10 CFR Part 52, Subpart F - Manufacturing Licenses

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comment on a draft regulatory basis to support a rulemaking that would develop new emergency preparedness (EP) requirements for small modular reactors (SMRs) and other new technologies (ONTs), such as non-light-water reactors (non-LWRs) and medical isotope production facilities. The new EP regulations would be consequence-oriented, performance-based, and technology inclusive to the extent possible, and continue to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety. The new EP regulations would be applicable to SMR and ONT facilities only. Large light-water reactors (LWRs), fuel cycle facilities, research and test reactors and other non-power, non-commercial, facilities are not in the scope of this rulemaking. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of the rulemaking and facilitate public participation.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comments on a draft regulatory basis to support a rulemaking that would amend NRC's regulations for the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The NRC's goals in amending these regulations would be to provide for an efficient decommissioning process; reduce the need for exemptions from existing regulations; address other decommissioning issues deemed relevant by the NRC staff; and support the principles of good regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to discuss the draft regulatory basis and facilitate public comment.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC), and Mr. Paul M. Blanch (collectively, the petitioners) on June 18, 2012. The petitioners requested that the NRC amend its regulations to clearly and unequivocally require the environmental qualification of all safety-related cables, wires, splices, connections and other ancillary electrical equipment that may be subjected to submergence and/or moisture intrusion during normal operating conditions, severe weather, seasonal flooding, and seismic events, and post-accident conditions, both inside and outside of a reactor's containment building. The NRC is denying this petition because the current regulations already address environmental qualification in both mild and design basis event conditions of electrical equipment located both inside and outside of the containment building that is important to safety, and the petition does not provide significant new or previously unconsidered information sufficient to justify rulemaking.

On November 19, 2015, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on regulatory improvements for decommissioning power reactors. The public comment period was originally scheduled to close on January 4, 2016. The NRC has decided to extend the public comment period to allow more time for members of the public to develop and submit their comments.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to make miscellaneous corrections. These changes include renaming the Office of Information Services, renaming the Computer Security Office and removing it as a standalone office, capitalizing the words Tribe, Tribes, and Tribal, correcting a Web site address, correcting a misspelling, removing a submission requirement, correcting an email address, correcting a room number, removing a Federal Register notice requirement, and adding missing information collection references. This document is necessary to inform the public of these non-substantive changes to the NRC's regulations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is correcting a proposed rule that it published in the Federal Register (FR) on November 13, 2015, proposing to amend its regulations that establish regulatory requirements for nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees to mitigate beyond-design-basis events. This action is necessary to correct an NRC docket ID number that was listed incorrectly.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to obtain input from stakeholders on the development of a draft regulatory basis. The draft regulatory basis would support potential changes to the NRC's regulations for the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The NRC's goals in amending these regulations would be to provide an efficient decommissioning process, reduce the need for exemptions from existing regulations, and support the principles of good regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability. The NRC is soliciting public comments on the contemplated action and invites stakeholders and interested persons to participate. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of the questions contained in this ANPR and facilitate public comment.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations that establish regulatory requirements for nuclear power reactor applicants and licensees to mitigate beyond-design-basis events. The NRC is proposing to make generically applicable requirements in Commission orders for mitigation of beyond-design-basis events and for reliable spent fuel pool instrumentation. This proposed rule would establish regulatory requirements for an integrated response capability, including supporting requirements for command and control, drills, training and change control. This proposed rule also would establish requirements for enhanced onsite emergency response capabilities. Finally, this proposed rule would address a number of petitions for rulemaking (PRMs) submitted to the NRC following the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi event. This rulemaking is applicable to power reactor licensees, power reactor license applicants, and decommissioning power reactor licensees. This rulemaking combines two NRC activities for which documents have been published in the Federal Register —Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities (RIN 3150-AJ11; NRC-2012-0031) and Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies (RIN 3150-AJ08; NRC-2011-0299). The new identification numbers for this consolidated rulemaking are RIN 3150-AJ49 and NRC-2014-0240.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1322, “Alternate Risk-Informed Approach for Addressing the Effects of Debris On Post-Accident Long-Term Core Cooling.” This DG proposes new guidance that describes methods and procedures that the NRC staff considers acceptable for complying with a voluntary, risk-informed alternative in a proposed revision of the NRC's regulation governing the design of emergency core cooling systems (ECCS).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider in the rulemaking process the issues raised in a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-50-107, submitted by James Lieberman (the petitioner). The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to require that all persons seeking NRC approvals provide the NRC with complete and accurate information. Current NRC regulations pertaining to completeness and accuracy of information apply only to NRC licensees and license applicants. The NRC has determined that the issues raised in the PRM have merit and are appropriate for consideration in the rulemaking process.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing NUREG-1966, Supplement 1, “Final Safety Evaluation Report Related to the Certification of the Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor Standard Design, Supplement 1.”

