[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 79369-79370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22246]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 189 / Monday, September 30, 2024 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 79369]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 70

[NRC-2024-0159]


Regulatory Guide: Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in 
Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.7, ``Monitoring of Combustible 
Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,'' 
in which there are minor corrections with no substantive changes in the 
NRC staff's regulatory positions. RG 3.7 provides guidance with regard 
to protecting against the possibility of the formation of flammable 
mixtures with combustible gases and vapors. This guidance is needed to 
protect against the possibility of the formation of flammable mixtures 
with these gases and vapors when combustible gases and solvents are 
used within the confinement barriers of a plutonium processing and fuel 
fabrication plant.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 3.7 is available on September 30, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0159 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0159. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a0f3d4c1c3d98ef3c3c8d5cdc1cecee0ced2c38ec7cfd6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5003243133297e033338253d313e3e103e22337e373f26">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals listed in the ``For Further 
Information Contact'' section of this document.
    <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#316175631f6354425e44435254715f43521f565e47"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9b9adbbc7bb8c9a869c9b8a8ca9879b8ac78e869f">[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. Revision 1 to RG 3.7 
may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24162A095.
    <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#c4948096ea96a1b7abb1b6a7a184aab6a7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="164652443844736579636475735678647538717960">[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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Cortes, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-7331; email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#044a6d676b68612a476b76706177446a76672a636b72"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a8e6c1cbc7c4cd86ebc7dadccddbe8c6dacb86cfc7de">[email protected]</span></a>; and Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3346, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2d654c5f5f44485903664c5f4c4a444c4343445e6d435f4e034a425b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d890b9aaaab1bdacf693b9aab9bfb1b9b6b6b1ab98b6aabbf6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a>. Both are staff at the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing an administrative revision to an existing guide 
in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides are 
developed to describe and make available to the public information and 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in 
evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the 
staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The NRC typically seeks public comment on a draft version of an RG 
by announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register. 
However, as explained in NRC's Management Directive (MD) 6.6 
``Regulatory Guides,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22010A233) the NRC may 
directly issue a final RG without a draft version or public comment 
period if the changes to the RG are non-substantive.
    Thus, the NRC is issuing Revision 1 of RG 3.7 directly as a final 
RG because there are no changes in the staff positions between Revision 
0 and Revision 1. Revision 1 of RG 3.7 incorporates minor corrections, 
and other editorial changes that are administrative in nature. The 
changes are intended to improve clarity and do not alter the NRC 
staff's regulatory guidance for the ``Monitoring of Combustible Gases 
and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,'' 
licensees.

II. Additional Information

    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Rules'' section of the 
Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under chapter 
I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808).

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory 
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the 
NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC 
staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that 
term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in 
NRC MD 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue 
Finality, and Information Requests'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087), 
nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue 
finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52. The staff also does not 
intend to use the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a manner 
that constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined and described 
in MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the NRC is using this RG in a 
manner

[[Page 79370]]

inconsistent with the discussion in the Implementation section of RG 
3.7, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting appeal 
with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.

V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the 
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs 
to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public 
website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates and 
enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: September 24, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2024-22246 Filed 9-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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