[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55880-55881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23290]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2015-0214]
Independent Assessment of Nuclear Material Control and Accounting
Systems
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-5049, ``Independent
Assessment of Nuclear Material Control and Accounting Systems.'' This
DG provides guidance from experience gained since the regulatory guide
was initially published in June 1975. In particular, the guidance for
performing independent assessments has been expanded to include process
monitoring and item monitoring for Category I fuel cycle facilities,
and to include guidance for uranium enrichment facilities. In addition,
this revision addresses changes in Material Control & Accounting (MC&A)
terminology; for
[[Page 55881]]
example, the term ``management review'' has been replaced by
``independent assessment,'' and ``material unaccounted for'' by
``inventory difference.''
DATES: Submit comments by November 16, 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-2015-0214. 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: Glenn Tuttle, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7230, email:
[email protected], or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research, telephone: 301-415-1699, email: [email protected]; U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0214 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may
obtain 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-2015-0214.
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
DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML14310A339.
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-2015-0214 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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 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 DG entitled ``Independent Assessment of Nuclear Material
Control and Accounting Systems'' is a proposed revision temporarily
identified by its task number, DG-5049. This DG is proposed Revision 1
of Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.51, ``Management Review of Nuclear Material
Control and Accounting Systems.''
This DG provides guidance that conforms with revisions to 10 CFR
part 74, ``Material Control and Accounting of Special Nuclear
Material,'' as well as incorporates experience gained since the RG was
initially published in June 1975. In particular, the guidance for
performing independent assessments has been expanded to include process
monitoring and item monitoring for Category I fuel cycle facilities,
and to include guidance for uranium enrichment facilities. In addition,
this revision addresses changes in MC&A terminology since the RG was
published in 1975; for example, the term ``management review'' has been
replaced by ``independent assessment,'' and ``material unaccounted
for'' by ``inventory difference.''
III. Backfitting
This DG provides guidance on recordkeeping and reporting
requirements with respect to material control and accounting, as set
forth in 10 CFR part 74. The regulatory position held in this guidance
demonstrates the method that the NRC staff finds acceptable for an
applicant or licensee to meet the requirements of the underlying NRC
regulations. The issuance of the guidance in this DG is not
backfitting, as that term is defined in 10 CFR 70.76, 72.62, or 76.76,
because information collection and reporting requirements with respect
to material control and accounting are not included within the scope of
the NRC's backfitting protections.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of September, 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. 2015-23290 Filed 9-16-15; 8:45 am]
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