[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88710-88712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29391]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0203]


Instructions for Recording and Reporting Occupational Radiation 
Dose Data

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.7, ``Instructions for Recording 
and Reporting Occupational Radiation Dose Data.'' Regulatory Guide 8.7 
describes methods that the staff of NRC considers acceptable for 
licensees to use for the preparation, retention, and reporting of 
records of occupational radiation doses. Revision 3 addresses changes 
to applicable NRC regulations and related staff practices since 
Revision 2 was issued in November 2005. Revision 3 includes changes in 
the process a licensee needs to follow in order to monitor occupational 
exposure, determine prior doses, record monitoring results, and report 
the results, when required. In addition, Revision 3 references revised 
versions of NRC Form 4, ``Cumulative Occupational

[[Page 88711]]

Dose History,'' and NRC Form 5, ``Occupational Dose Record for a 
Monitoring Period.'' The revised forms, which are already available, 
should be used by NRC licensees beginning in January 2017.

DATES: Revision 3 to RG 8.7 is available on December 8, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0203 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publically-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-2015-0203. 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 document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. Revision 3 to RG 8.7 and the regulatory 
analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML16054A170 and 
ML15169A219, respectively.
     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: Terry Brock, telephone: 301-415-1793; 
email: [email protected] or Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-415-
2493; email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office 
of Nuclear Regulatory Research, 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.
    Proposed Revision 3 of RG 8.7 was issued with a temporary 
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide DG-8030 and is available under 
ADAMS Accession No. ML15169A218. The NRC published DG-8030 for public 
comment on August 28, 2015 (80 FR 52345). The public comment period 
closed on October 27, 2015. The NRC received one set of comments from 
an industry association and those comments and the NRC staff's 
responses are available under ADAMS Accession No. ML16060A392. In a 
related action, the NRC requested public comments on its proposed 
revisions to Form 5, ``Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring 
Period'' on June 19, 2012 (77 FR 36583). The public comment period 
closed on July 20, 2012. The NRC received four sets of comments from 
industry and those comments and the NRC staff's responses are available 
under ADAMS Accession No. ML16308A071.
    Revision 3 of RG 8.7 addresses changes identified since Revision 2 
was issued in November 2005. In particular, the regulations in 10 CFR 
20.1201(c) concerning the measurement of external exposure by either 
deep-dose equivalent or effective dose equivalent (for external 
exposures) (EDEX), and the regulations in 10 CFR 20.1003 and 10 CFR 
50.2 regarding the definition of the ``total effective dose 
equivalent'' (TEDE), were amended and became effective on January 3, 
2008 (72 FR 68043; December 4, 2007). As a result of the revised 
definition of TEDE, the NRC staff developed the additional acronym EDEX 
and this term was included in the revised NRC Forms 4 and 5 that were 
updated in April 2015. Revision 3 of RG 8.7 references the revised 
versions of NRC Forms 4 and 5, as well as detailed instructions for 
completing these forms. The acronym EDEX and the term ``total organ 
dose equivalent'' are included in the revised forms to be consistent 
with current NRC practice.

II. Use of Revised NRC Forms 4 and 5

    The new NRC Form 4, ``Cumulative Occupational Dose History (04-
2015),'' or its electronic equivalent, is available for use by NRC 
licensees to record an individual's cumulative occupational dose 
history. NRC licensees may also continue to use the old NRC Form 4, 
``Cumulative Occupational Dose History (10/2001),'' until December 31, 
2016. All NRC licensees should use the new NRC Form 4 or its equivalent 
beginning January 1, 2017.
    The new NRC Form 5, ``Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring 
Period (04-2015),'' or its electronic equivalent, is available for use 
by NRC licensees to record the occupational dose for any monitoring 
period beginning on or after January 1, 2016. NRC licensees may also 
continue to use the old NRC Form 5, ``Occupational Dose Record for a 
Monitoring Period (10/2001),'' for any monitoring period beginning on 
or before December 31, 2016. All NRC licensees should use the new NRC 
Form 5 or its equivalent, for any monitoring period beginning on or 
after January 1, 2017. Both forms are available online through the NRC 
Library on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections.

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

    This RG addresses compliance with the NRC's requirements in 10 CFR 
part 20 to record and report an individual's cumulative occupational 
dose history and the occupational dose received by an individual for a 
specific monitoring period. The NRC regards these requirements as 
constituting information collection and reporting requirements. The NRC 
has long taken the position that information collection and reporting 
requirements are not subject to the NRC's backfitting and issue 
finality regulations in 10 CFR 50.109, 10 CFR 70.76, 10 CFR 72.62, 10 
CFR 76.76, and 10 CFR part 52 (e.g., ``Material Control and Accounting 
Methods,'' December 23, 2002 (67 FR 78130); and ``Regulatory 
Improvements to the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards 
System,'' June 9, 2008 (73 FR 32453)). Therefore, the NRC has 
determined that its backfitting and issue finality regulations do not 
apply to this RG because the RG does not include any provisions within 
the scope of matters covered by the backfitting provisions in 10 CFR 
parts 50, 70, or 72, or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 
52.


[[Page 88712]]


    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 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. 2016-29391 Filed 12-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P