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[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 188 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55880-55881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22688]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0419]

Security and Continued Use of Cesium-137 Chloride Sources: 
Granting Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of Granting of Request to Extend the Comment Period on 
the Issues described in the Notice on the Security and Continued Use of 
Cesium-137 Chloride Sources.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John P. Jankovich, Office of 
Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, 
telephone (301) 415-7904, e-mail [email protected], or Dr. Cynthia 
Jones, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, telephone 
(301) 415-0298, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    On July 31, 2008, the NRC issued a notice in the Federal Register 
which requested, in part, public comments on the issues presented in 
the notice on the security and continued use of cesium-137 chloride 
sources (73 FR 44780). The notice requested early public input on major 
issues associated with the use of certain forms of cesium-137 chloride 
currently used by NRC- and Agreement State-licensees. While the NRC has 
not initiated rulemaking on this subject, NRC used the conventionally 
established rulemaking comment channels for obtaining comments.

II. Further Information

    The NRC staff requested receipt of comments on the notice by 
September 30, 2008. By this action, the NRC staff is extending the 
comment period until October 15, 2008. Comments received after October 
15, 2008, will be considered if practical to do so, but the NRC is 
unable to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with the use of cesium-137 chloride sources are encouraged 
at any time.
    In addition to inviting public comments on the issues presented in 
section III of the July 31, 2008 notice, the NRC also solicited 
specific comments related to: (1) Quantitative information on the costs 
and benefits resulting from consideration of the factors described in 
the Issues Paper; (2) operational data on radiation exposures 
(increased or reduced) that might result from implementing any of the 
options described in the Issues Paper; (3) whether the presented issues 
are addressed comprehensively; and (4) whether other options should be 
considered, including quantitative information on the costs and 
benefits for these other options. The Commission believes that 
stakeholder comments help to quantify the potential impact of these 
proposed changes and will assist the NRC as potential regulatory 
action(s) are developed.

III. Request To Extend the Comment Period

Basis for the Request

    The NRC received the following extension request:

    On behalf of industry, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 
respectfully requests an extension of the comment period identified 
in the subject Federal Register notice (FRN) entitled, ``Request for 
Comments on the Security and Continued Use of Cesium-137 Chloride 
Sources and Notice of Public Meeting'' dated July 31, 2008. 
Specifically, the FRN states that stakeholder comments on the 
Cesium-137 Chloride source issues raised therein should be submitted 
to NRC no later than September 30, 2008. This date coincides with 
the last day of the scheduled public meeting, which industry fully 
supports. We believe that industry, the public and other stakeholder 
comments on these complex matters would be greatly informed by the 
deliberations that will inevitably occur during the two day meeting 
which commences on September 29, 2008. Therefore, we request that 
the comment period be extended, at a minimum, 30 days so as to close 
no earlier than October 30, 2008.

    The NRC received similar requests from the Conference of Radiation 
Control Program Directors, Inc., (CRCPD), and from the International

[[Page 55881]]

Source Suppliers and Producers Association (ISSPA), both dated 
September 19, 2008, for extension of the comment period from September 
30 to October 30, 2008.

Response to Request

    The request for an extension to the comment period is approved for 
15 days.
    The staff understands that NEI, CRCPD and ISSPA requested an 
extension of 30 days. However, NRC can not grant the full extension 
because the comments are needed by mid-October for development of 
future NRC actions for Commission consideration by November 2008. 
Therefore, the staff is approving a 15-day extension to the original 
public comment period, with the public comment period to end on October 
15, 2008. The staff recognizes that the public and other stakeholder 
comments may be impacted by the discussions that will occur during the 
two-day public meeting which concludes on September 30, 2008, and 
therefore agrees to extend the comment period an additional 15 days.
    Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit comments 
electronically to http://www.regulations.gov. Search on Docket ID: 
[NRC-2008-0419] and follow the instructions for submitting comments. 
Comments may also be sent by mail to Michael Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, 
Directives and Editing Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop T-
6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Requests for technical information may be directed to the NRC 
contacts, Dr. John P. Jankovich, Office of Federal and State Materials 
and Environmental Management Programs, telephone (301) 415-7904, e-mail 
[email protected], or Dr. Cynthia Jones, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone (301) 415-0298, e-mail 
[email protected].
    You can also access publicly available documents related to the 
July 31, 2008 notice using the following methods:
    Regulations.gov: Documents related to this notice, including public 
comments, are accessible at http://www.regulations.gov, by searching on 
docket ID: NRC-2008-0419. Electronic copies of the July 31, 2008 notice 
and the workshop agenda are also available through NRC's public Web 
site at http://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/licensing.html.
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public 
File Area O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agency wide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
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/reading-rm/adams.html. From this 
site, the public can gain entry into 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 PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 
or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of September 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John P. Jankovich,
Team Leader, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Program.
 [FR Doc. E8-22688 Filed 9-25-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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