ML20216D369

Forwards for Signature Fr Notice Amending Recordkeeping Requirements of 10CFR20,30,40,61,70 & 72, Termination or Transfer of Licensed Activities,Recordkeeping Requirements, w/marked-up Copy of Fr Notice Showing Commission Changes

ML20216D369
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/29/1996
From:	Morrison D NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH (RES)
To:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
Shared Package
ML20216C659	List: ML20216C653 ML20216C745 ML20216C835 ML20216C865 ML20216C918 ML20216D011 ML20216D051 ML20216D060 ML20216D078 ML20216D109 ML20216D132 ML20216D170 ML20216D318 ML20216D333 ML20216D369 ML20216D404 ML20216D432 ML20216D445
References
FRN-61FR24669, RULE-PR-20, RULE-PR-30, RULE-PR-40, RULE-PR-61, RULE-PR-70, RULE-PR-72 AF17-2-025, AF17-2-25, NUDOCS 9709090300
Download: ML20216D369 (64)

Text

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.I January 29, 1996

?DQ MEMORANDUM TO: James M. Taylor, Executive Director for Operations FROM: David L. Morrison, Director /s/ David L. Morrison Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research '

SUBJECT:

FINAL RVLEMAKING - REVISION 10 10 CFR PARTS 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, AND 72 TERMINATION OR TRANSFER OF LICENSED ACTIVITIES:

RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS (WITS-940122)

By memorandum dated January 11., 1996, the Secretary of the Commission indicated that the Commission (with all Commissioners agreeing) has not objected to your a) proving the subject final rule set out in SECY-95-298 (Attachment 1). Tierefore, attached for your signature is the Federal Register notice (Attachment 2) amending the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72, " Termination or Transfer of Licensed Activities: Recordkeeping Requirements," with the marked-up copy (Attachment 3) of the Federal Register notice showing Commission-requested changes. In addition, the Regulatory Analysis (Attachment 4) is attached for transmittal to the PDR.

A notice to the Commission that the E00 has signed the enclosed Federal Register notice is attached for inclusion in the Daily Staff Notes (Attachment 6). The ap3ropriate Congressional committees will be notified (Attachment 7). The pu)1ic announcement (Attachment 8) for this rule is also attached.

Attachments:

1. SRM dated January 11, 1996

2. FR' Notice of Final Rulemaking

3. Marked-up copy-of FR Notice

4. Regulatory Analysis

5. Approval for Publication

6. Daily Staff Notes

7. Congressional Letter Package

8. Public Announcement (2)

Distribution:

RPHEB r/f- Subj ED0 r/f TSpeis FACostanzi dBRiani vASummerour, RES NO. 960006 E00 NU. 10647 WITS NO. 9400122 DOCUMENT NAME: 0:\ THOMAS \ RECORDS \TRANSM2T.MLT J

• See previous concurrences '

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ATTACHMENT 1

'T SRM DATED January 11, 1996 I

Action: Morrison, RES

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UNITED STATES Cys: Tayle-l's , * 'n NUCLE AR REGULATORY COMMISSION MilnGan

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/ January 11, 1996 Stablein dhpostas, RES OFFICE OF THF Meyer, ADM SECRETARY Shelton, IRM Paperiello, NMSS Bangart, SP MEMORANDUM TO: J m.Tc 6 M. Taylor Execut[ve Dir ctor for Operations FROM: John . oyle) retary

SUBJECT:

STAFF REQUIREMENTS - SECY-95-298 - FINAL RULEMAKING - REVISION N 10 CFR PARTS 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, AND 72, TERMINATION OF TRANSFER OF LICENSED ACTIVITIES: RECORD RETENTION REQUIREMENTS This is to advise you that the Commission (Chairman Jackson, exercising delegated authority pursuant to a delegation from the Commission *, in accordance with NRC Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980) has not objected to your approval of the Final Rulemaking for publication in the Federal Reaister with the minor changes indicated in the attachment. (RES) 9400122 o

Attachment:

As stated cc: Chairman Jackson Commissioner Rogers OGC OCA OIG Office Directors, Regions, ACRS, ACNW, ASLBP (via E-Mail)

This decision was made after consultation with Commissioner Rogers, who has not indicated an objection to this negative consent item.

SECY NOTE: THIS SRM AND SECY-95-298 W7LL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE 5 WORKII'f: DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS SRM.

46-CMIwMV Jg

t ATTACHMENT 2

't FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAXIt!G

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[7590-01-P)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Parts 20, 30,_40, 61, 70, and 72 RIN: 3150-AF17 Termination or Transfer of Licensed Activities:' Recordkeeping Requirements ~

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Comission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY

The Nuclead Regulatory Comission (NRC) is amending its regulations pertaining to the disposition of certain records when a licensee-terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred to anothenlicensee. The final rule requires a licensee to transfer records pertaining to decomissioning, and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal, to the new licensee if licensed activities will continue at the same site, and it requires the new licensee to-forward these-same records to the NRC before the license-1s terminated.

EFFECTIVF. DATE: (30 dayt after publication).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary L. Thomas, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington DC 20555-0001,

.-telephone (301) 415-6230, e-mail MLT10NRC. GOV.

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

l 1. Background

. While evaluating an incident involving some offsite contamination, the NRC identified a deficiency in the current recordkeeping requirements. The NRC was unable to determine how much radioactive material was released to a sanitary sewerage system because records of previous releases by the original l

holder of the license were not available. In addition, the regulations were unclear with regard to-the final disposition of these records when licensed activities have ceased and the license is terminated. A proposed rule requiring licensees to forward certain records to the NRC once licensed activities ceased, or t'o a new owner if they would be taking over licensed activities, was published for comment in the Federal Register on December 28, 1994 (59 FR 66814),

o II. Discussion of comments and sumary of requirements in the final rule This section includes a discussion-of the-significant issues-raised by' public comment _ and how they were addressed. Six comment letters were received on the proposed rule, 3 from Agreement States,1 from a licensee, and two from:

public interest groups. Three supported the proposed rule, and three (from Agreement States) questioned the benefit in adopting these requirements.

-Public Comments

1. Need for the rule and expected ~oenefit.

Comments. Two commenters stated that the NRC has not demonstrated the need for the rule on the basis of one incident. They also stated that the NRC

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did not demonstrate how the proposed regulations and their commensurate costs would assist licensees, the NRC, and the Agreement States in the analysis of

. the environmental impact from the' site. They requested that the NRC provide 3  ;

data that permits evaluation of the actual impact of these regulations.

These same commenters stated that the usefulness of the records in the decisionmaking process should also be demonstrated in each case. They referred to the Objective Section of the Draft Regulatory Analysis, which stated that these records "...will provide t% NRC with the information needed to assess possible risks associated with licensed activities once a licensee has terminated its license." They believed that this assumption is generally false, and that even if sewer release records were available, an independent evaluation of the environment would still be required.

Resoonse. The intent of the proposed rule was to ensure that records that are required by current regulations to be retained by licensees during licensed operations are available in the event that safety concerns arise after license termination regarding any offsite consequences found to have resulted from licensed operations. Since the NRC may not be able to determine what problems will arise in the future, the best course of action is to have the records available after the license is terminated. The proposed rule specified that the records used by the licenree to demonstrate compliance with the public dose limits and limits on waste disposals were to be forwarded to the NRC prior to license termination or to the new owner if licensed operations were to continue at the site under a new or amended licens9. In addition, the proposed rule specified that records important for decommissioning be provided to the new licensee prior to license reassignment or transfer. As discussed below, in addition to decommissioning records, the 3

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records included in the final rule are: results of offsite release measurements and calculations under i 20.2103(b)(4); and waste disposals authorized under il 20.2202, 20.2203, 20.2204, and 20.2205.

In order for the NRC to determine that a licensee has effectively decommissioned its facility, and to authorize license termination, the NRC will review the licensee's evaluation of previous releases to the environment and waste disposals to determine whether there is a need for the licensee to remediate significant offsite contamination as a result of past licensed activities prior to license termination. Licensees are already required to keep these records until license termination.

When transfer of a license to a new entity is approved by the Commission, certain records related to offsite releases of material, including waste disposals, would be needed by the new licensee prior to decommissioning to determine areas where remediation may be needed. In addition, there may be circumstances where it will be necessary for the NRC or other government agencies to evaluate the effeas of licensed operations on the environment.

Although other information would also be needed to perform an environmental analysis, access to these records-would be useful in evaluating potential-sources-of contamination.

The NRC has re-evaluated the impact of this regulation in the Regulatory

-Analysis. The records required to be transferred are the records that the licensee is already required to retain until license termination. The burden associated with this rulemaking relates to transfer and subsequent storage of records, and as discussed in the Regulatory Analysis, is not found to be i

significant.

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The final rule has been modified to specify that only decommissioning records and records of offsite releases and waste disposals need to be forwarded to the new licensee in the event of license transfer or re-assignment and that these are the only records that need to be provided to the NRC at license termination. In addition, only licensees authorized to possess unsealed source material or unsealed byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days (i.e., licensees that have a potential for significant contamination) will be required to provide records to the new lie;nsee in the event of re-assignment or transfer and to the NRC at license termination. The use of a 120 day half-life for byproduct material was chosen because radioactive material with half-lives less than 120 days would be completely decayed in a'few years, and corresponds to the value currently used te determine which licensees must have a decommissioning funding plan. This change in the final rule was made to reduce the burden on a number of licensees that routinely use only sealed sources and, in the case of byproduct material, short-lived isotopes (less than 120 days). Licensees authorized to possess only sealed sources would still be required to retain records of spills involving source ruptures, under current decommissioning recordkeeping requirements. The final rule will require all licensees to forward decommissioning records to the NRC at license termination. Using this criteria the number of licensees affected annually by this rulemaking has decreased from approximately 1700 in the proposed rule to 1100 in the final rule.

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2. Agreement State Compatibility.

Comment. One commenter stated (1) that there was no basis for a l

Division 2 level of compatibility and (2) that an Agreement State could use l other methods, such as actual surveys, to confirm that there was no offsite l contamination, in addition, the commenter stated that other costs associated with the proposed rule have not been considtred, such as costs associated with inspections, and while the NRC may be able to absorb these costs in "non-core

_ portions of the inspection program," Agreement Status do not have this luxury.

Response. The Commission still believes that this rule should be assigned a Division 2 compatibility level for most of the new requirements.

The final rule assigns a Division 3 compatibility level for the requirement that records be provide'd to the regulatory agency prior to license termination. While the NRC believes that-it would be prudent for Agreement States to adopt a similar requirement, the final rule assignment of a Division 3 compatibility level for this requirement provides the flexibility for each State to determine which records should be provided to--the regulatory agency and retained by it at license termination.

The NRC believes retention of these records will aid in the resolution >

of potential safety concerns that may be identified after license termination, and also recognizes that an Agreement State without an equivalent requirement for record retention has the ability to resolve potential future safety concerns. However, this can be achieved by conducting radiological surveys at the formerly licensed site. Without the records, these surveys may need to be greater in number and may be more costly, but the absence of retained records will not preclude an Agreement State from adequately assessing future safety -

Concerns.

