[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8511-8512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03012]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0021]


Corrective Action Programs for Fuel Cycle Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-3044, ``Corrective 
Action Programs for Fuel Cycle Facilities.'' This DG describes methods 
and procedures that the NRC staff considers acceptable when developing 
corrective action programs (CAPs) for fuel cycle facilities.

DATES: Submit comments by March 14, 2014. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by the following methods (unless 
this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a 
specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0021. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: 3WFN 06A-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sabrina Atack, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-287-9075, email: 
[email protected]; or Steve Burton, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-7000, email:

[[Page 8512]]

[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0021 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:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0021.
     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 DG and regulatory 
analysis are available electronically in ADAMS under Accession Nos. 
ML13219B204 and ML13219B210.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0021 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in you 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a draft guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the NRC staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled, ``Corrective Action Programs for Fuel Cycle 
Facilities,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-3044. 
Draft Guide-3044 is proposed Revision 0 of new Regulatory Guide 3.75.
    This DG describes methods and procedures that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable when developing CAPs for fuel cycle facilities.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This DG describes programmatic elements that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable for CAPs for fuel cycle facilities licensed under 
parts 40 or 70 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
and gaseous diffusion plants under 10 CFR part 76. Applicants for such 
facilities and certificates of compliance, as well as existing 
licensees and holders of certificate of compliance, may use the 
guidance in the DG, if finalized, in developing, implementing or 
revising CAPs. Licensees may choose to develop and implement CAPs that 
meet the guidance in this DG for the purpose of applying Section 2.3.2 
of the NRC Enforcement Policy. The NRC staff may find methods or 
solutions that differ from those described in this DG acceptable for 
the purpose of applying Section 2.3.2 of the NRC Enforcement Policy if 
those methods or solutions effectively implement controls to identify, 
document, and correct conditions adverse to safety and security.
    Applicants for, and holders of fuel cycle licenses under 10 CFR 
part 40 are not subject to backfitting protection, inasmuch as the 
NRC's regulations do not provide backfitting protection to 10 CFR part 
40 applicants or licensees.
    This DG, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting for any 
fuel cycle facility applicants or licensees subject to backfitting 
protection under 10 CFR part 70, or applicants for or holders of 
certificates of compliance for gaseous diffusion plants under 10 CFR 
part 76. No 10 CFR part 70 licensee or holder of a 10 CFR part 76 
certificates of compliance is required to comply with the guidance, and 
a licensee or holder of a certificate of compliance is free to 
demonstrate that its corrective action program is effective in 
identifying, documenting, and correcting conditions adverse to safety 
and security in order to be within the purview of Section 2.3.2 of the 
NRC Enforcement Policy. With respect to applicants or potential 
applicants for 10 CFR part 70 licenses and 10 CFR part 76 certificates 
of compliance, such entities are not protected by the backfitting 
provisions in 10 CFR parts 70 and 76. Backfitting is intended to 
protect the reasonable expectations of certain entities who have 
received NRC regulatory approvals (e.g., a license), and was not 
intended to apply to NRC actions which substantially change the 
expectations of current and future applicants.
    This DG, if finalized, would not apply to any nuclear power 
reactors subject to 10 CFR parts 50 or 52. Therefore, backfitting 
considerations under 10 CFR 50.109 or issue finality considerations 
under 10 CFR part 52 are not applicable to this DG.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of February, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-03012 Filed 2-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P