NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

 Web Site: www.nrc.gov

No. 02-097 August 26, 2002

NRC PROPOSES TO AMEND EVENT NOTIFICATION REGULATIONS 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend its notification and reporting

requirements for security and other events involving licensed nuclear facilities and the transportation of

certain types of nuclear material. 

The proposed revisions would change several reporting requirements for independent spent fuel

storage installation (ISFSI) and monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility licensees to more closely

align them with those of nuclear reactor facilities. In addition, the proposed revisions would change the

requirements for when written followup reports on safeguards events must be submitted. This change

would affect power reactors, ISFSIs and several other categories of facilities that produce, possess, or

transport spent fuel or special nuclear material. 

 The changes would reduce, consolidate and remove some licensee reporting notifications and

lengthen the reporting period for other notifications. Some new requirements would also be added to

permit NRC to effectively carry out its regulatory responsibilities and respond to public and media

inquiries during emergencies. Overall, the proposed changes would help the NRC and its licensees to

better focus their efforts on the most safety-significant issues and to communicate timely information on

recent and ongoing events. 

Among other changes, a new requirement would have licensees submit an immediate followup

report for degradation in the level of safety of an ISFSI or MRS or other worsening condition, including

a declaration of an emergency, a change from one emergency classification to another, or termination

of an emergency class. This proposed revision would enable NRC to determine if an immediate

response or corrective action is necessary to protect public health and safety. A requirement would also

be added to maintain an open, continuous communication channel with the NRC Operations Center,

upon request by the NRC. These requirements would be consistent with those of reactor licensees and

would ensure that, during an emergency, the continual communications between the licensee and the

NRC are not interrupted by overloaded telephone lines. 
The rulemaking also proposes to eliminate the redundant requirement that licensees notify the

NRC not later than four hours of a fire or explosion that affects the integrity of spent fuel or high level

waste or its container. The report of such an event instead would be provided immediately, when an

emergency is declared, under the licensee’s approved emergency response plan. 

The proposed rulemaking would also add a requirement that licensees notify the NRC not later

than four hours after the discovery of any event or situation involving spent nuclear fuel or high level

waste related to the protection of public health and safety of onsite personnel, or that of the

environment, for which a news release is planned or notification to other governments has been or will

be made. This requirement is consistent with current reactor licensee reporting requirements. 

 The comment period ends on November 5, 75 days after publication of the Federal Register

Notice on this subject, dated August 22. Comments on the proposed revisions may be submitted to the

Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001,

Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. They may also be delivered to the NRC Public

Document Room at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. 

Comments may also be provided by e-mail to NRC’s home page interactive rulemaking 

web site located at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov/cgi-bin/rulemake?source=EN_PRULE. Links to the

proposed rule, supporting documents, and public comment form will be posted there. The documents

will also be available for inspection at the Commission’s Public Document Room and through the

NRC’s Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). For help in using the

interactive web site, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher at 301-415-5905 or by email at cag@nrc.gov. Help in

using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 301-415-4737 or 1-

800-397-4209, or by sending an email message to pdr@nrc.gov. 

For further information on this rulemaking, contact Tony DiPalo, Office of Nuclear Materials

Safety and Safeguards, at telephone (301) 415-6191 or by email at ajd@nrc.gov. 

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