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to make miscellaneous corrections. These changes include updating the address for the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), updating a footnote, correcting mathematical errors, correcting references, correcting typographical and grammatical errors, and revising language for clarity and consistency. This final rule also makes changes to the time period by which a Federal agency must refer a debt for collection through offset, and makes conforming changes to the regulations to reflect the transfer of Mississippi to NRC Region IV.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is adopting a new rule certifying the Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR) standard plant design. This action is necessary so that applicants or licensees intending to construct and operate an ESBWR design may do so by referencing this design certification rule (DCR). The applicant for certification of the ESBWR design is GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to certify the Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR) standard plant design. The proposed ESBWR design certification rule was published for public comment on March 24, 2011. The NRC is publishing this supplemental proposed rule to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on two matters. The first is proposed changes related to the analysis methodology supporting the ESBWR steam dryer design that were made after the close of the public comment period for the proposed ESBWR design certification rule. The second is the NRC's proposed clarification of its intent to treat 50 referenced documents within Revision 10 of the ESBWR design control document (DCD) as requirements and matters resolved in subsequent licensing and enforcement actions for plants referencing the ESBWR design certification. In addition, the supplemental proposed rule clarifies that the NRC intends to obtain approval for incorporation by reference from the Director of the Office of the Federal Register for the generic DCD and 20 publicly-available documents that are referenced in the DCD that are intended by the NRC to be requirements. The supplemental proposed rule does not offer an opportunity for public comment on this clarification of the NRC's intent. Finally, the supplemental proposed rule updates the version of the DCD (from Revision 9 to Revision 10) which the NRC proposes to obtain approval for incorporation by reference from the Office of the Federal Register. Revision 10 of the DCD was needed to address the previously described matters. The applicant for certification of the ESBWR design is GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH).

On March 24, 2014, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published for public comment a proposed rule revising the acceptance criteria for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) for light-water nuclear power reactors. The NRC is also seeking public comment on three draft regulatory guides that would support the implementation of the proposed rule. The public comment period for the proposed rule and associated draft guidance was to have ended on June 9, 2014. The public comment period for information collection aspects of this rule was to have ended on April 23, 2014. Due to requests from members of the public, the NRC has extended the comment periods for the proposed rule, the associated draft guidance, and the information collection aspects until August 21, 2014.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to revise the acceptance criteria for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) for light-water nuclear power reactors. The proposed ECCS acceptance criteria are performance-based, and reflect recent research findings that identified new embrittlement mechanisms for fuel rods with zirconium alloy cladding under loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions. The proposed rule also addresses two petitions for rulemaking (PRMs) by establishing requirements applicable to all fuel types and cladding materials, and requiring the consideration of crud, oxide deposits, and hydrogen content in zirconium-based alloy fuel cladding. Further, the proposed rule contains a provision that would allow licensees to use an alternative risk-informed approach to evaluate the effects of debris for long-term cooling. The NRC is also seeking public comment on three draft regulatory guides that would support the implementation of the proposed rule.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations concerning deliberate misconduct by licensees and other persons otherwise subject to the NRC's jurisdiction (known as the “Deliberate Misconduct Rule”) and its regulations concerning challenges to immediately effective orders issued by the NRC. This proposed rule would incorporate the concept of “deliberate ignorance” as an additional basis on which to take enforcement action against persons who violate any of the NRC's Deliberate Misconduct Rule provisions. The NRC is also proposing to amend its regulations regarding challenges to the immediate effectiveness of NRC enforcement orders to clarify that the NRC staff has the burden of persuasion in showing that adequate evidence supports the grounds for the order and that immediate effectiveness is warranted and to clarify the authority of the NRC's presiding officer to order live testimony in resolving these challenges.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a supplement to a petition for rulemaking (PRM) previously filed with the NRC by Mr. James Lieberman (the petitioner) (PRM-50-107). The petitioner originally requested that the NRC expand its regulatory framework for nuclear power reactors to make it a legal obligation for those non-licensees who seek NRC regulatory approvals to be held to the same legal standards for the submittal of complete and accurate information as would a licensee or an applicant for a license. The petitioner requests that the scope of his petition be expanded to encompass the NRC's regulations for radioactive materials, waste disposal, transportation, and spent fuel storage licensees. The NRC requests public comments on the supplement to the petition.