[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55835-55836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22199]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2014-0198]
Proposed Revisions to Radioactive Waste Management
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Standard review plan-draft section revision; request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting
public comment on the following sections in Chapter 11, ``Radioactive
Waste Management,'' of NUREG-0800, ``Standard Review Plan (SRP) for the
Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR
Edition,'' Section 11.1, ``Coolant Source Terms''; Section 11.2,
``Liquid Waste Management System''; Section 11.3, ``Gaseous Waste
Management System''; Section 11.4, ``Solid Waste Management System'';
Section 11.5, ``Process and Effluent Radiological Monitoring
Instrumentation and Sampling Systems''; Branch Technical Position 11-3,
``Design Guidance for Solid Radioactive Waste Management Systems
Installed in Light-Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Reactor Plants''; Branch
Technical Position 11-5, ``Postulated Radioactive Releases Due to a
Waste Gas System Leak or Failure''; and Branch Technical Position 11-6,
``Postulated Radioactive Releases due to Liquid Containing Tank
Failures.''
DATES: Submit comments by November 17, 2014. Comments received after
this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure 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-2014-0198. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual 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 ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan DeGange, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-6992; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0198 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
obtain publicly available information related to this document by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0198.
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]. For
the convenience of the reader, instructions about accessing materials
referenced in this document are provided in the ``Availability of
Documents'' section.
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-2014-0198 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. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
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Proposed revision ADAMS Current revision ADAMS Redline ADAMS accession
Section accession No. accession No. No.
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11.1............................. Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13058A231.
(ML13058A173). (ML070790010).
11.2............................. Proposed Revision 5 Current Revision 4 ML13051A463.
(ML13044A644). (ML100740449).
11.3............................. Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13070A380.
(ML13065A119). (ML070710366).
11.4............................. Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13072A574.
(ML13072A545). (ML070710397).
11.5............................. Proposed Revision 6 Current Revision 5 ML13072A136.
(ML13071A494). (ML100740509).
Branch Technical Position 11-3... Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13071A160.
(ML13070A352). (ML070730202).
Branch Technical Position 11-5... Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13070A465.
(ML13070A322). (ML070730056).
[[Page 55836]]
Branch Technical Position 11-6... Proposed Revision 4 Current Revision 3 ML13051A586.
(ML13051A458). (ML070720635).
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The NRC may post materials related to this document, including
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2014-0198. The Federal
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the
docket folder (NRC-2014-0198); (2) click the ``Sign up for Email
Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select how
frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or
monthly).
III. Further Information
The Office of New Reactors and Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
are revising these sections from their current revisions. Details of
specific changes in the proposed revisions are included at the end of
each of the proposed sections.
The changes to this SRP chapter reflect current staff review
methods and practices based on lessons learned from NRC reviews of
design certification and combined license applications completed since
the last revision of this chapter. Among other changes, the revisions
include (1) revision of the title of SRP Section 11.1 to ``Coolant
Source Terms,'' (2) implementation of Interim Staff Guidance (ISG),
COL/DC-ISG-013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12191A304), and (3) the revision
also harmonizes SRP Section 11.2 with BTP 11.6 regarding the guidance
of COL/DC-ISG-013 for calculating doses to members of the public and
identifying acceptable criteria in assessing the radiological
consequences of accidental releases due to tank failures.
IV. Backfitting and Finality Provisions
Issuance of these draft SRP sections, if finalized, would not
constitute backfitting as defined in Sec. 50.109 of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), (the Backfit Rule) or otherwise
be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
The NRC's position is based upon the following considerations.
1. The draft SRP positions, if finalized, would not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the SRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
The SRP provides internal guidance to the NRC staff on how to
review an application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of
licensing. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which
either nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under
either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part
52.
2. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the SRP positions on
existing licensees either now or in the future.
The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the draft SRP to existing licenses and regulatory
approvals. Hence, the issuance of a final SRP--even if considered
guidance within the purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR
part 52--would not need to be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as
being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. If, in the future,
the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in the SRP on holders of
already issued licenses in a manner that does not provide issue
finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision, then
the staff must make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule or
address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described in the
applicable issue finality provision.
3. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions
not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under 10 CFR part 52. Neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue
finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions--were
intended to apply to every NRC action that substantially changes the
expectations of current and future applicants. The exceptions to the
general principle are applicable whenever an applicant references a 10
CFR 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. The NRC staff does not, at this time, intend to
impose the positions represented in the draft SRP in a manner that is
inconsistent with any issue finality provisions. If, in the future, the
staff seeks to impose a position in the draft SRP in a manner that does
not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue
finality provision, then the staff must address the criteria for
avoiding issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality
provision.
The NRC staff is issuing this notice to solicit public comments on
the proposed SRP Sections and BTPs in Chapter 11. After the NRC staff
considers any public comments, it will make a determination regarding
the proposed SRP Sections and BTPs in Chapter 11. The SRP is guidance
for the NRC staff. The SRP is not a substitute for the NRC regulations,
and compliance with the SRP is not required.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of September, 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, New Reactor Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Advanced
Reactors and Rulemaking, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2014-22199 Filed 9-16-14; 8:45 am]
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