Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 49 / Friday, March 13, 2015 / Notices 13449 

Submittal server for any proceeding in 

which it is participating; and (2) advise 

the Secretary that the participant will be 

submitting a request or petition for 

hearing (even in instances in which the 

participant, or its counsel or 

representative, already holds an NRCissued digital ID certificate). Based upon 

this information, the Secretary will 

establish an electronic docket for the 

hearing in this proceeding if the 

Secretary has not already established an 

electronic docket. 

Information about applying for a 

digital ID certificate is available on the 

NRC’s public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/

getting-started.html. System 

requirements for accessing the ESubmittal server are detailed in the 

NRC’s ‘‘Guidance for Electronic 

Submission,’’ which is available on the 

agency’s public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. Participants may 

attempt to use other software not listed 

on the Web site, but should note that the 

NRC’s E-Filing system does not support 

unlisted software, and the NRC Meta 

System Help Desk will not be able to 

offer assistance in using unlisted 

software. 

If a participant is electronically 

submitting a document to the NRC in 

accordance with the E-Filing rule, the 

participant must file the document 

using the NRC’s online, Web-based 

submission form. In order to serve 

documents through the Electronic 

Information Exchange System, users 

will be required to install a Web 

browser plug-in from the NRC’s Web 

site. Further information on the Webbased submission form, including the 

installation of the Web browser plug-in, 

is available on the NRC’s public Web 

site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. 

Once a participant has obtained a 

digital ID certificate and a docket has 

been created, the participant can then 

submit a request for hearing or petition 

for leave to intervene. Submissions 

should be in Portable Document Format 

(PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance 

available on the NRC’s public Web site 

at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. A filing is considered 

complete at the time the documents are 

submitted through the NRC’s E-Filing 

system. To be timely, an electronic 

filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 

system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern 

Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 

a transmission, the E-Filing system 

time-stamps the document and sends 

the submitter an email notice 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

E-Filing system also distributes an email 

notice that provides access to the 

document to the NRC’s Office of the 

General Counsel and any others who 

have advised the Office of the Secretary 

that they wish to participate in the 

proceeding, so that the filer need not 

serve the documents on those 

participants separately. Therefore, 

applicants and other participants (or 

their counsel or representative) must 

apply for and receive a digital ID 

certificate before a hearing request/

petition to intervene is filed so that they 

can obtain access to the document via 

the E-Filing system. 

A person filing electronically using 

the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system 

may seek assistance by contacting the 

NRC Meta System Help Desk through 

the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located on the 

NRC’s public Web site at http://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC 

Meta System Help Desk is available 

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

Time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding government holidays. 

Participants who believe that they 

have a good cause for not submitting 

documents electronically must file an 

exemption request, in accordance with 

10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper 

filing requesting authorization to 

continue to submit documents in paper 

format. Such filings must be submitted 

by: (1) First class mail addressed to the 

Office of the Secretary of the 

Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001, Attention: Rulemaking and 

Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, 

express mail, or expedited delivery 

service to the Office of the Secretary, 

Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland, 20852, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 

Participants filing a document in this 

manner are responsible for serving the 

document on all other participants. 

Filing is considered complete by firstclass mail as of the time of deposit in 

the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 

expedited delivery service upon 

depositing the document with the 

provider of the service. A presiding 

officer, having granted an exemption 

request from using E-Filing, may require 

a participant or party to use E-Filing if 

the presiding officer subsequently 

determines that the reason for granting 

the exemption from use of E-Filing no 

longer exists. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in the NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket which is 

available to the public at http://

ehd1.nrc.gov/ehd/, unless excluded 

pursuant to an order of the Commission, 

or the presiding officer. Participants are 

requested not to include personal 

privacy information, such as social 

security numbers, home addresses, or 

home phone numbers in their filings, 

unless an NRC regulation or other law 

requires submission of such 

information. However, a request to 

intervene will require including 

information on local residence in order 

to demonstrate a proximity assertion of 

interest in the proceeding. With respect 

to copyrighted works, except for limited 

excerpts that serve the purpose of the 

adjudicatory filings and would 

constitute a Fair Use application, 

participants are requested not to include 

copyrighted materials in their 

submission. 

