ML23346A184
| ML23346A184 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 01/16/2024 |
| From: | Gascot-Lozada R, Robert Roche-Rivera NRC/RES/DE/RGDB |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML23346A182 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML23346A184 (3) | |
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fiscal Year 2023 Agency Repo rt
- 1. Please provide a summary of your agencys activities under taken to carry out the provisions of OMB Circular A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Acti vities and the National Technology Transfer and Advance Act (NTTAA). The summa ry should contain a link to the agencys standards-specific website(s) where inform ation about your agencys standards and conformity assessment related activities are avai lable.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) uses voluntary con sensus standards as an integral part of our regulatory framework. Standards contain te chnical requirements, safety requirements, guidelines, characteristics, and recommended prac tices for performance. The benefits of being actively involved in developing and using sta ndards include improved safety, cost savings, improved efficiency and transparency, and regulat ory requirements with high technical quality. Some standards are incorporated by reference into NRC regulations. The NRCs regulations may be found at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/
index.html. The NRC staff also issues documents providing guidance on acc eptable methods for complying with NRC regulations such as Regulatory Guides (RGs). These guidance documents frequently endorse and reference voluntary consensus standards as acceptable methods for compliance with NRC regulations. RGs are cataloged here https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/index.html#reg.
The NRC implements the Office o f Management and Budget Circular A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities, consistent with the provisions of the N ational Technology Transfer and Advance Act (NTTAA) of 1995 (Public Law 104-113) through formal guidance to the NRC staff.
Guidance to the NRC staff on standards work is provided in NRC Management Directive (MD) 6.5, NRC Participation in the Development and Use of Consensus St andards. MD 6.5 and its associated directive handbook were initially published in 1998 and were revised and reissued in 2016. MD 6.5 describes the NRCs process with respe ct to the participation in the development and use of consensus standards. This process consis ts of three primary steps:
(1) identifying and prioritizing the need for new and revised t echnical standards, (2) participating in codes and standards development, and (3) endorsing codes and standards.
As an initiative to enhance agency use of standards and to exch ange standards information with external stakeholders, in September 2023, the NRC hosted the se venth NRC Standards Forum.
The goals of the NRC Standards Forum are to facilitate discussi ons on codes and standards needs within the nuclear industry and explore how to collaborat e in accelerating the development of codes and standards and the subsequent NRC endor sement of codes and standards. Our intent is to shorten the lengthy standards devel opment cycle by encouraging collaboration among stakeholders including researchers producin g technical information and standards writers who build upon their findings. The Standards Forum meetings are usually held once a year. A summary and related documents for the September 2023 Standards Forum can be found at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/standards-dev/standard s-forum/2023.html.
The NRC is working, and intends to continue working, with multi ple standards development organizations to close technical and regulatory gaps through de velopment and application of consensus standards. These standards may be applied to regulato ry activities for existing light-water reactors or new nuclear plant designs including adv anced reactor technologies and
Enclosure 2
small modular reactors. Standards continue to provide a critica l element in our safety mission.
For more information, the NRC website on standards development is at:
https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/standards-dev.html. Additionally, the NRC webpage at the following link, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/incorporated-ref.html, provides a list of standards incorporated by reference into cha pter I of title 10 of the code of federal regulations.
- 2. Please list the government-unique standards (GUS) your agency b egan using in lieu of voluntary consensus standards during FY 2023. Please note th at GUS which are still in effect from previous years should continue to be listed, thus t he total number in your agency's report will include all GUS currently in use (previous years and new as of this FY):
Current total GUS: 2
(1) Government Unique Standard
NRC NUREG-1556, Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses [Incorporated: 2011].
Voluntary Standard
(American National Standards Institute (ANSI)) N 13.2-1969, Gui de for Administrative Practices in Radiation Monitoring.
Rationale
(ANSI) N 13.2-1969, Guide for Administrative Practices in Radi ation Monitoring, had been endorsed in Regulatory Guide 8.2, with the same title, issued i n February 1973. The standard has not been revised since its inception, and it now refers to obsolete technical practices and outdated requirements. Therefore, Revision 1 of RG 8.2, publish ed in May 2011, removed endorsement of ANSI N 13.2-1969. Guidance is now provided throu gh two referenced NRC reports, that could be considered Government-unique standards: NUREG-1556, Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses, and NUREG-1736, Consolidat ed Guidance:
10 CFR Part 20Standards for Protection against Radiation.
(2) Government Unique Standard
NRC NUREG-1736, Consolidated Guidance: 10 CFR Part 20Standard s for Protection against Radiation [Incorporated: 2011].
Voluntary Standard
(ANSI) N 13.2-1969, Guide for Administrative Practices in Radi ation Monitoring.
Rationale
(ANSI) N 13.2-1969, Guide for Administrative Practices in Radi ation Monitoring, had been endorsed in RG 8.2, with the same title, issued in February 197 3. The standard has not been revised since its inception, and it now refers to obsolete tech nical practices and outdated requirements. Therefore, Revision 1 of RG 8.2, published in May 2011, removed endorsement of ANSI N 13.2-1969. Guidance is now provided through two refer enced NRC reports, that 3
could be considered Government-unique standards: NUREG-1556, C onsolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses, and NUREG-1736, Consolidated Guidan ce: 10 CFR Part 20 Standards for Protection against Radiation.