[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77028-77029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31254]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0272]


Assessment of Radioactive Discharges in Ground Water to the 
Unrestricted Area at Nuclear Power Plant Sites

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-4025, ``Assessment of 
Radioactive Discharges in Ground Water to the Unrestricted Area at 
Nuclear Power Plant Sites.'' This DG proposes guidance for an approach 
that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in assessing abnormal, 
inadvertent radioactive releases that may result in discharges of 
contaminated ground water from the subsurface to the unrestricted area 
at commercial nuclear power plant sites.

DATES: Submit comments by February 9, 2016. 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-2015-0272. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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, 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: Thomas Nicholson, telephone: 301-415-
2471, email: [email protected] and Edward O'Donnell, telephone: 
301-415-3317, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 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-2015-0272 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-2015-0272.
     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. 
ML15237A388.
     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-2015-0272 in 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 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, ``Assessment of Radioactive Discharges in Ground 
Water to the Unrestricted Area at Nuclear Power Plant Sites'' is a 
proposed new

[[Page 77029]]

guide temporarily identified by its task number, DG-4025. This guidance 
provides an approach acceptable to the NRC for licensees to satisfy the 
regulatory requirements for reporting subsurface radioactive discharges 
to offsite areas. The approach can be used for assessing abnormal, 
inadvertent radioactive releases that may result in discharges of 
contaminated ground water from the subsurface to the unrestricted area 
at commercial nuclear power plant sites.

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This DG-4025 describes a method that the staff of the NRC considers 
acceptable for assessing abnormal, inadvertent radioactive releases 
which may result in discharges of contaminated ground water from the 
subsurface to the unrestricted area at commercial nuclear power plant 
sites. Issuance of this DG, if finalized, would not constitute 
backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting'' (the Backfit Rule) and 
would not otherwise be inconsistent with the issue finality provisions 
in 10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of 
this DG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guide, if 
finalized, on holders of current operating licenses or combined 
licenses.
    This DG may be applied to applications for operating licenses, 
combined licenses, early site permits, and certified design rules 
docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory 
guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of 
the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such 
applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities 
protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions 
in 10 CFR part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December, 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. 2015-31254 Filed 12-10-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P