ML22153A109

Final Supporting Statement for NRC Form 748 2022 National Source Tracking System Report

ML22153A109
Person / Time
Issue date:	08/03/2022
From:	NRC/OCIO, NRC/OGC
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ML21356A000	List: ML21356A002 ML21356A003 ML21356A867 ML22153A109 ML22186A232 ML22186A233 ML22186A234 ML22186A235 ML22186A236 ML22186A237 ML22186A238 ML22186A239 ML22186A240
References
OMB 3150-0202
Download: ML22153A109 (9)

Text

FINAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR NRC FORM 748 NATIONAL SOURCE TRACKING TRANSACTION REPORT

(OMB CLEARANCE NO. 3150-0202)

EXTENSION

Description of the Information Collection

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required the Nuclear Regulatory C ommission (NRC) to issue regulations establishing a mandatory tracking system for radiat ion sources in the United States.

In response to that mandate, the National Source Tracking Syste m (NSTS) was developed through close cooperation with other Federal and State agencies. Under this program, licensees are required to report information on the manufacture, transfer, receipt, and disposal of nationally tracked sources. This information is used to main tain the NSTS and provides the NRC with a cradle-to-grave account for these sources, thus im proving accountability and controls over them. Licensees can submit this transaction infor mation by using the online NSTS or the NRC Form 748 - National Source Tracking Transaction Rep ort. The data elements contained on the NRC Form 748 represent the information necessa ry to track the nationally tracked sources from cradle to grave to ensure that all such so urces continue to be accounted for.

The online NSTS allows licensees to report transactions directl y into the system. Because this system requires a digital credential (an electronic identificat ion which establishes a users credentials when processing transactions on the web), it allows licensees to access previously entered source data without requiring them to rekey that inform ation. For example, once a source is entered into the system, the licensee can enter subse quent transactions for that source without re-entering information about the source. In the online NSTS system, licensees can use batch uploads to submit data on multiple transactions. This ability to upload multiple transactions represents a large time savings for manufacturers and distributors and other licensees who perform multiple transactions on a regular basis.

Justification

1. Need for and Practical Utility of the Collection of Information

There is broad U.S. Government and international interest in tr acking radioactive sources to improve accountability and control. Prior to impleme ntation of the NSTS, there was no single U.S. source of information to verify the authorized users, locations, quantities, and movement of these materials. Separate NRC and Agreement State systems trac ked licensees and the maximum amounts of materials they are authorized to possess but did not record act ual sources or their movements. National source tracking is part of a comprehe nsive radioactive source control program for radioactive materials of greatest concern.

Although a national source tracking program cannot ensure the p hysical protection of sources, it provides greater source accountabilit y. The information collection, in conjunction with other controls, directly suppor ts a comprehensive radioactive source control program for radioactive materials of greatest concern.

The information collected enhances the ability of the NRC and A greement States to conduct inspections and investigations, communicate informat ion to other government agencies, and verify legitimate ownership and use of nationally tracked sources. In addition, the national source tracking prog ram fulfills a U.S.

Government commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources.

Section 20.2207(a) requires manufacturers of any nationally tra cked source to complete and submit a National Source Tracking Transaction Repo rt or by other means specified in the rule. The report must include the follow ing information:

(1) the name, address, and license number of the reporting licensee ; (2) the name of the individual preparing the report; (3) the manufactur er, model, and serial number of the source; (4) the radioactive material in th e source; (5) the initial source strength in becquerels (curies) at the time of m anufacture; and (6) the manufacture date of the source. This information is needed to monitor on a timely basis the location and manufacture of new nationally tra cked sources.

Section 20.2207(b) requires licensees to report the transfer of any nationally tracked source to another person on a National Source Tracking Transaction Report or by other means specified in the rule. The report must include the following information: (1) the name, address, and license numbe r of the reporting licensee; (2) the name of the individual preparing th e report; (3) the name and license number of the recipient facility and the shipp ing address; (4) the manufacturer, model, and serial number of the source or, if not available, other information to uniquely identify the source; (5) the radi oactive material in the source;(6) the initial or current source strength in becque rels (curies); (7) the date for which the source strength is reported; (8) the shippin g date; (9) The estimated arrival date; and (10) for nationally tracked sources transferred as waste under a Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, the waste manifest number and the container identification of the contain er with the nationally tracked source. This information is needed to monito r on a timely basis the location and transfer of the nationally tracked sourc es.

