[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78798-78799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24804]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-0398; NRC-2023-0184]
U.S. Department of Commerce; National Institute of Standards and
Technology
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: License renewal application; opportunity to request a hearing
and to petition for leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received an
application from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST or the applicant), to renew Special
Nuclear Material (SNM) License Number 362 (SNM-362). The renewed
license would authorize the applicant to continue to use SNM and other
radiation sources for research and development, calibration and
testing, and training activities at its campus in Gaithersburg,
Maryland. If the license renewal application is approved, the license
would authorize NIST to continue to possess and use SNM under NRC
regulations for 10 years beyond its current license.
DATES: A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must
be filed by January 16, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0184 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-2023-0184. 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.
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 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: 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Osiris Siurano-P[eacute]rez, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7827, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC received, by letter dated August 8, 2023 (ADAMS Package
Accession No. ML23221A162), an application from NIST to renew its
license, SNM-362. NIST is authorized to use SNM under part 70 of title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of
Special Nuclear Material,'' at its campus in Gaithersburg for research
and development, calibration and testing, and training activities. More
specifically, NIST uses SNM for activities associated with the
development and maintenance of radiation measurement standards,
radioactivity assessment, the provision of radiation measurement
services, and the study of radiation interactions and processes in
materials.
The renewed license would allow NIST to continue licensed
activities for 10 years. NIST's current license would have expired on
September 9, 2023; however, NIST timely filed a license renewal
application. In accordance with 10 CFR 70.38(a), when a licensee files
an application for renewal not less than 30 days before the expiration
date of the existing license, the license will not expire until the
Commission makes a final determination regarding the license renewal
application. As such, NIST's current license is still in effect.
An NRC acceptance review of the revised application, dated October
6, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23271A220), found the application
acceptable for a technical review. During the technical review, the NRC
will evaluate the application for radiation safety, nuclear criticality
safety, chemical safety, fire safety, security, decommissioning,
decommissioning financial assurance, and material control/
accountability. The NRC will document its findings in a safety
evaluation report.
II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To
Intervene
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene
(petition) with respect to the renewal of the special nuclear materials
license. Petitions shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's
``Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested
persons should consult 10 CFR 2.309. If a petition is filed within 60
days, the presiding officer will rule on the
[[Page 78799]]
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document.
Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that
are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a
determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates
good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)
through (iii).
A State, local governmental body, federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h), no later
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice.
Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, federally recognized
Indian Tribe, or agency thereof may participate as a non-party under 10
CFR 2.315(c).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No.
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.
III. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body,
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the
internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media,
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as
discussed below, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic
submissions is located in the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to
the NRC (ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC website at
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system
no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends the
submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing
system also distributes an email that provides access to the document
to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have
advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to
obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants.
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1),
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the link requests
certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's
electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires
submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
Dated: November 6, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samantha C. Lav,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-24804 Filed 11-15-23; 8:45 am]
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