[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 206 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59760-59762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23467]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-170; NRC-2021-0198]


Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
exemption in response to a request dated September 17, 2021, as 
supplemented by a letter dated October 7, 2021, from the Armed Forces 
Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI). The exemption allows specific 
applicants for an operator or senior operator license for the AFRRI 
Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor to 
manipulate the controls at a similar TRIGA reactor to satisfy certain 
training and testing requirements.

DATES: The exemption was issued on October 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0198 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-2021-0198. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 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 exemption request dated September 
17, 2021 and the supplemental letter dated October 7, 2021 are 
available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21260A184 and ML21285A025, 
respectively.
     Attention: The 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 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Montgomery, telephone: 301-415-
3398, email: [email protected] and William Schuster, telephone: 
301-415-1590, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated: October 25, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patrick G. Boyle,
Project Manager, Non-Power Production and Utilization Facility 
Licensing Branch, Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power 
Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.

Attachment--Exemption

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Docket No. 50-170, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, 
Exemption

I. Background

    The Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI, the 
licensee) holds the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) Renewed Facility Operating License No. R-84 for the AFRRI 
Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor (the 
facility), which is a research reactor located in Montgomery County, 
Maryland. Under this license, the licensee is authorized to operate the 
facility up to a steady-state power level of 1.1 megawatts thermal with 
pulsing capability using reactivity insertions up to 2.45% [Delta]k/k. 
The license is subject to the rules, regulations, and orders of the 
NRC.

II. Request/Action

    By letter dated September 17, 2021, as supplemented by letter dated 
October 7, 2021, the licensee requested an exemption from Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 55.31, ``How to apply,'' 
paragraph (a)(5) and 10 CFR 55.45(b), ``Implementation--
Administration.'' 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) requires an applicant for an 
operator or senior operator license to provide evidence that the 
applicant, as a trainee, has successfully manipulated the controls of 
either the facility for which the license is sought or a plant-
referenced simulator; 10 CFR 55.45(b) requires an operating test to be 
administered to an applicant for an operator or senior operator license 
in a facility walkthrough and in either the facility, a Commission-
approved simulation facility, or a plant-referenced simulator. 
According to the licensee, these requirements cannot be met at the 
AFRRI TRIGA reactor because (1) the facility is in a shutdown state 
pending the NRC's review and approval of a license amendment request 
for an upgrade to the digital instrumentation and control system and, 
therefore, is not capable of control manipulations, (2) the facility 
does not have a Commission-approved simulation facility or a plant-
referenced simulator, and (3) there are currently no licensed operators 
at the facility to supervise control manipulations by applicants for 
operator or senior operator licenses. Under these circumstances, 
applicants for operator or senior operator licenses at the facility 
cannot be trained or tested with respect to control manipulations as is 
required by 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) and 10 CFR 55.45(b). In lieu of these 
requirements, the licensee seeks, via its exemption request, that four 
named applicants for an AFRRI operator or senior operator license be 
allowed to provide evidence that they, as trainees, have successfully 
manipulated the controls of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Neutron 
Radiography (NRAD) TRIGA reactor and be allowed to take the portion of 
the operating test requiring control manipulations at the INL NRAD 
TRIGA reactor.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 55.11, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application by an interested person, or upon its own 
initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 55, 
``Operators' Licenses,'' as it determines (1) are authorized by law, 
(2) will not endanger life or property, and (3) are otherwise in the 
public interest.

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    Exemptions are authorized by law where they are not expressly 
prohibited by statute or regulation. A proposed exemption is implicitly 
authorized by law if it will not endanger life or property and is 
otherwise in the public interest and no other provisions in law 
prohibit, or otherwise restrict, its application. As discussed in this 
section of the NRC's evaluation of the exemption request, no provisions 
in law prohibit or restrict an exemption to the requirements concerning 
control manipulations for certain operator training and testing 
requirements; subsequent sections of this evaluation discuss that the 
exemption will not

