[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10829-10831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04058]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0063]


Reassessment of NRC's Dollar per Person-Rem Conversion Factor 
Policy

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: NUREG; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing NUREG-
1530, Revision 1, ``Reassessment of NRC's Dollar Per Person-Rem 
Conversion Factor Policy.'' This revision to NUREG-1530 updates the 
dollar per person-rem conversion factor and establishes a method for 
keeping this factor up-to-date. The NRC uses the dollar per person-rem 
conversion factor in cost-benefit analyses to determine the monetary 
valuation of the consequences associated with radiological exposure and 
establishes this factor by multiplying a value of a statistical life 
(VSL) coefficient by a cancer mortality risk coefficient.

DATES: NUREG-1530, Revison 1 is available on February 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0063 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability if 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-2015-0063. Address 
questions about Docket IDs to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the

[[Page 10830]]

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 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 this document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[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: 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. Discussion

    Revision 1 to NUREG-1530 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22053A025) updates 
the dollar per person-rem conversion factor and establishes a method 
for keeping this factor up-to-date. The NRC applies the dollar per 
person-rem conversion factor from NUREG-1530 in a variety of regulatory 
applications that require the determination of the monetary valuation 
of the consequences associated with radiological exposure. This factor 
is established by multiplying a VSL coefficient by a nominal risk 
coefficient.
    In 2009, the NRC staff initiated research on the bases for the 
determination of the VSL and performed outreach with other Federal 
agencies on their values and use. The VSL is not a value placed on 
human life, but a value that society would be willing to pay for 
reducing health risk. The concept of a VSL is used throughout the 
Federal government to monetize the health benefits of a safety 
regulation. Subsequently in 2011 the magnitude of the societal effects 
of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan 
led the NRC to evaluate how its regulatory framework considers offsite 
property damage and the associated economic consequences that could be 
caused by a significant radiological release from an NRC-licensed 
facility.
    Following this evaluation, the NRC staff requested Commission 
approval in SECY-12-0110, ``Consideration of Economic Consequences 
within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Framework,'' 
dated August 14, 2012 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML12173A478) to 
continue work on updating the 1995 dollar per person-rem conversion 
factor in NUREG-1530 (ADAMS Accession No. ML063470485). The 1995 dollar 
per person-rem value was set at $2,000. This number resulted from the 
multiplication of a VSL of $3 million by a risk coefficient for 
stochastic health effects of 7.3 x 10-4 per person-rem. In 
the March 20, 2013 staff requirements memorandum associated with SECY-
12-0110 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13079A055), the Commission approved the 
staff's request to continue the activities associated with the update 
to the dollar per person-rem conversion factor policy.
    This revision to NUREG-1530 makes five main changes. First, the 
revision to NUREG-1530 updates the dollar per person-rem conversion 
factor to $5,200 per person-rem. The value is based on the application 
of an updated best estimate VSL of $9.0 million and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) cancer mortality risk 
coefficient factor of 5.8 x 10-4 per person-rem. The VSL 
estimate is derived from the average of both the U.S. Department of 
Transportation's and the EPA's VSL in 2014 dollars.
    Second, the NUREG adopts low and high dollar per person-rem 
conversion factor estimates for use in sensitivity analyses. The NRC 
staff recommends varying the dollar per person-rem conversion factor by 
plus or minus 50 percent. This results in a range of conversion factors 
with a low value of $2,600 per person-rem and a high value of $7,800 
per person-rem.
    Third, this revision to NUREG-1530 indicates that the NRC staff 
will round to two significant figures instead of rounding to the 
nearest thousand dollar value. Historically, the NRC has rounded this 
number to the nearest thousand dollars for the purposes of dollar per 
person-rem estimates. Given the large uncertainties inherent in this 
approach, updates would have little to no impact on this value between 
periodic baseline reviews.
    Fourth, this revision establishes a methodology for keeping the 
dollar per person-rem conversion factor up-to-date. An example of the 
NRC's methodology to update the dollar per person-rem conversion factor 
is provided in the NUREG. The NUREG also provides procedures for re-
baselining the dollar per person-rem conversion factor.
    Finally, this revision provides guidance to the NRC staff on when 
to use a higher dollar per person-rem factor in rare accident sequences 
with high dose or dose rates for a portion of the population.

II. Public Outreach

    The NRC staff held a Category 3 public meeting on April 2, 2015, to 
discuss the update to NUREG-1530. The NRC presentation can be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML15086A112, and the meeting summary under 
Accession No. ML15098A649. In response to this meeting, the Nuclear 
Energy Institute submitted a letter to the NRC, which provided feedback 
on the proposed update. This letter and the associated attachment can 
be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML15126A489 and ML15126A498, 
respectively. The NRC staff published the draft NUREG-1530, Revision 1 
in the Federal Register (80 FR 53585, September 4, 2015) for a 60-day 
public comment period. The staff received 11 comment submissions with a 
total of 38 individual comments from industry and members of the 
public. The NRC responses to these public comments can be found in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML16147A501. External participants also 
expressed views on the update to NUREG-1530 during the July 26, 2016, 
Commission meeting with NRC stakeholders. Additionally, the NRC staff 
briefed the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) Regulatory 
Policies and Practices Subcommittee on February 7, 2017, and the ACRS 
Full Committee on March 9, 2017.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC's issuance and use of this report do not constitute 
backfitting as that term is defined in Section 50.109 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests''; do not affect the issue finality of an approval under 10 
CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear 
Power Plants'' and do not constitute forward fitting as that term is 
defined and described in MD 8.4.

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IV. Congressional Review Act

    This NUREG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

    Dated: February 22, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John R. Tappert,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-04058 Filed 2-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P