1317 F Street NW Suite 350 Washington, DC 20004 Tel: 202.332

- 8155 www.nuclearinfrastructure.org

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR
INFRASTRUCTURE COUNCIL

April 2 , 2014

Via Electronic Mail : Part810.SNOPR@hq.doe.gov

Mr. Richard Goorevich Senior Policy Advisor Office of Nonproliferation and International Security National Nuclear Security Administration U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington DC 20585

Re: RIN 1994

- AA02

– Re

- Opening of the Comment Period on Proposed Rule o n Assistance to Foreign Atomic Energy Activities

Re: USNIC November 29, 2013 Comments on the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Dear Mr. Goorevich:

Pursuant to the referenced “ Notice of Re

- Openi ng of the Comment Period ”

, t h e U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council (“NIC”) is pleased to submit the following general supplementary comments relevant to the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNOPR) to amend 10 CFR 810 (“Part 810”) as originally published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in th e Federal Register on August 2, 2013, as also referenced above

.

The NIC is the leading business consortium for new nuclear energy internationally and the

involvement of the U. S. supply

- chain i n the global market place

. The Council, which embraces a broad cross

- section of the global nuclear energy industry, is represented on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee and was a member of the U.S. Industry Delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Please note that

-- w hile these comments represent the consensus views of the Council

-- they do not necess arily represent the specific views of individual member companies.

Given the Council’s focus on the involvement of the U.S. supp ly

- chain i n the rapidly emerging and dynamic trillion dollar global nuclear energy marketplace

– and the ensuing benefits of

nu clear energy commerce with respect to American exports, balance of trade and jobs

– the NIC

continues to be keenly interested in and concerned with export requirements and corollary trade agreements and their impacts on competitiveness. As we hav e stated previously, w e appreciate

the NNSA ’s initiative via this rulemaking to seek to modernize the nearly 30

- year

- old export
controls regulatory structure to effect transparency, orderliness and efficiency while committing

to enact ing proc ess improvements to ensure surety and timeliness.1317 F Street NW Suite 350 Washington, DC 20004 Tel: 202.332

- 8155 www.nuclearinfrastructure.org

Mr. Richard Goorevich National Nuclear Security Administration April 2, 2014 Page 2

To thi s end, the Council remains encouraged by the NNSA’s responsiveness to comments on the DOE’s initial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) of Septe mber 7, 2011, and the resulting significant improvements in the SNOPR, which we ci t ed in our letter of November 29, 2013 as

referenced above. I t is critical that these SNOPR upgrades be part of any final rule.

Beyond these SNOPR changes and pro cess improv ement, it is our hope that yo u will move

f orward with incorporating constructive common ground suggestions with the goal of

prom ulgating a final rule as soon as practically po ssi ble. For the record, we advanced seven

SNOPR

- related changes and process imp rovements in our e ar lie r letter, which we trust will

receive full conside ration in the context of any final rule . A s you may be awar e, U.S. businesses are presently coping with a regulatory paradox o f conduc ting business under the current regulato ry regime whi le also anticipating adjustments commensurate with the SNOPR.

Protractio n of thi s status quo is unacceptable in our opinion

.

We also believe that publication of a fi nal rule will lay th e framework for acceleration of the proposed pro cess improvement program, which has been further outl ined in the public meetings including reforms to ensure timely, predicable and efficient regulatory review. In our view, these process reforms are an integral part of any modernization of the present regulatory paradigm and pivotal to the successful implementation of the proposed rulemaking.

Again, we greatly appreciate the resp onsive to issues emanating from the original NOPR and the opportunity to provide further input vi a your public meetings and the comment process es . Given

th e importance of both the nonproliferation and nuclear commerce objectives inherent in the Part 810 process, we look forward to working w ith you constructively as you strive toward

consummation of a final rule. We also look forward to participating in any endeavors to advance the proposed process improvements toward common objectives.

Sincerely,

s/

David Blee

Executive Director