[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 2, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 5]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28797]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 2, 2024 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 5]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 20

[NRC-2023-0218]


Regulatory Guide: Health Physics Surveys for Byproduct Material 
at NRC-Licensed Processing and Manufacturing Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide: withdrawal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.21, ``Health Physics Surveys for Byproduct 
Material at NRC-Licensed Processing and Manufacturing Plants.'' This RG 
is being withdrawn because there is more up-to-date guidance in NUREG-
1556, ``Consolidated Guidance About Materials Licenses,'' making RG 
8.21 obsolete.

DATES: The effective date of the withdrawal of RG 8.21 is January 2, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0218 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-2023-0218. 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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected].
     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: Don Lowman, telephone: (301) 415-5452; 
email: [email protected], or Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-2493; email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC is withdrawing RG 8.21, ``Health 
Physics Surveys for Byproduct Material at NRC-Licensed Processing and 
Manufacturing Plants.'' The NRC staff issued RG 8.21 in 1979 to 
describe the methods and procedures considered acceptable by the NRC 
staff to comply with the survey requirements found in part 20 of title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Standards for 
Protection Against Radiation.'' Although 10 CFR part 20 was revised in 
1991 (May 21, 1991; 56 FR 23390), RG 8.21 was not updated.
    Since the staff had consolidated and followed the latest guidance 
pertinent to materials licensees found in NUREG-1556, ``Consolidated 
Guidance About Materials Licenses,'' RG 8.21 became outdated. 
Specifically, guidance for the advanced survey/measurement techniques 
and other more recent survey procedures are currently included in 
NUREG-1556, Volume 12, Revision 1 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18136A704). 
Issues identified during the periodic reviews of RG 8.21 in 2012 and 
2023 include: 1) the citations to the regulations described in RG 8.21 
were not consistent with those listed in the 1991 revision of 10 CFR 
20, 2) several of the references were outdated (e.g., some references 
were dated from the 1950's and no longer available to the public), and 
3) the latest advances since 1979 in survey/measurement techniques and 
equipment that have been effective were not included in RG 8.21. For 
these reasons and because NUREG-1556 provides current health physics 
survey guidance to NRC byproduct material licensees, the NRC determined 
that RG 8.21 is no longer needed and is being withdrawn.
    Withdrawal of an RG means that the guide no longer provides useful 
information or has been superseded by other guidance, technological 
innovations, congressional actions, or other events. The withdrawal of 
RG 8.21 does not alter any prior or existing NRC licensing approval or 
the acceptability of licensee commitments to RG 8.21. Although RG 8.21 
is withdrawn, current licensees may continue to use it, and withdrawal 
does not affect any existing licenses or agreements. However, RG 8.21 
should not be used in future requests or applications for NRC licensing 
actions.

    Dated: December 26, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen M. Wyman,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-28797 Filed 12-29-23; 8:45 am]
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