80 FR 80395 - Operating Philosophy for Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposures as Low as is Reasonably Achievable

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 247 (December 24, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-8033, ``Operating Philosophy for Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposures As Low as is Reasonably Achievable.'' This DG is proposed Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.10 and describes methods and procedures that the staff of NRC considers acceptable for maintaining radiation exposures to employees and the public as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). This revision incorporates additional guidance from operating ALARA experience since the previous revision to RG 8.10 in 1975.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 247 (Thursday, December 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80395-80396]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32414]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0286]


Operating Philosophy for Maintaining Occupational Radiation 
Exposures as Low as is Reasonably Achievable

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-8033, ``Operating 
Philosophy for Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposures As Low as 
is Reasonably Achievable.'' This DG is proposed Revision 2 to 
Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.10 and describes methods and procedures that 
the staff of NRC considers acceptable for maintaining radiation 
exposures to employees and the public as low as is reasonably 
achievable (ALARA). This revision incorporates additional guidance from 
operating ALARA experience since the previous revision to RG 8.10 in 
1975.

DATES: Submit comments by February 22, 2016. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specified subject):
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0286. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Casper Sun, telephone: 301-415-1646, 
email: [email protected], and Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-415-
2493, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office 
of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0286 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publically-available information related to this document by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0286.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if available in 
ADAMS), is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The 
DG is electronically available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML15203B410.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0286 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission.

[[Page 80396]]

The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as 
well as entering the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not 
routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact 
information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in 
its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled, ``Operating Philosophy for Maintaining 
Occupational Radiation Exposures As Low as is Reasonably Achievable,'' 
is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-8033. Draft guide-8033 
is proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.10, dated September 
1975.
    The NRC issued RG 8.10 in 1975 to provide guidance on an acceptable 
program for maintaining radiation exposures to employees and the public 
as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). In 1991, the NRC 
promulgated amendments to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
Part 20 (10 CFR part 20) regulations (56 FR 23360; May 21, 1991). The 
1991 rulemaking included substantive amendments to the 10 CFR part 20 
regulations as well as a renumbering of those regulations. As such, 
this revision (Revision 2) to the guide aligns with the regulatory 
structure of 10 CFR part 20 by updating the guide's cross-references to 
the current 10 CFR part 20 regulations. In addition, this revision 
includes additional guidance from operating ALARA experience since 
1975.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    This draft guide, if finalized, would provide updated guidance on 
the methods acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC's 
regulations associated with ALARA. The draft guide would apply to 
current and future applicants for and holders of:
     (1) Licenses issued under 10 CFR part 70 to possess or 
use, at any site or contiguous sites subject to licensee control, a 
formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material, as defined in 
10 CFR 70.4; (2) operating licenses for nuclear power reactors under 10 
CFR part 50; and (3) approvals issued under subpart B, C, E, and F of 
10 CFR part 52 (``protected applicants and licensees'').
     operating licenses for nuclear non-power reactors under 10 
CFR part 50.
     general domestic licenses for byproduct material under 10 
CFR part 31.
     specific domestic license to manufacture or transfer 
certain items containing byproduct material under 10 CFR part 32.
     specific domestic licenses of broad scope for byproduct 
material under 10 CFR part 33.
     licenses for industrial radiography under 10 CFR part 34.
     licenses for medical use of byproduct material under 10 
CFR part 35.
     licenses for irradiators under 10 CFR part 36.
     licenses for well logging under 10 CFR part 39.
     licenses for source material under 10 CFR part 40.
     licenses for packaging and transportation of radioactive 
material under 10 CFR part 71.
     licenses for independent storage under 10 CFR part 72.
    Holders of approvals under 10 CFR parts 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 
40, and 71 of the NRC's regulations and holders of nonpower reactor 
operating licenses under 10 CFR part 50 are not protected by 
backfitting or issue finality provisions.
    Issuance of this DG in final form would not constitute backfitting 
under 10 CFR parts 50, 70, or 72 and would not otherwise be 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. As 
discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this DG, the NRC has no 
current intention to impose the DG, if finalized, on current holders of 
10 CFR part 50 operating licenses, 10 CFR part 52, subpart B, C, E, or 
F approvals, 10 CFR part 70 licenses, or 10 CFR part 72 licenses.
    The DG, if finalized, could be applied to applications for 10 CFR 
part 50 operating licenses; 10 CFR part 52, subpart B, C, E, or F 
approvals; licenses issued under 10 CFR part 70; or licenses issued 
under 10 CFR part 72. Such action would not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109, 70.76, or 72.62 or be otherwise inconsistent 
with the applicable issue finality provision in 10 CFR part 52, 
inasmuch as such applicants are not within the scope of entities 
protected by 10 CFR 50.109, 70.76, or 72.62 or the relevant issue 
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
    Backfitting restrictions were not intended to apply to every NRC 
action that substantially changes settled expectations, and applicants 
have no reasonable expectation that future requirements may change, see 
54 FR 15372 (April 18, 1989), at 15385-86. Although the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52 are intended to provide regulatory 
stability and issue finality, the matters addressed in this regulatory 
guide (concerning certain ALARA requirements in 10 CFR part 20 and 10 
CFR part 50 appendix I) are not within the scope of issues that may be 
resolved for design certification, design approval or a manufacturing 
license, and therefore are not subject to issue finality protections in 
10 CFR part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of December, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2015-32414 Filed 12-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P