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Because the Commission has reduced the burden of this rule by limiting the number of licensees affected by this rule, the inspection burden on the Agreement States should not be significantly increased. it is unlikely that any State will have more than 2-3 transfers per year. With respect to other costs, the reporting burden reflects that the time required to index, review, and store the required records has been re-calculated to be 9 hours1.041667e-4 days <br />0.0025 hours <br />1.488095e-5 weeks <br />3.4245e-6 months <br /> per license transfer and 6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br /> per licensee submittal at termination.

3. Regulatory Alternatives.

Comment. Two commenters stated that the NRC failed to identify regulatory alternatives that would be as effective as the proposed rule while placinglessburdenoniicensees,theNRC,andAgreementStates. As noted in the discussion of Issues 1 and 2, the commenters concluded that any benefit from the proposed rule is questionable. They stated that specific regulatory alternatives that should be considered include, but are not limited to:

a. Perform separate evaluations for the utility of requiring records for offsite releases and for waste disposal, and making independent judgments,

b. Consider limiting the scope of the rules to address only those-facilities that possess unsealed sources with long half-lives.

c. Consider all records being provided to the NRC, rather than requiring Agreement States to maintain the records,

d. Eliminate transferring 10 CFR 20.2005 type records (disposal of specific wastes, in quantities less than or equal to 1.85 kilobecquerels per gram of tritium or carbon-14 in scintillation fluids or animal tissue).

Response. The Commission considered possible alternatives to rulemaking. These are addressed in the Regulatory Analysis prepared for this 7

7 rule. The following information is provided with respect to the specific recommendations of the commenters:

(a) The NRC reconsidered the scope of the proposed rule and decided to limit the records required to those needed to support decommissioning. The Commission has already evaluated the imoact and need for decommissioning records in promulgating a fin ' rule addressing recordkeeping requirements for decommissioning (58 FR 39628).

The records included in the final rule are decommissioning records, o records of waste disposals that would be permitted under il 20.2002 (including any burials authorized before January 28, 1981), 20,2003, 20,2004, 20.2005, and results of measurements and calculations used to evaluate offsite releases (1 20.2103(b)(h)). These records would be helpful in evaluating the impact of a licensee's past activities. This information can be used by the new licensee receiving the records in developing decommissioning plans and by the regolatory agency to evaluate the adequacy of the licensee's decommissioning activities. With this change, the NRC concluded that for most licensees the overall number of records that would be required to be transferred to the new licensee should not exceed the capacity of several file drawers, even for a license that has been in effect for some time and, therefore, the overall burden associated with the transfer should be small.

In addition, the rule permits storage of this information electronically. The final rule also requires that decommissioning records and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal be forwarded to the NRC or the appropriate Agreement State prior to license termination.

(b) The NRC has evaluated the suggestion to limit the scope of licensees covered by the rule and has revised the final rule and the 8

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1 Regulatory Analysis to reflect that, for licenses authorized under Parts 30 or 40, the rule only affects those licensees authorized to possess unsealed byproduct material with half' lives greater than 120 days or unsealed source material. Licensees that use and possess sealed sources, or unsealed byproduct material with short half-lives, are no longer affected by this rule.

As a result of this :hange, most medical licensees will not need to transfer records in the event of license transfer, or re-assignment. Final records disposition for these licensees and others excluded by this rule will still be determined on a case-by-case basis by the NRC at the time of license termination.

(c) The purpose of this rulemaking is to assure that adequate records are available to provide historical information on previous licensed operations in the event significant offsite contamination is detected after a licensee has ceased operation of their facility. To provide fler.ibility to the Agreement States, the sections of the final rule requiring transinittal of records to tha NRC at license termination have been designated Division 3 compatibility level. Because the NRC has discontinued its regulatory authority-in the Agreement States for this material, it is appropriate that the Agreement States, rather than the NRC, both determine which Agreement State licensee records should be retained at license termination, and maintain those records.

. (d) Records of waste disposals allowed by i 20,2005 currently are required by 5 20.2108(b) to be retained until the Commission terminates each pertinent license requiring the record. The Commission is currently evaluating a petition for rulemaking that requests a revision to 9 20.2005 pertaining to waste disposal. This petition is currently on hold until 9 ,

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i finalization of the rulemaking addressing radiological criteria for decommissioning. In light of this, we will consider this comment in resolving

this petition.

4. Public Access To Information.

-Comment One commenter was concerned that the Commission overlooked the benefits which could result from simple, inexpensive-to-implement requirements enhancing public access to information. This commenter noted that enhanced public access to information is an important (though not the only) reason for recordkeeping, in part because informed members of the public can play a significar.t role in ensuring that regulatory actions are appropriate and timely. This commentes urged the Commission to eonsider enhanced public access to information as part of a coherent policy to protect important documentary information from loss.

, Responsa. This rule requires thr. <acords pertaining to decommissioning and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposals be transferred to a licensee that takes over a previous licensee's business and that these records be forwarded to the cognizant regulatory body prior to license termination, thereby protecting these records for future access. Once these records are forwarded to the NRC, they will be available through the Freedom of Information Act process, exclusive of any proprietary information.

5. Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations and 10 CFR 72.30(d)

Requirements.

Comment. One commenter stated that 10 CFR 72.30(d) addresses recordkeeping requirements for decommissioning for independent spent fuel 10

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storage installations and that the NRC has proposed changes to this paragraph to address the transfer of licensed activities. This commenter questions why 10 CFR 50.75(g), which contains the same type of recordkeeping requirements '

for decommissioning for production and utilization facilities, was not changed. The commenter believes this to be inconsistent and possibly an inadvertent omission by the NRC.

Resoonse. This rule only addresses materials licensees. The Commission is currently evaluating the need for additional rulemaking to address the broad issue of transfers of reactor licenses. Any such rulemaking would also ,

consider recordkeeping requirements.

Summary of Reouirements of the Final Rule The final rule requires transfer of certain records pertaining to decommissioning, offsite releases, and waste disposal to a licensee that takes over operation of licensed activities. These records include: those waste disposals that would be permitted under il 20.2002 (including any burials authorized before January 28, 1981), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005, and results of measurements and calculations used to evaluate offsite releases (120.2103(b)(4)). The new licensee will need these records in order to

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perform an adequate site characterization prior to decommissioning. Once the new entity is granted a license and accepts these records, they become subject to all regulations concerning termination and transfer. The final rule also requires that these records be forwarded to the NRC prior to license termination. In selecting records to include in this rulemaking, the NRC focused attention on information that would be needed by licensees to conduct decommissioning effectively and for the NRC to evaluate offsite consequences 11 1

v from a licensee's operation, in addition, for certain records of offsite releases and waste disposals, the final rule has also been modified to apply to licensees only authorized to possess source and byproduct mate' rial with half-lives greater than 120 days, in an unsealed form. ,

Paragraph 20.2108(b) has been amended to state that there are additional requirements for disposition of records in 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72. Paragraphs 30.35(g) and 40.36(f) specify records that the Commission considers important to decommissioning. The NRC has revised these paragraphs to require the transfer of records pertaining to decommissioning to the new licensee. Paragraphs have been added to il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 to clarify that records pertaining to decommissioning, offsite releases, and certain records pertaiding to waste disposal be forwarded to the new licensee prior to license transfer or re-assignment, or to the NRC prior to license termination. Also, paragraphs have been added to il 61.30(a)(3) and 61.31(c-)(1) to clarify that records required by ll 61.80(e) and (f) are to be transferred to the disposal site owner, or to the party responsible for institutional control of the disposal site, respectively.

Finally, a new paragraph has been added to il 30.36, 40.42, 70.38, and 72.54 to state that a license will not be terminated until the NRC receives the records required by revised il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80.

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111. Agreement State Compatibility This rulemaking will be a matter of compatibility between '

the NRC and the Agreement States, thereby providing consistency of State and Federal safety requirements. The NRC has determined that a Division 2 level of compatibility should be assigned to the changes to il 30.35,40.36,and~

61.31 because the records required by these sections are important to assure protection of public health and safety, and are important to ensure that facilities in Agreement States are effectively decommissioned. Under this level of compatibility the Agreement States will be expected to adopt recordkeeping requirements that are as stringent as NRC's, but they will be permitted flexibility i'h their requirements based on their radiation protection experience, professional judgments, and community values.

Revisions to il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 that require records to be forwarded to the new licensee whenever a license is transferred or re-assigned will also be assigned a Division 2 level of compatibility for the reasons cited above. Other revisions to these sections addressing forwarding of records to the NRC prior to license termination will be assigned-a Division 3 compatibility level. Under this level of compatibility the Agreement States will have the option to adopt similar requirements regarding final disposition of the records, but will not be required to adopt such requirements. While NRC believes retention of these records.will aid in the resolution of potential _ safety concerns that may be identified after license termination, it also recognizes that an- Agreement State without an equivalent requirement for record retention has the ability to resolve potential future safety concerns. This can be achieved by conducting radiological surveys at 13

the formerly licensed site. Without the records, these surveys may need to be greater in number and may be more costly, but the absence of retained records will not preclude an Agreement State from adequately assessing future safety concerns.

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IV. Environmental Impact: Categorica1 Exclusion The NRC has determined that this final rule is the type of action described as a categorical exclusion in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(3)(ii), recordkeeping requirements. Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this final rule.

s V. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement o

This final rule amends information collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

These requirements- were approved by the Office of Management- and Budget,-

approval number 3150-0014, -0017, -0020, -0009, -0132, and -0135.

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 9 hours1.041667e-4 days <br />0.0025 hours <br />1.488095e-5 weeks <br />3.4245e-6 months <br /> per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and. completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments on any aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing burden, to the Information and Records Management Branch (T-6 F33), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-14

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l 0001, and to the Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NE08-10202, (3150-0014, -0017, -0020, -0009, -0132, and -0135), Office of Management and Budget, Washington', DC 20503.

Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

VI. Regulatory Analysis The NRC has prepared a regulatory analysis on this final rule. The analysis examines the costs and benefits of the alternatives considered by the NRC. The regulatory analysis is available for inspection at the NRC Public  ;

Document Room, 2120 L Street NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC. Single copies

.of the analysis may be obtained from Mary L. Thomas, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-6230; email: MLT10NRC.G0V VII. Regulatory Flexibility 'ertification-In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C.

605(b)), the Commission certifies that this final rule does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rulemaking imposes requirements on those licensees who are required to have decommissioning funding assurance and on licensees who are transferring their 15

license to a new licensee. These changes require the transfer of records pertaining to decommissioning, and certain records of waste disposals and offsite releases, to the new licensee. In addition, the rule requires forwarding these records to the NRC at license termination. These records are already required to be maintained until the license is terminated by the Commission, and are needed to provide historical information of the impact of a previous licensee activities on the environment and decommissioning.

Vill. Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule,10 CFR 50.109, does not apply to this final rule and, therefore, that a backfit analysis is not required for this rule because these amendments do not involve any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1).

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i List of Subjects in 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72 10 CFR Part 20 '

Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Licensed material, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Occupational safety and health, Packaging and containers, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Special nuclear material, Source material, Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 30 Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Government contracts, ,

. Intergovernmental relations, Isotopes, Nuclear materials, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

10 CFR Part 40 Criminal penalties, Government contracts, Hazardous materials transportation, Nuclear materials, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Source material, Uranium.

