[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13685-13687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05236]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0040]
Monitoring of Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent Fuel Pools
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft generic letter; public meeting and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this
draft generic letter to address degradation of neutron-absorbing
materials in the spent fuel pool (SFP). The NRC has determined that it
is necessary to obtain plant-specific information requested in the
draft generic letter so that the NRC can determine if the degradation
of the neutron-absorbing materials in the SFP is being managed to
maintain reasonable assurance that the materials are capable of
performing their intended safety function, and if the licensees are in
compliance with the regulations.
DATES: Submit comments by May 12, 2014. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of 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-2014-0040. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) 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 06-44M, 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.
[[Page 13686]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Krepel, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-302-0399; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0040 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access publicly-available information related to this action by any of
the following methods:
Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0040.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents Collection 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 document
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time
that a document is referenced.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0040 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 your
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. Discussion
The NRC is issuing Generic Letter NRC-2014-0040, ``Monitoring of
Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent Fuel Pools,'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13100A086) to request submittal of information from the stated
licensees regarding the credited neutron-absorbing materials in the
spent fuel pool (SFP) and associated surveillance or monitoring
programs. Recent operating experience and regulatory actions have shown
some gaps in the NRC knowledge base and regulatory guidance associated
with management of the effects of aging on the neutron-absorbing
materials in the SFP. Follow-up investigations of the identified gaps
resulted in some NRC concerns with existing methods used in the
industry to ensure compliance with the nuclear criticality safety (NCS)
requirements in Sec. 50.68 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) and in General Design Criterion 62 (found in
Appendix A of 10 CFR Part 50). In light of recent findings related to
neutron-absorbing material degradation and uncertainties in the tools
used to monitor the current condition of neutron-absorbing materials in
the SFP, the NRC decided to request detailed information in order to
verify compliance with the applicable NCS requirements and to determine
if any further regulatory action is necessary. The draft generic letter
contains a more detailed discussion of the issues involved and the
information being requested.
III. Cumulative Effects of Regulation
The NRC is considering the cumulative effects of regulation (CER)
as they relate to this Generic Letter. The CER considers the challenges
licensees face in addressing the implementation of new regulatory
positions, programs, and requirements (e.g., rulemaking, guidance,
backfits, inspections). The CER initiative stems from the total burden
imposed on licensees by the NRC from simultaneous or consecutive
regulatory actions that can adversely affect the licensee's capability
to implement those requirements while continuing to operate or
construct its facility in a safe and secure manner. The NRC proposed
several rulemaking process enhancements to address CER in SECY-11-0032,
``Consideration of the Cumulative Effects of Regulation in the
Rulemaking Process,'' dated October 11, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML112840466). In SECY-12-0137, ``Implementation of the Cumulative
Effects of Regulation Process Changes,'' dated October 5, 2012 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12223A162) built upon the recommendations in SECY-11-
0032. In its Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-12-0137 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML13071A635), the Commission directed the staff to, among
other items, ``continue to develop and implement outreach tools that
will allow NRC to consider more completely the overall impacts of
multiple rules, orders, generic communications, advisories, and other
regulatory actions on licensees and their ability to focus effectively
on items of greatest safety importance.''
With regard to this generic letter, the NRC requests that licensees
comment about any CER challenges they may face. Specifically, the NRC
requests comment on the following questions:
a. In light of any current or projected cumulative effects, does
this generic letter request provide sufficient time for licensees to
respond with the information requested, including any need to develop
this information through supporting engineering calculation or
analyses?
b. If a current or projected cumulative effect poses a significant
challenge, what should be done to address it? For example, if more time
is required to develop and provide the information, what period of time
is sufficient? Are there equally effective alternatives to providing
the requested information to the NRC that reduce the cumulative
effects?
c. Do other (NRC or other regulatory agency) regulatory actions
(e.g., Orders, rules, generic letter, bulletins, 50.54(f) requests)
influence licensee responses to this draft generic letter? If so what
are they and do you have a suggested approach to reduce the cumulative
effects in light of these other regulatory actions?
d. Are there other projects that licensees are undertaking, plan to
undertake, or should be undertaking that provide greater safety
benefit, that might be displaced or delayed as a result of the
expenditure of effort and resources to respond to this generic letter?
e. Are there unintended consequences associated with responding to
this generic letter at this time?
[[Page 13687]]
f. Please comment on the NRC's supporting justification for this
generic letter.
IV. Public Meeting
The NRC plans to hold an informational public meeting approximately
45 days into the public comment period to discuss draft Generic Letter
NRC-2014-0040, ``Monitoring of Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent
Fuel Pools'', and to obtain feedback from members of the public. The
public meeting will be transcribed by a court reporter. The public
meeting notice will be made available electronically in ADAMS and
posted on the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. The agenda for
the public meeting will be noticed no fewer than 10 days prior to the
meeting on the Public Meeting Schedule Web site. Any meeting updates or
changes will be made available on this Web site. Information regarding
topics to be discussed, changes to the agenda, whether the meeting has
been cancelled or rescheduled, and the time allotted for public
comments can be obtained from the Public Meeting Schedule Web site.
Comments regarding the draft Generic Letter must be submitted in
accordance with paragraph I.B of this document. Comments from the
public meeting will not be considered as official comments to this
Federal Register notice.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of February, 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sheldon Stuchell,
Acting PGCB Branch Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of
Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2014-05236 Filed 3-10-14; 8:45 am]
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