Dated at Arlington, Texas, this 27th day of 

February 2015. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Jack E. Whitten, 

Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch B, 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 

IV Office. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05803 Filed 3–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

RIN 3150–AI01 

[NRC–2014–0137] 

Draft Guidance Regarding the 

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock 

Rule 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; draft 

NUREG; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing for public 

comment draft regulatory guide (DG), 

DG–1299, ‘‘Regulatory Guidance on the 

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock 

Rule’’ and accompanying draft NUREG– 

2163, ‘‘Technical Basis for Regulatory 

Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized 

Thermal Shock Rule.’’ The DG provides 

new guidance for a method that the NRC 

considers acceptable to permit use of 

the alternate fracture toughness 

requirements for protection against 

pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events 

for pressurized water reactor (PWR) 

reactor pressure vessels (RPVs). The 

draft NUREG provides the technical 

basis for DG–1299. 

DATES: Submit comments by May 12, 

2015. Comments received after this date 

will be considered if it is practical to do 

so, but the NRC is able to ensure 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

13450 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 49 / Friday, March 13, 2015 / Notices 

consideration only for comments 

received on or before this date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods (unless 

this document describes a different 

method for submitting comments on a 

specific subject): 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2014–0137. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, 

Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 

OWFN–12–H08, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001. 

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: Gary 

Stevens, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, telephone: 301–415–3608; 

email: Gary.Stevens@nrc.gov; Mark 

Kirk, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 

Research, telephone: 301–251–7631; 

email: Mark.Kirk@nrc.gov; or Steve 

Burton, telephone: 301–415–7000; 

email: Stephen.Burton@nrc.gov; U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2014– 

0137 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this 

action by the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2014–0137. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

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 in this document 

(if that document is available in 

ADAMS) is provided the first time that 

a document is referenced. Draft Guide1299, ‘‘Regulatory Guidance on the 

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock 

Rule,’’ is available in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML14056A011. Draft 

NUREG–2163, ‘‘Technical Basis for 

Regulatory Guidance on the Alternate 

Pressurized Thermal Shock Rule,’’ is 

available in ADAMS under Accession 

No. ML15058A677. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2014– 

0137 in the subject line of 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 http://

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 

The NRC is issuing for public 

comment a draft guide (DG) in the 

NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. The 

DG, titled ‘‘Regulatory Guidance on the 

Alternate Pressurized Thermal Shock 

Rule,’’ is temporarily identified by its 

task number, DG–1299. This DG 

provides new guidance for a method 

that the NRC considers acceptable to 

permit use of the alternate fracture 

toughness requirements for protection 

against PTS events for PWR RPVs in 

part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Domestic 

Licensing of Production and Utilization 

Facilities,’’ 10 CFR 50.61a, ‘‘Alternate 

Fracture Toughness Requirements for 

Protection against Pressurized Thermal 

Shock Events’’ (RIN 3150–AI01). DG– 

1299 is accompanied by draft NUREG– 

2163, ‘‘Technical Basis for Regulatory 

Guidance on the Alternate Pressurized 

Thermal Shock Rule.’’ This NUREG 

provides the technical basis for the 

guidance recommended in DG–1299. 

The NRC is issuing the draft NUREG for 

public comment at the same time as the 

DG to allow for common review of both 

documents. 

The alternate PTS requirements are 

based on updated analysis methods, and 

are desirable because the requirements 

in 10 CFR 50.61a are based on overly 

conservative probabilistic fracture 

mechanics analyses. 

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality 

The DG, if finalized, would provide 

guidance on the methods acceptable to 

the NRC for complying with the NRC’s 

regulations associated with alternate 

fracture toughness requirements for 

protection against PTS events for PWR 

RPVs. The NUREG, if finalized, would 

provide technical bases that support the 

DG. The DG would apply to certain 

current holders of power reactor 

licenses and construction permits under 

10 CFR part 50. The alternate PTS 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.61a apply to 

certain holders of operating licenses for 

a PWR whose construction permit was 

issued before February 3, 2010; 

however, this DG also provides 

guidance for licensees whose 

construction permits were issued after 

February 3, 2010, but wish to utilize the 

alternate PTS criteria via exemption. 

Therefore this guidance may also apply 

to future applicants for operating 

licenses and construction permits under 

10 CFR part 50, as well as certain 

current holders of and future applicants 

for power reactor licenses under 10 CFR 

part 52. 

