ML25105A217
| ML25105A217 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/24/2025 |
| From: | Yen-Ju Chen Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch |
| To: | Roman C Division of Fuel Management |
| Shared Package | |
| ML25105A215 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML25105A217 (1) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 MEMORANDUM TO:
Cinthya Román, Deputy Director Division of Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards FROM:
Yen-Ju Chen, Senior Project Manager Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch Division of Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF APRIL 9, 2025, PUBLIC MEETING ON THE PROPOSED INTERIM ENFORCEMENT POLICY RELATED TO CERTAIN GENERAL LICENSEE VIOLATIONS OF TITLE 10 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS SECTION 72.48 On April 9, 2025, staff from the Division of Fuel Management held a public meeting to discuss a proposed interim enforcement policy (IEP) related to certain general licensees (GLs) violations of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 72.48. The proposed IEP was published in Federal Register (FR) for comments on April 7, 2025 (90 FR 14917, Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML25080A308), and the public comment period ends on April 28, 2025.
The meeting was noticed on March 27, 2025 (ML25086A259). More than 100 people attended the meeting. A partial attendees list for the meeting is included in the Enclosure. The presentation slides for the meeting (ML25098A056) were available on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) public meeting website.
Gerond George, Acting Chief of the Inspection and Oversight Branch, opened the meeting and stated the purposes of the meeting were to discuss the proposed IEP and ensure stakeholders awareness of how to submit comments through Regulations.gov. He noted that the proposed IEP would provide direction to inspectors on the disposition of violations involving a GLs adoption of a certificate of compliance (CoC) holder-generated changes made under the CoC holders change authority of 10 CFR 72.48, Changes, tests, and experiments.
CONTACTS: Yen-Ju Chen, NMSS/DFM 301-415-1018 April 24, 2025 Signed by Chen, Yen-Ju on 04/24/25
C. Román 2
The staff explained the reason for developing the IEP was to allow the staff to exercise enforcement discretion for the disposition of violations involving a GLs adoption of a CoC holder-generated change made under the CoC holders authority of § 72.48. The staff aims to align and better focus resources with the areas of responsibility for GLs and CoC holders.
The proposed IEP is an efficient vehicle to change the current regulatory framework. The NRC staff plans to review the regulations in 10 CFR part 72 and guidance documents to determine if the NRC needs to consider rulemaking, including potential interpretation of the applicable regulations, and/or revising guidance to clarify the requirements in 10 CFR part 72.
Under the proposed IEP, when the NRC identifies a noncompliance for a storage cask with the CoC holder-initiated change, the NRC issues violations to the CoC holder and gives the general licensees enforcement discretion which will be documented in the inspection report. With the enforcement discretion, GLs are responsible for bringing the casks into compliance.
With the proposed IEP, the staff does not expect changes to GLs existing programs for complying with § 72.48 and § 72.212. GLs would continue to be responsible for the safe operations of the storage casks and any site-specific changes.
The staff plans to provide the proposed IEP for the Commissions vote in May 2025. If the Commission approves the IEP, the NRC will issue the IEP for implementation. Then, the staff will review § 72.48 regulations to determine the necessary changes to implement a more efficient process for GLs to adopt CoC holder-generated changes to avoid similar situations.
The staff is looking into different options to improve the process to meet the agencys mission.
Rodney McCullum of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) appreciated staffs timeliness in acting on this proposed IEP as discussed during the March 7, 2025, public meeting (ML25087A121). He noted that the proposed IEP is also responsive to NEIs \
February 28, 2025, letter (ML25083A106) and gives the industry regulatory certainty to allow the industry to safely, effectively, and efficiently manage loading campaigns and manufacture storage casks. The industry is strongly aligned to support timely implementation of the IEP.
The industry representatives noted that, considering the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act, the NRC needs to look at § 72.48 regulations more broadly to make the process more efficient, especially with new fuels and new reactors likely in the near future.
The staff responded to a question regarding the use of Enforcement Guidance Memorandum (EGM) 25-001 (ML24303A436) and the approval of IEP. EGM-25-001 specifically addresses the issues related to EA-24-044 (ML23145A175), and it will remain in effect until December 31, 2027. The staff will evaluate whether the IEP would cover the specifics in EGM 25-001 and determine whether to rescind the EGM once the IEP is issued. The staff is developing an internal guidance to formalize the process for implementing the IEP. In the interim, the staff does not expect the GLs to make any changes to their programs.
C. Román 3
The staff had a productive discussion with the industry representatives. At the end of the meeting, the industry reiterated that they are strongly aligned to support approving this IEP as soon as possible.
The public meeting concluded at 2:04 p.m.
Enclosure:
- 1. Partial Meeting Attendee List
ML25105A215(pkg), ML25105A217(ltr), ML25105A218(encl)