[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60706-60707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24440]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Consolidated
Decommissioning Guidance: Decommissioning Process for Materials
Licensees; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) is announcing the availability of
a final document ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance:
Decommissioning Process for Materials Licensees'' (NUREG-1757, Vol. 1).
This document provides guidance for planning and implementing the
termination of licenses issued through NMSS's licensing programs. The
guidance is intended for NRC staff, licensees, and the public. The
guidance was developed in response to the NMSS performance goals, in
the NRC's Strategic Plan, of: (1) making NRC activities and decisions
more effective, efficient, and realistic; and (2) reducing unnecessary
regulatory burden on stakeholders. The guidance in final NUREG-1757,
Volume 1, should be used by fuel cycle, fuel storage, and materials
licensees in preparing decommissioning license amendment requests,
decommissioning plans, and related compliance documents. NRC staff will
use the policies and procedures discussed in Volume 1 to evaluate a
licensee's decommissioning actions.
ADDRESSES: NUREG-1757, Volume 1, is available for inspection and
copying for a fee at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. NRC's
Headquarters Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (First Floor), Rockville,
Maryland. The Public Document Room is open from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays. NUREG-1757, Volume
1, is also available electronically from the ADAMS Electronic Reading
Room on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html,
and on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff.
Copies of NUREG-1757, Volume 1, may also be purchased from one of
these two sources: (1) The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001; Internet:
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/; telephone: 202-512-1800; fax: 202-512-2250;
(2) The National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161-
0002, Internet: www.ntis.gov; telephone 1-800-553-6847 or, locally,
703-605-6000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Duane W. Schmidt, Mail Stop T-7F27,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Telephone: (301) 415-6919; Internet: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its redesign of the materials
license program, NMSS is consolidating and updating numerous
decommissioning guidance documents into a three-volume NUREG report.
The three volumes are as follows: (1) Decommissioning Process for
Materials Licensees; (2) Characterization, Survey, and Determination of
Radiological Criteria; and (3) Financial Assurance, Recordkeeping, and
Timeliness. Volume 1 of this NUREG series, entitled ``Consolidated NMSS
Decommissioning Guidance: Decommissioning Process for Materials
Licensees,'' is the first of these three volumes and is intended for
use by applicants, licensees, NRC license reviewers, other NRC
personnel, and Agreement State staff.
The approaches to license termination described in Volume 1 of
NUREG-1757 will help to identify the information (subject matter and
level of detail) needed to terminate a license by considering the wide
range of radioactive materials users licensed by NRC. Volume 1 of the
NUREG provides guidance for planning and implementing the termination,
under the License Termination Rule (10 CFR part 20, subpart E), of
licenses issued through NMSS's licensing programs. Volume 1
incorporates the risk-informed and performance-based alternatives of
the rule. Volume 1 updates and builds upon the risk-informed approach
in, and in part incorporates, the NMSS Decommissioning Handbook (NUREG/
BR-0241, ``NMSS Handbook for Decommissioning Fuel Cycle and Materials
Facilities,'' March 1997). Volume 1 also incorporates the parts of the
``NMSS Decommissioning Standard Review Plan,'' NUREG-1727, September
2000, that provide guidance for developing those parts of a
decommissioning plan addressing general site description and current
radiological conditions; decommissioning activities, management, and
quality assurance; and modifications to decommissioning programs and
procedures. This final Volume 1 describes and makes available to the
public (1) methods acceptable to the NRC staff in implementing specific
parts of the Commission's regulations; (2) techniques and criteria used
by the staff in evaluating decommissioning actions; and (3) guidance to
licensees responsible for decommissioning NRC-licensed sites.
The guidance in final NUREG-1757, Volume 1, should be used by fuel
cycle, fuel storage, and materials licensees in preparing
decommissioning license amendment requests, decommissioning plans, and
related compliance documents. Other NRC licensees, e.g., uranium
recovery facilities and reactors, may find this information useful, but
they are not the subject of this NUREG. NRC staff will use the policies
and procedures discussed in Volume 1 to evaluate a licensee's
decommissioning actions. This NUREG does not substitute for
regulations, and compliance with it is not required. Methods and
solutions different from those in this NUREG will be acceptable, if
they provide a basis for concluding that the decommissioning
[[Page 60707]]
actions are in compliance with the Commission's regulations.
Further information on the overall decommissioning guidance
consolidation and updating project can be found in the Federal Register
notice publishing the plan for the project (66 FR 21793).
Dated at Rockville, MD, this 20th day of September, 2002.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-24440 Filed 9-25-02; 8:45 am]
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