10 CFR 73.3 - Interpretations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to establish security requirements for the use and transport of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material. The NRC considers these quantities to be risk significant and, therefore, to warrant additional protection. Category 1 and category 2 thresholds are based on the quantities established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, which the NRC endorses. The objective of this final rule is to provide reasonable assurance of preventing the theft or diversion of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material. The regulations also include security requirements for the transportation of irradiated reactor fuel that weighs 100 grams or less in net weight of irradiated fuel. The final rule affects any licensee that possesses an aggregated category 1 or category 2 quantity of radioactive material, any licensee that transports these materials using ground transportation, and any licensee that transports small quantities of irradiated reactor fuel. The rule also considers a petition for rulemaking (PRM-71-13) submitted by the State of Washington that requested that the NRC adopt the use of global positioning satellite tracking as a national requirement for vehicles transporting highly radioactive mobile or portable radioactive devices.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking (PRM) filed with the Commission by Ellen C. Ginsberg on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI or the petitioner) on January 25, 2013. The petition was docketed by the NRC on February 4, 2013, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-73-16. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to limit the scope of third-party review of licensee decisions denying or revoking an employee's unescorted access at their facility. The petitioner seeks to ensure that such decisions cannot be overturned by any third party. The petitioner also requests an expedited review of this petition based on pending arbitration cases that will be affected by NRC action on this petition. The NRC has reviewed the petitioner's request for an expedited review of this petition and has determined that the petition should be expedited due to the aforementioned pending arbitration cases. Therefore, the NRC is limiting the public comment period to 45 days. While 75 days is the normal duration for NRC technical rules, the NRC believes that 45 days provides sufficient time for stakeholders to comment.