10 CFR Part 61 Criminal penalties, low-level waste, Nuclear materials, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 70 Criminal penalties, Hazardous materials transportation, Material control and accounting, Nuclear materials, Packaging and containers, Radiation 17 PJ

C protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Scientific equipment, Security measures, Special nuclear material.

10 CFR Part 72 Manpower training programs, Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel.

For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72.

PART 20--STANDARDS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIATION

1. The authority citation for Part 20 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 53, 63, 65, 81, 103, 104, 161, 182, 186, 68 Stat. 930, 933, 935, 936, 937, 948, 953, 955, as amended, sec. 1701, 106 Stat. 2951, 2952, 2953 (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2093, 2095, 2111, 2133, 2134, 2201, 2232, 2236, 2297f), secs. 201, as amended 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).

2. In 5 20.2108, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:

s 20.2108 Records pf waste disposal.

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s (b) The licensee shall retain the records required by paragraph (a) of this section until the Commission terminates each pertinent license requiring the record. Requirements for disposition of these records, prior to license termination, are located in il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 for activities licensed under these parts.

PART 30--RULES OF GENERAL APPLICA8ILITY TO DOMESTIC LICENSING OF BYPRODUCT MATERIAL

3. The authority citation for Part 30 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs 81, 82, 161, 182, 183, 186, 68 Stat. 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2111, 2112, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2236, 2282); secs 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).

Section 30.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, (42 U.S.C. 5851).

Section 30.34(b) also issued under sec. 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section'30.61 also issued under sec. 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2237).

4. In .130.35, the introductory text of paragraph (g) is revised to read as follows:

1 30.35 Financial assurance and recordkeeoina for decommissionino.

(g) Each person licensed under this part or parts 32 through 36 and 39 of this chapter shall keep records of information important to the 19

decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. Before licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 6 30.34(b), licensees shall transfer all records described in this paragraph to the new licensee. In this case, the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

5. In 5 30.36,' paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

1 30.36 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

4 * * * * *

(k)

(4) Records required by 9 30.51(d) and (f) have been received.

6. In 6 30.51, paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) are added to read as follows:

1 30.51 Records.

(d) Prior to license termination, each licensee authorized to possess radioactive material with a half-life greater than 120 days, in an unsealed form, shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

20 I

r (1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under il 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; and (2) Records required by 120.2103(b)(4).

(e) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with i 30.34(b), each licensee authorized to possess radioactive material, with a half-life greater than 120 days, in an unsealed form, shall transfer i the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated:

(1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under il 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981 ), 20,2003, 20,2004, 8

20.2005; and '

(2) Records required by 520.2103(b)(4),

(f) Prior to license termination, each licensee shall forward the records > required by 5 30.35(g) to the appropriate NRC Regional Office.

PART 40--00MESTIC LICENSING OF SOURCE MATERIAL

7. The authority citation for Part 40 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 62, 63, 64, 65, 81, 161, 182, 183, 186, 68 Stat. 932, 933, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, secs. lle(2), 83, 84, Pub. L 95-604, 92 Stat. 3033, as amended, 3039, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C.

2014(e)(2),2092,2093,2094,2095,2111,2113,2114,2201,2232,2233,2236, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L.86-373, 73 Stat. 688 (42 U.S.C. 2021); secs. 201, as 1 A previous S 20.304 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soil before January 28, 1981, without specific Commission authorization.

21 1

amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); sec. 275, 92 Stat. 3021, as amended by Pub. L.97-415, 96 Stat.

2067 (42 U.S.C. 2022).

Section 40.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec.10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, (42 U.S.C. 5851).

Section 40.31(g) also issued under sec.122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152).

Section 40.46 also issued under sec.184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C.

2234). Section 40.71 also issued under sec. 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C.

2237).

8. In i 40.36, the introductory text of paragraph (f) is revised to read as follows:

1 40.36 Financial assurance and recordkeepina for decomissionino.

(f) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decomissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. Before licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance,with 6 40,41(b) licensees shall transfer all records described in this paragraph to the new licensee. In this case, the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated. if records important to the decomissionii.g of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Comission considers important to decomissioning consists of --

22

1-

9. In i 40.42, paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

i 40.42 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas. -

(k) *

~

(4) Records required by i 40.61(d) and (f) have been received.

10. In i 40.61, paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) are added to read as

. follows:

I 40.61 Records.

(d) Prior to license termination, each licensee authorized to possess source material, in an unsealed form, shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

(1) Records.of disposal of licensed material made under 6 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981*), 20.2003, 20.2004,

! 20.2005; and (2) Records required by-6 20.2103(b)(4),

i (e) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 6 40.41(b), each licensee authorized to possess source material, in an unsealed form, shall transfer the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated:

1 A previous $20.304 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soll before January 28, 1981, without specific Comission authorization.

23

___ - .- -. - - - - - - . . - - - ~ - -- - - - - - -

7 (1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including barials authorized before' January 28, 1981 ), 20.2003, 20,2004, 8

20.2005; and '

(2) Records required by 620,2103(b)(4).

(f) Prior to license termination, each licensee shall forward the

~

records required by i 40.36(f) to the appropriate NRC Regional Office. ,

l 5 PART 61--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND DISPOSAL OF RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE fi i

11. The authority citation for-Part 61 continues to read as follows:

, AUTHORITY: Secs. 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 81, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 930, 932, 933, 935, 948, 953, 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233); secs. 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1244, 1246, (42 U.S.C.

4 5842, 5846); secs. 10 and 14, Pub. L.95-601, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 2021a i

and 5851) and Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, (42 U.S.C. 5851).

l 12. In 161.30, paragraph (a)(3) is revised to read as follows:

I 61.30 Transfer of license, i

l (a)

(3) That any funds for care and records required by il Gl.80(e) and (f) have been transferred to the disposal site owner;

13. In 5 61.31,- paragraph (c)(3) is added to read as follows:

I 61.31 Termination of license.

(c) 24

(3) That the records required by ll 61.80(e) and (f) have been sent to the party responsible for institutional control of the disposal site and a copy has been sent to the Commission immediately prior to license termination.

PART 70--00HESTIC LICENSING 0F SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL

14. The authority citation for Part 70 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 51, 53, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 948, 953, 954, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended sec. 1701, 106 Stat. 2951, 2952, 2953 (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2282, 2297f); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 204, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1245, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5845, 5846).

Sections 70.l(c) and 70.20a(b) also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S C. 10155, 10161). Section 70.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. ?951 (42 U.S.C. 5851). Section 70.21(g) also issued under sec.122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152). Section 70.31 also issued under sec. 57d, Pub. L.93-377, 88 Stat. 475 (42 U.S.C.

2077). Sections 70.36 and 70.44 also issued under sec. 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 70.61 also issued under secs. 186, 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2236, 1 37). Section 70.62 also issued under sec.108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended R J.S.C. 2138).

15. In i 70.25, the introductory text of paragraph (g) is revised to read as follows:

25

I 70.25 Financial assurance and recordkeepino for decommissiciina.

(g) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the J

Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

16. In 6 70.38, paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

9 70.38 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionino of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

(k)

(4) Records required by I 70.51(b)(6) have been received.

17. In i 70.51, footnotes 2 and 3 are re-designated as footnotes 3 -

and 4, paragraph (b)(6) is revised, and a new paragraph (b)(7) is added to read as follows:

I 70.51 Material balance. inventory. and records reauirements.

(b)

(6) Prior to license termination, licensees shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

26

1 (i) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; (ii) Records required by 6 20.2103(b)(4); and (iii) Records required by i 70.25(g). l (7) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 6 70.32(a)(3), the licensee shall transfer the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated:

(i) Records of disposal of licensed material made under 6 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; '

(ii) Records required by 5 20.2103(b)(4); and (iii) Records required by 9 70.25(g).

.)

2 A previoue $20.3o4 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in so_1 before January 28, 1981, without specific commienton authcrization.

27

t l PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF i

SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE-

18. The authority citation for Part 72 continues to read as follows: '

AUTHORITY: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, a 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as l amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.< :071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 4

2093,2095,2099,2111,2201,2232,2233,2234,2236,2237,2238,2282);

sec. 274, Pub. L.86-373, 73 Stat. 688, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201,

, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, l

5842, 5846); Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C.

1 i . 5851); sec. 102 Pub. L.91-190, 83 Stat 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); Secs. 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 141, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152, 10153, 10155, 10157,40161,10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L.

j 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C. 10162(b), 10168(c), (d)).

Section 72.46 also4ssued under sec,189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239);

~

sec. 134, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under sec.145(g), Pub. L.100-203,101 Stat.1330-235 (42 U.S.C.

10165(g)). Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2),2(15),2(19),117(a),

141(h), Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat.-2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C.

l 10101,10137(a),10161(h)). Subparts K and L are also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and Sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 (42 U.S.C.

10198).

i

, 28 i

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g .c-_

p ,*-n--e--

_ . _ _ . __ .-.. _ _ _ _ .~. _ _ . _ . - . . _ . ~ _ _ . _ _ . . _ _ _ ._ _ _ _ .. _ _ ._ . _ ._ _. _ __

, 1 f

+

j 19. In i 72.30, the introductory text of paragraph (d) is revised to t

read as follows:

I 72.30 Financial assurance and recordkeepina for decommissionina. '

l * * * *

• l (d) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified

] location until the site is released for unrestricted use. If records

important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes.

I reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the

Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

j * * * *

• l-l 20. In i 72.54, paragraph (m)(3) is added to read as follows:

i 6 72.54 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

{

(m)

(3) Records required by 6 72.80(e) have been received.

i i

1 j 21. In i 72.80, paragraphs (e) and (f)-are added to read as follows:

n

! l 72.80 Other records and reports.

(e) Prior to license termination,_ the licensee shall forward records required by El 20.2103(b)(4) and 72.30(d) to_the appropriate NRC Regional.

Office.

i 29 a

i

- (f) If licensed activities are' transferred or-assigned in accordance with i 72.44(b)(1), the licensee shall transfer the records required by li 20.2103(b)(4) and 72.30(d) to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated.

- Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this day of 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

1-1 James M. Taylor.

l Executive Director for Operations.

4 i

l

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i i

i .-.

l I

i 3-t-

l 30 e

i w- , e-> a .,r- , - , - - - - - - - - , ., ,

- - a- a - - A 4

' s ATTACHMENT 3 o

MARK-UP 0F FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE 4

. . .-.-~ --. .- .. - - - . - - . - - .~ - - -.- -

t,

.t- -

J-y ,-

i Regulat'ory Analysis to reflect that.- for licenses authorized under Parts 30 or ,

- 40. the' rule only affects those licensees authorized to possess unsealed

byproduct material ~with half lives greater than 120 days or unsealed source

! material. Licensees that use and possess sealed sources, or. unsealed i byproduct material with short half-livet. >ra no longer affected by this. rule.

As a result of this change, most medical licensees will not need to transfer i records'in the. event of. license transfer, or re assignment. Final records a

j disposition for these licensees and others excluded by this rule will still be ,

a I determined on a case-by-case basis by the NRC at the time of license

[ termination.

