[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13875-13876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05170]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2015-0272]
Assessment of Abnormal Radioactive Discharges in Ground Water to
the Unrestricted Area at Nuclear Power Plant Sites
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.25, ``Assessment of Abnormal Radioactive
Discharges in Ground Water to the Unrestricted Area at Nuclear Power
Plant Sites,'' as a new guide (Revision 0). The guide describes an
approach that the NRC staff considers acceptable for use in assessing
abnormal discharges of radionuclides in ground water from the
subsurface to the unrestricted area at commercial nuclear power plant
sites.
DATES: Revision 0 to RG 4.25 is available on March 15, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0272 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-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-2015-0272. 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 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].
Regulatory Guide 4.25 is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML16253A333.
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: Thomas Nicholson, telephone: 301-415-
2471, email: [email protected]; and Edward O'Donnell, telephone:
301-415-3317, email: [email protected]. Both are staff members 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 new 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.
Revision 0 of RG 4.25 was issued with a temporary identification of
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-4025. The guide is being issued to provide
guidance to licensees on acceptable methods to determine the quantity
of licensed material (i.e., radionuclides) in abnormal discharge into
the unrestricted area through the ground water discharge pathway at
commercial nuclear power plants. American National Standards Institute/
American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS)-2.17-2010 (R2016), ``Evaluation of
Subsurface Radionuclide Transport at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants,''
provides such methods. The
[[Page 13876]]
ANSI/ANS standard does not specify the use of any specific ground water
flow and transport model. It provides a graded, risk-informed approach
for evaluating the effects of subsurface radionuclide transport. The
ground water flow and transport model developed by licensees should be
a site-specific model, based on the complexity of geologic and
hydrologic conditions, the types of radioactive materials and facility
design, the types and effectiveness of engineered and natural barriers,
and the proximity to surface water and ground water receptors. A
facility that has less significant radionuclide source term, minor
subsurface contamination, simple or well-understood hydrogeology, or
limited effects on ground water resources generally requires less
extensive site characterization, mathematical modeling, and
performance-confirmation measures than a facility with significant
residual radioactivity that has the potential to exceed national
radiation protection standards. The appendix to RG 4.25 provides a
simple ground water flow and transport model that is acceptable for use
with simple hydrogeologic conditions and geometry such as steady-state
saturated flow in homogeneous porous sand layers.
II. Additional Information
The DG-4025 was published in the Federal Register on December 11,
2015 (80 FR 77028) for a 60-day public comment period. The public
comment period closed on February 9, 2016. Public comments on DG-4025
and the staff responses to the public comments are available under
ADAMS under Accession No. ML16253A330.
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 and Issue Finality
Regulatory Guide 4.25 describes a method that the staff of the NRC
considers acceptable for assessing abnormal, inadvertent radioactive
releases which may result in discharges of contaminated ground water
from the subsurface to the unrestricted area at commercial nuclear
power plant sites. Issuance of this RG does not constitute backfitting
as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise be
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As
discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this RG, the NRC has no
current intention to impose this guide on holders of current operating
licenses or combined licenses.
This RG may be applied to applications for operating licenses,
combined licenses, early site permits, and certified design rules
docketed by the NRC as of the date of issuance of the final regulatory
guide, as well as future applications submitted after the issuance of
the regulatory guide. Such action would not constitute backfitting as
defined in the Backfit Rule or be otherwise inconsistent with the
applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch as such
applicants or potential applicants are not within the scope of entities
protected by the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions
in part 52.
Dated: March 10, 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. 2017-05170 Filed 3-14-17; 8:45 am]
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