Section 20.2207(c) requires licensees to report the receipt of any nationally tracked source on a National Source Tracking Transaction Report or by other means specified in the rule. The report must include the follow ing information:

(1) the name, address, and license number of the reporting lice nsee; (2) the name of the individual preparing the report; (3) the name, addr ess, and license number of the person that provided the source; (4) the manufact urer, model, and serial number of the source or, if not available, other informa tion to uniquely identify the source; (5) the radioactive material in the source ; (6) the initial or current source strength in becquerels (curies); (7) the date fo r which the source strength is reported; (8) the date of receipt; and (9) for mate rial received under a Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, the waste manifes t number and the container identification with the nationally tracked source. This information is needed to monitor on a timely basis the location and receipt of the nationally tracked sources.

Section 20.2207(d) requires licensees to report the disassembly of any nationally tracked source on a National Source Tracking Transaction Report or by other means specified in the rule. The report must include the follow ing information:

(1) the name, address, and license number of the reporting lice nsee; (2) the name of the individual preparing the report; (3) the manufactur er, model, and serial number of the source or, if not available, other informa tion to uniquely identify the source; (4) the radioactive material in the source ; (5) the initial or current source strength in becquerels (curies); (6) the date fo r which the source strength is reported; and (7) the disassemble date of the sourc e. This information is needed to monitor on a timely basis the status o f the nationally tracked sources.

Section 20.2207(e) requires licensees to report the disposal of any nationally tracked source on a National Source Tracking Transaction Report or by other means specified in the rule. The report must include the follow ing information:

(1) the name, address, and license number of the reporting lice nsee; (2) the name of the individual preparing the report; (3) the waste mani fest number; (4) the container identification with the nationally tracked so urce; and (5) the date of disposal; and (6) the method of disposal. This information i s needed to know the final dispensation of a nationally tracked source.

Section 20.2207(g) requires licensees to correct errors in prev iously filed reports or file any missed transaction reports within 5 business days o f the discovery.

The section also requires licensees to reconcile and verify the inventory of nationally tracked sources possessed by the licensee against th e licensees data in the NSTS on an annual basis. This verification is necessary to maintain the accuracy and reliability of the system over time. The burden to correct errors and file missed transaction reports is included in this clearance. The burden to conduct an annual reconciliation with the NSTS is accounted for in the OMB clearance for 10 CFR Part 20 (3150-0014).

Section 20.2207(h) requires licensees to report their initial i nventory of nationally tracked sources to the NSTS. Category 1 sources must be reporte d by January 31, 2009 and Category 2 sources must be reported by Jan uary 31, 2009. The initial inventory report must include the following i nformation: (1) the name, address, and license number of the reporting licensee; (2 ) the name of the individual preparing the report; (3) the manufacturer, model, a nd serial number of each nationally tracked source or, if not available, other info rmation to uniquely identify the source; (4) the radioactive material in the sealed source; (5) the initial or current source strength in becquerels (curies); and (6) the date for which the source strength is reported. This information will populate the NSTS and form the baseline for the system. This is a one-time collection that was included in the clearance package for 10 CFR Part 20, clearance number 3150-001 4. The burden for this one-time collection is accounted for in the OMB clearance for 10 CFR Part 20 (3150-0014)

Section 32.201 requires licensees who manufacture nationally tr acked sources after the effective date of the rule to assign a unique serial number to each nationally tracked source. In order to track the movement of so urces, a unique way to identify the specific source is necessary. The NSTS uses the combination of the manufacturer, model, and serial number to track the sour ces. This requirement is included in the clearance package for 10 CFR Par t 32, clearance number 3150-0001.

When the NSTS was developed, the NRC added 97 additional option al data fields for the benefit of licensees (such as package ID and shi pping ID). To date, no licensees have used the additional fields. Although these ad ditional data fields are not being used, NRC staff do not plan to remove them from the system, due to the cost associated with contractor modifications of the system.

2. Agency Use of the Information

The NRC will use the information to identify licensees that pos sess nationally tracked sources so they can be contacted or inspected and to be tter understand and monitor the location and movement of high-risk sealed sourc es

3. Reduction of Burden Through Information Technology

The NRC has issued Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC which provides direction for the electronic transmission and submitta l of documents to the NRC. Electronic transmission and submittal of documents can be accomplished via the following avenues: the Electronic Informat ion Exchange process, which is available from the NRCs Electronic Submitta ls Web page, by Optical Storage Media (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD), by facsimile, or b y e-mail.

Approximately 1 percent of responses are mailed or faxed versio ns of the NRC Form 748. Another 26 percent of responses are electronically s ubmitted (emailed) versions of the NRC Form 748. The remaining 73 perce nt of responses are electronically submitted using NRCs online NSTS reporting system or submitted by batch upload in a computer-readable form at. Therefore, approximately 99 percent of responses are submitted electronica lly.