(c) The purpose of this rulemaking is to assure that adequate records-l

! are available to provide historical information on previous licensed r

operations in the event significant offsite contamination is detected after a b licensee has ceased operation of their facility. To provide flexibility to -

the' Agr$ement States, the sections of the final rule requiring transmittal of records to the NRC at license termination have been designated Division 3 >

4 compatibility level. Because thelNRC4 hasid {scontindsdBts regulatory

- authority has beer, relir.quished to iii the Agreement States for this material.

I it islappropriate that the Agreement States.- rather than the NRC. both determine which Agreement State licensee records should'be retained at license termination, and maintain those records. ,

i I - (d) Records of waste disposals allowed by S 20.2005 currently are I required by.S-20.2108(b)'to be retained until the Commission terminates each.

pertinent license requiring the record. The Commission is currently

-evaluati_g n a petition for rulemaking that. requests a revision to S 20,2005 pertaining to waste disposal. This petition is currently on hold until

~

9 i

-- .,,---,.-----w ,- ,, . - - - - - - - - - -. . - - , - - - ~ , - - , - - -- ,+--

l l

e s

ATTACHMENT 4

, REGULATORY ANALYSIS

.c REGULATORY ANALYSIS s

REVISION OF RECORDS RETENTION REQUIREMENTS

1. Statement of the Problem After evaluating an incident where some offsite contamination was found, the NRC identified a deficiency in the current recordkeeping requirements.

The NRC was unable to deter =ine how much radioactive n)aterial was released to a sanitary sewerage system because records of previous releases by the original holder of the license were not available. The existing regulations are unclear regarding final disposition of certain records pertaining to decommissioning, offsite releases, and waste disposal when licensed activities have ceased and the license is terminated. In addition, when a licensee transfers or re-assigns its license, and another entity continues licensed activities at the same site, the original licensee is currently not required to transfer the records necessary to effectively decommission the facility to 4

the new licensee. The NRC previously established the need for retention of

certain records until license termination to ensure that a licensee is able to adequately decommission its facility (58 FR 39628).

2. Ob.iectives The existing regulations do not provide for the transfer of records when a licensee . transfers or assigns a license and another person continues licensed activities at the same site under a new or amended license, nor do the existing regulations provide for the forwarding of records to the NRC prior to license termination. Continued retention of these records will ensure their availability in the event safety concerns are ident fied in the l

- - - - - - . - - - . . - - - - . . . - - - - - . - ~ .....- - . - - -.

4 future, and will be available to the NRC and Agreement' States to provide the information needed to assess possible risks associated with licensed

! activities once a license has been terminated. In addition, these revised amendments will improve the regulatory framework relating to facilities where licensed activities will continue after license transfer or re-assignment and

, will ensure that adequate information to effectively decommission the facility is avaii.bie to the new licensee.

i 4

3.0 Alternatives 4

In developing a solution to the identified problem of records availability, the following alternative regulatory approaches were considered:

1) no action; 2) amendment of licenses; 3) use of regulatory guides; and

4) amendment of regulations.

4 l 4.0 fonsecuences

a. Cost and Benefits of Alternatives

1. No Action - The benefit of not changing the regulations would be minimal 'since records that would be needed by the NRC, the new licensee, the l disposal site owner, or the party responsible for institutional control may be i difficult to obtain. Without a consistent' approach some of the needed records could be lost or destroyed inadvertently, resulting in additional costs to the

new licensee, the disposal site owner, the party responsible for institutional

{ control, or the NRC to make determinations of public risk.

2. Amendment of Licenses - The only benefit of amending licenses would be in the resources saved in promulgating a new regulation. The costs to amend licenses for the 19,800 NRC and Agreement State _ licensees affected_by 4

t 2

this rule could be higher than those needed for amending the regulation and could result in an inconsistent application of policy.

3. Use of Regulatory Guides - There would be little benefit in t.:ing a regulatory guide since a licensee could not be required to forward records to the new licensee, disposal site owner, party responsible for institutional control, or the cognizant regulatory body without additional action.

4. Amendment of Regulations - The benefit of codifying record retention requirements would result in the availability of the information necessary for the NRC to assess possible risks from a previous licensee's activities and information for licensees to effectively decommission the facility.

I Therefore, transfer of the information to the new licensee, the disposal site owner, the party responsible for institutional control, or the cognizap+

regulatory body would ensure that adequate information will be available to carry out the aforementioned activities.

T'he costs of the revised rule would be incurred from transferring

records to a new licensee, disposal site owner, party responsible for institutional control for license transfers or re-assignments, or forwarding records to the cognizant regulatory body prior to decommissioning. The records included in the revised rulemaking are already required to be

!~ maintained until license termination. In assessing these costs an assumption was made that 3,200 NRC materials licensees possessing unsealed source

material or unsealed byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days would be affected by the transfer or forwarding of records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposals sections of the rule and that all 6,600

} NRC materials licensees would be affected by the transfer or forwarding of I

records pertaining to decommissioning sections of the rule.

3

I

. l l

l The NRC's License Management System (LMS), a database of NRC materials l

licensees, was queried to verify this assumption and determine the number of  !

NRC licensees that would be affected by this rule. Based on the infurmation i available for 1994 it was determined that an estimated 3,200 licensees possessed unsealed source material or unsealed byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days and would therefore be affected by tte sections of the rule dealing with records of offsite releases and waste disposals. A conservative assumption was made that all 6,600 NRC materials licensee would be affected by the sections of the rule addressing decommissioning records. A second query was performed on the LMS to determine the number of affected licensees that terminated or transferred their licenses in 1994, these numbers are 300 and 20 respectively. Of the 300 licensees that terminate their licenses per year 150 would have to forward records pertaining to offsite release and waste disposal, and all 300 would have to forward records' pertaining to decommissioning. Of the 20 licensees that could transfer their licenses per year, an assumption was made that only one-half of them would be required to provide records pertaining to offsite release and waste disposal, while all 20 would have to provide decommissioning records.

4 An astumption was also made regarding the number of Agreement State (AS) licensees that would be affected by this rule by using a two-to-one ratio of AS licensees to NRC licensees. Therefore, the number of AS licensees that would be expected to terminate or transfer annually are 600 and 40 respectively. The same logic can be applied to determine the number of Agreement Stau licensees that would be affected by the final rule per year.

By_ adding the number of affected NRC licensees to the number of affected AS licensees the annual totals are 900 and 60 respectively. For the analysis, it 4

r was assumed that although there are only a few low-level waste facilities, one 11censee would terminate their license per year and that there would be one low-level waste license transfer each year. A summary of the numbers of licensees affected by this rule is given in Table 1, TABLE 1 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF NRC AND AGREEMENT STATE MATERIAL LICENSEES i- POTENTIALLY AFFECTED ANNUALLY BY THE TERMINATION OR TRANSFER

j. OF LICENSED ACTIVITIES RULEMAKING Agreement State NRC All Licensees Licensees Licensees Transfer of Records of Offsite Releases and Records 20 10 30 of Weste Disposal to New Licensee (30.51(e),

40.6)(e), 70.51(b)(7), 72.80(f))'

Transfer of Deconsnissioning Records to New Licensee 40 20 60 (30.35(o), 40.36(f), 70.25(o), 72.30(d))'

Forwarding of Records of Offsite Releases and 300 150 450 Records of Vaste Discosal to thn cogntrant regulatorybody(30.51(d),40.61(d),70.51(b)(6),

72.80(e))

forwarding of Decomissioning Records to the 600 300 900 cognizant regulatory body (30.51(f), 40.61(f),

70.51(b)(61, 72.80(e))'

Transfer of Records Required by il 61.80(e) and (f) l' I to the Olsposal 11te Owner Transfer of Records Required by 11 61.80(e) and (f) l' I to the Party Responsible for Institutional care and a cooy sent to the Comission Prior to License Termination _

'There are no Part 72 Agreement State licensees.

' Licensee may be either Agreement State or NRC licensee, 3 5 4

4

- a :t=v

.. - - - -.- . - . . = - . - ~-_-- - -. -- .-

The costs associated with providing records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal to a new licensee in the event of license transfer or re-assignment are shown in Table 2-A.- The total cost for the 30 affected licensees would be $3,720 or $124 per licensee.

l TABLE 2-A

ESTIMATED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TetANSFERRING RECORDS PERTAllilliG TO -

0FFSITE RELEASES AND WASTE DISPOSAL TO NEW LICENSEE i

l Licensee Actiun Hours / Licensees Technical Staff Clerical Staff Licensee Affected by Rule ($52/ hour) ($20/ hour)

) Verify Required Records 1 "r 1,560.00

to be Ttansferred Prepare Required Records 1 30 600.00

,far Transfer Verify Records 1 30 1.560,00 Transferred

Subtotal 3.120.00 600.00 Total 3,720.00 The costs associated with providing records pertaining to decommt'ssioning to the new licensee in the event of license transfer or re-i assignment are shown in Table 2-B. The total cost for the 60 affected licensees would be $14,880 or $248 per licensee.

TABLE 2-B ESTIMATED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSFERRING RECORDS PERTAINING TO DECOMMISSIONING TO NEW LICENSEE i Licensee Action Hours / Licensees Technical Staff Clerical Staff Licensee Affected by Rule ($52/ hour) ($20/P ,-)

Verify Required Records 2 60 6,240.00 to be Transferred Prepare Required Records 2- 60 2,400.00 for Transfer 4 Verify Records 2 60 6,240.00 Transferred Subtotal 12,480.00 2,400.00 Total 14,860.00 4

6

r

-The costs associated with forwarding records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal to the cognizant regulatory bcdy are shown in the Table 3-A. The total cost for the 450 affected lichnsees would be $32,400 or

$72 per licensee.

TABLE 3-A ESTIMATED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FORWARDING RECORDS PERTAINING TO 0FFSITE RELEASES AND WASTE DISPOSAL TO THE COGNIZANT REGULATORY BODY Licensee Action Hours / Licensees Technical Staff Clerical Staff Licensee Affected by Rule ($52/ hour) ($20/ hour)

Verify Required Records 1 450 23,400.00 to be Transferred Prepare Required Records 1 450 9,000,00 for Transfer Total 32,400.00 The costs associated with forwarding records pertaining to decomissioning to the cognizant regulatory body are shown in Table 3-B. The total' cost for the 900 affected licensees would be $129,600 or $144 per licensee.

TABLE 3-B ESTIMATED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FORWARDING RECORDS PERTAININr. TO DECOMMISSIONING TO THE COGNIZANT REGULATORY BODY Licensee Action Hours / Licensees Technical Staff ciert ml Staff Licensee Affected by Rule ($$2/ hour) ($20/ hour)

Verify Required Records 2 900 93.600.00

__to be Transferred Prepare Required Records 2 900 36,000.00 fer Transfer Total _

129,600.00 7

i l

s The costs associated with transferring records required by 10 CFR 61.80(e) and (f) to the new licensee or site owner upon license transfer or re-assignment are shown in Table 4 below. Assuming that during a year's time

-only one low-level waste license transfers its license, the cost incurred would be $186. This may be either an Agreement State or NRC licensee.

l

)

TABLE 4 L COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSFERRING RECORDS REQUIRED BY 10 CFR 61.80(e) & (f)

Licensee Action "5l l Hours /- Licensees Technical Clerical Licensee Affected by Staff Staff Rule ($52/ hour) (520/ hour)

Verify Required Records 1.s 1 .78.00 to be Transferred ,.

