ML20196L107
| ML20196L107 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/15/1999 |
| From: | Mcgaffigan E NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Vietticook A NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20196L088 | List: |
| References | |
| SECY-99-147-C, NUDOCS 9907120298 | |
| Download: ML20196L107 (7) | |
Text
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NOTATION VOTE RESPONSE SHEET TO:
Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary FROM:
COMMISSIONER MCGAFFIGAN
SUBJECT:
SECY-99-147-PROPOSED RULEMAKING - DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL i
Approved K Disapproved Abstain Not Participating COMMENTS:
See attached comments and edits.
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l, Commissioner McGaffiaan's Comments on SECY-99-147 General Comments:
I approve publication of the proposed amendments to Part 70 and draft Standard
~ Review Plan (SRP) for public comment. I consider the proposed rule to be an enormous improvement over the previous version provided to the Commission in SECY-98-185, and I commend the staff for a job well done under a tight' time frame, in response to Commission direction in December 1998, the staff worked diligently with industry and other agencies' representatives in a public process to identify areas of difference or misunderstanding and to then resolve those differences or misunderstandings in whole or in part. I believe that the proposed rule reflects this concerted effort, is responsive to Commission direction and stakeholder concerns, and is ready for formal public comment. On the other hand, if I were voting on a final rule today, I would be strongly skeptical of certain provisions that may result in little value added from a health and safety perspective and be unnecessarily burdensome for licensees -for example, the 90-day (versus annual) reporting requirement for the integrated Safety Analysis (ISA) summary changes in 70.72(d); the ISA summary contents in 70.65(b); the items relied on for safety log in 70.62(a)(3); the use of the word " ensure" (versus " provide reasonable assurance" or " provide high assurance") in 70.61(e) and 70.62(d); and the language and footnote on "new types of accident sequences"in 70.72(c)(1)(i). I look fonvard to the comment process to further understand the need for the current wording of these provisions.
I consider the development of the draft final rule and related guidance to be an iterative process that has clearly benefitted from the enhanced public process utilized by the staff over the last six months. Therefore, during the public comment period and while finalizing the rule, I strongly urge the staff to conduct meetings and workshops open to the public for the purposes of converging on the residual issues identified by the staff and stakeholders both on rule language and more importantly on the SRP. The staff should also make use of NRC's Internet website for dissemination of information and solicitation of input. Finally, I look forward to continued Commission involvement in this important rulemaking effort.
Specific Edits:
1.
The language in 70.62(c)(3)(i) and (ii) should be modified to read " effective date of the rule" rather than " publication date of the rule" to be consistent with the discussion on pages 23-24 of the Federal Reaister notice a^d because the publication date of the rule is not necessarily the effectik v.e of the rule.
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The following text should be added as paragraph 4 to the press release and at the end of the first paragraph of the Congressionalletters:
"The proposed rule represents an extraordinary effort by NRC and industry and other stakeholders overseveral years that has included two proposed rules, several public meetings and Commission briefings by NRC staff and industry representatives. Since August 1998, NRC has utilized an enhanced public process to identify areas of mutual concern and those where agreement could l
be reached in whole or in part. To facilitate this process, the Commission held two public briefings, and the staff held four public workshops and made extensive use of the NRC's internet website to disseminate information and solicit input from stakeholders. These efforts have significantly narrowed the differences between the staff and stakeholders on proposed amendments to Part
- 70. In addition, during the public comment period on the proposed rule and while finalizing the rule, the staff intends to conduct additional public meetings and utilize the NRC website for information exchange."
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3.
The following text should be added after sentence 1 of paragraph 2 of the l
Congressionalletters:
"These facilities generally have operated safely for many years. However, it is NRC's belief that Part 70 can be improved in light of the integrated safety analysis methodology developed in recent years and the fact that NRC and licensees have agreed to the need for a formal safety analysis. As part of license renewal, some licensees have committed to performing such an analysis and submitting a summary of the results to NRC for review. Amending Part 70 also allows NRC to codify the safety basis used for licensing these facilities while l
providing a framework for licensees to make changes to their safety program."
4.
Specific more minor edits to the draft press release and Congressional letters are indicated on the attached pages.
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NRC CONSIDERS CHANGES TO REGULATIONS 1
FOR SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL LICENSEES udu fw ~10 Mle 10of
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4e Coa, J Fea.,a 9 epic &n s The Nuclee Regulatory Commission is considering amending its r ulations to provide increased confidence in the safety margin for som that possess and' process large quantities of certain types of uranium and plutonium. Te rdi does co+ *ff ) k N d S.
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- % \\ A"c"sa; Lam PhA'4M * YM ' s " " f ' A W L; r.< tk~cd (her"d amendm'%nts would require affected licensees to sinalyze their facilities The propose carefuty to identify potential accidents. The licensees would have to take actions to reduce the Ekelihood and effects of the postulated accidents if their consequences could exceed specified t.rO < da..
