[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11660-11661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03601]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0056]


Emergency Planning For Research and Test Reactors and Other Non-
Power Production and Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-2004, ``Emergency 
Planning for Research and Test Reactors and Other Non-Power Production 
and Utilization Facilities.'' This DG is proposed Revision 2 of 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 2.6, ``Emergency Planning for Research and Test 
Reactors.'' The NRC proposes to revise the RG by updating it to approve 
the use of the most current version of the American National Standards 
Institute (ANSI)/American Nuclear Society (ANS) standard ANSI/ANS-
15.16-2015, ``Emergency Planning for Research Reactors.'' The proposed 
revision provides licensees and applicants with a method that the NRC 
staff considers acceptable for use in complying with the regulations on 
the content of emergency plans for research and test reactors and other 
non-power production and utilization facilities.

DATES: Submit comments by April 25, 2017. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

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-2017-0056. 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.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    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: Geoffrey Wertz, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0893, email: 
[email protected]; or Mark Orr, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-6003, email: [email protected]. Both are 
staff members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0056 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may 
obtain publically-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-2017-0056.
     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. The DG-2004 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16035A476. The regulatory analysis for this DG is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML16035A477.
     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-2017-0056 in your comment submission, 
in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission 
available to the public in this docket.
    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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Emergency Planning for Research and Test 
Reactors and Other Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities,'' 
is proposed Revision 2 of RG 2.6, ``Emergency Planning for Research and 
Test Reactors.'' The DG is temporarily identified by its task number, 
DG-2004. This proposed revision addresses new issues identified since 
the guide was last revised in March 1983. This revision endorses the 
latest version of the consensus standard, ANSI/ANS-15.16-2015, 
``Emergency Planning for Research Reactors'' (Ref. 9) (ANSI/ANS-15.16 
or the standard). The scope was expanded to address non-power 
facilities according to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), other than research and test reactors. Other 
changes to RG 2.6

[[Page 11661]]

include editorial changes, and the current program guidance for RGs.
    Copies of ANSI/ANS-15.16-2015 may be purchased from the American 
Nuclear Society (ANS) Web site (http://www.new.ans.org/store/); or by 
writing to: American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La 
Grange Park, Illinois 60526, U.S.A., telephone: 1-800-323-3044. 
Revising this regulatory guide to adopt, in whole or in part, a 
consensus standard is consistent with the NRC policy of evaluating the 
latest versions of national consensus standards to determine their 
suitability for endorsement by regulatory guides. This approach also 
complies with the NRC's Management Directive (MD) 6.5, ``NRC 
Participation in the Development and Use of Consensus Standards'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16193A497), and is in accordance with Public Law 
104-113, ``National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995.''

III. Backfitting

    The regulatory positions held in this DG demonstrate the method 
that the NRC staff finds acceptable for an applicant or holder of a 
license under 10 CFR part 50 for a research and test reactor and other 
non-power production or utilization facility to meet the applicable 
emergency preparedness requirements.
    The issuance of the guidance in this DG would not constitute 
``backfitting,'' as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, 
``Backfitting,'' because non-power production and utilization facility 
licensees are not included within the scope of entities protected by 10 
CFR 50.109.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of February, 2017.

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. 2017-03601 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P