Prepare Required Records 1.5 1 30.00 for Transfer Verify Records 1.5 1 78.00 Transferred Subtotal 156.00 30.00 Total 186.00

)

8

d

-The costs associated with forwarding records required by 10 CFR 61.80(e) and (f) to the party responsible for institutional care or the NRC 4

upon license termination are shown in Table 5 below. Assuming that during a year's time only one low-level waste license terminates its license, the cost incurred would be $186. This may be either an Agreement State or NRC i licensee.

TABLE 5 COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FORWARDING RECORDS REQUIRED BY 10 CFR 61.80(e) & (f)

Licensee Action Hours / Licensees Technical Clerical Licensee Affected by Staff Staff Rule ($52/ hour) ($20/ hour)

Verify Required Records to 1.5 1 78.00 be Transferred Prepare Required Records for 1.5 1 30.00 Transfer Verify Records Transferred 1.5 1 78.00 Subtotal 156.00 30.00 3 . I Total 186.00 1

l 9

l

Once the records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal are received by the cognizant regulatory body they will have to be indexed, verified for relevancy by technical staff, and then sent for storage. As can be seen from Table 6-A below the cost incurred by the cognizant regulatory body would be $92 per licensee affected by the rule or $41,400 for the 450 licensees annually affected by the rule.

TABLE 6-A COSTS INCURRED BY REGULATORY BODIES FOR RECORDS PERTAINING TO OFFSITE RELEASES AND WASTE DISPOSAL Cognizant Regulatory Body Hours / Licensees Technical Clerical Action Licensee Affected by Staff staff Rule ($52/ hour) ($20/ hour)

Verify and index Records 1 450 23,400.00 Aeceived Prepare Recotds for 1 450 9.000.00 Transfer to Headquarters Prepare Records for Storage 1 450 9,000.00

'I Subtotal 23,400.00 10,000.00 Total 41,400.00 10

- . . ... . - ~ - . _ . ~.- . - - - . - - ~ . - - . . - . _ - - . - . - - . -

Once the records pertaining to decommissioning are received by the cognizant regulatory body they will have to be indexed, verified for

[ relevancy by technical staff, and then sent for storage. As can be seen from

Table 6-B below the cost incurred by the cognizant regulatory body would be

$206 per licensee affected by the rule or $185,812 for the 902-licensees annually affected by the rule.

i l

TABLE 6-8 COSTS INCURRED BY REGULATORY BODIES FOR RECORDS PERTAINING TO DECOMMISSIONING i

Cogntrant Regulatory Body Hours / Licensees Technical Clericd Action Licensee Affected by Staff Staff Rule (152/ hour) ($20/ hour)

Verify and index, Records 3 902 140,712.00 Received 4

Prepare Records for '5. 902 27,060,00 dransfer to Headquarters j Prepare Records for Sterage 1 902 18,040.00 i Subtotal 140,712.00 45,100.00

, 0

. Total 185,812.00 5

A summary of the costs of the above amendments for the affected licensees is estimated to be $166,092. This summary is presented in Table 7.

The annual cost to the cognizant regulatory body to index, verify, and .

It should be prepare the records for storage is estimated to be $227,212.

noted that the values presented in Table 7 are only in 1994 dollars for one year. Discounting the values at a 7% rate over a 25 year time period to illustrate the long term effect of this rule results in the a burden to the cognizant regulatory body of $2,647,020 to cover the annual expenditure of

$227,212. The annual cost to store these records at the Federal Records Center is estimated to be $4,384 for the 902 licensees affected by this rule.

11

c.

It should be noted that this value is also expressed in 1994 dollars. The cost to store these records discounted at a rate of 7% over a 25 year time period would be $51,074. This value and the value to index, verify, and prepare the records for storage are expressed as a discounted flow of future funds. The burden for the licensees affected by this rule at the 7% discount rate over 25 years would be $1,934,972 for the 902 licensees affected annually by this rule. Per licensee this burden is $2,145. I TABLE 7 TOTAL ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION COSTS FOR THE NEW REQUIREMENTS (US DOLLARS)'

Agreement $ tate NRC Licensees All Licensees Licensees Transfer of Decomissioning Records to kew Licensee 9.920 4,960 14,880.00 (30.35(g), 40.36(f), 70.25(g), 72.30(d))'

Transfer of Records of Offstte Releases and Waste Disposal 2,480 1,240 3,720.00 Records to New Licensee (30.51(e), 40.61(e) 10.51(b)(7),

72.80(f))'

Forwarding of Decomissioning Records to cognizant 86,400 43.200 129,600.00 regulatory body (30.36(k)(4), 40.42(k)(4), 70.38(k)(4),

72.54(m)(3))'

Forwarding of Records of Offstte Releases and Records of 21,600 10,800 32,400.00 Waste Disposal to cognizant regulatory body (30.51(d),

40.61(d), 70.51(b)(6), 72.80(e))*

Transfer of Records Required by il 61.80(e) and (f) to the 186' 186 01sposal Site Owner Transfer of Records Required by il 61.80(e) and (f) to the 186 186 Party Responsible for Institutional care and a copy sent to the Comnission Prior to License Termination Total 166,092.00

'These values are only in 1994 dollars.

'There are no Part 72 Agreement State licensees.

' Licensee may either Agreement State or NRC licensee.

12

e L ..

b. Impacts on Other Requirements There may be a potential impact on the materials inspection program to accommodatetheresourcestoreviewandindexincomingrecohds. Any re-allocation of inspection resources would be confined to the non-core portion of the inspection program. Sending the records to the NRC or Agreement State relieves the licensee of the burden of having to review, index, and store them,

c. Constraints None anticipated.

5.0 Decision Rationale 5.1, No Action The lack of specificity as to whether licensees should transfer certain records' to the new licensee if licensed activities will continue at the same site under a new or amended license, and should forward certain records to the NRC prior.to license termination have resulted in. instances where there have been insufficient records-to accurately assess the risks from a previous licensee's operation and to effectively decommission the facility. For these reasons,- the alternative of no action is judged to be not viable.

5.2 Amendment of licenses This alternative is not viable because issuance of license amendments for every licensee would result in repetitive efforts and inefficient use of Commission and licensee' staff time. With approximately 19,800 licensees affected by this rule, including those in the Agreement States holding 13

materials licenses, the cost to the NRC and the Agreement States to amend each of its affected licensees in this 19,800 would be $11,800,000 as compared to $227,212 to index, review, and store the records. The

$11,800,000 value is assuming 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br /> of clerical time at $20/ hour and 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> technical time at $52/ hour to prepare and review each amendment. Each time a new license is issued this cost will have to be added to the preparation of the license and could result in inconsistent application of policy.

5.3 Use of Regulatory Guides l As noted above, the lack of a firm regulatory basis for disposition of records increases difficulties associated with a case-by-case approach.

While regulatory guides could be developed regarding records disposition, regulatory guides do not have the force of regulation in compelling licensees i

to take the desired action.

5.4 Amendment of Regulations This alternative provides the most viable means to ensure that the applicable records will be available when needed at the least cost. The cost to the NRC and Agreement States to amend each of its licenses affected in this 19,800 by the rule is $11,800,000 as compared $227,212 to the cost of indexing, reviewing, and storing the records for the 902 licensees that may terminate or transfer their licenses each year. For this reason, the staff believes that codifying records retention requirements for license transfers, assignments, and terminations provides the best assurance that licensees will retain / transfer the appropriate records.

14

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6. Imolementation

a. Schedule for Implementing the Revised Requirement The revision will be published in the Federal Reaister. The final rule includes an effective date for implementation of the changes to allow licensees time to make the required changes.

b. Relationship to Other Existing Requirements These records are already maintained by licensees until license termination, the revised rule effects their disposition during license transfer, re-assignment, or termination. The revised rule will require that these records be. transferred to the new licensee upon license transfer or re-assignment and that these records be sent to the NRC or appropriate Agreement State for storage prior to license termination. Therefore, this revised rule is related to the existing transfer requirements in il 30.3'4(b), 40.41(b), 61.30(a), 70.32(a)(3), and 72.44(b)(1).

15

e o'

l ATTACHMENT 5

't APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION

r Anoroved for Publication The Commission delegated to the EDO (10 CFR 1.31(c)) the authority to develop and promulgate rules as defined in the APA (5 U.S.C. 551 (4)) subject to the limitations in NRC Management Directive 9.17, Organization and Functions, Office of the Executive Director for Operations, paragraphs 0213, 039, 039, and 0310.

The enclosed rule, entitled " Termination or Transfer of Licensed Activities:

Recordkeeping Requirements," will amend Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72 by Providing explicit instruction regarding the disposition of certain records.

l This final rule does not constitute a significant question of policy, nor does it amend regulations contained in 10 CFR Parts 7, 8, or 9 Subpart C concerning i

matters of poll." I, therefore, find that this rule is within the scope of my rulemaking '::f,crity and am proceeding to issue it.

s Date James M. Taylor.

Executive Director for Operations.

a

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ATTAtllMENT 6 a DAILY STAFF NOTES

i O

j DAILY staff NOTES .

l OfflCE Of NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH l Final Rule Sioned by EDO '

On , 1996, the Executive Director for Operatic.)s approved a final rule that would amend 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72, "Termi-nation or Transfer of Licensed Activities: Recordkeeping Requirements."

This notice informs the Commission that, in accordance with the rulemaking authority delegated to the E00, the EDO has signed this final rule and proposes to forward it on to the Office of the federal Register for pubitcation, unless otherwise directed by the Commission.

s

P t

4 ATTACHMENT 7

,, CONGRESSIONAL LETTERS

- -._ _ . - - . - - - - - - - _ - . - -m------- .

P ,

'e 1 y p4* Mouq l 3' t LH41TED STATES j j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINoTON, D.C. MS$H001 o f

'S 9 . . . . + ,d i

i The Honorable Lauch Faircloth, Chairman Subcommittee on Clean Air Wetlands, Private t Property and Nuclear Safety ' '

Committee on Environment and Public Works  ;

United States Senate Washington, DC 20510  !

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Register for publication the

, enclosed revisions to the Commission's rules in 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61,

! 70, and 72. The amendments address disposition of certain records when a  :

licer.see terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred  :

i to another licensee. >

j '

Specifically, the revisions require individuals licensed under these parts to

, transfer decommissioning records and certain records of offsite releases and ,

waste disposals to a new licensee in the case of license transfer or '

, re-assignment. The final rule would also require these records to be

, forwarded to the NRC at license termination. These records are necessary to j ensure,that licensed facilities are effectively decommissioned prior to license termination.

4 Sincerely, i

9 s

L Dennis K. Rathbun, Director j Office of Congressional Affairs

Enclosures:

1. Public Announcement

2. Federal Register Notice cc: Senator Bob Graham I

1

, . . . .~ - _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ -.__ ___.._.___ _ _._ _

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- 4 cr a

j The Honorable Lauch Faircloth, Chairman ,

Subcomittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private  !

