[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64955-64956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22634]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0189]


Shipping, Receiving, and Internal Transfer of Special Nuclear 
Material

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-5051, ``Shipping, 
Receiving, and Internal Transfer of Special Nuclear Material.'' This DG 
would consolidate in one document NRC guidance concerning the material 
control and accounting requirements pertaining to shipments, receipts, 
and internal transfers of special nuclear material. The DG is part of 
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.

DATES: Submit comments by October 21, 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:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0189. 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-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining 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, 301-415-7230, email: 
[email protected], or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, 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-2016-0189 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for 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-2016-0189.
     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 it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document.
     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-2016-0189 in your comment submission.

[[Page 64956]]

    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 into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The DG is entitled, ``Shipping, Receiving, and Internal Transfer of 
Special Nuclear Material,'' and would provide guidance for meeting the 
nuclear material control and accounting (MC&A) requirements in part 74 
of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Material 
Control and Accounting of Special Nuclear Material,'' that cover these 
topics. The DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML14181B213. The DG is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
5051.
    DG-5051 updates and combines in one document guidance previously 
provided by:
     RG 5.28, ``Evaluation of Shipper-Receiver Differences in 
the Transfer of Special Nuclear Material,'' published in June 1974 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML003740063);
     RG 5.49, ``Internal Transfers of Special Nuclear 
Material,'' published in March 1975 (ADAMS Accession No. ML003739222); 
and
     RG 5.57, ``Shipping and Receiving Control of Strategic 
Special Nuclear Material,'' published in June 1980 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML003739260).
    Due to several rulemakings that occurred from 1985 to 2002, which 
significantly amended the MC&A requirements, the above regulatory 
guides became outdated as they no longer cite the correct sections of 
the regulations. Accordingly, RG 5.28, RG 5.49, and RG 5.57 would be 
withdrawn concurrent with any later issuance of DG-5051 in final form 
as DG-5051 would provide the correct citations to the 10 CFR part 74 
regulations.
    NRC guidance on the MC&A requirements pertaining to shipments, 
receipts, and internal transfers of special nuclear material is also 
provided in the following NUREGs that were issued in conjunction with 
the 1985-2002 MC&A rulemakings:
     NUREG-1280, ``Standard Format and Content Acceptance 
Criteria for the Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) Reform 
Amendment,'' applicable to facilities using formula quantities of 
strategic SNM (ADAMS Accession No. ML031340295).
     NUREG-1065, ``Acceptable Standard Format and Content for 
the Fundamental Nuclear Material Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-
Enriched Uranium Facilities,'' applicable to fuel fabrication 
facilities using low-enriched uranium (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML031340288).
     NUREG/CR-5734, ``Recommendations to the NRC on Acceptable 
Standard Format and Content for the Fundamental Nuclear Material 
Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-Enriched Uranium Enrichment 
Facilities,'' applicable to uranium enrichment plants (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML15120A354).
    DG-5051 incorporates guidance from these NUREGs that relates to the 
monitoring of shipments, receipts, and internal transfers of SNM. In 
addition to providing guidance on these topics, the NUREGs listed above 
cover other MC&A requirements as well. Accordingly, these NUREGs would 
not be withdrawn when DG-5051 is issued in final form.

III. Backfitting

    Issuance of DG-5051 in final form would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in 10 CFR 70.76. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' 
section of DG-5051, the NRC has no current intention to impose this 
guidance on holders of part 70 licenses. Additionally, DG-5051 would 
incorporate relevant guidance from NUREG-1280, NUREG-1065, and NUREG/
CR-5734 without making substantive changes to that guidance and update 
the outdated NRC guidance provided in RG 5.28, RG 5.49, and RG 5.57 by 
providing the correct citations to the existing 10 CFR part 74 
regulations. Accordingly, the issuance of this guidance in final form 
would not constitute a ``new'' or ``different'' staff position within 
the definition of ``backfitting'' in 10 CFR 70.76.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of September 2016.

    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. 2016-22634 Filed 9-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P