[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43959-43961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15949]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 6, 2016 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 43959]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 20
[NRC-2011-0162]
RIN 3150-AJ17
Consideration of Rulemaking To Address Prompt Remediation of
Residual Radioactivity During Operation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of public Webinar and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking
additional input from the public, licensees, Agreement States, non-
Agreement States, and other stakeholders on the need for potential
rulemaking to address prompt remediation of residual radioactivity
during the operational phase at licensed material sites and nuclear
reactors. The NRC has not initiated a rulemaking, but is gathering
information and seeking stakeholder input on this subject for
developing a recommendation to the Commission regarding the need for
further rulemaking. To aid in this process, the NRC is requesting
comments on the issues discussed in Section II, ``Specific Questions,''
in the Supplementary Information section of this document.
Additionally, the NRC will hold a public Webinar and host a public
meeting to facilitate the public's and other stakeholders'
understanding of these issues and the submission of comments.
DATES: The public Webinar and meeting will be held in Rockville,
Maryland on July 11, 2016, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EDT) to solicit
public and stakeholder feedback. Submit comments on the issues
discussed in this document by August 22, 2016. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comment 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-2011-0162. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, 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: Marlayna Vaaler, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3178; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The NRC published the Decommissioning Planning Rule (DPR) in 2011
(76 FR 33512; June 17, 2011) with an effective date of December 17,
2012. The DPR applies to the operational phase of a licensed facility,
and requires licensees to operate in a way to minimize spills, leaks,
and other unplanned releases of radioactive contaminants into the
environment. It also requires licensees to check periodically for
radiological contamination throughout the site, including subsurface
soil and groundwater. The DPR does not have a mandatory requirement for
licensees to conduct radiological remediation during operation. In the
Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM), SRM-SECY-07-0177--Proposed Rule:
Decommissioning Planning (10 CFR parts 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, and 72; RIN:
3150-AH45) (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML073440549) that approved the proposed DPR, the
Commission directed the staff to ``make further improvements to the
decommissioning planning process by addressing remediation of residual
radioactivity during the operational phase with the objective of
avoiding complex decommissioning challenges that can lead to legacy
sites.'' To assist in this process, the NRC staff held a public Webinar
on July 25, 2011, during which input on a draft regulatory basis and a
set of defined questions concerning a potential rulemaking was obtained
from members of the public, licensees, Agreement States, non-Agreement
States, and other interested persons. Additionally, interested persons
were afforded an opportunity to provide written comments on the same
issues (see 76 FR 42074; July 18, 2011). Based upon this input, the NRC
staff revised its Draft Regulatory Basis (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13109A281).
Subsequently, in SRM-SECY-12-0046--Options for Revising the
Regulatory Approach to Groundwater Protection (ADAMS Accession No.
ML121450704), the Commission directed the staff to continue the current
regulatory approach for groundwater protection, including the recently
imposed requirements contained in the DPR, and to solicit public
comments on the technical basis for a proposed prompt remediation rule.
The Commission also directed the staff to evaluate the pros and cons of
moving forward with a proposed prompt remediation rulemaking, including
the staff's initial analysis of whether the cost/benefit analysis
satisfies the backfit requirements. The staff conducted an additional
public meeting and Webinar on June 4, 2013 (see 78 FR 33008; June 3,
2013), and subsequently evaluated stakeholder comments. From this
information, the staff identified the following three options for
potential rulemaking on prompt remediation during the operational phase
of facility life: (1) Proceed with rulemaking; (2) do not proceed with
rulemaking; or (3) collect 2 years of information from implementation
of the DPR before making a staff recommendation for potential
rulemaking.
As a result of the ongoing discussions regarding the need for a
prompt remediation regulation, SRM-SECY-13-0108--Staff Recommendations
for Addressing Remediation of Residual Radioactivity During Operations
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13354B759), instructed the staff to ``collect 2
years of
[[Page 43960]]
additional data from the implementation of the DPR. After collection
and evaluation of the data and engaging stakeholders in a public
meeting focused on operational experience from implementation of the
Decommissioning Planning Rule, the staff should provide to the
Commission a paper with the staff's recommendation for addressing
remediation of residual radioactivity at licensed facilities during the
operational phase of the facility.'' Now that the data collection
period on the implementation of the DPR has come to a close, the NRC
staff is collecting supplementary input from the public and other
interested stakeholders to inform the staff's recommendation to the
Commission regarding the need for additional rulemaking requiring
prompt remediation during operation.
II. Specific Questions
Currently, there are no NRC regulations that require licensees to
promptly remediate radiological contamination. To enhance stakeholder
engagement in making a recommendation to the Commission regarding
whether additional rulemaking in this area is warranted, the staff is
holding a Webinar, hosting a public meeting, and requesting feedback on
the following questions to facilitate discussion with, and solicit
input from, interested stakeholders.
The NRC has asked many of the following questions before, and
received some public input. Several commenters stated that an
additional rule for prompt remediation is not necessary; and that
issues can be addressed either by existing rules or by site-specific
action. Others stated the proposed thresholds are not appropriate and
that interim remediation is not cost effective. Those who supported an
additional rule pointed to cases where there is significant
contamination, and drew parallels to other regulations that require
early cleanup, such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The
NRC is now seeking further stakeholder input on these questions given
the approximately 3 years that have passed since implementation of the
DPR:
1. Given the information on site radiological contamination gained
as a result of the implementation of the Decommissioning Planning Rule,
should the NRC proceed with additional rulemaking to address
remediation of residual radioactivity during the operational phase? Why
or why not?
2. Based on the information on site contamination obtained from
facilities that have entered decommissioning, should the NRC proceed
with additional rulemaking to address remediation of residual
radioactivity during the operational phase? Why or why not?
3. If the NRC does implement a rule that requires prompt
remediation of radioactive spills and leaks, what concentration, dose
limits, or other threshold limits should trigger prompt remediation?
Should the thresholds differ for soil versus groundwater contamination?
4. Should the NRC allow licensees to justify delaying remediation
under certain conditions when the contaminant level exceeds the
threshold limit? If yes, then what conditions should be used to justify
a delayed remediation?
5. Should factors such as safety, operational impact, and cost be a
basis for delaying remediation?
6. If the NRC implements a rule that allows licensees to analyze
residual radioactivity to justify delaying remediation, then what
should the licensee's analysis cover? For example, what kind of dose
assessment, risk-assessments, and/or cost-benefit analyses should be
performed to justify delayed remediation? What other types of analyses
are relevant to this process?
7. If the NRC implements a rule that allows licensees to analyze
residual radioactivity to justify delaying remediation, what role
should the cost of prompt remediation versus remediation at the time of
decommissioning play in the analysis? What are the overall costs and
benefits of prompt remediation of residual radioactivity?
8. If the NRC implements a rule that allows licensees to analyze
residual radioactivity to justify delaying remediation, what standards
or criteria should a licensee use to demonstrate to the NRC that a
sufficient justification to delay remediation has been met?
9. Are there any other alternatives beyond those discussed in the
Draft Regulatory Basis document that the NRC should have considered to
address prompt remediation?
10. What other issues should the NRC staff consider in developing a
technical basis for a potential rulemaking to address prompt
remediation of residual radioactivity during site operation?
III. Public Webinar
To facilitate the understanding of the public and other
stakeholders of these issues and the submission of comments, the NRC
staff has scheduled a public Webinar for July 11, 2016, from 1:00 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m. (EDT). Webinar participants will be able to view the
presentation slides prepared by the NRC and electronically submit
comments over the Internet. Participants must register to participate
in the Webinar. Registration information may be found in the meeting
notice (ADAMS Accession No. ML16179A220). The meeting notice can also
be accessed through the NRC's public Web site under the heading for
Public Meetings; see Web page http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. Those
who are unable to participate via Webinar may also participate via
teleconference. For details on how to participate via teleconference,
please contact Marlayna Vaaler; telephone: 301-415-3178; email:
[email protected].
IV. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0162 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses
and is publicly available, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0162.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library 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-2011-0162 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:/
/
[[Page 43961]]
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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of June, 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Andrea L. Kock,
Deputy Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and
Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-15949 Filed 7-5-16; 8:45 am]
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