[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78917-78918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22003]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2024-0151]


Draft Interim Staff Guidance: Contamination Control, Radiological 
Survey, and Dose Modeling Considerations To Support License Termination 
at Sites With Environmental Discrete Radioactive Particle Contamination

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guidance; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting 
public comment on its draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG), DUWP-ISG-03, 
``Draft Interim Staff Guidance on Contamination Control, Radiological 
Survey, and Dose Modeling Considerations to Support License Termination 
at Sites with Environmental Discrete Radioactive Particle 
Contamination.'' The draft ISG addresses contamination control, 
radiological surveys, and dose modeling regarding discrete radioactive 
particles (DRPs) that are found in the environment due to an unplanned 
release or that potentially could be released to the environment during 
decommissioning. If finalized, this ISG would allow staff to develop 
consistent guidance regarding contamination control, particularly 
focused on non-diffuse contamination, during the decommissioning 
process, as well as provide acceptable survey approaches and dose 
methods for discrete radioactive particles until the appropriate NRC 
regulatory guidance can be updated.

DATES: Submit comments by October 28, 2024. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website.
    <bullet> Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0151. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#faa98e9b9983d4a999928f979b9494ba948899d49d958c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c390b7a2a0baed90a0abb6aea2adad83adb1a0eda4acb5">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
    <bullet> Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy M. Snyder, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone:

[[Page 78918]]

301-415-6822; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#72331f0b5c211c0b161700321c00115c151d04"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bbfad6c295e8d5c2dfdec9fbd5c9d895dcd4cd">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0151 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0151.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8988c9ae69aadbba7bdbaabad88a6baabe6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c5c485e225e697f63797e6f694c627e6f226b637a">[email protected]</span></a>. 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. The draft ISG is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24219A032.
    <bullet> 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 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#49190d1b671b2c3a263c3b2a2c09273b2a672e263f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="86d6c2d4a8d4e3f5e9f3f4e5e3c6e8f4e5a8e1e9f0">[email protected]</span></a> 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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0151 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    Current decommissioning guidance is focused on addressing diffuse 
residual radioactivity with respect to performing surveys and assessing 
potential public exposure after license termination and does not 
address discrete radioactive particle contamination nor discuss how to 
control this type of contamination during decommissioning. For these 
reasons, the NRC staff have approached each past instance of DRP 
contamination on a case-by-case basis which may have led to some 
perceived inconsistencies in the approach to decommissioning. This 
draft guidance presents an acceptable approach for addressing discrete 
radioactive particle contamination throughout the decommissioning 
process. Such non-diffuse contamination can be found at power reactors, 
as well as fuel cycle facilities during any phase of decommissioning.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML24227A987).

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this ISG, if finalized, would not (i) constitute 
backfitting as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' 70.76, ``Backfitting,'' 
and 72.62, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in Management Directive 
(MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, 
and Information Requests''; or (ii) affect issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants''; or (iii) constitute forward 
fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4, because 
licensees would not be required to comply with the positions set forth 
in this ISG, if finalized.

    Dated: September 20, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-22003 Filed 9-25-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>