Issuance of this DG and NUREG, if 

finalized, would not constitute 

backfitting under 10 CFR part 50 and 

would not otherwise be inconsistent 

with the issue finality provisions in 10 

CFR part 52. As discussed in the 

‘‘Implementation’’ section of DG–1299, 

the NRC has no current intention to 

impose the DG, if finalized, on current 

holders of 10 CFR part 50 operating 

licenses or 10 CFR part 52 combined 

licenses. This DG, if finalized, could be 

applied to applications for certain 10 

CFR part 50 operating licenses or 

construction permits and 10 CFR part 52 

combined licenses. Such action would 

not constitute backfitting as defined in 

10 CFR 50.109 or be otherwise 

inconsistent with the issue finality 

provisions in 10 CFR part 52, inasmuch 

as such applicants are not within the 

scope of entities protected by 10 CFR 

50.109 or the issue finality provisions in 

10 CFR part 52. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 49 / Friday, March 13, 2015 / Notices 13451 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day 

of March 2015. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Thomas H. Boyce, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide and Generic Issues 

Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of 

Nuclear Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05754 Filed 3–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2014–0080] 

Low-Level Radioactive Waste 

Regulatory Program 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Draft programmatic assessment 

results; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is requesting 

comment on a draft list of prioritized 

low-level radioactive waste (LLW) tasks 

based upon the assessment updates to 

the strategic assessment (now called a 

programmatic assessment) performed in 

2007. The objective of this updated 

assessment remains the same as the 

2007 assessment; that is, to identify and 

prioritize tasks that the NRC staff can 

undertake to ensure a stable, reliable, 

and adaptable regulatory framework for 

effective LLW management, while also 

considering future needs and changes 

that may occur in the nation’s 

commercial LLW management system. 

In 2014, through public meetings, 

webinars, and Federal Register notices, 

the NRC staff solicited public comment 

on what changes, if any, should be made 

to the current LLW program’s regulatory 

framework, as well as specific actions 

that the staff might undertake to 

facilitate such changes. The NRC staff 

considered the comments received, 

performed an assessment of the 

comments, and developed a draft list of 

prioritized LLW tasks. 

DATES: Submit comments by April 13, 

2015. Comments received after this date 

will be considered if it is practical to do 

so, but the NRC is able to assure 

consideration only for comments 

received on or before this date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods (unless 

this document describes a different 

method for submitting comments on a 

specific subject): 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2014–0080. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, 

Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 

OWFN–12–H08, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001. 

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: 

Stephen Dembek, telephone: 301–415– 

2342, email: Stephen.Dembek@nrc.gov; 

or Melanie C. Wong, telephone: 301– 

415–2432, email: Melanie.Wong@

nrc.gov, both are staff of the Office of 

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2014– 

0080 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information regarding 

this document. You may obtain 

publicly-available information related to 

this document by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2014–0080. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

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 

‘‘Strategic Assessment of Low-Level 

Radioactive Waste Regulatory Program’’ 

and ‘‘Transcript of Public Workshop on 

Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal 

Rulemaking and Strategic Assessment of 

Low-Level Radioactive Waste’’ are 

available in ADAMS under Accession 

Nos. ML071350291 and ML14086A540. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2014– 

0080 in the subject line of 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 http://

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 submissions into 

ADAMS. 

II. Background 

In 2007, due to developments in the 

national program for LLW disposal, as 

well as changes in the regulatory 

environment, the NRC’s LLW program 

faced new challenges and issues. New 

technical issues related to protection of 

public health and the environment and 

security emerged. These challenges and 

issues included (1) the need for greater 

flexibility and reliability in LLW 

disposal options; (2) increased storage of 

Class B and Class C LLW because of the 

potential closing of the Barnwell, South 

Carolina disposal facility to out-ofcompact waste generators; (3) the 

potential need to dispose of large 

quantities of power plant 

decommissioning waste, as well as 

depleted uranium (DU) from enrichment 

facilities; (4) increased safety concerns; 

(5) the need for greater LLW program 

resources than were available; (6) 

increased security concerns related to 

storing LLW in general and sealed 

radioactive sources in particular; and (7) 

the potential for generation of new 

waste streams (for example, by the next 

generation of nuclear reactors and the 

potential reemergence of nuclear fuel 

reprocessing in the United States). 

Based on these challenges and issues, 

the NRC staff conducted a Strategic 

Assessment of the NRC’s LLW 

regulatory program. Based on extensive 

stakeholder input during public 

meetings, the NRC staff received a 

variety of tasks to be included in the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES