[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58575-58576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23228]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0219]
Review of Experiments for Research Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; withdrawal.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing
Regulatory Guide (RG) 2.4, ``Review of Experiments for Research
Reactors.'' The guide is being withdrawn because the industry standard
which it referred to has been withdrawn, and corresponding information
is available in other NRC guidance. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket
ID NRC-2013-0219 when contacting the NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document. You may access publicly-available
information related to this action by 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 2.4
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13143A453.
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: Alexander Adams
Jr., telephone: 301-415-1127, by email at [email protected],
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; or Richard Jervey, telephone:
301-251-7404, by email at [email protected], Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is withdrawing RG 2.4, ``Review of Experiments for Research
Reactors,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML003740131) because its guidance no
longer provides useful information. RG 2.4 was published in July 1976
to provide clarification on meeting the requirements in part 50 of
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' for procedures
acceptable to the NRC staff for a licensee's review and approval of
experiments performed at research reactor facilities. The NRC published
RG 2.4 to endorse American National Standards Institute (ANSI) N401-
1974 (American Nuclear Society (ANS) 15.6), ``Review of Experiments for
Research Reactors,'' with exceptions and additional considerations,
concerning performance of experiments which could be undertaken without
affecting conditions of the facility license and thus could be
performed without prior NRC approval. In 1982, ANS replaced the N401
(ANS 15.6) standard with ANS 15.1, ``American National Standard for the
Development of Technical Specifications for Research Reactors.''
ANS 15.6 is no longer supported by ANS or available in print. RG
2.4 was written using the text of ANS 15.6 for reference, and because
the standard no longer exists, the text within the RG no longer
provides useful information.
II. Further Information
The withdrawal of RG 2.4 does not alter any prior or existing
licensing commitments based on its use. Regulatory guides may be
withdrawn when their guidance no longer provides useful information, or
is superseded by technological innovations,
[[Page 58576]]
congressional actions, or other events. Currently, guidance applicable
to experiments at research reactors can be found In RG 2.2,
``Development of Technical Specifications for Experiments in Research
Reactors'' (ADAMS ML003740125) and also in NUREG-1537, ``Guidelines for
Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power
Reactors'' (ADAMS ML12251A353).
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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of September, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-23228 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
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