83628 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 

• Fax: (202) 459–9673, Attn: Ji Lee. 

• Mail: Attn: Ji Lee, NCO, 2415 

Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 

22314, USA. 

Instructions: Response to this RFI is 

voluntary. Each individual or institution 

is requested to submit only one 

response. Submissions must not exceed 

10 pages in 12 point or larger font, with 

a page number provided on each page. 

Responses should include the name of 

the person(s) or organization(s) filing 

the comment. Responses to this RFI may 

be posted online at http://

www.nitrd.gov. Therefore, no business 

proprietary information, copyrighted 

information, or personally identifiable 

information should be submitted in 

response to this RFI. 

In accordance with FAR 15.202(3), 

responses to this notice are not offers 

and cannot be accepted by the 

Government to form a binding contract. 

Responders are solely responsible for all 

expenses associated with responding to 

this RFI. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ji 

Lee at nscr-rfi@nitrd.gov, 202–459–9674, 

or by post mailing to 2415 Eisenhower 

Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, 

Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

prompt, successful, and nimble 

deployment of computational resources 

(including expertise) via the COVID–19 

High-Performance Computing (HPC) 

Consortium has demonstrated its 

essential role in the Nation’s response to 

emergencies. This backdrop has led to 

the conceptualization of a National 

Strategic Computing Reserve (NSCR), 

comprising a coalition of experts and 

resource providers that could be 

mobilized quickly to provide critical 

computational resources (including 

compute, software, data, and technical 

expertise) in times of urgent need. 

Background Information: The 

COVID–19 HPC Consortium (https://

covid19-hpc-consortium.org) was 

formed in March 2020 and offers an 

example of how the consortium rapidly 

delivered scientific insights. The 

Consortium brought together the Federal 

Government, industry, and academic 

leaders to provide access to the world’s 

most powerful computational resources 

in support of COVID–19 research. 

Within its first week of existence, the 

Consortium instantiated an operational 

framework for providing computational 

resources for rapid crisis response. The 

Consortium effectively: 

• Worked together across institutional 

and organizational boundaries within 

government, industry, and academia to 

create a common portal to access 

computational resources and to coalesce 

ad hoc efforts in smaller ‘‘consortia’’ 

around the country; 

• Ramped up quickly to meet urgent 

computational resource requirements 

not easily available through other 

means; this ramp-up included the 

development and adaptation of review, 

matching and on-boarding processes for 

accessing these resources; 

• Set up a communications and user 

engagement framework for a worldwide 

community; and 

• Accelerated explorations in basic 

understanding of the SARS–CoV2 virus, 

its host interactions, strategies to 

mitigate its spread, and early-stage drug 

development. 

With this RFI, we seek to aggregate 

the lessons learned from the COVID–19 

HPC Consortium with other broader 

community input towards the potential 

design of a NSCR effort. 

Information Requested: Responders 

are asked to answer one or more of the 

following questions in the responses to 

the RFI: 

1. Deployment Scenarios: What are 

envisioned scenarios under which it 

would be beneficial to make NSCR 

computational resources available for 

use? What are relevant characteristics to 

consider regarding the design of triggers 

for activating and deactivating the 

NSCR? What approaches might the 

NSCR utilize to test readiness for such 

scenarios? Are there other barriers to 

activating NSCR that would need to be 

addressed? 

2. Computational Resources: By what 

means will the NSCR computational 

resources be recruited, vetted, and 

sustained for use when needed? What 

are appropriate incentives and 

mechanisms for compensation? What 

principles might be employed in 

assessing the suitability of resources for 

inclusion in the NSCR? What types of 

research (e.g., fundamental research, 

Controlled Unclassified Information 

research, proprietary research) should 

the NSCR be provisioned to support? 

3. NSCR Providers: How should the 

resource providers’ contributions to 

NSCR be determined? What approaches 

should guide the selection and 

allocation of the NSCR computational 

resources to users, and what roles do 

resource providers have in determining 

these approaches? By what means can 

the NSCR computational resource 

providers opt in or opt out on 

computational resource allocations? 

4. NSCR Users: By what means and 

with what principles should allocations 

for NSCR computational resources be 

considered? What should constitute 

eligibility to apply for computational 

resources? What kind of eligibility 

restrictions/selection criteria would be 

appropriate for users and the use cases 

of applications of NSCR? 

5. Community Formation: What types 

of community outreach and 

communications will help enhance the 

likelihood of connecting the NSCR 

computational resources to the relevant 

computational, scientific, and 

emergency-response communities? With 

what organizations and services should 

the NSCR coordinate to enhance its 

effectiveness? 

6. Partnership Agreements: What are 

key aspects of partnership agreements 

(e.g., access to results, intellectual 

property rights) that can help sustain 

the NSCR over time? 

7. Relationship to Other Strategic 

Reserves: Are there other strategic 

reserves that are relevant to NSCR? How 

can NSCR connect or interface with 

those reserves? What lessons can be 

learned from other strategic reserves 

that might inform the process of 

standing up a NSCR? 

Submitted by the National Science 

Foundation in support of the Office of 

Science and Technology Policy and the 

Networking and Information 

Technology Research and Development 

National Coordination Office on 

December 16, 2020. 

(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1861.) 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28142 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

SAFETY BOARD 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

TIME AND DATE: 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, 

January 12, 2021. 

PLACE: Virtual. 

