[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78670-78671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26911]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2016-0228]


Statistical Terminology and Notation for Special Nuclear 
Materials Control and Accountability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; withdrawal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.3, ``Statistical Terminology and Notation for 
Special Nuclear Materials Control and Accountability,'' that was issued 
in 1973. This document is being withdrawn in part because regulatory 
guidance is not needed for common statistical terminology and notation 
information that is commonly used in the field of statistics. Further, 
RG 5.3 provided guidance on the term ``limits of error'' as defined in 
the NRC's regulations. This term is no longer a defined regulatory term 
and is no longer used by the NRC except in certain transaction reports. 
Also, RG 5.3 endorsed a 1972 American National Standards Institute 
(ANSI) standard that was later withdrawn. Therefore, the NRC finds that 
RG 5.3 is obsolete.

DATES: The effective date of the withdrawal of RG 5.3, ``Statistical 
Terminology and Notation for Special Nuclear Materials Control and 
Accountability'' is November 8, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0228 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publically-available information related to this document, 
using the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0228. 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. The basis for the withdrawal of this guide is 
found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16216A145.
     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 
Materials Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7230, email: 
[email protected] and Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-2493, email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The NRC staff issued RG 5.3 in February 1973 to provide guidance on 
material control and accounting (MC&A) requirements that were then set 
forth in section 70.51 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR). In 2002, the requirements for recordkeeping were established, 
and the 10 CFR 70.51(b)-(d) provisions were transferred to 10 CFR 
74.19, ``Recordkeeping.'' Furthermore, RG 5.3 endorsed the American 
National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard N15.5-1972, ``Statistical 
Terminology and Notation for Nuclear Materials Management,'' and thus 
provided NRC guidance for acceptable terminology and notation 
concerning statistical analyses of accountability data for special 
nuclear material (SNM) control purposes that licensees could use when 
establishing their written MC&A procedures necessary to enable them to 
account for SNM in their possession.
    Regulatory Guide 5.3 provided guidance on the statistical 
terminology and notation used in ANSI N15.5-1972, and such information 
is now found in any elementary statistics textbook. A specific 
regulatory guide on common statistical terminology and notation is 
therefore no longer needed. In addition, ANSI N15.5-1972 has been 
withdrawn by ANSI in coordination with the

[[Page 78671]]

Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. Only one of the terms 
``limits of error,'' referenced in ANSI N15.5-1972 had a definition 
specific to MC&A applications, and this term was defined in 10 CFR 
70.51(a)(5). In moving the 10 CFR 70.51(a) definitions to 10 CFR 74.4 
in 2002, the ``limits of error'' definition was removed, and this term 
is no longer used by the NRC except in transaction reports submitted to 
the national database.
    Further, any other statistical terms that require explanation or 
clarification are now included in the 10 CFR 74.4 set of MC&A 
definitions, and regulatory guidance related to MC&A definitions is 
included in NUREG-1065, ``Acceptable Standard Format and Content for 
the Fundamental Nuclear Material Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-
Enriched Uranium Facilities,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML031340288) and 
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'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML15120A354). Additional general statistical information 
is provided in NUREG/CR-4604, ``Statistical Methods for Nuclear 
Materials Management'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML103430339).
    Because RG 5.3 is no longer needed, the NRC is withdrawing RG 5.3. 
Withdrawal of a regulatory guide means that the guide no longer 
provides useful information or has been superseded by other guidance, 
technological innovations, congressional actions, changes in NRC 
regulations, or other events. The withdrawal of RG 5.3 does not alter 
any prior or existing NRC licensing approval or the acceptability of 
licensee commitments to RG 5.3. Although RG 5.3 is withdrawn, current 
licensees may continue to use it, and withdrawal does not affect any 
existing licenses or agreements. However, RG 5.3 should not be used in 
future requests or applications for NRC licensing actions.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of November, 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. 2016-26911 Filed 11-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P