40764 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 143 / Thursday, July 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

resources between COVID–19 needs and 

implementation of this final rule could 

potentially compromise important State 

efforts related to COVID–19. Thus, it is 

in the best interest of the public to 

proceed to change the implementation 

date immediately without notice-andcomment rulemaking. 

Timothy English, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16123 Filed 7–28–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Parts 50 and 70 

[NRC–2015–0016] 

RIN 3150–AJ53 

Spent Fuel Reprocessing 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Discontinuation of rulemaking 

activity. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is discontinuing a 

rulemaking activity that would have 

amended the NRC’s regulations to add 

a new part to the existing regulatory 

framework specific to nuclear spent fuel 

reprocessing facilities. The purpose of 

this action is to inform members of the 

public that this rulemaking activity is 

being discontinued and to provide a 

brief discussion of the NRC’s decision. 

This rulemaking activity will no longer 

be reported in the NRC’s portion of the 

Unified Agenda of Regulatory and 

Deregulatory Actions (the Unified 

Agenda). 

DATES: As of July 29, 2021 the 

rulemaking activity discussed in this 

document is discontinued. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2015–0016 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: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2015–0016. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Dawn 

Forder; telephone: 301–415–3407; 

email: Dawn.Forder@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 publiclyavailable 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. For the convenience of the 

reader, instructions about obtaining 

materials referenced in this document 

are provided in the ‘‘Availability of 

Documents’’ section. 

• 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. Easter Standard Time (EST), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Boyce, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

and Safeguards, telephone: 301–415– 

7335; email: Tom.Boyce@nrc.gov; U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Industry interest was the primary 

impetus for the NRC to update the 

regulatory framework for reprocessing 

light-water reactor spent fuel. In Staff 

Requirements Memorandum (SRM)— 

SECY–13–0093, ‘‘Staff Requirements— 

SECY–13–0093—Reprocessing 

Regulatory Framework—Status and 

Next Steps,’’ the Commission approved 

the NRC staff’s recommendation to 

develop a reprocessing-specific rule. It 

directed the staff’s ‘‘continued 

development of the regulatory 

framework should be limited in scope— 

for the time being—to the resolution of 

Gap 5, ‘Safety and Risk Assessment 

Methodologies and Considerations for a 

Reprocessing Facility.’ ’’ Gap 5 focused 

on the development of analytical 

methods for the quantitative assessment 

of risks associated with reprocessing 

facility accidents to inform the basis for 

the development of regulatory 

requirements and regulatory guidance. 

From 2013 to 2016 the staff focused 

its efforts on assessing the quantitative 

risk associated with reprocessing facility 

accidents (i.e., Gap 5). In 2016, the staff 

found that industry interest in 

constructing and operating a 

commercial light-water reactor spent 

fuel reprocessing facility had declined. 

As a result, in 2016, the NRC suspended 

work on the spent fuel reprocessing 

regulatory framework because of other 

higher priorities related to spent fuel 

storage and transportation, as well as 

budgetary constraints. 

II. Discussion 

To inform its decision making, the 

NRC reached out to stakeholders to 

determine the degree of stakeholder 

interest in constructing, operating, and 

licensing a spent fuel reprocessing 

facility. Specifically, the NRC held a 

Category 3 public meeting on March 4, 

2020; participating stakeholders 

included the Nuclear Energy Institute 

(NEI), the U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE), the Union of Concerned 

Scientists (UCS), industry 

representatives, environmental groups, 

and private citizens. The NEI and 

industry representatives voiced their 

support for continuing the rulemaking 

primarily on the basis of a need for a 

clear and stable regulatory framework 

for reprocessing and to support 

advanced reactor licensing. However, no 

industry stakeholders indicated that 

they plan to submit an application to 

the NRC for a reprocessing facility in the 

foreseeable future. Other stakeholders, 

such as UCS and members of the public, 

indicated they do not support the 

continuation of the rulemaking because 

of proliferation and other concerns. 

In May 2020, after the public meeting, 

the NEI and the American Nuclear 

Society (ANS) sent letters to the NRC 

with further feedback on the need for 

rulemaking. The NEI stated that 

developers with advanced reactor 

designs that may eventually source their 

fuel from the spent fuel of other reactors 

are generally not planning to do so in 

the near future. The NEI encouraged the 

NRC to assess the technologies for 

advanced reactors before making any 

decisions on the reprocessing 

rulemaking. It also suggested that the 

NRC should not charge existing 

facilities with fees for work on a 

reprocessing rule. ANS encouraged the 

NRC to continue with the rulemaking 

and stated that the lack of an efficient, 

technically robust, and technologyinclusive regulatory foundation for 

reprocessing and recycling is a barrier to 

innovation in advanced reactor designs. 

The NRC also engaged organizations 

and vendors in the advanced reactor 

community to assess their interest in 

and specific needs for reprocessing, 

such as the use of fuel recovered from 

the existing spent fuel feedstock. Based 

on these interactions, the NRC 

concluded that, in addition to using 

fresh fuel obtained from enrichment and 

fabrication, some advanced reactor 

designs have the capability to 

eventually source their fuel from the 

spent fuel of other reactors, but there 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 143 / Thursday, July 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 40765 

was limited interest in pursuing 

reprocessing activities in the near future 

(within 10 to 20 years). 

