NRC SEEKING COMMENTS ON PROPOSED RULE AMENDING EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED NUCLEAR FACILITIES
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The NRC is seeking comments on a proposed rule, published in today’s Federal Register, that would change emergency preparedness requirements for operating nuclear power plants, for those that might be licensed and built in the future, and for research and test reactors.

The proposed rule would limit the duties of a plant’s onsite emergency responders to ensure they are not overburdened during an emergency event, and require specific provisions to protect them and other plant personnel during a hostile action event. In addition, the proposed rule would require all nuclear power plants to incorporate hostile action scenarios in their drills and exercises, which currently primarily focus on nuclear-related scenarios. New requirements for back-up measures for alerting and notification systems are also included in the proposed rule.

The NRC has held several public meetings while developing the proposed rule and will be holding additional public meetings at six locations over the next several weeks. At these meetings, hosted jointly by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), staff from both agencies will be available to answer questions about the proposed regulations and draft guidance. The first meeting will be held in the Philadelphia, Pa., area on June 2, 2009. Attendees are strongly encouraged to read the documents on http://www.regulations.gov (Docket Nos. NRC-2008-0122 and FEMA-2008-0022) before the meeting.

After reviewing all public comments, the NRC staff plans to submit a proposed final rule to the Commission in February 2010.

In coordination with the NRC, FEMA is also seeking public comment on a proposed supplement to a joint FEMA/NRC document that addresses criteria for preparing and evaluating emergency response plans for nuclear power plants, and on a draft revision of the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program Manual.  Information on how to submit comments can be found in the Federal Register notice.

The public can view the NRC’s Federal Register notice at:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10947.pdf. Comments may be submitted for 75 days following publication. Comments may be submitted over the federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov; by e-mail to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov; by mail to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff; or by fax to 301-492-3466.

NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009