[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32327-32328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14478]


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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. 84, No. 130 / Monday, July 8, 2019 / Proposed 
Rules  

[[Page 32327]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 40, 70, 72, 74, and 150

[NRC-2009-0096]
RIN 3150-AI61


Amendments to Material Control and Accounting Regulations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Discontinuation of rulemaking activity.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing 
a rulemaking activity that would have consolidated and revised the 
material control and accounting requirements for special nuclear 
material. The purpose of this action is to inform members of the public 
of the discontinuation of the rulemaking activity and to provide a 
brief discussion of the NRC's decision. The rulemaking activity will no 
longer be reported in the NRC's portion of the Unified Agenda of 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Unified Agenda).

DATES: As of July 8, 2019, the rulemaking activity discussed in this 
document is discontinued.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2009-0096 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2009-0096. 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 ``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: Thomas Young, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-5795, email: 
[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The NRC ensures that its licensees control and account for special 
nuclear material (SNM) through the provisions that are currently in 
part 74 and several sections of part 72 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR). These material control and accounting 
(MC&A) regulations are intended to ensure that the information about 
SNM is accurate, authentic, and sufficiently detailed to enable a 
licensee to maintain current knowledge of its SNM and manage its 
program for securing and protecting SNM from any loss, theft, 
diversion, or misuse. The requirements for MC&A, together with those 
for physical protection of facilities and information security, make up 
the primary elements of the NRC's SNM safeguards program. The MC&A 
component of the larger SNM safeguards program helps ensure that SNM is 
not stolen or otherwise diverted from the facility and supports the 
NRC's strategic goal of ensuring the secure use of radioactive 
materials.
    Following the events of September 11, 2001, the NRC completed a 
comprehensive review of its safeguards and security programs, including 
MC&A requirements. Physical protection and MC&A programs complement 
each other in the safeguarding of nuclear materials. In SECY-08-0059, 
``Rulemaking Plan: Part 74--Material Control and Accounting of Special 
Nuclear Material,'' dated April 25, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML080580307), the NRC staff provided the Commission with a range of 
options for amending the MC&A regulations to provide a more risk-
informed regulatory framework commensurate with the post-September 11, 
2001, threat environment.
    In the staff requirements memorandum (SRM) for SECY-08-0059, dated 
February 5, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML090360473), the Commission 
approved Option 4 of the rulemaking plan, which directed the NRC staff 
to revise and consolidate the existing MC&A requirements into 10 CFR 
part 74 in order to update, clarify, and strengthen the regulations.

II. Discussion

    On November 8, 2013, the NRC published a proposed rule and draft 
regulatory guidance documents in the Federal Register for public 
comment (78 FR 67225; 78 FR 67224, respectively). The proposed rule 
would have added new requirements for NRC licensees authorized to 
possess SNM in a quantity greater than 350 grams. Most of the proposed 
rule requirements would have clarified existing language and 
consolidated MC&A requirements into 10 CFR part 74. Other proposed rule 
requirements were intended to strengthen specific sections of the 
requirements for some types of facilities by providing: General 
performance objectives; item control system requirements; the use of 
tamper-safing procedures; and the designation of material balance 
areas, item control areas, and material custodians. The proposed rule 
would have applied, to different extents, to facilities licensed under 
10 CFR parts 50, 52, 70, and 72.
    The NRC received 27 comment submissions from members of the nuclear 
industry, Agreement State organizations, and private citizens. 
Regarding the proposed rule, several commenters expressed concerns that 
meeting the general performance objectives would require extensive 
changes to existing MC&A programs and that the general performance 
objectives were in some cases too restrictive. Commenters also spoke to 
the proposed removal of some thresholds and exemptions in the item 
control system requirements and their perception that

[[Page 32328]]

requirements for tamper-safing and for material balance areas and item 
control areas were too far-reaching. In addition, several commenters 
requested that the NRC prepare a more complete regulatory analysis and 
a backfit analysis. Several commenters provided input to improve the 
clarity and utility of the draft associated regulatory guidance 
documents.
    In response to the public comments, the NRC issued a revised 
regulatory analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML18061A055) and a backfit 
evaluation (ADAMS Accession No. ML18061A058). A full list of comments 
received, and the NRC's responses, is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML18061A050.
    In SECY-18-0104, ``Draft Final Rule: Amendments to Material Control 
and Accounting Regulations (RIN 3150-Al61; NRC-2009-0096),'' dated 
October 15, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18061A056), the staff requested 
Commission approval to publish the final rule in the Federal Register. 
The final rule would have included revisions made to the proposed rule 
in response to public comments and revisions to the six draft 
associated regulatory guidance documents to reflect and explain the 
revised MC&A requirements in 10 CFR part 74.
    In SRM-SECY-18-0104, dated April 3, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML19093B393), the Commission disapproved the draft final rule and 
directed the staff to discontinue this rulemaking activity.

III. Conclusion

    The NRC is discontinuing this rulemaking activity for the reasons 
discussed in this document. In the next edition of the Unified Agenda, 
the NRC will update the entry for this rulemaking activity and 
reference this document to indicate that the rulemaking activity is no 
longer being pursued. This rulemaking activity will appear in the 
completed actions section of that edition of the Unified Agenda but 
will not appear in future editions. If the NRC decides to pursue 
similar or related rulemaking activities in the future, it will inform 
the public through new rulemaking entries in the Unified Agenda.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of July 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Denise L. McGovern,
Acting Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-14478 Filed 7-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P