[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24513-24514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11374]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2017-0205]
Instructions for Recording and Reporting Occupational Radiation
Dose Data
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.7, ``Instructions for Recording
and Reporting Occupational Radiation Dose Data.'' Revision 4 addresses
issues that were identified after Revision 3 was issued in December
2016. Revision 4 reinstates the long-standing staff position concerning
a licensee's consideration of prior occupational dose when making
prospective occupational dose monitoring determinations. Revision 4
retains the guidance from Revision 3 on completing NRC Form 4,
``Cumulative Occupational Dose History,'' and NRC Form 5,
``Occupational Dose Record for a Monitoring Period.''
DATES: Revision 4 to RG 8.7 is available on May 29, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0205 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0205. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; 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 notice (if
it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is
mentioned in this document. Revision 4 to RG 8.7 and the regulatory
analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17221A245 and
ML17152A299, respectively.
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.
RGs are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to
reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-
415-2493, email: [email protected] or Minh-Thuy Nguyen,
telephone: 301-415-5163; email: [email protected]. Both are
staff of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing 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
NRC'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 4 of RG 8.7 was issued with a temporary identification of
Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-8056, to address issues identified by the
NRC staff and other stakeholders subsequent to the issuance of RG 8.7,
Revision 3, on December 8, 2016 (81 FR 88710). Revision 3 modified a
staff position regarding the consideration of prior occupational dose
and whether that should be a factor in licensee occupational monitoring
determinations in accordance with section 20.1502 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
After issuing Revision 3, the Nuclear Energy Institute submitted a
letter to the NRC under ADAMS Package Accession No. ML18138A166 stating
that Revision 3 requires licensees to consider exposures received by
employees during prior employment at a different facility when
determining whether monitoring is required pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1502,
which was a change in agency position from: (1) The staff position that
was in both Revisions 1 and 2 of RG 8.7, (2) the staff position that is
in RG 8.34, ``Monitoring Criteria and Methods to Calculate Occupational
Radiation Doses,'' and (3) over two decades of industry practice
developed in accordance with these staff positions.
The NRC staff decided to issue Revision 4 to RG 8.7 to address the
monitoring issues that were identified after Revision 3 was issued. The
staff, however, is not rescinding Revision 3 because it allows a more
conservative option for those licensees who want to consider prior
occupational dose when making 10 CFR 20.1502 determinations. Revision 4
also retains the guidance from Revision 3 on completing NRC Form 4 and
NRC Form 5.
II. Additional Information
DG-8056 was published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2017
(82 FR 48125) for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment
period closed on December 15, 2017. Responses to comments received on
DG-8056 are available under ADAMS Accession No. ML17221A246.
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
This RG addresses compliance with the NRC's requirements in 10 CFR
part 20 to record and report an individual's cumulative occupational
dose history and the occupational dose received by an individual for a
specific monitoring period. The NRC regards these requirements as
constituting information collection and reporting requirements. The NRC
has long taken the position that information collection
[[Page 24514]]
and reporting requirements are not subject to the NRC's backfitting and
issue finality regulations in 10 CFR 50.109, 10 CFR 70.76, 10 CFR
72.62, 10 CFR 76.76, and 10 CFR part 52 (e.g., ``Material Control and
Accounting Methods,'' December 23, 2002 (67 FR 78130), and ``Regulatory
Improvements to the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards
System,'' June 9, 2008 (73 FR 32453)). Therefore, the NRC has
determined that its backfitting and issue finality regulations would
not apply to this RG because they do not include any provisions within
the scope of matters covered by the backfitting provisions in 10 CFR
parts 50, 70, 72, or 76, or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR
part 52.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of May, 2018.
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. 2018-11374 Filed 5-25-18; 8:45 am]
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