Up & Atom

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced that it intends to issue, by the end of 2023, the final rule and associated regulatory guide that sets emergency preparedness requirements for new reactors. The rulemaking will allow small modular reactor (SMR) and advanced reactor license applicants to develop performance-based emergency preparedness programs as an alternative to the current offsite radiological emergency planning requirements. This rulemaking is a significant development toward providing flexibility in meeting the NRC’s emergency preparedness requirements.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has set a course to create a regulatory framework for fusion energy systems that builds on NRC’s existing nuclear materials licensing process. As we have previously reported, NRC had considered three options for regulating nuclear fusion. NRC chose to work from the existing process for licensing the use of byproduct materials contained in 10 CFR Part 30, which requires only a limited-scope rulemaking.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) published on January 31 two secretarial determinations in the Federal Register that change the countries that are eligible for general authorizations under 10 CFR Part 810 (Part 810). The first secretarial determination changed the status of Mexico to a fully generally authorized destination, while the second removed Colombia and Egypt from the list of countries eligible for a general authorization.

The NRC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing a rule, “Alternatives to the Use of Credit Ratings,” that would amend its decommissioning financial assurance mechanisms in 10 CFR Part 30.

On December 8, the NRC issued Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2022-03 detailing its plans regarding the use of “Information-Sharing Agreements” to share controlled unclassified information (CUI) with non-executive branch entities. The NRC is targeting the summer of 2023 to begin establishing formal agreements with NRC licensees, applicants, certificate of compliance (CoC) holders, agreement state radiation control program directors, state liaison officers, and tribes.

Good news for Mexico—and a potential farewell to Egypt and South Africa: It’s time to look out for the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) changes to the list of generally authorized countries that appear in Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 810 (Appendix A).

The Commission recently approved the NRC Staff’s recommendation to pursue a 24-month schedule for updating the agency’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (LR GEIS). The Commission’s decision signifies an ambitious push forward to make the LR GEIS applicable to subsequent license renewal (SLR) applications.

The Commission recently issued SRM-SECY-19-0100, in which it disapproved, by a 2-to-1 vote, a request made by the NRC staff that sought approval to discontinue the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Security Requirements rulemaking and deny a related petition for rulemaking filed by C-10 Research and Education Foundation Inc.

The NRC is taking an important step toward an inclusive licensing regime for a new generation of reactors. On January 3, the NRC staff submitted for commission approval a recommended final rule on “Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies.”

On December 10, the NRC staff issued SECY-21-0105 seeking approval from the NRC commissioners to publish a notice of final rule that would officially replace the NRC's sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI) program with a Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) program. The new rules would appear in 10 CFR Part 2, "Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure," and be consistent with the government-wide rules on CUI in 32 CFR Part 2002.