[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32479-32480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14463]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2019-0139]
Expiration Term for Certificates of Compliance for Transportation
Packages
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Basis document; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the
availability of the ``Basis Document for Expiration Term for
Certificates of Compliance for Transportation Packages'' (Basis
Document). The Basis Document details the NRC's analysis and
development of a programmatic basis for the 5-year expiration term for
certificates of compliance for transportation packages.
DATES: The basis document is available on July 8, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0139 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 https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0139. Address
questions about docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; 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 ADAMS
Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 Basis Document, ``Basis Document
for Expiration Term for Certificates of Compliance for Transportation
Packages,'' and the OIG audit report, ``OIG-17-A-21, Audit of NRC's
[[Page 32480]]
Oversight for Issuing Certificates of Compliance for Radioactive
Material Packages,'' are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos.
ML19140A059 and ML17228A217, 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Torre Taylor, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7900, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the
NRC's oversight of issuing certificates of compliance for radioactive
material packages and spent fuel storage casks. The OIG documented its
findings in a report entitled, OIG-17-A-21, ``Audit of NRC's Oversight
for Issuing Certificates of Compliance for Radioactive Material
Packages,'' dated August 16, 2017. The OIG recommended, in part, that
the NRC staff conduct an analysis to develop a regulatory and technical
basis for the expiration term for the certificates of compliance for
transportation packages.
II. Discussion
Certificates of compliance are issued pursuant to title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations, part 71, ``Packaging and Transportation of
Radioactive Material.'' The current 5-year expiration term for these
certificates was not established by rule, but by agency practice, and
the 5-year term was not documented in a technical evaluation. In
response to OIG's recommendation, the NRC conducted an analysis of the
regulatory and technical bases for the expiration term for certificates
of compliance and documented its conclusions in the Basis Document. The
Basis Document provides the NRC's analysis, including reviews of the
NRC's statutory authority, regulations, agency guidance, and current
process for review of applications for transportation package design
approvals. The NRC also included information on its evaluation of
expiration terms in other NRC program areas in which certificates are
issued, stakeholder interactions, the impact of changing expiration
terms for transportation certificates of compliance related to foreign
competent authorities, and factors to consider in the NRC's evaluation.
The NRC has determined that, absent a request from a vendor for a
different term, a 5-year expiration term is appropriate for
certificates of compliance for transportation packages, and has
documented this determination in a Basis Document. As is further
explained in the Basis Document, a longer expiration term could provide
equivalent protection for public health and safety, and could
potentially save some burden for some NRC certificate holders. The NRC
has determined, however, that the efficiency in maintaining consistency
between NRC, U.S. Department of Transportation, and foreign competent
authority expiration dates in certificates outweighs any burden saved.
Moreover, NRC regulations afford flexibility in selecting an
appropriate term and certificate holders may request a longer renewal
term on a case-by-case basis, with appropriate supporting
documentation.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of July 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John B. McKirgan,
Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-14463 Filed 7-5-19; 8:45 am]
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