[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 167 (Friday, August 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52345-52346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21306]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0203]


Instructions for Recording and Reporting Occupational Radiation 
Dose Data

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-8030, ``Instructions for 
Recording and Reporting Occupational Radiation Dose Data.'' This 
proposed guide has been revised to incorporate additional information 
identified since revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.7 was issued. 
The proposed revision (revision 3) describes methods that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable for licensees to use for the preparation, 
retention, and reporting of records of occupational radiation doses. 
DG-8030, includes changes in the process a licensee needs to follow in 
order to determine monitoring for occupational exposure, determining 
prior doses, recording monitoring results, and reporting the results, 
when required. In addition, this revision references revised versions 
of NRC Form 4, ``Cumulative Occupational Dose History,'' and NRC Form 
5, ``Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring Period,'' as well as 
detailed instructions for completing these forms.

DATES: Submit comments by October 27, 2015. 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 any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specified subject):
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0203. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, 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: Luis Benevides, telephone: 301-415-
2457, email: [email protected] and Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 
301-415-2493, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S.

[[Page 52346]]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0203 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publically-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-2015-0203.
     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 (if available in 
ADAMS), is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The 
DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML15169A218.
     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-2015-0203 in the subject line of your 
comment submission.
    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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering 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 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 DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding 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 issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide entitled, ``Instructions for Recording 
and Reporting Occupational Radiation Dose Data,'' is temporarily 
identified by its task number, DG-8030 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15169A218). DG-8030 is proposed revision 3 of RG 8.7.
    The NRC issued revision 2 of RG 8.7 in November 2005 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML052970092), to provide guidance on acceptable program 
for the preparation, retention, and reporting of records of 
occupational radiation doses.
    On December 4, 2007, the NRC made changes in part 19 of Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), ``Notices, Instructions and 
Reports to Workers: Inspection and Investigations;'' 10 CFR 19.13, 
``Notifications and Reports to Individuals,'' and revised the 
definition of the total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) in 10 CFR part 
20, ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation;'' 10 CFR 20.1003, 
``Definitions;'' and 10 CFR part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production 
and Utilization Facilities;'' 10 CFR 50.2, ``Definitions'' (72 FR 
68043). Previously, the definition of the TEDE was the sum of the deep 
dose equivalent (DDE) to account for external exposure and the 
committed effective dose equivalent (CEDE) to account for internal 
exposure. Under the revised rule, the TEDE was redefined by replacing 
the DDE with the effective dose equivalent for external exposure, 
hereafter referred to as the EDEX.
    As a result of the definition change to the TEDE, there is a 
contradiction with the current regulatory guidance. The revised TEDE 
definition also affected the content of NRC Forms 4 and 5 in that the 
EDEX is now a quantity to be recorded when monitoring external dose. 
The term ``total organ dose equivalent'' (TODE) has also been added in 
the forms to denote the sum of the deep dose equivalent (DDE) and the 
committed dose equivalent (CDE) to the organ receiving the highest 
dose, to be consistent with the regulations described in 10 CFR 
20.2106(a)(6).
    The NRC staff has estimated that NRC Forms 4 and 5 will become 
effective in January 2016.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The first issuance of new guidance on a new rule provision does not 
constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the guidance on the new rule 
provision must be consistent with the regulatory requirements in the 
new rule provision, and the backfitting basis for the new rule 
provision should also be applicable to the issuance of guidance on that 
new rule provision. The statement of considerations for the 2007 
revisions to parts 19 and 20 stated that the specific changes made to 
the regulations did not constitute ``backfitting'' as defined in 10 CFR 
50.109.
    Therefore, for licensees subject to the provisions of 10 CFR part 
50 and/or part 52, the first issuance of guidance addressing new 
provisions of 10 CFR parts 19 and 20 (if finalized), would not 
constitute issuance of a new or different staff position within the 
meaning of the definition of ``backfitting'' in 10 CFR 50.109, or 
constitute an action inconsistent with any of the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. Accordingly, no further consideration of 
backfitting is needed to support issuance of this draft regulatory 
guide for public comment.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of August, 2015.

    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. 2015-21306 Filed 8-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P