[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 226 (Monday, November 27, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55954-55955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25552]
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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. 226 / Monday, November 27, 2017 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 55954]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 26, 50, 52, 73, and 140
[NRC-2015-0070]
RIN 3150-AJ59
Regulatory Improvements for Power Reactors Transitioning to
Decommissioning
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory basis.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing a
regulatory basis to support a rulemaking that would amend the NRC's
regulations for the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The
NRC's goals in amending these regulations would be to provide for an
efficient decommissioning process; reduce the need for exemptions from
existing regulations; address other decommissioning issues deemed
relevant by the NRC staff; and support the principles of good
regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability.
DATES: The regulatory basis is available on November 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0070 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-2015-0070. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual 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. The regulatory basis can be accessed
in ADAMS at accession number ML17215A010.
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: Alysia G. Bone, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1034, email:
[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 30, 2014, the Commission
directed the NRC staff to proceed with a rulemaking on power reactor
decommissioning in the staff requirements memorandum (SRM) for SECY-14-
0118, ``Request by Duke Energy Florida, Inc., for Exemptions from
Certain Emergency Planning Requirements'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14364A111). The Commission also stated that the rulemaking should
address: Issues discussed in SECY-00-0145, ``Integrated Rulemaking Plan
for Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML003721626), such as the graded approach to emergency preparedness
(EP); lessons learned from the plants that have already gone or are
currently going through the decommissioning process; the advisability
of requiring a licensee's post-shutdown decommissioning activities
report (PSDAR) to be approved by the NRC; the appropriateness of
maintaining the three existing options for decommissioning and the
timeframes associated with those options; the appropriate role of state
and local governments and non-governmental stakeholders in the
decommissioning process; and any other issues deemed relevant by the
NRC staff.
The NRC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in
the Federal Register (80 FR 72358; November 19, 2015) to obtain
stakeholder feedback on the regulatory issues included in the SRM for
SECY-14-0118. The NRC received public comments related to each of the
regulatory issues outlined in the ANPR. Most public feedback pertained
to the level of public involvement in the decommissioning process, the
60-year limit for power reactor decommissioning, the NRC's approval of
the PSDAR, the use of decommissioning trust funds (DTFs), and EP
considerations. The NRC reviewed the comments and used input received
from the comments to develop the options presented in the draft
regulatory basis, which was issued for a 90-day public comment period
on March 15, 2017 (82 FR 13778). The NRC received input from
stakeholders in every area addressed in the draft regulatory basis. The
NRC also received the most stakeholder input on the current regulatory
approach to decommissioning, EP, and DTFs. The comments received on the
draft regulatory basis were considered in the development of the
regulatory basis.
In the regulatory basis, the NRC staff concludes that it has
sufficient justification to proceed with rulemaking in the areas of EP,
physical security, cyber security, drug and alcohol testing, training
requirements for certified fuel handlers (CFHs), DTFs, offsite and
onsite financial protection requirements and indemnity agreements, and
application of the backfit rule. Further, the NRC staff is recommending
rulemaking: (1) to require that decommissioning documents in Sec.
50.54(bb) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR);
Sec. 50.82, ``Termination of license''; and Sec. 52.110,
``Termination of license,'' or a combination thereof, contain
information on spent fuel management planning, in accordance with the
regulatory requirements in Sec. 72.218, ``Termination of Licenses'';
(2) to amend Sec. 51.53, ``Postconstruction environmental reports,''
and Sec. 51.95, ``Postconstruction environmental impact statements,''
to clarify the environmental reporting requirements and add a reference
to Sec. 52.110; (3) to
[[Page 55955]]
amend Sec. Sec. 50.82(a) and 52.110 to clarify that licensees must
evaluate the environmental impacts of decommissioning, and whether they
are bounded, in the PSDAR; (4) to amend Sec. 50.59(d)(3); Sec.
50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, Criterion 1, ``Quality standards
and records''; 10 CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII, ``Quality
Assurance Records''; and Sec. 72.72(d) to remove certain record-
retention requirements for structures, systems, and components (SSCs)
that no longer remain in service during decommissioning, as well as
duplication requirements for spent fuel storage records; and (5) to
amend 10 CFR part 20, appendix G, Section III.E, for investigating
shipments of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) if the shipper has not
received notification of receipt within 20 days after transfer, to
allow a 45-day notification window based on operating experience that
shows this is a reasonable delay for LLW shipments.
Additionally in this regulatory basis, the NRC staff recommends
guidance development and inspection procedure updates for minimum
staffing of non-licensed operators and aging management of certain
SSCs. The NRC staff also determined that fatigue management would not
be addressed in this decommissioning rule.
In the regulatory basis, the NRC staff reiterated conclusions from
the draft regulatory basis that regulatory activities other than
rulemaking--such as guidance development--can be pursued to address the
appropriate role of State and local governments in the decommissioning
process, the level of NRC review of the PSDAR, and the 60-year limit
for power reactor decommissioning.
In addition to the regulatory basis, staff plans to publish a
revised preliminary draft of the regulatory analysis, which will update
and refine the analysis of costs and benefits.
The NRC staff plans to publish a proposed rule for public comment
in 2018.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st 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. 2017-25552 Filed 11-24-17; 8:45 am]
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