[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 28, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64149-64151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25540]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 37

[Docket No. PRM-37-1; NRC-2014-0172]


Physical Protection of Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of 
Radioactive Material

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking from Anthony R. Pietrangelo on behalf of the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI or the petitioner) dated June 12, 2014, 
requesting that the NRC amend its regulations to ``remove unnecessary 
and burdensome requirements on licensees with established physical 
security programs.'' The petition was docketed by the NRC on July 17, 
2014, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-37-1. The NRC is requesting 
public comments on this petition for rulemaking.

DATES: Submit comments by January 12, 2015. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
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:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0172. 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.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and

[[Page 64150]]

Submitting Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merri L. Horn, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7000, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0172 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this petition for rulemaking. 
You may obtain publicly-available information related to this petition 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0172.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain 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-2014-0172 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. The Petitioner

    The petition states that ``NEI is the organization responsible for 
establishing unified nuclear industry policy on matters affecting the 
nuclear energy industry, including the regulatory aspects of generic 
operational and technical issues.'' The petition further states that 
``NEI's members include all entities licensed to operate commercial 
nuclear power plants in the United States, nuclear plant designers, 
major architect/engineering firms, fuel fabrication facilities, nuclear 
material licensees, and other organizations and individuals involved in 
the nuclear energy industry. NEI asserts that it is responsible for 
coordinating the combined efforts of licensed facilities on matters 
involving generic NRC regulatory policy issues and generic operational 
and technical regulatory issues.''

III. The Petition

    Anthony R. Pietrangelo, Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear 
Officer, NEI, submitted a PRM dated June 12, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML14199A570), requesting that the NRC amend its regulations regarding 
``Physical Protection of Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of 
Radioactive Material.'' The NRC has determined that the petition meets 
the threshold sufficiency requirements for a petition for rulemaking 
under Sec.  2.802 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR), ``Petition for rulemaking,'' and the petition has been docketed 
as PRM-37-1. The NRC is requesting public comment on the petition for 
rulemaking.

IV. Discussion of the Petition

    The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 37, ``Physical Protection of 
Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of Radioactive Material,'' require 
licensees that possess Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of 
radioactive material to secure and protect the materials from theft or 
diversion. Part 37 contains a provision, 10 CFR 37.11, which provides 
for ``Specific Exemptions.'' The provision in 10 CFR 37.11(b), states 
that ``[a]ny licensee's NRC-licensed activities are exempt from the 
requirements of subpart B [`Background Investigations and Access 
Authorization Program'] and subpart C [`Physical Protection 
Requirements During Use'] of this part to the extent that its 
activities are included in a security plan required by part 73 of this 
chapter.'' The provision in 10 CFR 37.11(c) allows for certain waste 
material to be subject to a different set of requirements as outlined 
in 10 CFR 37.11(c)(1)-(4).
    The petitioner is requesting that the rule be amended to clarify 
and expand the exemptions in 10 CFR 37.11 in several ways. First, the 
petitioner is requesting that the exemptions provide for a more direct 
recognition of the extent to which facilities with robust 10 CFR part 
73 security programs already meet the objectives set forth in part 37 
and inherently protect byproduct material. Additionally, the petitioner 
requests NRC codify certain provisions contained in an Enforcement 
Guidance Memorandum (EGM) ``Interim Guidance for Dispositioning 10 CFR 
Part 37 Violations with Respect to Large Components and Robust 
Structures Containing Category 1 or Category 2 Quantities of Material 
at Power Reactor Facilities Licensed Under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52'' 
issued by the NRC on March 13, 2014 (ML14056A151).
    Specifically, the proposed amendments to part 37 would include 
adding definitions to 10 CFR 37.5 for Large Component and Robust 
Structure. The petitioner also proposes amendments to 10 CFR 37.11(b) 
that the petitioner claims will remove ``undue regulatory burden on 
licensees by recognizing the extent to which facilities with robust 10 
CFR Part 73 security programs already meet the objectives set forth in 
Part 37 and inherently protect byproduct material.'' The petitioner 
further recommends revisions to 10 CFR 37.11(c) that the petitioner 
claims would help ``to improve its clarity, provide greater regulatory 
certainty, and ensure licensees implement Part 37 consistent with NRC's 
intent and expressed regulatory guidance.'' Moreover, the petitioner 
recommends adding a new paragraph, 10 CFR 37.11(d), to codify key 
elements of the EGM. Specifically, the proposed 10 CFR 37.11(d) would 
exempt large components and material stored in robust structures from 
part 37's requirements.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of October 2014.


[[Page 64151]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard J. Laufer,
Acting Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-25540 Filed 10-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P