[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 106 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26814-26816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13023]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 70

[Docket No. PRM-70-8; NRC-2009-0184]


Nuclear Energy Institute; Notice of Receipt of Petition for 
Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and 
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking dated April 16, 
2009, filed by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (petitioner). The 
petition was docketed by the NRC and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-
70-8. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to 
clarify the existing event reporting requirements based on experience 
gained since the requirements were implemented in 2000.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by August 18, 2009. Comments received 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this petition by any one of the 
following methods. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form 
will be made available for public inspection. Because your comments 
will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, 
the NRC cautions you against including any information in your 
submission that you do not want to be publicly disclosed.
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2009-0184. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#df9cbeadb0b3f198beb3b3beb8b7baad9fb1adbcf1b8b0a9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c380a2b1acafed84a2afafa2a4aba6b183adb1a0eda4acb5">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
    E-mail comments to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c193b4ada4aca0aaa8afa6ef82aeacaca4afb5b281afb3a2efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="affddac3cac2cec4c6c1c881ecc0c2c2cac1dbdcefc1ddcc81c8c0d9">[email protected]</span></a>. If you do not 
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, 
contact us directly at 301-415-1677.
    Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. (Telephone 301-
415-1677).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
301-415-1101.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document using the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2009-0184.
    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 O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, 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 NRC's PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9dedf9efb3eff8eef2e8effef8ddf3effeb3faf2eb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2e5e4a5c005c4b5d415b5c4d4b6e405c4d00494158">[email protected]</span></a>.
    For a copy of the petition, write to Betty Golden, Rulemaking and 
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Telephone 301-492-3669, toll

[[Page 26815]]

free 800-368-5642, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e2a08796969bcca58d8e86878ca28c9081cc858d94"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8fcdeafbfbf6a1c8e0e3ebeae1cfe1fdeca1e8e0f9">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Telephone 301-492-3663, toll free 800-368-5642, 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#90ddf9f3f8f1f5fcbedcf5e3f1e2d0fee2f3bef7ffe6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bff2d6dcd7dedad391f3daccdecdffd1cddc91d8d0c9">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The Petitioner

    NEI is the organization responsible for establishing unified 
industry policy on matters affecting the nuclear energy industry, 
including the regulatory aspects of generic operational and technical 
issues. NEI's members include entities comprising the fuel cycle 
industry and other nuclear industries. NEI is responsible for 
coordinating the combined efforts of licensed facilities on matters 
involving generic NRC regulatory policy issues and generic operational 
and technical regulatory issues affecting the industry operations of 
every NRC-licensed operating fuel cycle facility and those under 
construction.

Background

    The petitioner states that in a June 2007 white paper, NEI 
documented challenges posed by implementation of the 2000 version of 10 
CFR part 70, appendix A. The petitioner also states that the NRC had 
also observed inconsistent reporting of events under Appendix A to10 
CFR Part 70 and had developed a matrix of reporting issues based on 
actual events. A working group, consisting of NRC and industry 
representatives, was formed to achieve a common understanding of 
reports required under Appendix A. The petitioner states that industry 
endorses and is ready to support the following suggested modifications 
to 10 CFR part 70, appendix A.

