[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 163 (Thursday, August 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40173-40174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17934]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2017-0183]
Nuclear Criticality Safety Standards for Nuclear Materials
Outside Reactor Cores
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-3053, ``Nuclear
Criticality Safety Standards for Nuclear Materials Outside Reactor
Cores.'' This DG would be published as Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide
(RG) 3.71. The proposed revision would provide methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for criticality safety standards used with
nuclear materials outside reactor cores. The revision would provide up-
to-date guidance based on changes to American National Standards
Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS)-8 standards. The revision
would also endorse International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Standard 7753:1987, ``Nuclear Energy--Performance and Testing
Requirements for Criticality Detection and Alarm Systems.''
DATES: Submit comments by October 23, 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-2017-0183. 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: TWFN-8-D36M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Tripp, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-8741, email:
[email protected], and Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-415-
2493, email: [email protected], Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research. 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-2017-0183 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-2017-0183.
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-3053 is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML17055B591.
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-2017-0183 in your comment submission.
[[Page 40174]]
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 ``Nuclear Criticality Safety Standards for Nuclear
Materials Outside Reactor Cores,'' is a proposed revision temporarily
identified by its task number, DG-3053. The DG-3053 is proposed
Revision 3 of RG 3.71, ``Nuclear Criticality Safety Standards for
Nuclear Materials outside Reactor Cores.'' The NRC initially issued RG
3.71 in 1998, and it was revised in 2005 and again in 2010. The three
previous versions of RG 3.71 endorsed specific safety standards
developed by ANSI/ANS-8 to provide guidance, criteria, and best
practices for use in preventing and mitigating criticality accidents
during operations that involve handling, processing, storing, or
transporting special nuclear material at fuel and material facilities
(or a combination of these activities). The proposed Revision 3 would
revise the RG based on changes to ANSI/ANS-8 standards, with certain
exceptions and clarifications. The revision would also consolidate and
replace a number of earlier NRC RGs, thereby incorporating all of the
relevant guidance in a single document. This revision would also
endorse International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard
7753:1987, ``Nuclear Energy--Performance and Testing Requirements for
Criticality Detection and Alarm Systems.'' In addition, the scope of
this revision is expanded beyond part 70 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), fuel facilities to include transportation
and storage facilities under parts 71 and 72.
III. Backfitting
This DG-3053 would update RG 3.71 based on changes to ANSI/ANS
standards, as well as endorsing an ISO standard and expanding the scope
of the RG to include 10 CFR part 71 and part 72 licensees. Issuance of
DG-3053 would not constitute backfitting under 10 CFR part 70 or part
72. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this DG, the NRC
has no current intention to impose the DG on current holders of 10 CFR
part 70 or part 72 licenses. The DG could be applied to applications
for licenses issued under 10 CFR part 70 or part 72 or amendments
thereto. Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in 10
CFR 70.76 or 10 CFR 72.62, inasmuch as such applicants are not within
the scope of entities protected by 10 CFR 70.76 or 10 CFR 72.62.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on August 18, 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. 2017-17934 Filed 8-23-17; 8:45 am]
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