[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 169 (Monday, August 31, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53690-53691]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18746]
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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. 85, No. 169 / Monday, August 31, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 53690]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM-50-123; NRC-2020-0155]
Public Protective Actions During a General Emergency
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a
petition for rulemaking from Thomas McKenna, dated June 1, 2020. The
petitioner requests that the NRC revise its regulations so that
protective actions implemented during a General Emergency at a nuclear
power plant will most likely do more good than harm when the possible
physical health effects of radiation exposure and protective actions
are taken into consideration. The petition was docketed by the NRC on
June 24, 2020, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-50-123. The NRC is
examining the issues raised in PRM-50-123 to determine whether they
should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public
comment on this petition at this time.
DATES: Submit comments by November 16, 2020. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or 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-2020-0155. 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.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications 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: Pamela Noto, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6795; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0155 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-2020-0155.
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 (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.
Attention: The Public Document Room (PDR), where you may
examine and order copies of public documents is currently closed. You
may submit your request to the PDR via email at [email protected] or
call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2020-0155 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. The Petitioner
The petition for rulemaking (PRM) was filed by Thomas McKenna, who
stated in his petition that he has worked in emergency preparedness and
response at both the NRC and the International Atomic Energy Agency and
is one of the authors of the NRC's 1996 draft guidance on initial
protective actions in the event of a severe accident. The draft
guidance, NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 1, Supp. 3, ``Criteria for
Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and
Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants: Criteria for
Protective Action Recommendations for Severe Accidents,'' dated July
1996, may be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML051120480.
III. The Petition
The petitioner requests that the NRC amend part 50 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) such that public protective
actions implemented during a General Emergency at a nuclear power plant
will most likely do more good than harm when the possible physical
health effects of radiation exposure and protective actions are taken
into consideration. The petition may be found in ADAMS at Accession No.
ML20176A313.
[[Page 53691]]
IV. Discussion of the Petition
The petitioner asserts that protective actions taken in accordance
with NRC guidance during a General Emergency may cause 12 times more
excess deaths among the public and 15 times more excess deaths among
elderly residents of care facilities than caused by radiation exposure
due to the General Emergency. The petitioner states that an objective
of emergency response plans has been to provide dose savings and that
the NRC's requirements were not established on a risk-informed basis
that justifies protective actions will do more good than harm. The
petitioner states that the NRC requirements are based on analyses that
are 40 or more years old in some cases and do not reflect the latest
studies of nuclear power plant emergencies, which project much smaller
releases and thus result in smaller radiation-induced health
consequences. The petitioner asks that the NRC carefully reexamine the
agency's regulations and implementing guidance on protective actions
during a General Emergency.
V. Conclusion
The NRC has determined that the petition meets the sufficiency
requirements for docketing a PRM under 10 CFR 2.803, ``Petition for
rulemaking-NRC action.'' The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM-
50-123 and any comments received in response to this comment request to
determine whether these issues should be considered in rulemaking.
Dated: August 21, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-18746 Filed 8-28-20; 8:45 am]
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