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endanger life or property and is otherwise in the public interest.
    The regulations in 10 CFR part 55 implement Section 107 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), which sets requirements 
upon the Commission concerning operators' licenses and states, in part, 
that the Commission shall (1) prescribe uniform conditions for 
licensing individuals as operators of any of the various classes of 
utilization facilities licensed by the NRC and (2) determine the 
qualifications of such individuals. These requirements in the AEA do 
not expressly prohibit exemptions from 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) and 10 CFR 
55.45(b), which require that control manipulations related to operator 
training and testing be performed at the facility for which the 
operator license is sought, at a plant-referenced simulator, or at a 
Commission-approved simulation facility, as appropriate. Further, as 
explained below, the requested exemption would have little impact on 
the uniformity of operator licensing conditions or on the determination 
of operator qualifications.
    In its exemption request, the licensee explained that the use of 
the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor would provide reactor physics and thermal 
hydraulic response characteristics sufficiently similar to those that 
would be provided at the AFRRI TRIGA reactor such that the use of the 
INL NRAD TRIGA reactor could stand in the place of the use of the AFRRI 
TRIGA reactor with respect to the required control manipulations for 
the training and testing of applicants for AFRRI operator licenses. 
Additionally, the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor uses similar digital 
instrumentation and controls, reactor control rod drive mechanisms, and 
TRIGA fuel assemblies as the AFRRI TRIGA reactor. Therefore, uniform 
conditions for operator licensing would be maintained by using the INL 
NRAD TRIGA reactor in place of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor to the extent 
proposed in the exemption request.
    The licensee also explained that using the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor 
in place of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor to the extent proposed in the 
exemption request would not significantly change how the Commission 
determines the qualifications of operator applicants. Under the 
exemption, 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) would continue to require the applicant 
to perform, at a minimum, five significant control manipulations that 
affect reactivity or power level and 10 CFR 55.45(b) would continue to 
require the administration of the operating test in a plant walkthrough 
that would continue to require the applicant to demonstrate an 
understanding of and the ability to perform the actions necessary to 
accomplish a representative sample from among items (1) through (13) in 
10 CFR 55.45(a).
    Accordingly, because the AFRRI TRIGA reactor and the INL NRAD TRIGA 
reactor have similar operating and technical characteristics with 
respect to control manipulations, an exemption from 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) 
and 10 CFR 55.45(b) allowing the use of the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor in 
lieu of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor for control manipulations for the 
training and testing of specific applicants for AFRRI operator licenses 
would satisfy the applicable AEA requirements that the Commission 
prescribe uniform conditions for licensing individuals as operators and 
determine the qualifications of operators. Additionally, as discussed 
below, the exemption will not endanger life or property and is 
otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the NRC finds that the 
requested exemption is authorized by law.

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property

    Control manipulations at the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor would be 
sufficiently similar and would provide sufficiently similar reactor 
physics and thermal hydraulic response characteristics to those at the 
AFRRI TRIGA reactor such that the use of the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor 
could stand in the place of the use of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor with 
respect to the required control manipulations for the training and 
testing of the specified applicants for AFRRI operator licenses. Since 
its operating and technical characteristics are similar to those of the 
AFRRI TRIGA reactor, the use of the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor by these 
applicants would allow them to complete the required control 
manipulations for their training and complete the required evolutions 
that affect reactivity in 10 CFR 55.45(a)(1) through (13) for their 
testing. As part of the operator licensing application process, the 
facility licensee will certify that these applicants have completed the 
required training for the AFRRI TRIGA reactor. As part of the operator 
licensing testing process, the NRC examiners will ensure that these 
applicants are evaluated to ensure that they are fully capable of 
operating the AFRRI TRIGA reactor, while accounting for any differences 
between the AFRRI TRIGA reactor and the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor. 
Therefore, the NRC finds that the training and testing of the specified 
AFRRI applicants would satisfy the NRC's training and testing 
requirements. Accordingly, if ultimately licensed, these applicants 
would have learned to operate the AFRRI TRIGA reactor competently and 
safely and, thus, their licensing would be protective of life and 
property.
    Furthermore, the training and testing of the specified AFRRI 
applicants at the INL NRAD reactor would, itself, be protective of life 
and property. In its exemption request, the licensee provided that the 
INL NRAD TRIGA reactor has been operational since 1977 with a facility 
safety analysis and design specifications that meet or exceed NRC 
requirements. Additionally, the specified AFRRI applicants would be 
under the instruction of U.S. Department of Energy qualified reactor 
operators and reactor supervisors for all of their control 
manipulations.
    Lastly, the licensee has identified and will ensure that the 
specified AFRRI applicants are trained on the differences between the 
AFRRI TRIGA reactor and the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor.
    Based on the above, the NRC finds that the requested exemption will 
not endanger life or property.

