This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

52942 

Vol. 70, No. 171 

Tuesday, September 6, 2005 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Parts 1, 2, 10, 19, 20, 21, 25, 

26, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 72, 73, 75, 95, 140, 

and 170 

RIN 3150—AG24 

Licenses, Certifications, and 

Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Availability of draft proposed 

rule. 

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is making available 

the draft wording of a proposed 

amendment of its regulations. The 

proposal would amend Title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 

part 52, ‘‘Early Site Permits; Standard 

Design Certifications; and Combined 

Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ and 

associated regulations based on 

experience gained from early site permit 

(ESP) and design certification reviews 

and discussions with stakeholders on 

the ESP and combined license (COL) 

processes. The changes should improve 

the effectiveness and efficiency of the 

licensing processes for future 

applicants. The availability of the draft 

rule language is intended to inform 

stakeholders of the current status of the 

NRC staff’s activities to amend 10 CFR 

part 52. 

Publicly available documents related 

to this rulemaking may be viewed 

electronically on the public computers 

located at the NRC’s Public Document 

Room (PDR), O1 F21, One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland. The PDR reproduction 

contractor will copy documents for a 

fee. Selected documents can be viewed 

and downloaded electronically via the 

NRC rulemaking Web site at http:// 

ruleforum.llnl.gov. 

Publicly available documents created 

or received at the NRC after November 

1, 1999, are available electronically at 

the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/ 

index.html. From this site, the public 

can gain entry into the NRC’s 

Agencywide Document Access and 

Management System (ADAMS), which 

provides text and image files of NRC’s 

public documents. If you do not have 

access to ADAMS or if there are 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 

PDR Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 

301–415–4737, or by e-mail to 

pdr@nrc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nanette V. Gilles, Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001, telephone (301) 415– 

1180, e-mail nvg@nrc.gov; or Jerry N. 

Wilson, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington DC 20555– 

0001; telephone (301) 415–3145; e-mail 

jnw@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 3, 

2003, the NRC published a proposed 

rulemaking (68 FR 40026) to (1) clarify 

and/or correct 10 CFR parts 2, 20, 21, 

50, 51, 52 (including Appendices A, B, 

and C), 72, 73, 140, and 170; (2) update 

10 CFR part 52; and (3) incorporate 

stakeholder comments. Upon further 

consideration by the NRC staff, the staff 

intends to recommend that the 

Commission re-propose amendments to 

part 52 and other parts of 10 CFR with 

associated changes that would 

supersede the July 2003 proposed rule. 

The NRC has developed draft wording 

for the changes to its regulations and 

has made them available on the NRC’s 

rulemaking Web site at http:// 

ruleforum.llnl.gov. This draft rule 

language is preliminary and may be 

incomplete in one or more respects. 

This draft rule language is being 

released to inform our stakeholders of 

the current status of the part 52 update 

rulemaking. In order to facilitate 

stakeholder review, the draft rule 

language is posted in three separate 

files: part 52, part 50, and all of the 

remaining parts of 10 CFR that have 

proposed changes. The NRC is not 

requesting comments on this draft rule 

language. Rather, comments will be 

requested when the re-proposed rule is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Following the close of the public 

comment period on the July 2003 rule, 

a number of factors led the staff to 

question whether the proposed rule 

would meet the Commission’s objective 

of improving the effectiveness of NRC’s 

regulatory processes for future nuclear 

power facilities. First, several public 

comments identified concerns regarding 

whether the proposed rule adequately 

addressed the relationship between part 

50 and part 52 and clearly specified the 

applicable regulatory requirements for 

each of the regulatory processes in part 

52. In addition, during the period of 

public comment and thereafter, the staff 

gained additional insights about ESPs as 

a result of the review of the first three 

ESP applications. The staff also had the 

benefit of public meetings with external 

stakeholders on developing NRC staff 

guidance on ESPs and COLs. As a result 

of these factors, the staff decided that a 

substantial rewrite and expansion of the 

original rulemaking would be necessary 

to ensure that the entire body of NRC 

regulations is able to support the 

agency’s licensing and regulation of 

future nuclear power facilities under 

part 52. 

The proposed rule is intended to 

ensure that all regulatory processes in 

part 52 are addressed in that part and 

throughout the Commission’s 

regulations and that there is no 

ambiguity with respect to the 

applicability of various requirements to 

each if the regulatory processes in part 

52 (i.e., early site permit, standard 

design approval, standard design 

certification, combinded license and 

manufacturing license). 

Accordingly, the staff has developed 

this draft re-proposed rule and intends 

to recommend that it supersede the July 

2003 proposed rule. The draft reproposed rule contains a rewrite of part 

52, as well as changes throughout 10 

CFR to ensure that all regulatory 

processes in part 52 are addressed and 

to remove ambiguity with respect to the 

applicability of various requirements to 

each of the regulatory processes in part 

52. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day 

of August, 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

William D. Beckner, 

Director, New, Research, and Test Reactors 

Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement 

Programs, Office of Nuclear Regulator 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 05–17494 Filed 9–2–05; 8:45 am] 

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