NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov

Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. 01-048 April 26, 2001

NRC CHANGES REGULATIONS ON ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

FOR POSSIBLE HIGH-LEVEL WASTE REPOSITORY HEARING

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is changing its regulations to provide additional details on

how documents should be placed on Internet web sites for a possible hearing associated with the license

application review for a future high-level radioactive waste repository. The changes also revise the time

when participants must place all the required documents on their web sites, and certify that placement.

The agency’s current regulations require all potential participants in the license application

review process to make their documents available in electronic form through participants’ individual

web sites on a Licensing Support Network (LSN). The documents that will have to be made available

on this network will consist of the information that a party, potential party or interested government

participant intends to rely on in the licensing proceeding for a high-level waste repository, and certain

other relevant information. The web sites will be accessible by members of the public.

A proposed rule on this subject was published in the Federal Register for comment on August

22. It would have required participants to certify that the required documentary material has been

identified and made electronically available at the initial times specified in the rule. The current

regulations, and the proposed rule, require the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NRC to make their

documents initially available in electronic form beginning 30 days after DOE submits its site

recommendation decision to the President. All other participants would have to make their documents

available in electronic form no later than 30 days after the date that the repository site selection decision

becomes final after review by Congress. Participants are required to update the certifications at 12-

month intervals.

In response to comments received, the final rule changes the required time for submittal of

documents by tying the date to the DOE license application rather than to the DOE site recommendation

to the President.

The revisions require DOE to make its documents available in electronic form no later than six

months before it submits a license application to the NRC. The NRC must make its documents

available 30 days after the DOE certification of document availability. All other participants must make

their documents available 90 days after DOE certification of document availability.
The revisions also establish the basic computerized structure and design standards for the

websites. The individual websites will be accessible through an overarching “LSN site.” Each

participant web site will deliver to Internet users the documents responsive to a query made through the

LSN website. The LSN homepage/web site will also be used to post announcements about the overall

LSN program or items of interest (such as hours of availability and scheduled outages) for the

participant sites.

The LSN Administrator, an NRC official with responsibility for coordinating the functioning of

the electronic network and reporting periodically on its status to the Commission, will have authority to

review participant website designs to verify compliance with the basic design standards, including the

authority to allow variances from the standards.

A more complete discussion of the final rule, and changes made in response to public

comments and additional NRC review, is contained in a Federal Register notice to be issued shortly.

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