2015-32599. Regulatory Improvements for Decommissioning Power Reactors

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

On November 19, 2015, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on regulatory improvements for decommissioning power reactors. The public comment period was originally scheduled to close on January 4, 2016. The NRC has decided to extend the public comment period to allow more time for members of the public to develop and submit their comments.

DATES:

The due date of comments requested in the document published on November 19, 2015, (80 FR 72358) is extended. Comments should be filed no later than March 18, 2016, providing a comment period of 120 days.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject):

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0070. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. For technical questions contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
• Email comments to: [e-mail]. If you do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 301-415-1677.
• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301-415-1101.
• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
• Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal workdays; telephone: [phone].

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jason B. Carneal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0070 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0070.
• 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 [e-mail]. The ANPR on regulatory improvements for decommissioning power reactors is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15167A010.
• 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-2015-0070 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. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 they 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 into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

On November 19, 2015, the NRC requested comments on an ANPR on regulatory improvements for decommissioning power reactors. The NRC is specifically seeking input from stakeholders for the development of a draft regulatory basis. The draft regulatory basis will explore the NRC's options for addressing various regulatory issues involved with the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The ANPR's public comment period was originally scheduled to close on January 4, 2016. In response to several requests to extend the public comment period, the NRC has decided to extend the public comment period on the ANPR to March 18, 2016, providing a comment period of 120 days from the date of publication, in order to allow more time for members of the public to submit their comments. As stated in the November 19, 2015, publication of the ANPR, the NRC does not intend to provide detailed responses to comments on this ANPR.

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

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Victor M. McCree,

Executive Director for Operations.