Property and Nuclear Safety Comittee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate

~

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The NRC has sent to the Office of one'ieueral Re ister for publication the enclosed revisions to the Comission's rules in 0 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61,

)! 70, and 72. The amendments address disposition of certain records when a j licensee terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred 1

to another licensee. ,

Specifically, the revisions require individuals licensed under these parts to transfer decomissioning recordo and certain records of offsite releases and 4

waste disposals to a new licensee in the case of license transfer or re-assignment. The final rule would also require these records to be forwarded to the NRC at license termination. These records are necessary to i ensure that licensed facilities are effectively decomissioned prior to license termination. s 1

Sincerely, Dennis K. Rathbun, Director

Office of Congressional Af fr. irs

a

Enclosures:

1. Public Announcer.'ent

2. Federal Register Notice cc: Senator Bob Graham s

MSTRIBUTION:

RPHEB R/F - Subject File l

DOCUMENT NAME: 0:\ THOMAS \ RECORDS \CONG.LTl

v. . ..- - .* . m .: c .cm . m .a - .-. c.cm .+.n - . .~. = a...

OFFICE RPHEB:DRA C RPHEB: DRAY D:DRA[g) 4 D:RES f/ D:OCA ]

j NAME MLThomas 1,d JEGlennk/w BMMo[ rih DLMorrish DRathbun ,

DATE 01tW96 01d96 014t{96 01 96 01/ /96 _

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY , RES*3A 3 i s g t *" Ji

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y*- f*, UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION If WASHINGTON, D.C. 30MMoot

\...+/ ,

I The Honorable Dan Shaefer, Chairman l

Subcomittee on Energy and Power Comittee on Comerce United States House of Representatives 1 i

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Register for publication the 40, 61, enclosed 70, and 72. revisions to the address The amendments Comission's rules disposition of in 10 CFR certain Parts records w 20, 30, hen a licensee terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred to another licensee.

Specifically, the revisions require individuals licensed under these parts to transfer decomissioning records and certain records of offsite releases and waste disposals to a new licensee in the case of license transfer or re-assignment. The final rule would also require these records to be forwarded to the NRC at license termination. These records are necessary to ensure that licensed facilities are effectively decomissioned prior to license > termination.

Sincerely, Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs

Enclosures:

1. Public Announcement

2. Federal Register Notice cc: Representative Frank Pallone

f e

4 .

The Honurable Dan Shaefer, Chairman Subcomittee on Energy and Power Comittee on Comerce United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Register for pLblication the l enclosed revisions to the Comission's rules in 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, -

70, and 72. The amendments address disposition of certain records when a  !

licensee terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred to another licensee. ,

Specifically, the revisions require individuals licensed under these parts to  !

transfer decommissioning records and certain records of offsite releases and waste disposals to a new licensee in the case of license transfer or re-assignment. The final rule would also require these records to be forwarded to the NRC at license termination. These records are necessary to ensure that licensed facilities are effectively decomissioned prior to license termination.

s Sincerely, Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs

Enclosures:

1. Public Announcement

2. Federal Register Notice cc: Representative Frank Pallone QlSTRIBUTION:

RPHE8 R/F - Subject File DOCUMENT NAME: 0:\ THOMAS \ RECORDS \CONG.LTl .

OFFICE RPHEB:DRA C RPHEB:DRA D:DRA , D:RES ///f D:OCA NAME MLThomas Af JEGlennIj BMMob DLMorri$n DRathbun DATE 01Nf96 01d/96 01&y96 01/p96 01/ /96 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY RES#3A 3 J/

L' i

l 1

s i

ATTACHMENT 8 i

a PUBLIC ANN 0UNCEMENT 1

i i

i l

l t

l t

l .

i

_ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ . _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ . . . _ . _ -. _ __ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _.

o 4

1M6 NRC AMENDS REGULATIONS ON RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to require that companies which transfer or terminate their licenses must forward certain records to successor licensees or to the NRC.

The records affected by the new rule include information on

't radiation doses to the public caused by licensed activities.

l Also affected are rAcords on waste disposal to places other than a licensed radioactive waste disposal facility--by means such as incineration, release to sewers, on-site burials or accidental spillsiof radioactive material.

current regulations require licensees to maintain such records, but do not address what happens to the records when a company terminates its activities and gives up its license.

i The revisions require a licensee to transfer the appropriate records to a new licensee if licensed activities are to continue at the same site. When all licensed activities at the site cease and the last license is terminated, the records would be i

transferred to the NRC or, in the case of a disposal site, to the party responsible for institutional control of the site, with a i copy to the NRC.

i 4

- _ - - _ _ _ _ - -_~ .

4.

I

,.O' The revised requirernents will be ef fective on (30 days after publication of a Federal Register notice on this subject on .)

I til l

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. jQf: I T~ W w 'PDL

[7590-01-P)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72 RIN: 3150-AF17 Termination or Transfer of Licensed Activities: Recordkeeping Requirements AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Comission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY

The Nuclear Regulatory Comission (NRC) is amending its regulations pertaining to the disposition of certain records when a licensee terminates licensed activities or licensed activities are transferred to another licensee. The final rule requires a licensee to transfer records pertaining to decomissioning, and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal, to the new licensee if licensed activities will continue at the same site, and it requires the new licensee to fonard these same records to the NRC before the license is terminated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: (30 days after publication).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary L. Thomas, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6230, e-mail MLT10NRC. GOV.

t Q,dty) -%>go  % fg1 tb 5 '

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background While evaluating an incident involving some offsite contamination, the NRC identified a deficiency in the current recordkeeping requirements. The NRC was unable to determine how much radioactive material was released to a sanitary sewerage system because records of previous releases by the original holder of the license were not available. In addition, the regulations were l unclear with regard to the final disposition of these records when licensed activities have ceased and the license is terminated. A proposed rule requiring licensees to forward certain records to the NOC once licensed activities ceased, or to a new owner if they would be taking over licensed activities, was published for comment in the Federal Register on December 28, 1994 (59 FR 66814).

11. Discussion of comments and summary of requirements in the final rule This section includes a discussion of the significant issues raised by public comment and how they were addressed. Six comment letters were received on the proposed rule, 3 from Agreement States, 1 from a licensee, and two from public interest groups. Three supported the proposed rule, and three (from Agreement States) questioned the benefit in adopting these requirements.

Public Comments

1. Need for the rule and expected benefit.

Comments. Two commenters stated that the NRC has not demonstrated the need for the rule on the basis of one incident. They also stated that the NRC

did not demonstrate how the proposed regulations and their comn:ensurate costs would assist licensees, the NRC, and the Agreement States in the analysis of the environmental impact from the site. They requested that the NRC provide data that permits evaluation of the actual impact of these regulations.

These same commenters stated that the usefulness of the records in the decisionmaking process should also be den.onstrated in each case. They referred to the Objective Section of the Draft Regulatory Analysis, which stated that these records "...will provide the NRC with the information needed to assess possible risks associated with licensed activities once a licensee has terminated its license." They believed that this assumption is generally false, and that even if sewer release records were available, an independent evaluation of the environment would still be required.

Resnonse. The intent of the proposed rule was to ensure that records that are required by current regulations to be retained by licensees during licensed operations are available in the event that safety concerns arise after license termination regarding any offsite consequences found to have resulted from licensed operations. Since the NRC may not be able to determine what problems will arise in the future, the best course of action is to have the records available after the license is terminated. The proposed rule specified that the records-used by the licensee to demonstrate compliance with the public dose limits and limits on waste disposals were to be forwarded to the NRC prior to license termination or to the new owner if licensed operations were to continue at the site under a new or amended license. In addition, the proposed rule specified that records important for decommissioning be provided to the new licensee prior to license reassignment or transfer. As discussed below, in addition to decommissioning records, the 3

.____._.y j*

4 ,

4 records included in the final rule are: results of offsite release i

measurements and calculations under i 20.2103(b)(4); and waste disposals i )

authorized under il 20.2202, 20.2203, 20.2204, and 20.2205. 1

! In order for the NRC to determine that a licensee has effectively i

decommissioned its facility, and to authorize license termination, the NRC 1

j will review the licensee's evaluation of previous releases to the environment and waste disposals to determine whether there is a need for the licensee to

]

4 rr u late significant offsite contamination as a result of past licensed i

activities prior to license termination. Licensees are already required to l keep these records until license termination.

When transfer of a license to a new entity is approved by the Commission, certain records related to offsite releases of material, including l

waste disposals, would be needed by the new licensee prior to decommissioning to determine areas where remediation may be needed. In addition, there may be l

circumstances where it will be necessary for the NRC or other government l agencies to evaluate the effects of licensed eperations on the environment.

Although other information would also be needed to perform an environmental 4

analysis, access to these records would be useful in evaluating potential sources of contamination.

- The NRC has re-evaluated the impact of this regulation in the Regulatory

Analysis. The records required to be transferred are the records that the licensee is already required to retain until license termination. The burden associated with this rulemaking relates to transfer and subsequent storage of

records, and as discussed in the Regulatory Analysis, is not found to be I significant.

4

4 The final rule has been modified to specify that only decommissioning records and records of offsite releases and waste disposals need to be forwarded to the new licensee in the event of license transfer or re-assignment and that these are the only records that need to be provided to the NRC at license termination. In addition, only licensees authorized to possess unsealed source material or unsealed byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days (i.e., licensees that have a potential for significant contamination) will be required to provide records to the new licensee in the event of re-assignment or transfer and to the NRC at license termination. The use of a 120 day half-life for byproduct material was chosen because radioactive material with half-lives less than 120 days would be completely decayed in a few years, and corresponds to the value currently used to determine which licensees must have a decomissioning funding plan. This change in the final rule was made to reduce the burden on a number of licensees that routinely use only sealed sources and, in the case of byproduct material, short-lived isotopes (less than 120 days). Licensees authorized to possess only sealed sources would still be required to rct:in records of spills involving source ruptures, under current decommissioning _recordkeeping requirements. The final rule will require all licensees to forward decomissioning records to the NRC at license termination. Using this criteria the number of licensees affected annually Ly this rulemaking has decreased from approximately 1700 in the proposed role to 960 in the final rule.

5

2. Agreement State Compatibility. .

Coment . One commenter stated (1) that there was no basis for a Division 2 level of compatibility and (2) that an Agreement State could use other methods, such as actual surveys, to confirm that there was no offsite contamination. in addition, the couenter stated that other costs associated l with the proposed rule have not been considered, such as costs associated with l

inspections, and while the NRC may be able to absorb these costs in "non-core portions of the inspection program, Agreement States do not have this luxury.

Resoonse. The Commission still believes that this rule should be assigned a Division 2 compatibility level for most of the new requirements.

The final rule assigns a Division 3 compatibility level for the requirement that records be provided to the regulatory agency prior to license l termination. While the NRC believes that it would be prudent for Agreement States to adopt a similtr requirement, the final rule assignment of a Division 3 compatibility level for this requirement provides the flexibility for each State to determine which records should be provided to the regulatory agency and retained by it at license termination.