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a final rule in the Federal Register on June 7, 2013, to make miscellaneous corrections to its regulations. The final rule contained minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and referencing. This document corrects the final rule by amending the sections that contain these errors.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-50-105, submitted by Mark Leyse (the petitioner) on February 28, 2012. The petitioner requested that the NRC require all holders of operating licenses for nuclear power plants (NPPs) to operate NPPs with in-core thermocouples at different elevations and radial positions throughout the reactor core to enable the operators to accurately measure a large range of in-core temperatures in NPP steady-state and transient conditions. The NRC is denying the PRM because: there are no protection or plant control functions that utilize inputs from core exit thermocouples (CETs); there is no operational necessity for more accurate measurement of temperatures throughout the core; the petition provided inadequate justification of why precise knowledge of core temperature at various elevations and radial positions would enhance safety or change operator action; and the NRC believes that, despite the known limitations of CETs, CETs are sufficient to allow NPP operators to take timely and effective action in the event of an accident.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a regulatory basis document to support the potential amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' and applicants' station blackout mitigation strategies. The issuance of this regulatory basis document is one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to make miscellaneous corrections. These changes include updating the name of its human capital office, correcting and adding missing cross-references, correcting grammatical errors, revising language for clarity and consistency, and specifying metric units. This document is necessary to inform the public of these non-substantive changes to the NRC's regulations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comment on the draft regulatory basis document to support the potential amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' station blackout mitigation strategies. Appendix A of the draft regulatory basis provides a discussion of rule language concepts that the NRC staff is considering for this potential rulemaking. In addition, Appendix A contains a set of questions soliciting stakeholder feedback in areas that would support the NRC staff in developing a proposed rule. The issuance of this draft regulatory basis document is one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) received a petition for rulemaking (PRM), dated June 18, 2012, which was filed with the NRC by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC) and Mr. Paul M. Blanch (collectively, the petitioners). The petition was docketed by the NRC on June 22, 2012, and assigned Docket No. PRM-50-106. The petitioners request that the NRC initiate a rulemaking “to revise its regulations to clearly and unequivocally require the environmental qualification of all safety-related cables, wires, splices, connections and other ancillary electrical equipment that may be subjected to submergence and/or moisture intrusion during normal operating conditions, severe weather, seasonal flooding, seismic events, and post-accident conditions, both inside and outside of containment.” The NRC is not instituting a public comment period for this PRM at this time.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is amending its regulations related to verification of nuclear power plant construction activities through inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria (ITAAC) under a combined license, and issuing a revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.215, “Guidance for ITAAC Closure Under 10 CFR [Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations ] Part 52.” The final rule contains new provisions that apply after a licensee has completed an ITAAC and submitted an ITAAC closure notification. The new provisions require licensees to report new information materially altering the basis for determining that inspections, tests, or analyses were performed as required, or that acceptance criteria are met, and to notify the NRC of the completion of all ITAAC activities. In addition, the NRC is including editorial corrections to existing language in the NRC's regulations to make that language consistent with language in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). Regulatory Guide 1.215 describes a method that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in satisfying the requirements for documenting the completion of ITAAC.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is publishing for public comment a notice of receipt for a petition for rulemaking (PRM), dated February 15, 2012, which was filed with the NRC by Mr. Michael Mariotte on behalf of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS or the petitioner) and 37 co-petitioners. The petition was docketed by the NRC on February 17, 2012, and assigned Docket No. PRM-50-104. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to expand the Emergency Planning Zones (EPZs) for nuclear power plants.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is issuing this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to begin the process of potentially amending its regulations to strengthen and integrate onsite emergency response capabilities. The NRC seeks public comment on specific questions and issues with respect to possible revision to the NRC's requirements for onsite emergency response capabilities, and development of both new requirements and the supporting regulatory basis. This regulatory action is one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan.