[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78732-78733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27046]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 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. 217 / Wednesday, November 9, 2016 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 78732]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 34

[Docket No. PRM-34-7; NRC-2016-0182]


Individual Monitoring Devices for Industrial Radiographic 
Personnel

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM), dated July 14, 2016, from Dr. Arny 
Bereson of the Nondestructive Testing Management Association (NDTMA) 
and Mr. Walt Cofer of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing 
(ASNT). The petitioners request that the NRC amend its regulations to 
authorize use of improved individual monitoring devices for industrial 
radiographic personnel. The PRM was docketed by the NRC on August 12, 
2016, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-34-7. The NRC is examining 
the issues raised in PRM-34-7 to determine whether they should be 
considered in rulemaking.

DATES: Submit comments by January 23, 2017. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

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-2016-0182. 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.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    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: Edward Lohr, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0253, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0182 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-2016-0182.
     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-2016-0182 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 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. The Petitioners

    The petition was filed jointly by Dr. Arny Bereson and Mr. Walt 
Cofer on behalf of NDTMA and the ASNT. The petitioners state, among 
other things, that the NDTMA is a ``U.S. non-profit organization 
dedicated to nondestructive testing (NDT) management, technology and 
regulation.'' In addition, the petitioners state that the ASNT is a 
``U.S. non-profit technical society for NDT professionals that provides 
a forum for exchange of NDT technical information, NDT educational 
materials and programs, and standards and services for the 
qualification and certification of NDT personnel. The ASNT promotes NDT 
as a profession and facilitates NDT research and technology 
applications. As an independent certifying entity, the ASNT operates 
the only non-state-administered radiographer radiation safety 
certification program in the U.S.A.''

III. The Petition

    The petitioners request that the NRC amend its regulations to 
authorize use of particular individual monitoring devices for 
industrial radiographic personnel. Specifically, the petitioners

[[Page 78733]]

request authorization to use ``improved electronic personnel monitoring 
dosimeters'' and ``dual-function alarming rate meters and electronic 
dosimeters.'' The PRM is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16228A045.

IV. Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioners propose that the NRC (1) amend parts 20 and 34 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR); and (2) change 
the guidance in NUREG-1556, Vol. 2, ``Consolidated Guidance About 
Materials Licenses; Program-Specific Guidance About Industrial 
Radiography Licenses'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML16062A091), to reflect 
the changes in the proposed amendments.
    The petitioners propose NRC amend 10 CFR 34.47(a) to authorize the 
use of dual-function electronic dosimeters (ED) and alarm ratemeters 
(ARM) in place of separate devices. The petitioners state that the 
proposed revisions would conform to the requirements in 10 CFR 30.33, 
``in that the equipment in question (dual-function ED/ARM, digital 
dosimeter) is adequate to protect health and minimize the danger to 
workers and the public.'' The petitioners also state that the dual-
function ED and ARM digital dosimeters ``provide improved efficiencies, 
lower costs, and enhanced safety features.''
    The petitioners are also proposing NRC amend 10 CFR 34.47(a)(3) to 
replace the reference to `` `other personnel dosimeters' with TLDs and 
OSLDs,'' in order to leave open the option to use digital dosimeters 
without replacement. The petitioners note that ``[t]his option should 
be mentioned in NUREG-1556, Vol. 2.''

V. Specific Request for Comment

    The NRC is seeking comments and supporting rationale from the 
public on the following three questions:
    1. Please comment on how the use of a dual-function device could 
achieve the current safety purpose of using independent devices, or if 
that requirement should be changed. Please reference publicly-available 
technical, scientific, or other data or information to support your 
position.
    2. Please comment on whether changes similar to those proposed in 
the petition should be applied to other radiation protection regulatory 
requirements, such as 10 CFR parts 36 and 39. Please explain your 
position.
    3. Please comment on what experiences or challenges users have 
encountered in the use of these dosimeters. Please reference publicly-
available technical, scientific, or other data or information to 
support your position.

VI. Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold 
sufficiency requirements for docketing a PRM under 10 CFR 2.802, 
``Petition for rulemaking--requirements for filing,'' and the PRM has 
been docketed as PRM-34-7. The NRC will examine the issues raised in 
PRM-34-7, to determine whether they should be considered in the 
rulemaking process. The NRC is requesting public comments on the 
petition for rulemaking.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of November, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-27046 Filed 11-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P