[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24997-24998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11224]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

National Marine Fisheries Service

[NRC-2016-0189]


Shipping, Receiving, and Internal Transfer of Special Nuclear 
Material

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) 5.41, ``Shipping, Receiving, and Internal 
Transfer of Special Nuclear Material.'' This new RG consolidates in one 
document NRC guidance concerning the material control and accounting 
requirements pertaining to shipments, receipts, and internal transfers 
of special nuclear material. In addition, this guide provides updated 
guidance for source material (SM) and depleted uranium (DU) at uranium 
enrichment facilities.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 5.41 is available on May 31, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0189 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-2016-0189. 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. RG 5.41 may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML16348A213. The regulatory analysis supporting this RG 
may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14181B214.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Tuttle, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7230, email: 
[email protected], or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-1699, email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff of the 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.
    The RG 5.41 is entitled, ``Shipping, Receiving, and Internal 
Transfer of Special Nuclear Material,'' and provides guidance for 
meeting the nuclear material control and accounting (MC&A) requirements 
in part 74 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 
74), ``Material Control and Accounting of Special Nuclear Material,'' 
that cover these topics.
    RG 5.41 updates and combines in one document guidance previously 
provided by:
     RG 5.28, ``Evaluation of Shipper-Receiver Differences in 
the Transfer of Special Nuclear Material,'' published in June 1974 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML003740063);
     RG 5.49, ``Internal Transfers of Special Nuclear 
Material,'' published in March 1975 (ADAMS Accession No. ML003739222); 
and
     RG 5.57, ``Shipping and Receiving Control of Strategic 
Special Nuclear Material,'' published in June 1980 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML003739260).

[[Page 24998]]

    Due to several rulemakings that occurred from 1985 to 2002, which 
significantly amended the MC&A requirements, the above regulatory 
guides became outdated as they no longer cite the correct sections of 
the regulations. Accordingly, RG 5.28, RG 5.49, and RG 5.57 are being 
withdrawn concurrent with the issuance of RG 5.41, which provides the 
correct citations to the 10 CFR part 74 regulations.
    NRC guidance on the MC&A requirements pertaining to shipments, 
receipts, and internal transfers of special nuclear material is also 
provided in the following NUREGs that were issued in conjunction with 
the 1985-2002 MC&A rulemakings:
     NUREG-1280, ``Standard Format and Content Acceptance 
Criteria for the Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) Reform 
Amendment,'' applicable to facilities using formula quantities of 
strategic special nuclear material (ADAMS Accession No. ML031340295).
     NUREG-1065, ``Acceptable Standard Format and Content for 
the Fundamental Nuclear Material Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-
Enriched Uranium Facilities,'' applicable to fuel fabrication 
facilities using low-enriched uranium (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML031340288).
     NUREG/CR-5734, ``Recommendations to the NRC on Acceptable 
Standard Format and Content for the Fundamental Nuclear Material 
Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-Enriched Uranium Enrichment 
Facilities,'' applicable to uranium enrichment plants (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML15120A354).
    RG 5.41 incorporates guidance from these NUREGs that relates to the 
monitoring of shipments, receipts, and internal transfers of SNM. In 
addition to providing guidance on these topics, the NUREGs listed above 
cover other MC&A requirements as well. Therefore, these NUREGs are not 
being withdrawn.

II. Additional Information

    The draft of RG 5.41 was issued with a temporary identification of 
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-5051, ``Shipping, Receiving, and Internal 
Transfer of Special Nuclear Material.'' The NRC published a notice of 
the availability of DG-5051 in the Federal Register on September 21, 
2016 (81 FR 64955) for a 30-day public comment period. The public 
comment period closed on October 21, 2016. Public comments on DG-5051 
and the staff responses to the public comments are available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML16348A218.

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

    Issuance of RG 5.41 does not constitute backfitting as defined in 
10 CFR 70.76. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of RG 
5.41, the NRC has no current intention to impose this guidance on 
holders of 10 CFR part 70 licenses. Additionally, RG 5.41 incorporates 
relevant guidance from NUREG-1280, NUREG-1065, and NUREG/CR-5734 
without making substantive changes to that guidance. RG 5.41 updates 
the outdated NRC guidance provided in RG 5.28, RG 5.49, and RG 5.57 by 
providing the correct citations to the existing 10 CFR part 74 
regulations. Accordingly, the issuance of RG 5.41 does not constitute a 
``new'' or ``different'' staff position within the definition of 
``backfitting'' in 10 CFR 70.76.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of May 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. 2017-11224 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P