Proposed Action

    The petitioner requests that 10 CFR part 70, appendix A, be amended 
to clarify the requirements for reportable safety events based on 
experience to date. The petitioner believes that these modifications 
will help ensure a more uniform understanding of the requirements by 
licensees and NRC, as well as more consistent reporting of events by 
licensees.
    The petitioner's suggested changes to 10 CFR part 70, appendix A, 
are as follows:
    1. In the introductory text to Appendix A, remove ``except for 
(a)(1), (a)(2), and (b)(4), after they have submitted an ISA Summary in 
accordance with Sec.  70.62(c)(3)(ii). Licensees must comply with 
(a)(1), (a)(2), and (b)(4) after October 18, 2000.'' The petitioner 
states that this text is no longer needed as the exemption expired 
October 18, 2004.
    2. In paragraph (a) of Appendix A, change the time requirement to 
submit a written report on events reported to the NRC Operations Center 
within 1 hour of discovery, from 30 days to 60 days. The petitioner 
states that a 60 day report provides higher assurance of a more 
complete report without compromising safety and is consistent with 
equivalent event reporting requirements for operating nuclear power 
plants in 10 CFR 50.73(a). The petitioner believes that changing the 
time limit from 30 days to 60 days does not mean that licensees will 
take longer to develop and implement corrective actions, which are done 
on a time scale commensurate with the safety significance of the issue. 
The petitioner believes that for those cases where it does take longer 
than 30 days to complete root cause analysis, this change will result 
in fewer reports that require submittal of an amended report.
    3. Revise paragraph (a)(2) of Appendix A to clarify that the intake 
is associated with a person located outside of the controlled area to 
make reporting commensurate with the performance requirements described 
in 10 CFR 70.61(b)(3). The petitioner states that the 30 mg limit may 
be changed to conform to a revised intake limit.
    4. Revise paragraph (a)(3) of Appendix A to read, ``An acute 
chemical exposure to an individual inside the controlled area from 
licensed material or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed 
material that could endanger the life of a worker; or, a chemical 
release involving licensed material or hazardous chemicals produced 
from licensed materials that results in a concentration outside of the 
controlled area that exceeds the quantitative standards established as 
required by 10 CFR 70.61(b)(4)(ii).'' The petitioner states that the 
proposed wording eliminates potential confusion regarding quantitative 
values for individuals located inside the controlled area. The 
petitioner states that it also requires reporting if the chemical 
release concentration is such that it exceeds the quantitative standard 
for an individual located outside of the controlled area, rather than 
requiring the licensee to determine if such an exposure actually 
occurred before being required to make a report.
    5. Remove paragraph (a)(5) of Appendix A. The petitioner believes 
that reporting of this type of event (e.g., loss of controls) is 
currently required by paragraph (b)(2) of Appendix A. The petitioner 
states that additionally, a one hour reporting requirement for nuclear 
criticality safety is not consistent with the allowed risk for other 
high consequence events for which a single item relied on for safety 
(IROFS) is allowed.
    6. In paragraph (b) of Appendix A, change the time requirement to 
submit written reports on events reported to the NRC Operations Center 
within 24 hours of discovery, supplemented with the information in 10 
CFR 70.50(c)(1) as it becomes available, from 30 days to 60 days. The 
petitioner states that a 60 day report provides higher assurance of a 
more complete report without compromising safety and is consistent with 
equivalent event reporting requirements for operating nuclear power 
plants in 10 CFR 50.73a. The petitioner believes that changing the time 
limit from 30 days to 60 days does not mean that licensees will take 
longer to develop and implement corrective actions, which are done on a 
time scale commensurate with the safety significance of the issue. The 
petitioner states that, for those cases where it does take longer than 
30 days to complete a root cause analysis, this change will result in 
fewer reports that require submittal of an amended report.
    7. Revise paragraph (b)(3) of Appendix A to read, ``An acute 
chemical exposure to an individual inside the controlled area from 
licensed material or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed 
materials that requires medical treatment at an off-site medical 
facility.'' The petitioner believes that this proposed change would 
help ensure event reporting at a threshold that the NRC would generally 
want to know about, and that licensees would generally notify NRC 
whether or not reporting was required.
    8. In paragraph (b)(4) of Appendix A, remove ``or may have 
affected'' to clarify NRC's expectation on reporting any natural 
phenomenon or other external event, including fires internal and 
external to the facility. The petitioner believes that if the safety 
function or availability of an IROFS has been affected, then this 
phrase is very clear. However, the petitioner states that the phrase 
``or may have affected'' is subjective and difficult to interpret for 
licensees and the NRC. The petitioner states that, for example, a wind 
storm ``may have'' impacted an IROFS if it had been more severe. The 
petitioner believes that the current approach to

[[Page 26816]]

reporting is not consistent with other event reporting requirements.
    9. Remove paragraph (b)(5) of Appendix A because it is redundant 
with paragraph (b)(1) of Appendix A.
    10. The petitioner states that the industry understands that 
additional NRC staff guidance is being prepared concerning the issuance 
of reports submitted to the NRC Operations Center concurrent to the 
news release or other notification concerning any event or situation, 
related to the health and safety of the public or onsite personnel, or 
protection of the environment. The petitioner encourages the NRC to 
issue the guidance for public comment as soon as possible.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of May 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. E9-13023 Filed 6-3-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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