[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74484-74485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25904]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0214]


Independent Assessment of Nuclear Material Control and Accounting 
Systems

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory Guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.51, ``Independent Assessment of 
Nuclear Material Control and Accounting Systems.'' Revision 1 is based 
on experience gained since RG 5.51 was initially published in June 
1975, and reflects revisions to the NRC's material control & accounting 
(MC&A) regulations that have been made since 1975. Updates include use 
of the term ``independent assessment'' to replace ``management 
review,'' and use of the term ``inventory difference'' to replace 
``material unaccounted for.''

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 5.51 is available on October 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0214 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     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.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Document 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 in this notice (if 
that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a 
document is referenced. Revision 1 to RG 5.51 may be found in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML16223A915. The regulatory analysis supporting 
Revision 1 may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16223A917.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

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. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide 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 
agency's regulations, techniques that the NRC staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the NRC staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The proposed Revision 1 of RG 5.51 was published for comment in 
September 2015, and carried the temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, DG-5049, ``Independent Assessment of Nuclear Material 
Control and Accounting Systems.'' This guidance reflects the post 1975 
revisions made to the NRC's MC&A regulations, that are now in title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 74, ``Material Control 
and Accounting of Special Nuclear Material [SNM].'' The MC&A provisions 
requiring independent assessments that this guidance applies to are:
    (1) 10 CFR 74.31(c)(8) established in 1985 and applicable to 
licensees of facilities authorized to hold SNM of low strategic 
significance (such facilities are often referred to as ``Category III 
fuel cycle facilities'');
    (2) 10 CFR 74.33(c)(8), established in 1991 and applicable to 
licensees authorized to operate uranium enrichment facilities;
    (3) 10 CFR 74.43(b)(8), established in 2002 and applicable to 
licensees of facilities authorized to hold SNM of moderate strategic 
significance (such facilities are often referred to as ``Category II 
fuel cycle facilities''); and
    (4) 10 CFR 74.59(h)(4), established in 1987 and applicable to 
licensees of facilities authorized to possess five of more formula 
kilograms of strategic SNM (such facilities are often referred to as 
``Category I fuel cycle facilities'').
    The updated guidance also incorporates experience gained since RG 
5.51 was initially published in June 1975. For example, 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.''

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-5049 in the 
Federal Register on September 17, 2015 (80 FR 55880) for a 60-day 
public comment period. The public comment period closed on November 16, 
2015. Public comments on DG-5049 and the staff responses to the public 
comments are available under ADAMS under Accession No. ML16223A913.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final regulatory guide does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 70.76, 72.62, or 76.76. As discussed 
in the ``Implementation'' section of this regulatory guide, the NRC has 
no current intention to impose this regulatory guide on holders of 
current licenses. This regulatory guide may be applied to applications 
for special nuclear material subject to 10 CFR part 74 docketed by the 
NRC as of the date

[[Page 74485]]

of issuance of the final regulatory guide, as well as future 
applications after the issuance of the regulatory guide. Such action 
does not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 70.76, 72.62, or 
76.76, inasmuch as such applicants or potential applicants are not 
within the scope of entities protected by these backfit provisions. 
This RG 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 stated in this guidance demonstrates a 
method that the NRC staff finds acceptable for an applicant or licensee 
to meet the requirements of the underlying NRC regulations. This 
guidance imposes no new requirements on licensees, and 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 21st day of October, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stanley Gardocki,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-25904 Filed 10-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P