR part 74. The regulatory position held in this
guidance demonstrates the method that the NRC staff finds acceptable
for an applicant or licensee to meet the requirements of the underlying
NRC regulations.
The issuance of the guidance in this regulatory guide is not
backfitting, as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or inconsistent
with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, because
information collection and reporting requirements with respect to
material control and accounting are not included within the scope of
the NRC's backfitting protections or part 52 issue finality provisions.
Material control and accounting requirements are applicable to special
nuclear material (SNM) licensees possessing SNM quantities greater than
the part 74-specified threshold. Materials control and accounting are
intended to ensure that SNM is not used, or diverted for use, in a
manner that endangers public health and safety or the common defense
and security. The requirements are focused
[[Page 38741]]
on the possession of SNM, and not with respect to its use in the
operation of the nuclear power reactor. This is true even though the
guidance in this regulatory guide is addressed to materials control and
accounting at nuclear power plants. This regulatory guide reflects the
physical and operational considerations of nuclear power reactors,
which are different from other facilities possessing SNM above the part
74 specific threshold. The regulatory guide does not present more
stringent guidance for materials licensees who are also power reactor
licensees, as compared to guidance for those materials licensees who
are not power reactor licensees. Therefore, the NRC does not regard the
materials control and accounting requirements in part 74 as a general
matter, or as applied to nuclear power reactors in the guidance of RG
5.29, as being within the scope of backfitting or issue finality
provisions.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by any issue finality provisions under part 52.
This is because the issue finality provisions under part 52, with
certain exclusions discussed below, were not intended to apply to every
NRC action which substantially changes the expectations of current and
future applicants. The exceptions to the general principle are whenever
an applicant references a part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit)
and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with
specified issue finality provisions. However, the scope of issue
finality provided extends only to the matters resolved in the license
or regulatory approval. Early site permits and design certification
rules do not address or resolve compliance with material control and
accounting requirements in 10 CFR part 74. Therefore, no applicant
referencing an ESP or DCR is protected by relevant issue finality
provisions with respect to the material control and accounting matters
addressed in this regulatory guide.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of June, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-15427 Filed 6-26-13; 8:45 am]
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