[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45074-45075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20694]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0057]


Regulatory Guide: ``Physical Inventories and Material Balances at 
Fuel Cycle Facilities''

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 0 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 5.88, ``Physical Inventories and 
Material Balances at Fuel Cycle Facilities.'' This regulatory guide 
(RG) describes approaches and methods that the staff considers 
acceptable for licensees and

[[Page 45075]]

applicants to use when developing material control and accounting 
(MC&A) system capabilities. This RG pertains to the performance, 
evaluation, and reporting of physical inventories and material balances 
at fuel cycle facilities.

DATES: Revision 0 to RG 5.88 is available on September 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0057 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-2017-0057. 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 (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. Regulatory Guide 5.88 is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML17167A292. The regulatory analysis supporting Revision 1 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15268A457.
     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, 301-415-7230, email: 
[email protected]; or Mekonen Bayssie, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, 301-415-1699, email: [email protected]. Both are staff 
members 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.
    Revision 0 of RG 5.88 was issued with a temporary identification of 
draft Regulatory Guide, DG-5056. The new RG provides updated guidance 
for uranium enrichment facilities as well as other type of facilities 
by incorporating relevant guidance from three NUREGs without making 
substantive changes to that guidance.
    The RG is titled ``Physical Inventories and Material Balances at 
Fuel Cycle Facilities,'' 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), ``Material Control and 
Accounting of Special Nuclear Material,'' that cover these topics.
    Regulatory Guide 5.88 updates and combines in one document guidance 
previously provided by RG 5.13, ``Conduct of Nuclear Material Physical 
Inventories,'' published in November 1973; and RG 5.33, ``Statistical 
Evaluation of Material Unaccounted For,'' published in June 1974.
    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 5.13 and RG 5.33 are being withdrawn 
concurrent with the issuance of RG 5.88, which provides the correct 
citations to the 10 CFR part 74 regulations.
    The NRC's guidance on the MC&A requirements pertaining to the 
performance, evaluation, and reporting of physical inventories and 
material balances at fuel cycle facilities 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 (SNM).
     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.
     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.
    The RG 5.88 incorporates guidance from these NUREGs that relates to 
physical inventories and material balances for strategic SNM. In 
addition to providing guidance on these topics, the NUREGs listed above 
cover other MC&A requirements as well. Accordingly, these NUREGs are 
not being withdrawn.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-5056 in the 
Federal Register on February 24, 2017 (82 FR 11661) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on April 25, 2017. 
There were no public comments received on DG-5056.

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 5.88 in final form would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in 10 CFR 70.76. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' 
section of RG 5.88, the NRC has no current intention to impose this 
guidance on holders of part 70 licenses. Additionally, RG 5.88 
incorporates relevant guidance from NUREG-1280, NUREG-1065, and NUREG/
CR-5734 without making substantive changes to that guidance. 
Accordingly, the issuance of RG 5.88 does not constitute a ``new'' or 
``different'' staff position within the definition of ``backfitting'' 
in 10 CFR 70.76.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of September, 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. 2017-20694 Filed 9-26-17; 8:45 am]
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