[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 52862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24672]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 52862]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 50 and 52
[NRC-2015-0225]
RIN 3150-AJ68
Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Small Modular Reactors
and Other New Technologies
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory basis; availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making
available a regulatory basis document in support of a rulemaking that
would develop new emergency preparedness (EP) requirements for small
modular reactors (SMRs) and other new technologies (ONTs), such as non-
light-water reactors and medical isotope production facilities. The
regulatory basis concludes that there is sufficient justification to
proceed with rulemaking to develop a clear set of rules and guidance
for EP for SMRs and ONTs. The regulatory basis also concludes that the
principle of using a dose-at-distance and consequence-oriented approach
to determine the appropriate size of an emergency planning zone can be
applied to SMRs and ONTs. The NRC is not seeking public comment on this
document. There will be an opportunity for formal public comment on the
proposed rule when it is published in the Federal Register.
DATES: The regulatory basis is available on November 15, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may
obtain publicly-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-2015-0225. 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]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
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: Andrew Carrera, Office of New
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-1078, email: [email protected]; and
Edward Roach, Office of Nuclear Security Incident and Response,
telephone: 301-287-9228, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The NRC published the draft regulatory basis in the Federal
Register on April 13, 2017 (82 FR 17768), for a 75-day public comment
period. In the draft regulatory basis, the NRC requested feedback from
the public on questions related to the scope of the draft regulatory
basis, performance-based approach, regulatory impacts, and cumulative
effects of regulation.
The NRC received 57 written comments from governmental and non-
governmental organizations and individuals, which are available at
https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. The
commenters included approximately 45 individuals, 4 environmental
groups, 3 industry groups, 1 Native American Tribal organization, 3
State organizations, and 1 Federal agency. The comments discussed
topics such as: Consequence-based approach, collocation, dose
assessment, emergency planning zone and offsite EP, siting of multi-
module facilities, regulatory analysis, scope of the draft regulatory
basis, safety, and general rulemaking principles such as performance-
based and technology-inclusive approaches. The NRC staff considered the
comments in finalizing the regulatory basis. The regulatory basis is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML17206A265 or on the Federal
rulemaking Web site, www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-
0225.
II. Publicly-Available Documents
As the NRC continues its ongoing proposed rulemaking effort to
implement EP requirements for SMRs and ONTs in parts 50 and 52 of title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the NRC is making documents
publicly available on the Federal rulemaking Web site,
www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. The current status
of this rulemaking effort, as well as other NRC planned rulemaking
activities, can be found on the NRC public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/rulemaking-ruleforum/active/RuleIndex.html.
The NRC may post additional materials relevant to this rulemaking
at www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. Please take the
following actions if you wish to receive alerts when changes or
additions occur in a docket folder: (1) Navigate to the docket folder
(NRC-2015-0225); (2) click the ``Email Alert'' link; and (3) enter your
email address and select how frequently you would like to receive
emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November, 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-24672 Filed 11-14-17; 8:45 am]
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