STATUS: The one item may be viewed by 

the public through webcast only. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: 

64964—Pipeline Investigation Report— 

Atmos Energy Corporation Natural 

Gas-Fueled Explosion, Dallas, 

Texas, February 23, 2018 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Candi Bing at (202) 590–8384 or by 

email at bingc@ntsb.gov. 

Media Information Contact: Keith 

Holloway by email at keith.holloway@

ntsb.gov or at (202) 314–6100. 

This meeting will take place virtually. 

The public may view it through a live 


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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 83629 

or archived webcast by accessing a link 

under ‘‘Webcast of Events’’ on the NTSB 

home page at www.ntsb.gov. 

There may be changes to this event 

due to the evolving situation concerning 

the novel coronavirus (COVID–19). 

Schedule updates, including weatherrelated cancellations, are also available 

at www.ntsb.gov. 

The National Transportation Safety 

Board is holding this meeting under the 

Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 

U.S.C. 552(b). 

Dated: Friday, December 18, 2020. 

Candi R. Bing, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28405 Filed 12–18–20; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7533–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2020–0271] 

Order to ConverDyn Suspending 

Exports of Certain Source Material 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Order; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing an order to 

ConverDyn suspending its authority to 

export certain source material to the 

United Kingdom (U.K.). This 

suspension is required due to the U.K.’s 

exit from the European Atomic Energy 

Community (EURATOM). Exports of 

EURATOM-obligated and Canadianobligated source material to the U.K. are 

currently not authorized. 

DATES: This Order is effective on 

January 1, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2020–0271 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–2020–0271. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 

telephone: 301–287–9127; email: 

Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. 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, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. 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. 

• Attention: The PDR, where you may 

examine, and order copies of public 

documents is currently closed. You may 

submit your request to the PDR via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1– 

800–397–4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 

4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lauren Mayros, Office of International 

Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001; telephone: 301–287–9088, email: 

Lauren.Mayros@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

United States engages in significant 

nuclear cooperation with other nations, 

including the authorized distribution of 

source material, pursuant to the terms of 

an Agreement for Cooperation in 

Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (123 

Agreement). ConverDyn currently holds 

two specific licenses, XSOU8846/01 and 

XSOU8789/07, authorizing the export of 

source material to several countries 

including the U.K. ConverDyn’s export 

licenses were issued under the legal 

framework of the 123 Agreement 

between the U.S. and EURATOM. 

On December 31, 2020, the U.K. will 

exit from EURATOM, and on January 1, 

2021, a 123 Agreement between the U.S. 

and the U.K. will enter into force. The 

U.S. Government has already made 

arrangements with the Government of 

the U.K. for this transition to occur on 

January 1, 2021 for all NRC-licensed 

exports to the U.K. However, beginning 

on January 1, 2021, the NRC is currently 

unable to authorize the export of 

EURATOM-obligated and Canadianobligated material from the U.S. to the 

U.K., until pre-approval to retransfer 

such material to the U.K. is received 

from EURATOM or the Canadian 

government, respectively. 

This suspension is required as an 

operation of law and only applies to 

exports of EURATOM-obligated or 

Canadian-obligated source material to 

the U.K. The NRC is reproducing the 

text of the order as an attachment to this 

Federal Register notice. 

Dated: December 17, 2020. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Nader L. Mamish, 

Director, Office of Internal Programs. 

Attachment—Order Suspending Export 

Licenses 

Order Modifying Licenses To Suspend 

Certain Exports to the United Kingdom 

(Effective January 1, 2021) 

I 

ConverDyn (or ‘‘the licensee’’) holds 

specific licenses XSOU8846/01 and 

XSOU8789/07 issued by the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

pursuant to Sections 62 and 127 of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 

(AEA) and 10 CFR part 110. These 

specific licenses authorize the export of 

source material to France, Germany, the 

Netherlands, and the United Kingdom 

(U.K.) under the terms of an Agreement 

for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of 

Nuclear Energy (123 Agreement) 

between the United States (U.S.) and the 

European Atomic Energy Community 

(EURATOM). 

II 

On December 31, 2020, the formal 

transition period marking the United 

Kingdom’s (U.K.) exit from the 

European Union (EU) will end. On this 

date, the U.K. will also exit from 

EURATOM. On January 1, 2021, the 

U.S./U.K.123 Agreement will enter into 

force. At that time, ConverDyn’s export 

licenses, XSOU8846/01 and XSOU8789/ 

07 will authorize exports to France, 

Germany, and the Netherlands under 

the legal framework of the U.S./ 

EURATOM 123 agreement and will 

authorize exports to the U.K. under the 

legal framework of the U.S./U.K. 123 

Agreement. After the U.K. exits 

EURATOM, the NRC is prohibited from 

authorizing any exports of EURATOMobligated material from the U.S. to the 

U.K. until EURATOM, pursuant to the 

U.S./EURATOM 123 agreement, 

provides its pre-approval to retransfer 

EURATOM-obligated material from the 

U.S. to the U.K. The NRC is likewise 

prohibited from authorizing any exports 

of Canadian-obligated material from the 

U.S. to the U.K. until the Government of 

Canada, pursuant to the U.S./Canada 

123 Agreement, provides its preapproval to retransfer Canadianobligated material to the U.K. 

The U.S. Government has already 

made arrangements with the 

Government of the U.K. for the 

transition from the U.S./EURATOM 123 

Agreement to the U.S./U.K. 123 

Agreement to automatically occur on 

January 1, 2021, for all NRC-approved 

export licenses to the U.K. However, the 


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