[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 167 (Thursday, August 27, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52930-52931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18818]


 ========================================================================
 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. 85, No. 167 / Thursday, August 27, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 52930]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[NRC-2008-0122]


Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies 
(NUREG/CR-7002, Revision 1)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft NUREG, NUREG/CR-7002, ``Criteria for Development 
of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies,'' Revision 1. This draft NUREG 
provides guidance to meet NRC requirements for development of 
evacuation time estimates (ETEs) to support emergency planning. This 
revision reflects the importance of various ETE model parameters based 
on the results of an applied research study on ETEs. The format and 
criteria provided in this document will support consistent application 
of the ETE methodology and will facilitate consistent NRC review of ETE 
studies. The NRC is soliciting public comment on the contemplated 
action and invites stakeholders and interested persons to participate. 
The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of 
the contemplated action and facilitate public comment.

DATES: Submit comments by October 13, 2020. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0122. Address 
questions about NRC 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.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Smith, Office of Nuclear Security 
and Incident Response, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington 
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-3744, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0122 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0122.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
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 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 this document. Revision 1 to NUREG/CR-
7002, ``Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies'' 
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20233A700.

A. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2008-0122 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The ETE is a calculation of the time to evacuate the plume exposure 
pathway emergency planning zone (EPZ), an area around a nuclear power 
plant for which planning is needed to ensure prompt and effective 
actions can be taken in the event of a radiological emergency. The ETE 
is primarily used to inform protective action strategies within the EPZ 
and may be used to assist in the development of traffic management 
plans to support an evacuation. In November 2011, the NRC issued NUREG/
CR-7002, ``Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate 
Studies'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML113010515), as guidance to support 
compliance with ETE provisions added to the NRC's regulations in title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), part 50, appendix E, 
section IV, in a final rule issued on November 23, 2011 (76 FR 72560). 
The initial release of this guidance was based on previous advancements 
in the development of ETE modeling and knowledge gained through 
research of large scale evacuations and staged evacuations.
    Draft NUREG/CR-7002, Revision 1, is based on an applied research 
study to examine, through modeling and simulation, technical subjects 
associated with the use of traffic simulation models for ETE studies, 
documented in NUREG/CR-7269, ``Enhancing Guidance for Evacuation Time 
Estimate Studies'' (ADAMS Accession No.

[[Page 52931]]

ML20070M158). Specific areas of research include the impact of shadow 
evacuations, evacuation model boundary conditions, the use of manual 
traffic control, and the sensitivity of various model parameters 
important to ETE studies. The study provided a technical basis for 
revisions to NUREG/CR-7002 to reflect current practices in 
transportation modeling and an enhanced understanding of evacuation 
dynamics. Proposed revisions also include guidance for developing ETEs 
for various sized EPZs, updating ETEs, developing ETE studies in 
support of early site permit applications, and using measures of 
effectiveness for assessing model performance. The NRC's intent in 
revising NUREG/CR-7002 is to ensure consistency in the development and 
review of ETE studies.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of draft NUREG/CR-7002, Revision 1, if finalized, would 
not constitute backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109, 
``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC Management Directive 8.4, 
``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and 
Information Requests''; affect issue finality of any approval issued 
under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for 
Nuclear Power Plants''; or constitute forward fitting as defined in 
Management Directive 8.4, because, as explained in draft NUREG/CR-7002, 
Revision 1, licensees are not required to comply with the positions set 
forth in that document.

IV. Public Meeting

    The NRC will conduct a public meeting to describe draft NUREG/CR-
7002, Revision 1, and answer questions from the public. The NRC will 
publish a notice of the location, time, and agenda of the meeting on 
the NRC's public meeting website at least 10 calendar days before the 
meeting. Stakeholders should monitor the NRC's public meeting website 
for information about the public meeting at https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings.html.

    Dated: August 21, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kathryn M. Brock,
Director, Division of Preparedness and Response, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response.
[FR Doc. 2020-18818 Filed 8-26-20; 8:45 am]
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