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contains regulatory documents having general

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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

143 

Vol. 80, No. 2 

Monday, January 5, 2015 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 70 

[NRC–2010–0271] 

RIN 3150–AJ34 

Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear 

Material Written Reports and Clarifying 

Amendments 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of 

effective date. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is confirming the 

effective date of January 26, 2015, for 

the direct final rule that was published 

in the Federal Register on September 

26, 2014. This direct final rule amended 

regulations related to reportable safety 

events involving special nuclear 

material. This rule increases the time 

licensees are allowed to submit a 

written follow-up report from within 30 

days to within 60 days after the initial 

report of an event, updates the reporting 

framework for certain situations, and 

removes redundant reporting 

requirements. 

DATES: The effective date of January 26, 

2015, for the direct final rule published 

September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57721), is 

confirmed. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2010–0271 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information for this action. You may 

access publicly-available information 

related to this action by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2010–0271. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–3422; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@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 access publiclyavailable documents online in the NRC 

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 (if it is 

available in ADAMS) is provided the 

first time that it is mentioned in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. 

• 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Keith McDaniel, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, telephone: 

301–415–5252, email: Keith.McDaniel@

nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion 

On September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57721), 

the NRC published a direct final rule 

amending its regulations in part 70 of 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) to increase the 

time licensees are allowed to submit a 

written follow-up report from within 30 

days to within 60 days after the initial 

report of an event, update the reporting 

framework for certain situations, and 

remove redundant reporting 

requirements. These amendments affect 

a licensee or an applicant that is, or 

plans to be, authorized to possess 

greater than a critical mass of special 

nuclear material. 

II. Public Comments on the Companion 

Proposed Rule 

A companion proposed rule was also 

published in the Federal Register on 

September 26, 2014 (79 FR 57840) 

which provided an opportunity for 

public comment. In the direct final rule, 

the NRC stated that if no significant 

adverse comments were received, the 

direct final rule would become effective 

on January 26, 2015. The substantive 

changes being made in this rulemaking 

are to reporting provisions in 10 CFR 

70.74 and Appendix A to part 70. These 

changes increase the time—from 30 to 

60 days—that licensees subject to part 

70, Subpart H (Additional Requirements 

for Certain Licensees Authorized to 

Possess a Critical Mass of Special 

Nuclear Material) will have to submit a 

written follow-up report after the initial 

report of certain significant events to the 

NRC Operations Center. 

The NRC received one public 

comment (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML14296A322). The commenter agrees 

with the proposed changes, but the 

commenter requested that the NRC also 

revise a 10 CFR 70.50 reporting 

provision that is within part 70, Subpart 

G (Special Nuclear Material Control, 

Records, Reports and Inspections). The 

commenter wants licensees subject to 

Subpart G to also be given 60 rather 

than 30 days to submit a written followup report. 

The comment letter does not warrant 

the withdrawal of the direct final rule. 

The direct final rule is of limited scope, 

and arose from PRM–70–8 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML091110449, dated 

April 16, 2009, filed by the Nuclear 

Energy Institute) that did not seek 

changes to 10 CFR 70.50. The 

commenter has not provided a sufficient 

basis to expand the direct final rule’s 

scope to include revising the 30-day 

reporting requirement in 10 CFR 70.50, 

and the NRC does not agree with the 

commenter’s claim that his proposal 

meets the criteria for being a significant 

adverse comment. Therefore, this rule 

will become effective as scheduled. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day 

of December, 2014. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Carol Gallagher, 

Acting Chief, Rules, Announcements, and 

Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 

Services, Office of Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30865 Filed 1–2–15; 8:45 am] 

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