4. Effort to Identify Duplication and Use Similar Information

Some information on plutonium (Pu) and thorium (Th) would be co llected by both the Nuclear Materials Management Safeguards System (NMMSS) and the NSTS. The current regulations require reporting transfers, rece ipts, and inventory to NMMSS for one gram or more of Pu and any Th that h as foreign obligations. However, because NMMSS does not collect informatio n at the item level, information (e.g., manufacturer, model, serial number, s ource strength) on sealed sources would not be reported to NMMSS. Therefore, the N RC would not be able to extract the information for the NSTS from NMMSS.

Conversely, the NSTS contains information only on nationally tr acked sources and not information on sources that are not considered sealed o r any bulk material that a licensee may possess. Therefore, the NRC is not able to extract information from the NSTS to support NMMSS. Neither system woul d be able to collect the needed information for the other system without mod ifications to the database and the regulations.

In practice, the NRC has found that nationally-tracked Pu and T h sealed sources are typically held by licensees for long time periods and are n ot routinely transferred to other licensees; so incidences of double-reporti ng are expected to be rare. Only 10 licensees have indicated that they possess Pu or Th sources that will need to be reported to the NSTS. The NRC does not bel ieve that the limited number of licensees and tran sactions likely to be affec ted by this dual reporting requirement would impose an unnecessary burden. The N MMSS and the NSTS would collect information on these isotopes but in dif ferent formats and with different levels of detail as needed by each system.

5. Effort to Reduce Small Business Burden

While some licensees who possess nationally tracked sources are small businesses, the concerns associated with the safe and secure us e of nationally tracked sources are the same for large and small entities. It i s not possible to reduce the burden on small businesses by less frequent or less complete reporting or control procedures while maintaining the required level public health and safety of common defense and security. It is estimated that 40 percent of respondents to this collection are small businesses.

6. Consequences to Federal Program or Policy Activities if the Col lection is Not Conducted or is Conducted Less Frequently

If the information is not collected, the NRC will have no way t o identify licensees that possess nationally tracked sources or monitor the location and movement of the sources.

Required reports are collected and evaluated on a continuing ba sis as transactions and events occur. The schedule for collecting the information is the minimum frequency necessary to monitor the location and movemen t of nationally tracked sources from a security standpoint and ensur e that the information in the NSTS is accurate and up-to-date.

7. Circumstances Which Justify Variation from OMB Guidelines

Contrary to OMB Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2), Sections 20.2 207(a) through (e) of 10 CFR Part 20 require licensees to complete and submit a National Source Tracking Transaction Report by the close of the next bus iness day after the transaction. Section 20.2207(g) of 10 CFR Part 20 requires licensees to correct errors and file reports for any missed transaction with in 5 business days.

This information collection frequency is necessary to monitor t he current location of nationally tracked sources from a security standpoint and en sure that the information in the NSTS is accurate and up-to-date.

8. Consultations Outside the NRC

Opportunity for public comment on the information collection re quirements for this clearance package was published In the Federal Register on April 6, 2022 (87 FR 19983). The NRC also contacted six industrial licensees (e.g.,

radiography companies) by email as part of the public consultat ion process. No comments were received in response to these consultations.

9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents

Not applicable.

10. Confidentiality of Information

Confidential and proprietary information is protected in accord ance with NRC regulations at 10 CFR 9.17(a) and 10 CFR 2.390(b).

The information reported to the NSTS is Official Use Only-Secu rity-Related Information, which is a category assigned to certain sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information at the NRC. Licensees will only have acc ess to their own information.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

This information collection does not contain sensitive question s.

12. Estimated Burden and Burden Hour Cost The $288 hourly rate used in the burden estimates is based on t he NRCs fee for hourly rates as noted in 10 CFR 170.20 Average cost per profes sional staff-hour.

For more information on the basis of this rate, see the Revisio n of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2019 (86 FR 32146, June 16, 2021).

As shown in Table 1, the estimated annual burden to licensees t o report to the NSTS is estimated to be 2,093 hours0.00108 days <br />0.0258 hours <br />1.537698e-4 weeks <br />3.53865e-5 months <br /> at a cost of $602,784 (2,09 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br /> x

$288/hour). A total of approximately 1,160 licensees (210 NRC l icensees + 950 Agreement State licensees) report NSTS data to the NRC.

