ML20114E015

Slides for April 23, 2020, Public Meeting to Discuss Potential Regulatory Relief for Part 30 & 34 Licensees

ML20114E015
Person / Time
Issue date:	04/23/2020
From:	Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
To:
Rakovan L
References
Download: ML20114E015 (25)

Text

Please stand by The Meeting on Regulatory Relief for NRC Part 30 & 34 Licensees will begin shortly Please ensure you have called into the bridge line, its the only audio for todays meeting:

Bridge Line: 888-965-9717 Pass Code: 8276943

Regulatory Relief Pathways for NRC Part 30 & 34 Licensees During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency April 23, 2020 Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Division of Nuclear Materials Safety NRC Region I

Welcome, Purpose & Agenda Mike Layton, Director Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs 3

Purpose of Todays Meeting

• Discuss available regulatory relief pathways for 10 CFR Part 30 & 34 licensees during the COVID-19 public health emergency

• Discuss the process by which to submit requests for regulatory relief

• Hear from licensees on the types of regulatory relief they expect they might need 4

Agenda Time Topic Speaker Mike Layton, Director 1:00 p.m. Introduction Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs 1:05 p.m. Meeting Logistics Lance Rakovan, Facilitator David Alley, Chief 1:10 p.m. Regulatory Relief Pathways Materials Safety and Tribal Liaison Branch Randy Ragland, Senior Health Physicist General Overview of 1:20 p.m. Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Exemption Requests NRC Region I 1:30 p.m. Comments from Participants 2:25 p.m. Meeting Recap and Adjourn David Alley 5

Meeting Logistics

• Meeting audio is through the bridge line only (Bridge Line: 888-965-9717 Pass Code: 8276943 )

• Participants are in listen-only mode until the public comment portion of the meeting

• Meeting materials include slides (ML20114E015),

April 7 licensee letter (ML20094G166), and temporary exemptions tables (ML20108E943 &

ML20108E944)

• During the public comment portion of meeting, comment by phone or by submitting a message via WebEx Chat 6

Regulatory Relief Pathways David Alley, Chief Materials Safety and Tribal Liaison Branch 7

Materials Licensee Letter - April 7, 2020

• This letter outlines the regulatory options for materials licensees to seek regulatory relief that may be necessary during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Exemptions to regulations and amendments for license conditions and tie downs Potential for NRC to issue enforcement discretion Emergency regulatory relief Accessible at ADAMS Accession No. ML20094G166 8

Temporary Exemption

• Exemptions are expected to be temporary.

• The expiration date of the exemption and/or any extension of deadlines to comply with regulatory requirements will be specified.

• Should additional time beyond the exemption be needed, the NRC would consider an exemption based on a subsequent request that updates all the information in the initial request.

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NRC Preparation for Anticipated Relief Requests

• Created a template to allow NRC regions to quickly process anticipated exemption requests

• Developed guidelines for regional reviewers to quickly process anticipated requests

• Unanticipated requests will be evaluated but may take more time to process 10

Points of Contact for Regulatory Relief

• Region I James Trapp, Director James.Trapp@nrc.gov

• Region III David Pelton, Director David.Pelton@nrc.gov

• Region IV Mary Muessle, Director Mary.Muessle@nrc.gov 11

Agreement State Licensees

• See the Organization of Agreement States (OAS) Web site for links to Agreement State COVID-19 responses:

https://www.agreementstates.org/covid response.html 12

Exemption Request Overview Randy Ragland, Senior Health Physicist Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, NRC Region I 13

What to Include in COVID-19 Exemption Request

• Request to seek regulatory relief that may be necessary during the COVID-19 public health emergency

• Describe which areas and activities are shut down or have limited access and which are fully operational

• Describe required activities that cannot be met during the shut-down:

• Regulations

• License conditions

• License commitments

• Compensatory measures to ensure that licensed material is being stored and used safely

• Expected length of time that you will be shut down or have access restrictions in place 14

NRC Experience With Exemption Requests

• Licensees requested relief from daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual commitments for the Radiation Safety Program:

• Area Surveys

• Source inventories

• Source leak tests

• Instrument calibration

• Dosimetry exchanges

• Routine door lock checks

• Environmental air sampling

• Research protocol renewals

• Vendor Activities (e.g., source exchange, PMs) 15

NRC Experience With Exemption Requests -

Continued

• 10 CFR 20.1906(c): Package Receipt Timeliness

• 10 CFR 20.1101(c): Annual Reviews 16

April 17, 2020: NRC Issued Exemption Template to Staff for 10 CFR Parts 30 & 34

• 10 CFR Part 30

• Physical inventory

• Leak testing

• Dosimetry exchanges

• Refresher training

• Radiation safety committee

• Annual program reviews 17

April 17, 2020: NRC Issued Exemption Template to Staff for 10 CFR Parts 30 & 34

• 10 CFR Part 34

• 34.25(b)(1): Instrument calibration (6 month)

• 34.27(c)(1): Leak testing (6 month)

• 34.27(e): DU leak testing (12 month)

• 34.29(a): Inventory (quarterly)

• 34.43(d): Refresher training (12 month)

• 34.43(3)(1): Performance assessment (6 month) 18

March 31, 2020 Exemption for ASNT Recertifications

• 10 CFR 34, Appendix A, Section II.5:

• Provide a certification period of not less than 3 years nor more than 5 years;

• Relief provided for certifications due to expire March 31 - September 30, 2020;

• ASNT may grant two extensions up to 90 days each, as needed during the COVID-19 emergency (ML20090C666) 19

NRC Experience With Exemption Requests

• Some delays occurred due to a lack of specific information

• Regulation

• License condition

• License or docket number

• Full scope of relief needed

• Some requests did not need relief, but it was later determined that they did not need certain relief 20

NRC Experience With Exemption Requests

• Some requests did not need relief

• Dosimetry change-outs for programs with the maximum dose <10% of occupational dose limits (i.e., <500 mrem)

• Most applications allow for a prospective evaluation rather than requiring the use of dosimetry

• Leak testing for sealed sources in storage

• Bioassays frequencies which are not tied down by the application or license condition

• Survey instrument calibrations for survey instruments that are not in-use 21

Emergency Relief Requests

• If necessary, licensees may request immediate exemptions via e-mail or phone

• Oral requests must be followed up within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> with a written requests

• Directors of the regional Divisions of Nuclear Materials Safety can provide oral authorization of the requested exemptions if immediate relief is needed and they deem appropriate

• In urgent, off-hours cases, call the Headquarters Emergency Operations Center at 301-816-5100 22

Participant Comments

• To make a comment over the phone, press

• then 1 and follow the prompts

• You can also submit shorter comments or questions by sending a WebEx chat message to All Panelists 23

Questions for Licensees

• What hardships related to NRC regulations are you experiencing or expect to experience in the next 3 months due to the COVID-19 emergency?

• Are there any specific NRC regulations which you do not think you will be able to meet?

• How long do you believe exemptions might be necessary?

• To inform our approach regarding inspections:

Are licensees able to support routine in-person inspections? What conditions would be necessary?

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In Closing

• For questions:

• Region I: James Trapp, Director James.Trapp@nrc.gov

• Region III: David Pelton, Director David.Pelton@nrc.gov

• Region IV: Mary Muessle, Director Mary.Muessle@nrc.gov

• Send meeting format feedback to Lance.Rakovan@nrc.gov 25