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op es,A e/.tJe 13w The proposed changes are an outgrowth of an NRC review conducted after a fuel nh b
\\.e u s c 5uA fabrication facility had a near criticauty incident (i.e., a nuclear chain reaction) in May of 1991.
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As a result of this review, NRC took a number of steps to improve licensee safety programs, event reporting to NRC, and' regulatory guidance. In addition, NRC concluded that, in order to increase confidence in the safety margin, the regulations should be amended to require similar licensees to perform an integrated safety analysis. Such an analysis would identify:
. ' (1) Plant and external hazards and their potential for causing accidents; (2) Potential accident sequences and'their likelihood and consequences; (3) Structures, systems, equipment, components and activities of personnel relied on to prevent or mitigate potential accidents at the facility, licus+es kv' *y<*A b b^*<d b c het 5dt.
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(& b V stc l apusoifksk q\\ds The regulations would apply to licensees that are authorized to possess a " critical ass" I
of "special nuclear material" and that are ergaged in one of the following activities: enrich id uranium processing, fabrication of uranium fuel or fuel assemblies, uranium enrichmen,
l enriched uranium hexafluoride conversion, plutonium processing, fabrication of mixed-oxide fuel or fuel assemblies, scrap recovery of special nuclear material, or any other activity involving a critical mass of special nuclear material that the Commission determines could significantly
. affect public health and safety.
"Special nuclear material" refers to plutonium, uranium-233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material that the Commission determines to be special nuclear material, but does not include natural uranium. The term also refers to any material artificially enriched by any of these materialsJ g Pyf,,, f g m)eM.a j
[f)("cri$ cal mass" of special nuclear material contains more than: 700 grams of uraniu 235; 520 grams of uranium-233; 450 grams of plutonium; 1,500 grams of uranium-235, if no j
uranium enriched to more than 4 percent by weight of uranium-235 is present; 450 grams of any combination thereof; or one-half such quantities if massive moderators or reflectors made of graphite, heavy water, or beryllium maybe present.
Currently the NRC's regulation of licensees authorized to possess special nuclear material concentrates on protecting public health and safety during nuclear activities conducted l
under DQ! mal operations. The proposed amendments would supplement NRC's regulatory 1
framework to address explicitly the potential exposure of workers or members of the public to radiation and hazardous chemicals as a result of accidents.
NRC held lic meetings o se issues o ecember 3,19, and agaiFrv Ja ry 13 and rch 23 of this ar. NRC has maintained ntemet webpit ug which the nts.
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The proposed new regulations would require licensees to perform an integrated safety cnalysis, as described above, which would include identification of the radiological and related j
chemical consequences of credible potential accidents at their facilities. A plan for performing the analysis would have to be submitted within six months of the effective date of the amendments to the regulations, and the analysis would have to be conducted within four yea ih^
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A summary of the analysis would have to be submitted at the time of license application. All 4,4 j
related documentation on-site and at the NRC would have to be maintained on a regular basis.
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Ucensees further would have to establish a safety program that provides reasonable
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assurance of protection against accidents that could result in releases of radioactive materials or certain related hazardous chemicals in excess of NRC criteria.
4 Ucensees also would have to ensure that structures, systems, equipment and components relied on for safety are designed, constructed and maintained so that they will perform their safety function. Ucensee personnel would have to be trained and tested to confita their qualifications to perform their safety duties. Appropriate management measures would have to be established to ensure that items relied on for safety are available and reliable to perform their function when needed.
Other provisions of the proposed revisions to the regulation are discussed in a Federal Reaistjar notice to be issued shortly.
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n Interested persens are invited to submit comments, within 75 days of the Federal Federd 5k.
Register notice, to the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, **N"W on tJ0c,s Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. Comments 4g,
may also be submitted electronically through the NRC web site at http /ruleforum.llnl. gov /cgi-1 bin /rulemake.
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Draft June 1,1999 The Honorable Joe L. Barton, Chairman ip. g g h 4
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Subcommittee on Energy and Power g i & 4 el to hc. 1/k'o Committee on Commerce Ic.H el.
United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has unt t:: tne Office of the Federal Regis:ar for publication, the enclosed proposed rule to amend 10 CFR Part 70. concerning domestic licensing of special nuclear material, hk - 5 ee yde.
The objective of the proposed rule is to increase confidence in the margin of safety at facilities cuthorized to possess special nuclear materialin sufficient quantities to be of criticality concern.
d-Joe The proposed rule would: 1) identify appropnate consequence criteria and the level of veia-protection needed to prevent or mitigate accidents that exceed these criteria; 2) require affected licensees to perform an integrated salety analysis (ISA) to identify potential accidents at the facility and the items relied on for safety; 3) require licensees to implement measures to ensure that the items relied on for safety are available and reliable to perform their function when needed; 4) require the submission of a summary of the ISA. with the iacility's license application: and 5) allow for licensees to make certain changes to their facilities without prior X
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NRC approval K
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The proposed amendments will be subject to a 75 day public comment period. NK d N#T X
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