The NRC believes retention of these records will aid in the resolution of potential safety concerns that may be identified after license termination, and also recognizes that an Agreement State without an equivalent requirement for record retention has the ability to resolve potential future safety concerns. However, this can be achieved by conducting radiological surveys at the formerly licensed site. Without the records, these surveys may need to be greater in number and may be more costly, but the absence of retained records will not preclude an Agreement State from adequately assessing future safety concerns, 6

Because the Commission has reduced the burden of this rule by limiting the number of licensees affected by this rule, the inspection burden on the Agree:nent States should not be significantly increased, it is unlikely that any State will have more than 2-3 transfers per year. With respect to other costs, the reporting burden reflects that the time required to index, review, and store the required records has been re-calculated to be an average of 5 hours5.787037e-5 days <br />0.00139 hours <br />8.267196e-6 weeks <br />1.9025e-6 months <br /> per license termination or transfer.

l 3. Regulatory Alternatives, faHKDi. Two commenters stated that tte NRC failed to identify regulatory alternatives that would be as effective as the proposed rule while placing less burden on licensees, the NRC, and Agreement States. As noted in the discussion of Issues 1 and 2, the commenters concluded that any benefit from the proposed rule is questionable. They stated that specific regulatory alternatives that should be cunsidered include, but are not limited to:

a. Perform separate evaluations for the utility of requiring records for offsite releases and for waste disposal, and making independent judgments,

b. Consider limiting the scope of the rules _to address only those facilities that possess unsealed sources with long half-lives,

c. Consider all records being provided to the NRC, rather than requiring Agreement States to maintain the records,

d. Eliminate transferring 10 CFR 20.2005 type records (disposal of specific wastes, in quantities less than or equal to :. 85 kilobecouerels per gram of . tritium or carbon-14 in scintillation fluids or animal tissue).

Response. The Commission considered possible alternatives to rulemaking. These are addressed in the Regulatory Analysis prepared for this 7

rule. The following information is provided with respect to the specific recomendations of the commenters:

, (a) The NRC reconsidered the scope of the proposed rule and decided to limit the records required to those needed to support decommissioning. The Commission has already evaluated the impact and need for decommissioning records in promulgating a final rule addressing recordkeeping requirements for decommissioning (58 FR 39628).

The records included in the final rule are decommissioning records, records of waste disposals that would be permitted under il 20.2002 (including any burials authorized before January 28,1981),20.2003,20.2004, l

20.2005, and results of measurements and calculations used to evaluate offsite releases (l 20.2103(b)(4)). These records would be helpful in evaluating the impact of a licensee's past activities. This information can be used by the new licensee receiving the records in developing decommissioning plans and by the regulatory agency to evaluate the adequacy of the licensee's decommissioning activities. With this change, the NRC concluded that for most licensees the overall number of records that would be required to be transferred to the new licensee should not exceed the capacity of several file drawers, even for a license that has been in effect for some time and, therefore, the overall burden associated with the transfer should be small.

in addition, the rule permits storage of this information electronically. The final rule also requires that decommissioning records and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposal be forwarded to the NRC or the appropriate Agreement State prior to license termination.

(b) The NRC has evaluated the suggestion to limit the scope of licensees covered by the rule and has revised the final rule and the 8

i .

i ,

i Regulatory Analysis to reflect that, for licenses authorized under Parts 30 or 40, the rule only affects those licensees authorized to possess unsealed J

byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days or unsealed source I

material. Licensees that use and possess sealed sources, or unsealed j hyproduct material with short half-lives, are no longer affected by this rule.  :

As a ro p!t of Ulis change, most medical licensees will not need to transfer records 16 the ownt cf license transfer, or re-assignment. Final records disposition for these liter. sees and others excluded by this rule will still be

determined on a case-by-case basis by the NRC at the time of license i

termination.

L (c) The. purpose of this rulemaking is to assure tk.t adequate records  ;

l are available to ptovide historical information on previous licensed operations in the event significant offsite contamination is detected after a licensee has ceased operation of their facility. To provide flexibility to the Agreement Etates, the sections of the final rule requiring transmittal of records to the NRC at license termination have been designated Division 3

compatibility level. Because the NRC has discontinued its regulatory i authority in the Agreement States for this material, it is appropriate that the Agreement States, rather than the NRC, both determine which Agreement State licensee records should be retained at license termination, and maintain those records.

(d) Records of waste disposals allowed by i 20.2005 currently are

, required by i 20.2108(b) to be retained until the Commission terminates each j pertinent license requiring the recurd. The Commission is currently i evaluating a petition for rulemaking that requests a revision to i 20,2005 pertaining to waste disposal. This petition is currently on hold until

- _. ,. _ . . . , . . ,...,.._. _ - _ _ _ . _ _ . . . , _ , _ . . _.__.._.. . , . - , _ , , . _ . . _ - . . ~

finalization of the rulemaking addressing radiological criteria for decomissioning. In light of this, we will consider this comment in resolving this petition.

4. Public Access To Information.

Comment One commenter was concerned that the Comission overlooked the benefits which could result from simple, inexpensive-to-implement requirements enhancing public access to information. This commenter noted that enhanced public access to information is an important (though not the only) reason for recordkeeping, in part because informed members of the public can play a significant role in ensuring that regulatory actions are appropriate and timely. This commenter urged the Comission to consider enhanced public access to information as part of a coherent policy to protect important documentary information from loss.

Response. This rule requires that records pertaining to decommissioning and certain records pertaining to offsite releases and waste disposals be transferred to a licensee that takes over a previous licensee's business and that these records be forwarded to the cognizant regulatory body prior to license termination, thereby protecting these records for future access. Once these records are forwarded to the NRC, they will be available through the Freedom of Information Act process, exclusive of any proprietary information.

5. Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations and 10 CFR 72.30(d)

Requirements.

Comment. One commenter stated that 10 CFR 72.30(d) addresses recordkeeping requirements for decommissioning for independent spent fuel 10 i

storage installations and that the NRC has proposed changes to this paragraph to address the transfer of licensed activities. This commenter questions why 10 CFR 50.75(g), which contains the same type of recordkeeping requirements for decommissioning for 9roduction and utilization facilities, was not changed. The cora nter believes this to be inconsistent and possibly an inadvertent omission by the NRC.

Runonse. This rule only addresses materials licensees. The Commission is currently evaluating the need for additional rulemaking to address the broad issue of transfers of reactor licenses. Any such rulemaking would also consider recordkeeping requirements.

Summary of Reautrements of the Final Rule The final rule requires transfer of certain records pertaining to decommissioning, offsite releases, and waste disposal to a licensee that takes over operation of licensed activities. These records include: those waste disposals-that would be permitted under il 20.2002 (including any burials authorized before January 28, 1981), 20,2003, 20.200', 4 20.2005, and results of measurements and calculations used to evaluate offsite releases (i20.2103(b)(4)). The new licensee will need these records in order to perform an adequate site characterization prior to decommissioning. Once the new entity is granted a license and accepts these records, they become subject to a11' regulations concerning termination and transfer. The final rule also requires that these records be forwarded to the NRC prior to license termination. In selecting records to include in this rulemaking, the NRC focused attention on information that would be needed by licensees to conduct decommissioning effectively and for the NRC to evaluate offsite consequences 11

, J

from a licensee's operation. In addition, for certain records of offsite releases and waste disposals, the final rule has also been modified to apply to licensees only authorized to possess source and byproduct material with half-lives greater than 120 days. in an unsealed form.

Paragraph 20.2108(b) has been amended to state that there are additional requirements for disposition of records in 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72. Paragraphs 30.35(g) and 40.36(f) specify records that the Comission considers important to decomissioning. The NRC has revised these paraoraphs l to require the transfer of records pertaining to decomissioning to the new licensee. Paragraphs have been added to il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 to clarify that records pertaining to decomissioning, offsite releases, and certain records pertaining to waste disposal be forwarded to the new licensee prior to license trar.sfer or re-assignment, or to the NRC prior to license termination. Also, paragraphs have been added to il 61.30(a)(3) and 61.31(c)(1) to clarify that records required by ll 61.80(e) and (f) are to be transferred to the disposal site owner, or to t ,e party responsible for institutional control of the disposal site, respectively.

Finally, a new paragraph has been added to il 30.36, 40.42, 70.38, and 72.54 to state that a license will not be terminated until the NRC receives the records required by revised il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80, 12

i!!. Agreement State Compatibility This rulemaking will be a matter of compatibility between the NRC and the Agreement States, thereby providing consistency of State and Federal safety requirements. The NRC has determined that a Division 2 level of compatibility should be assigned to the changes to il 30.35, 40.36, and 61.31 because the records required by these sections are important to assure protection of public health and safety, and are important to ensure that facilities in Agreement States are effcctively decommissioned. Under this level of compatibility the Agreement States will be expected to adopt recordkeeping requirements that are as stringent as NRC's, but they will be permitted flexibility in their requirements based on their radiation protection experience, professional judgments, and community values.

Revisions to il 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 that require records to be forwarded to the new licensee whenever a license is transferred or re-assigned will also be assigned a Division 2 level of compatibility for the reasons cited above. Other revisions to these sections addressing forwarding of records to the NRC prior to license termination will be assigned a Division 3 compatibility level. Under this level of compatibility the Agreement States will have the option to adopt similar requirements regarding final disposition of the records, but will not be required to adopt such requirements. While NRC believes retention of these records will aid in the resolution of potential safety concerns that may be identified after license termination, it also recognizes that an Agreement State without an equivalent requirement for record retention has the ability to resolve potential future safety concerns. This can be achieved by conducting radiological surveys at 13

4 i

I l

the formerly licensed site. Without the records, these surveys may need to be greater in number and may be more costly, but the abtence of retained records will not preclude an Agreement State from adequately assessing future safety concerns.

IV. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion The NRC has determined that this final rule is the type of action described as a categorical exclusion in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(3)(ii), recordkeeping requirements. Therefore, neither an environnental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this final rule.

V. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This final rule amends information collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

These requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0014. -0017, -0020 -0009, -0132, and -0135.

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 9 hours1.041667e-4 days <br />0.0025 hours <br />1.488095e-5 weeks <br />3.4245e-6 months <br /> per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments on any aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing burden, to the Information and Records Management Branch (T-6 F33), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-14

, ,,,-.,n--,., , ,,,-n.,---.-w- . , - - . . , , ,,,,,v, -

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O 0001, and to the Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, NE0B-10202 (3150-0014 -0017 -0020 -0009, -0132, and -0135), Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503.

Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OM8 control number.

VI. Ragulatory Analysis The NRC has prepared a regulatory analysis on this final rule. The analysis examines the costs and benefits of the alternatives considered by the NRC. The regulatory analysis is available for inspection at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW. (Lower level), Washington, DC. Single copies of the analysis may be obtained from Mary L. Thomas, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-6230; email: MLT19NRC. GOV Vll. Regulatory Flexibility Certification in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C.

605(b)), the Commission certifies that this final rule does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rulemaking imposes requirements on those licensees who are required to have decommissioning funding assurance and on licensees who are transferring their 15

decomissioning funding assurance and on Itcensees who are transferring their Itcense to a new licensee. These changes require the transfer of records pertaining to decomissioning, and certain records of waste disposals and offsite. releases, to the new licensee. In addition, the rule requires forwarding these records to the NRC at license termination. These records are already required to be maintained until the license is terminated by the Comission, and are needed to provide historical information of the impact of a previous licensee activities on the environment and decomissioning.

Further, in accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 the NRC has determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.

