[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
________________________________________________________________________
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]
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