C. The Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest

    The Commission's values guide the NRC in maintaining certain 
principles of good regulation as it carries out regulatory activities 
in furtherance of its safety and security mission. These principles 
focus the NRC on ensuring safety and security while appropriately 
considering the interests of the NRC's stakeholders, including the 
public and licensees. These principles are Independence, Openness, 
Efficiency, Clarity, and Reliability. Independence relates to NRC 
decisions being based on objective, unbiased assessments of all 
information. Openness relates to the NRC conducting its regulatory 
activities publicly and candidly. Efficiency relates to the NRC 
ensuring that its regulatory activities are consistent with the degree 
of risk reduction they achieve; adopting the option, where several 
effective alternatives are available, that minimizes the use of 
resources; and making regulatory decisions without delay. Clarity 
relates to NRC positions being readily understood and easily applied. 
Reliability relates to established regulations being perceived to be 
reliable and not unjustifiably in a state of transition. The NRC's 
principles of good regulation can also provide guidance as to whether 
the granting of a particular exemption is otherwise in the public 
interest.

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    On balance, the NRC's principles of good regulation demonstrate 
that the granting of the requested exemption is otherwise in the public 
interest. As an initial matter, the exemption is necessary for the 
restart of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor. In its exemption request, the 
licensee provided that such restart is critical to national defense. 
The licensing of the specified applicants for AFRRI operator licenses 
would bring the facility into compliance with the staffing and 
surveillance requirements of its technical specifications and would 
facilitate the maintenance of its critical systems. Additionally, as 
clearly, openly, and independently determined above, the licensee's 
preferred method of training and testing these applicants with respect 
to control manipulations at the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor will not 
endanger life or property because the operating and technical 
characteristics of the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor are sufficiently similar 
to those of the AFRRI TRIGA reactor with respect to control 
manipulations. Therefore, it would be most efficient to approve the 
licensee's preferred method as opposed to requiring some equally 
effective alternative method. The requested exemption would also 
maintain unchanged the substantive requirements upon the specified 
AFRRI applicants with respect to training and testing. This would 
further reliability by allowing these applicants to complete their 
applications with the underlying requirements unchanged and by allowing 
the operating test to be conducted with the underlying requirements 
unchanged. Finally, the exemption would only apply to the training and 
testing of the four named applicants and would expire thereafter; 
therefore, the exemption is narrowly tailored to be efficient and to 
maintain the reliability of the AFRRI operator licensing program.
    Based on the above, the NRC finds that the requested exemption is 
otherwise in the public interest.

D. Environmental Considerations

    This exemption allows four named applicants for an AFRRI TRIGA 
reactor operator or senior operator license to perform their training 
and testing control manipulations required by 10 CFR 55.31(a)(5) and 10 
CFR 55.45(b) at the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor instead of at the AFRRI 
TRIGA reactor.
    For the following reasons, this exemption meets the eligibility 
criteria of 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25) for a categorical exclusion. There are 
no special or extraordinary circumstances present that would preclude 
reliance on this exclusion. The NRC determined, in accordance with 10 
CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(E), that the requirements from which the exemption 
is sought involve education, training, experience, qualification, 
requalification, or other employment suitability requirements. The NRC 
also determined that granting the requested exemption involves no 
significant hazards consideration because it does not authorize any 
physical changes to the facility or any of its safety systems or change 
any of the assumptions or limits used in the facility licensee's safety 
analyses or introduce any new failure modes; no significant change in 
the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that 
may be released offsite because the exemption does not affect any 
effluent release limits as provided in the facility licensee's 
technical specifications or by 10 CFR part 20, ``Standards for 
Protection Against Radiation''; no significant increase in individual 
or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure because the 
exemption does not affect limits on the release of any radioactive 
material or the limits provided in 10 CFR part 20 for radiation 
exposure to workers or members of the public; no significant 
construction impact because the exemption does not involve any changes 
to a construction permit; and no significant increase in the potential 
for or consequences from radiological accidents because the exemption 
does not alter any of the assumptions or limits in the facility 
licensee's safety analyses. In addition, the NRC determined that there 
would be no significant impacts to biota, water resources, historic 
properties, cultural resources, or socioeconomic conditions in the 
region. As such, there are no extraordinary circumstances present that 
would preclude reliance on this categorical exclusion. Therefore, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or 
environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with granting 
the requested exemption.

IV. Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
55.11, the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property, and is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, effective 
immediately, the Commission hereby grants AFRRI an exemption from 10 
CFR 55.31(a)(5) and 10 CFR 55.45(b) to allow the four applicants for an 
AFRRI TRIGA reactor operator or senior operator license, specified by 
name in the licensee's letter dated October 7, 2021, to provide 
evidence that they, as trainees, have successfully manipulated the 
controls of the INL NRAD TRIGA reactor and to be administered the 
portion of the operating test requiring control manipulations at the 
INL NRAD TRIGA reactor. This exemption expires when the training and 
initial testing of these new applicants is completed.

    Dated: October 22, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mohamed Shams,
Director, Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and 
Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021-23467 Filed 10-27-21; 8:45 am]
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