[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]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0021]
Corrective Action Programs for Fuel Cycle Facilities
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.
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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]
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