[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 201 (Thursday, October 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72112-72114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23114]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2023-0145]


Draft Interim Staff Guidance: Radiological Survey and Dose 
Modeling of the Subsurface To Support License Termination

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG), DUWP-ISG-02,

[[Page 72113]]

``Radiological Survey and Dose Modeling of the Subsurface to Support 
License Termination.'' The purpose of this draft ISG is to provide 
guidance on surveys of open surfaces in the subsurface, including open 
excavations, materials planned for reuse, and substructures. This draft 
ISG also provides guidance on the use of commonly used decommissioning 
dose modeling codes for submerged and partially submerged substructures 
to develop clean-up levels, and on methods to evaluate risk from 
existing groundwater contamination. This draft ISG supplements guidance 
found in NUREG-1757, Volume 2, Revision 2, which pertains to licensees 
subject to the license termination rule found in NRC regulations. If 
finalized, this ISG is intended for use by applicants, licensees, and 
NRC staff. The guidance is also available to Agreement States and the 
public.

DATES: Submit comments by December 18, 2023. 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 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website.
     Federal rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0145. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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: Cynthia Barr, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4015; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0145 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-2023-0145.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The draft ISG, DUWP-ISG-02, 
``Radiological Survey and Dose Modeling of the Subsurface to Support 
License Termination,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML23177A008.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0145 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 NRC is issuing this draft ISG to supplement guidance provided 
in NUREG-1757, Volume 2, Revision 2, ``Consolidated Decommissioning 
Guidance, Characterization, Survey, and Determination of Radiological 
Criteria,'' which was issued in July 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML22194A859). The draft ISG provides additional guidance developed 
after Revision 2 to NUREG-1757, Volume 2, was published related to 
surveys of open surfaces in the subsurface, including open excavations, 
materials planned for reuse, and substructures. The draft ISG also 
provides guidance on the use of commonly used decommissioning dose 
modeling codes to develop clean-up levels for submerged and partially 
submerged substructures, and on methods to evaluate risk from existing 
groundwater contamination. The NRC staff held two subsurface 
investigations workshops on July 14-15, 2021, and May 11, 2022, to help 
support the development of this proposed ISG, and contracted with Oak 
Ridge Associated Universities to develop guidance on acceptable survey 
methods.
    The NRC staff recognizes that the draft ISG includes significant 
advancements in methods to perform radiological surveys and dose 
modeling for subsurface residual radioactivity. Licensees may choose to 
take advantage of these advancements immediately. However, this draft 
ISG is being published for comment, and the NRC staff may make 
revisions and corrections in the final ISG. Such changes from the draft 
ISG would not be a change in position because a draft guidance document 
issued for comment does not constitute a staff position.
    The draft regulatory analysis for the draft ISG is available in 
ADAMS under ML23177A009 and is also available for comment.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this ISG, if finalized, would not (i) constitute 
backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' 70.76, ``Backfitting,'' 
and 72.62, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in Management Directive 
(MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, 
and Information Requests''; (ii) affect issue finality of any approval 
issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses,

[[Page 72114]]

Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants''; or (iii) 
constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 
8.4, because licensees would not be required to comply with the 
positions set forth in this ISG, if finalized.

    Dated: October 16, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane E. Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-23114 Filed 10-18-23; 8:45 am]
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