10 CFR § 70.61 - Performance requirements.

§ 70.61 Performance requirements.

(a) Each applicant or licensee shall evaluate, in the integrated safety analysis performed in accordance with § 70.62, its compliance with the performance requirements in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

(b) The risk of each credible high-consequence event must be limited. Engineered controls, administrative controls, or both, shall be applied to the extent needed to reduce the likelihood of occurrence of the event so that, upon implementation of such controls, the event is highly unlikely or its consequences are less severe than those in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section. High consequence events are those internally or externally initiated events that result in:

(1) An acute worker dose of 1 Sv (100 rem) or greater total effective dose equivalent;

(2) An acute dose of 0.25 Sv (25 rem) or greater total effective dose equivalent to any individual located outside the controlled area identified pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section;

(3) An intake of 30 mg or greater of uranium in soluble form by any individual located outside the controlled area identified pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section; or

(4) An acute chemical exposure to an individual from licensed material or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed material that:

(i) Could endanger the life of a worker, or

(ii) Could lead to irreversible or other serious, long-lasting health effects to any individual located outside the controlled area identified pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section. If an applicant possesses or plans to possess quantities of material capable of such chemical exposures, then the applicant shall propose appropriate quantitative standards for these health effects, as part of the information submitted pursuant to § 70.65 of this subpart.

(c) The risk of each credible intermediate-consequence event must be limited. Engineered controls, administrative controls, or both shall be applied to the extent needed so that, upon implementation of such controls, the event is unlikely or its consequences are less than those in paragraphs (c)(1)–(4) of this section. Intermediate consequence events are those internally or externally initiated events that are not high consequence events, that result in:

(1) An acute worker dose of 0.25 Sv (25 rem) or greater total effective dose equivalent;

(2) An acute dose of 0.05 Sv (5 rem) or greater total effective dose equivalent to any individual located outside the controlled area identified pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section;

(3) A 24-hour averaged release of radioactive material outside the restricted area in concentrations exceeding 5000 times the values in Table 2 of Appendix B to Part 20; or

(4) An acute chemical exposure to an individual from licensed material or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed material that:

(i) Could lead to irreversible or other serious, long-lasting health effects to a worker, or

(ii) Could cause mild transient health effects to any individual located outside the controlled area as specified in paragraph (f) of this section. If an applicant possesses or plans to possess quantities of material capable of such chemical exposures, then the applicant shall propose appropriate quantitative standards for these health effects, as part of the information submitted pursuant to § 70.65 of this subpart.

(d) In addition to complying with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the risk of nuclear criticality accidents must be limited by assuring that under normal and credible abnormal conditions, all nuclear processes are subcritical, including use of an approved margin of subcriticality for safety. Preventive controls and measures must be the primary means of protection against nuclear criticality accidents.

(e) Each engineered or administrative control or control system necessary to comply with paragraphs (b), (c), or (d) of this section shall be designated as an item relied on for safety. The safety program, established and maintained pursuant to § 70.62 of this subpart, shall ensure that each item relied on for safety will be available and reliable to perform its intended function when needed and in the context of the performance requirements of this section.

(f) Each licensee must establish a controlled area, as defined in § 20.1003. In addition, the licensee must retain the authority to exclude or remove personnel and property from the area. For the purpose of complying with the performance requirements of this section, individuals who are not workers, as defined in § 70.4, may be permitted to perform ongoing activities (e.g., at a facility not related to the licensed activities) in the controlled area, if the licensee:

(1) Demonstrates and documents, in the integrated safety analysis, that the risk for those individuals at the location of their activities does not exceed the performance requirements of paragraphs (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4)(ii), (c)(2), and (c)(4)(ii) of this section; or

(2) Provides training that satisfies 10 CFR 19.12(a)(1)–(5) to these individuals and ensures that they are aware of the risks associated with accidents involving the licensed activities as determined by the integrated safety analysis, and conspicuously posts and maintains notices stating where the information in 10 CFR 19.11(a) may be examined by these individuals. Under these conditions, the performance requirements for workers specified in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section may be applied to these individuals.

[65 FR 56226, Sept. 18, 2000, as amended at 87 FR 20697, Apr. 8, 2022]