The NRC also engaged staff from the 

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy to 

exchange information regarding 

developments in reprocessing efforts 

and technologies, particularly in 

reprocessing of spent fuel for advanced 

reactors. The DOE efforts in the area of 

reprocessing are aimed at providing a 

limited near-term supply of high-assay 

low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for 

initial advanced reactor designs. These 

DOE reprocessing initiatives do not 

require NRC licensing. The NRC is not 

aware of any other DOE initiatives to 

reprocess light water reactor spent fuel 

or potential commercial efforts to 

reprocess spent HALEU fuel for reuse in 

advanced reactors. 

In the event that the NRC receives an 

application for a commercial 

reprocessing facility, the NRC could use 

its existing regulatory framework under 

part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Domestic 

Licensing of Production and Utilization 

Facilities’’ for any near-term licensing 

needs, because a reprocessing facility is 

a type of production facility as defined 

in § 50.2, ‘‘Definitions.’’ Should an 

applicant submit such an application, 

there would likely be a need for 

exemptions from certain 10 CFR part 50 

requirements. In such cases, the NRC 

could leverage knowledge from the gap 

analysis in SECY–13–0093 in 

considering any exemptions. 

The NRC’s decision to discontinue 

this rulemaking is based on the 

estimated costs to conduct the 

rulemaking and the limited interest 

expressed or expected from industry to 

submit an application for any type of 

facility involving reprocessing 

technologies in the near-term. The staff 

estimates that $2.5 million would be 

needed to complete a regulatory basis, 

develop and issue guidance, and 

develop a proposed and final rule. 

Therefore, while a rule would provide 

additional clarity for potential 

applicants, the NRC concludes that it is 

not warranted at this time. 

III. Availability of Documents 

The documents identified in the 

following table are available to 

interested persons in the ADAMS Public 

Documents collection. 

Document ADAMS 

Accession No. 

SRM–SECY–13–0093, ‘‘Reprocessing Regulatory Framework—Status and Next Steps,’’ dated November 4, 2013 ..................... ML13308A403 

Summary of March 4, 2020 Public Meeting to Discuss Status of Spent Fuel Reprocessing Rulemaking, dated March 16, 2020 .. ML20077K146 

SRM–SECY–15–0129, ‘‘Commission Involvement in Early Stages of Rulemaking,’’ dated February 3, 2016 ................................. ML16034A441 

E-mail and Letter from R. McCullum: NEI Comments on Spent Fuel Reprocessing Rulemaking, dated May 28, 2020 .................. ML20154K554 

E-mail and Letter from J. Starkey: ANS Comments on Spent Fuel Reprocessing Rulemaking, dated May 28, 2020 ..................... ML20154K530 

SECY–21–0026, ‘‘Discontinuation of Rulemaking—Spent Fuel Reprocessing,’’ dated March 5, 2021 ............................................ ML20301A387 

IV. Conclusion 

The NRC is no longer pursuing 

rulemaking for spent fuel reprocessing 

facilities for the reasons discussed in 

this document. In the next edition of the 

Unified Agenda, the NRC will update 

the entry for this rulemaking activity 

and reference this document to indicate 

that the rulemaking activity is no longer 

being pursued. This rulemaking activity 

will appear in the completed actions 

section of that edition of the Unified 

Agenda but will not appear in future 

editions. If the NRC decides to pursue 

similar or related rulemaking activities 

in the future, it will inform the public 

through new rulemaking entries in the 

Unified Agenda. 

Dated July 26, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Annette L. Vietti-Cook, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16173 Filed 7–28–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 431 

[EERE–2017–BT–STD–0048] 

RIN 1904–AE38 

Energy Conservation Program: Test 

Procedure for Dedicated-Purpose Pool 

Pump Motors 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: On October 5, 2020, the U.S. 

Department of Energy (‘‘DOE’’) issued a 

notice of proposed rulemaking 

(‘‘NOPR’’) to establish a test procedure 

and an accompanying labeling 

requirement for dedicated purpose pool 

pump (‘‘DPPP’’) motors. This final rule 

establishes a test procedure for DPPP 

motors. Specifically, the final rule 

incorporates by reference an industry 

standard pertaining to DPPP definitions; 

and requires the use of an industry 

testing standard for testing the energy 

efficiency of DPPP motors. This final 

rule does not establish a labeling 

requirement and DOE intends to address 

any such labeling and/or energy 

conservation standards requirement in a 

separate notification. 

DATES: The effective date of this rule is 

September 27, 2021. The incorporation 

by reference of certain publications 

listed in this rule is approved by the 

Director of the Federal Register as of 

September 27, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The docket, which includes 

Federal Register notices, public meeting 

attendee lists and transcripts, 

comments, and other supporting 

documents/materials, is available for 

review at www.regulations.gov. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the www.regulations.gov index. 

However, some documents listed in the 

index, such as those containing 

information that is exempt from public 

disclosure, may not be publicly 

available. 

A link to the docket web page can be 

found at www.regulations.gov/ 

docket?D=EERE-2017-BT-STD-0048. 

The docket web page contains 

instructions on how to access all 

documents, including public comments, 

in the docket. 

For further information on how to 

review the docket contact the Appliance 

and Equipment Standards Program staff 

at (202) 287–1445 or by email: 

ApplianceStandardsQuestions@

ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jeremy Dommu, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Office, EE–2J, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 


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