1 Vill. Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not apply to this final rule and, therefore, that a backfit analysis is not required for this rule because these amendments do not involve any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1).

16

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72 l

l 10 CFR Part 20 Byproduct material, Crimiaal penalties, Licensed material, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Occupational safety and health, ,

Packaging and containers, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping j requirements, Special nuclear material, Source material, Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 30 Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Government contracts, Intergovernmental relations, Isotopes, Nuclear materials, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

10 CFR Part 40 Criminal penalties, Government contracts, Hazardous materials transportation, Nuclear materials, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Source material. Uranium.

10 CFR Part 61 Criminal penalties, Low-level waste, Nuclear materials, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 70 Criminal penalties, Hazardous materials transportation, Material contiol and accounting, Nuclear materials, Packaging and containers, Radiation 17

protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Scientific equipment, Security measures, Spccial nuclear material. -

10 CFR Part 72 Manpower training programs, Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel.

For ti.e reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72.

PART 20--STANDARDS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIATION

1. The authority citation for Part 20 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 53, 63, 65, 81, 103, 104, 161, 182, 186, 68 Stat. 930, 933, 935, 936, 937, 948, 953, 955, as amended, sec. 1701, 106 Stat. 2951, 2952, 2953 (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2093, 2095, 2111, 2133, 2134, 2201, 2232, 2236, 2297f), secs. 201, as amended 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).

2. In 5 20.2108,- paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:

1 20.2108 Records of waste disoosal.

18

l l

l (b) The licensee shall retain the records required by paragraph (a) of this section until the Commission terminates each pertinent license requiring the record. Requirements for disposition of these records, prior to license termination, are located in 6! 30.51, 40.61, 70.51, and 72.80 for activities licensed under these parts.

PART 30--RULES OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY TO DOMESTIC LICENSING OF BYPRODUCT MATERIAL

, 3. .The authority citation for Part 30 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY

Secs. 81, 82, 161, 182, 183, 186, 69 Stat. 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1111, 2112, 4

2201, 2232, 2233, 2236, 2282); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).

, Section 30.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec.10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, 3,42 U.S.C. 5851).

j Section 30.34(b) also issued under sec. 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 30.61 also issued under sec. 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2237).

4. In 6 30.35, the introductory text of paragraph (g) is revised to read as follows:

i 30.35 Financial assurance and recordkeepina for decommissionina.

(g) Each person licensed under this part or parts 32 through 36 and 39 of this chapter shall keep records of information important to the 19

I decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. Before licensed activities are transferred or assigned ia accordance with i 30.34(b), licensees shall transfer all records described in this paragraph to the new licensee. In this case, the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records untti the license is terminated. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

5. In i 30.36, paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

.5 30.36 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

(k)

(4) Records required by 6 30.51(d) and (f) have been received.

6. In 6 30.51, paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) are added to read as follows:

1 30.51 Records.

(d)-Prior to license termination, each licensee authorized to possess radioactive material with a half-life greater than 120 days, in an unsealed form, shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

20

(1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under il 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; and (2) Records required by 620.2103(b)(4).

(e) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 9 30.34(b), each licensee authorized to possess radioactive material, with a half-life greater than 120 days, in an unsealed form, shall transfer the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated:

(1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under il 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; and (2) Records required by 620.2103(b)(4).

(f) Prior to license termination, each licensee shall forward the records required by i 30.35(g) to the appropriate NRC Regional Office.

PART 40--00MESTIC LICENSING OF SOURCE MATERIAL

7. The authority citation for Part 40 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 62, 63, 64, 65, 81, 161, 182, 183, 186, 68 Stat. 932, 933, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, secs. lle(2), 83, 84, Pub. L 95-604, 92 Stat. 3033, as amended, 3039, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C.

2014(e)(2), 2092, 2093, 2094, 2095, 2111, 2113, 2114, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2236, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L.86-373, 73 Stat. 688 (42 U.S.C. 2021); secs. 201, as 1 A previous S 2o.304 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soil before January 28, 1981, without specific Commission authorization.

21

amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); sec. 275, 92 Stat. 3021, as amended by Pub. L.97-415, 96 Stat.

2067 (42 U.S.C. 2022).

Section 40.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, (42 U.S.C. 5851).

Section 40.31(g) also issued under sec.122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152).

Section 40.46 also issued under sec.184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C.

2234). Section 40.71 also issued under sec.187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C.

2237).

4

^

8. In i 40.36, the introductory text of paragraph (f)  ; revised to read as follows:

6 40.36 Financial assurance and recordkeepina for decommissionina.

i (f) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. Before licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with I 40.41(b) licensees shall transfer all records described in this paragraph to the new licensee. In this case, the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these i

records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

22 i

4 3

9. In 5 40.42, paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

i 40.42 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

(k) *

(4) Records required by I 40.61(d) and (f) have been received.

10. In i 40.61, paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) are added to read as follows:

1 40.61 Records.

(d) Prior to license termination, each licensee authorized to possess source material, in an unsealed form, shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

(1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981 ), 20,2003, 20,2004, 2

20.2005; and (2) Records required by i 20.2103(b)(4).

(e) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 6 40.41(b), each licensee authorized to possess source material, in an unsealed form, shall transfer the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated:

1 A previous $20.3o4 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soil before January 28, 1981, without specific Commission authorization.

23 m

.. . - - - - . - - - - . - . . . . . ~ . _. _ - . -.. - -

-(l) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981 ), 20,2003, 20.2004, 8

20.2005; and (2) Records required by i 20.2103(b)(4).

(f) Prior to license termination, each licensee shall forward the records required by i 40.36(f) to the appropriate NRC Regional Office.

PART 61--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND DISPOSAL Of RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE

11. The authority citation for Part 61 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 81, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 930, 932, 933, 935, 948, 953, 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233); secs. 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1244, 1246, (42 U.S.C.

5842, 5846); secs 10 and 14, Pub. L.95-601, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 2021a ,

and 5851) and Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 2902, 106 Stat. 3123, (42 U.S.C. 5851).

12. In i 61.30, paragraph (a)(3) is revised to read as follows:

l 61.30 Transfer of license.

(a)

(3)_ That any funds for care and records required by'll 61.80(e) and (f) have been transferred to the disposal site owner;

13. In i 61.31, paragraph'(c)(3) is added to read as follows:

6 61.31 Termination of license.

(c) 24

, - s - - .- -

(3) That the records required by 16 61.80(e) and (f) have been sent to the party responsible for institutional control of the disposal site and a copy has been sent to the Commission immediately prior to license termination.

PART 70--DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL

14. The authority citation for Part 70 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 51, 53, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 948, 953, 954, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended sec. 1701, 106 Stat. 2951, l 2952, 2953 (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2282, 2297f); secs 201, as amended, 202, 204, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1245, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5845, 5846).

Sections 70.l(c) and 70.20a(b) also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 70.7 also issued under Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 5851). Section 70.21(g) also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152). Section 70.31 also issued under sec. 57d, Pub. L.93-377, 88 Stat. 475 (42 U.S.C.

2077). Sections 70.36 and 70.44 also issued under sec.184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 70.61 also issued under secs. 186, 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2236, 2237). Section 70.62 also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2138).

15. In i 70.25, the introductory text of paragraph (g) is revised to read as follows:

25

__j

f 6 70.25 Financial assurance and recordkeepino for decommissionina.

(g) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

16. In i 70.38, paragraph (k)(4) is added to read as follows:

I 70.38 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina of sites and seoarate buildinas or outdoor areas.

(k)

(4) Records required by 5 70.51(b)(6) have been received.

17. In 9 70.51, footnotes 2 and 3 are re-designated as footnotes 3 and 4, paragraph (b)(6) is revised, and a new paragraph (b)(7) is added to read as follows:

I 70.51 Material balance. inventory. and records reauirements.

(b) *

(6) Prior to license termination, licensees shall forward the following records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:

26

(1) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; (ii) Records required by 6 20.2103(b)(4); and (iii) Records required by-t 70.25(g).

(7) If licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 5 70.32(a)(3), the licensee shall transfer the following records to the new licensee and the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until-the license is terminated:

(i) Records of disposal of licensed material made under i 20.2002 (including burials authorized before January 28, 1981'), 20.2003, 20,2004, 20.2005; (ii) Records required by 6 20.2103(b)(4); and (iii) Records required by 5 70.25(g).

i 1

2 A previous $20.3o4 permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soil before January 28, 1981, without specific Commission authorization.

27

PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE

18. The authority citation for Part 72 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, ?077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282);

sec. 274, Pub. L.86-373, 73 Stat. 638, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); Pub. L.95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C.

5851); sec. 102 Pub. L.91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); Secs 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 141, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152, 10153, 10155, 10157,10161,10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L.

100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C. 10162(b), 10168(c), (d)).

Section 72.46 also issued under sec.189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239);

sec. 134, Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under sec.145(g), Pub. L,100-203,101 Stat.1330-235 (42 U.S.C.

';165(g)). Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2),2(15),2(19),ll7(a),

141(h), Pub. L.97-425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C.

10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are also issued under sec.133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and Sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 (42 U.S.C.

10198),

28

0

. l

, 19. In i 72.30, the introductory text of paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:

< l 72.30 Financial assurance and recordkeepino for decommissionina.

(d) Each person licensed under this part shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until the site is released for unrestricted use. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of --

20. In i 72.54, paragraph (m)(3) is added to read as follows:

I 72.54 Exoiration and termination of licenses and decommissionina Jgf sites and separate buildinas or outdoor areas.

(m)

(3) Records required by i 72.80(e) have been received.

21. In i 72.80,-paragraphs (e) and (f) are added to read as follows:

I 72.80 Other records and reports.

(e) Prior to licei.se termination, the licensee shall forward records required by li 20.2103(b)(4) and 72.30(d) to the appropriate NRC Regional Office.

29

(f) If- licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 6 72.44(b)(1), the licensee shall transfer the records required by li 20.2103(b)(4) and 72.30(d) to the new licensee and the new-licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this / day of Me 1996.

(/

For the Nuclear Regulatory Comission.

Ja

~

52

. Taylor, #

c ve Director for Operations.

30

. _ __. . _. _ _ _ _ _ . . . - _ _ . - . _ . _ . . . . ~ _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ . - . , . _ _ _ . _ _ _ _

~*-

. l J..- . -

Anoroved For Publication '

The Commission delegated to the EDO (10 CFR 1.31(c)) the authority to develop

• and promulgate rules as defined in the APA-(5 U.S.C. 551 (4)) subject to the limitations in-NRC Management Directive 9.17, Organization and Functions - ,

Office of the Executive Director for Operations, paragraphs 0213, 038, 039, i and 0310.

i The enclosed rule, entitled " Termination or Transfer of Licansed Activities: 4 Recordkeeping Requirements,"lwill amend Parts 20, 30, 40, 61, 70, and 72 by providing explicit instruction regarding tne dispositten of certain records.

This final rule does not constitute a significant question of- policy, nor does it amend regulations contained in 10 CFR Parts 7, 8, or 9 Subpart C concerning matters of policy. I, therefore, find that this rule is within the scope of i my rulemaking authority and am proceeding to issue it. '

Date

cR l44 m

WM.MJ Taylo gr cutive Direttor for Operations.

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