Licensees have several options for reporting transaction inform ation to the NSTS:

1) Secure Web-based access to the NSTS database

2) Submittal of files in computer-readable format (e.g., batch upl oad)

3) Submittal of the National Source Tracking Transaction Report NR C (Form 748) by email, fax, or mail, or

4) Telephone reporting to the NSTS Help Desk, with follow up by fa x or mail

The burden varies by the method of reporting. The NRC develope d a short form of NRC Form 748 to report single transactions of any transaction t ype, and a long form to report multiple transaction types for licensees to sub mit data. The majority of licensees reporting by NRC Form 748 are using the short form instead of the long form, which reduces the burden on the respondent (0.156 hours0.00181 days <br />0.0433 hours <br />2.579365e-4 weeks <br />5.9358e-5 months <br /> f or the short form as compared to 0.25 hours2.893519e-4 days <br />0.00694 hours <br />4.133598e-5 weeks <br />9.5125e-6 months <br /> for the long form). In addition, the ma jority of licensees who report using the NRC Form 748 submit the form by email or fax.

Based on annual averages from calendar years 2019, 2020, and 20 21, the NRC receives approximately 3,500 online transactions a month, or 42,000 transactions per year. However, licensees ty pically report an average of th ree transactions in a single submission. As a result, t he NRC receives approximately 14,000 submissions a year (42,000 transactions / 3 tr ansaction per submission), wi th an estimated burden of 0.08 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> per submission.

Licensees may also report their information using the computer-readable file format (batch upload). The NRC receives approximately 2 batch uploads each business day. With approximatel y 20 business days per month, and 12 months per year, the NRC receives an estimated 480 batch uploads per y ear (2 batches/day x 20 days x 12 months). Batch uploads are estim ated to take approximately 15 minutes (0.25 hours2.893519e-4 days <br />0.00694 hours <br />4.133598e-5 weeks <br />9.5125e-6 months <br />) per batch.

Table 1.

Annual Licensee Reporting Burden

Total Annual Burden per Burden Cost at Reporting Method Responses Response (hours) $288/hr NRC Form 748 - Email 5,235 0.156 817 $235,296 NRC Form 748 - Fax 230 0.156 36 $10,368 NSTS Online Submission 14,000 0.08 1,120 $322,560 Batch Upload 480 0.25 120.0 $34,560 Total 19,945 2,093 $602,784

13. Estimate of Other Additional Costs

The NRC estimates that licensees would experience an annual cost of about

$129 in printing and faxing costs. The additional cost varies b y reporting method.

As shown in Table 2, the NRC estimates that, on average, licens ees would incur a materials cost of $0.56 for each report they fax to the NSTS. This estimate includes printing of the NRC Form 748 and a two-minute State-to -State telephone call.

Table 2 Licensee Additional Costs

Additional Total Cost Per Additional Reporting Method # Reports Report Cost NRC Form 748 - Email 5,235 $0.00 $0 NRC Form 748 - Fax 230 $0.56 $129 NSTS Online Submission 14,000 $0.00 $0 Batch Upload 480 $0.00 $0 Total 19,945 $129

Internet access is considered a standard business practice. The refore, the cost associated with the purchase of Internet access services is not considered an incremental cost to licensees that email the NRC Form 748 or re port NSTS data using the online system or batch upload.

14. Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government The staff has developed estimates of annualized costs to the Fe deral Government related to the conduct of this collection of informa tion. These estimates are based on staff experience and subject matter expe rtise and include the burden needed to review, analyze, and process the collected information and any relevant operational expenses.

The estimated cost of operating the NSTS is approximately $3,09 6,864 per year.

This cost was calculated by multiplying the current fee rate of $288/hr by the total number of hours (10,753) that the NRC estimates it will expend annually to process data in the NSTS, the hosting environment of NSTS, annu al NSTS software maintenance, cost of automated data processing, record holding, and clerical processing of the NRC Form 748.

15. Reasons for Change in Burden The previous burden for this collection was 1,963 hours0.0111 days <br />0.268 hours <br />0.00159 weeks <br />3.664215e-4 months <br /> and 18, 927 responses.

Based on data from the last three years, the burden is expected to slightly increase to 2,093 hours0.00108 days <br />0.0258 hours <br />1.537698e-4 weeks <br />3.53865e-5 months <br /> and 19,945 responses (an increase of 130 hours0.0015 days <br />0.0361 hours <br />2.149471e-4 weeks <br />4.9465e-5 months <br /> a nd 1,018 responses). The estimated burden has increased since the avera ge number of NSTS transactions has slightly increased over the last three ye ars. In addition, the fee rate has increased from $263 to $288/hr.

16. Publication for Statistical Use

The information requested will not be published for statistical use.

17. Reason for Not Displaying the Expiration Date

The clearance expiration date is displayed on NRC Form 748. Due to costs associated with contractor modifications of the NSTS, the expir ation date is not displayed on the first screen of the system. All other required information (burden estimate, mandatory nature of the collection, agency us e of the information, etc.) is included in a PRA statement on the first screen of the system.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement

None.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Not applicable.