Topical Report Submittal Procedure
A licensee, vendor, or industry organization may, on its own initiative or at the request of the NRC staff, submit a topical report, that adheres to the procedures discussed in Office Instruction LIC-500, and summarized throughout this page:
Communication and Correspondence
Interested parties should consult the NRC's cognizant Project Manager well in advance of submitting a topical report to ensure that the proposed report meets the Criteria for a Topical Report or the Exceptions to the Criteria, and to clarify the NRC staff requirements for preparing and submitting the report. Details on submitting topical reports can be found in the NRC staff Office Instruction LIC-500.
Three to six months prior to the planned submittal, a pre-submittal meeting should be held. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the proposed topical report, the assessed priority of the intended topical report, and the potential staff review schedule.
If the NRC staff determines that the proposed topical report qualifies for review, the vendor or organization submits a letter requesting NRC staff review along with a copy of the proposed topical report. The first paragraph of the official topical report transmittal letter should specify whether the topical report is believed to contain proprietary information, and list the Topical Report Identifier, and title. The letter should also state when the report is needed for a licensing application.
The transmittal letter and enclosures should be addressed to the Document Control Desk, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hardcopy (paper/CD-ROM/DVD) is an acceptable mechanisms to submit topical reports but electronic submittal through the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) is highly encouraged. See Electronic Submittals and Hardcopy Submittals for more information on each type of submission."
Requirements for PDFs generated from Native Applications
| Criteria |
| Optimized for Fast Web View |
| Embedded Fonts |
| Searchable Text |
| Security Method = "No Security" |
| File size ≤ 100MB (except for single image or data file) |
Requirements for PDFs generated from Scanned Images
| Criteria |
| Optimized for Fast Web View |
| Resolution ≥300 ppi |
| Searchable Text by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process |
| Lossless Compression |
| Security Method = "No Security" |
| File size ≤ 100MB (except for single image or data file) |
Hardcopy Submittals
If a decision is made to provide hardcopies of topical reports, submit the following quantities, plus any additional copies that the NRC staff requests. These quantities apply to initial submittals, revisions, supplements, and NRC-approved versions.
| Type of Report |
Number of Copies |
| Nonproprietary |
1 original hard copy to the Document Control Desk*
2 CD copies to the cognizant Vendor/Owners Group Project Manager under separate cover
Up to 3 additional hard copies if requested by the NRC Project Manager.
|
| Proprietary
|
1 original hard copy to the Document Control Desk*
2 CD copies to the cognizant Vendor/Owners Group Project Manager under separate cover
Up to 3 hard copies if requested by the NRC Project Manager
|
| Proprietary and nonproprietary versions
|
1 original hard copy of each version to the Document Control Desk*
2 CD copies to the cognizant Vendor/Owners Group Project Manager under separate cover
Up to 3 additional hard copies if requested by the NRC Project Manager.
|
*If a fee exemption is requested, follow the address requirements under Review Fees.
Review Fees
Topical report reviews are normally subject to fees based on the full cost of the review, as set forth in 10 CFR Part 170. Exemptions to the fee recovery requirements are made on a case-by-case basis, as set forth in 10 CFR 170.11.
A fee waiver does not mean that the NRC does not charge for the review. It only means that the fee will not be assessed solely to the organization that requested the review. When an exemption is granted, the cost of the review is paid by appropriate licensees under 10 CFR Part 171. The NRC has been directed by Congress to keep these fees as low as possible.
A fee-exemption requests should be addressed to the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Topical Report Identifier
Each submitting organization assigns a unique alphanumeric identifier to each topical report for filing and reference purposes, and places it in the upper right-hand corner of the first page or cover page of all documents related to the report. Consult the NRC Project Manager to ensure that the selected identifier does not conflict with that of another organization. In general, however, the following guidance applies:
- For all proprietary reports, place "-P" or "(P)" at the end of the identifier.
- For the corresponding nonproprietary report, place "-NP" or "(NP)" at the end of the identifier, rather than "-P" or "(P)".
- For all accepted-for-use proprietary reports, place "-P-A" or "(P-A)" after the identifier, where the A indicates NRC approval.
- For all accepted-for-use nonproprietary reports, place "-NP-A" or "(NP-A)" after the identifier, where the A indicates NRC approval.
Handling of Proprietary information
Italics, marginal lines, underscoring, or bracketing with yellow highlighting are various methods used to identify material that is considered to be proprietary information.
The nonproprietary version should indicate where proprietary information has been deleted. For example, if brackets and yellow highlighting are used in the proprietary version to show what portion of the information is considered proprietary, the nonproprietary version should leave blank the portion between the brackets to show that information was removed.
Upon receiving a properly marked, proprietary topical report and the supporting justification for why it is proprietary under 10 CFR 2.390, the NRC staff will perform a review to determine whether the information should be withheld from public disclosure and notify the submitting organization of its determination. Nonproprietary versions of topical reports should contain the maximum amount of information possible. Designating an entire page as proprietary when just a few numbers or design factors are proprietary is a basis for the NRC staff to reject the request for withholding.
Revision of Accepted-for-Use Topical Reports
If an NRC staff accepted-for-use topical report needs to be revised, but is not obsolete, a revision is submitted following the same procedures used to submit the original topical report but with the following exceptions:
- State in a note on the cover page of the revision that it supersedes and replaces all previous versions of the report.
- Place the same identifier on the revision used on the original version followed by the revision number (e.g., Revision 1 or Revision 2).
- Do not include "-A" or "(A)", indicating an accepted-for-use topical report, as part of the identifier on the revision.
Withdrawal of Topical Reports
Over time, a topical report (under review or accepted for use) may become obsolete. To withdraw a topical report, a letter requesting that NRC staff categorize the topical report as withdrawn or stop all ongoing review work should be submitted.
If the NRC categorizes the report "withdrawn," it can no longer be referenced in a license application. However, the report may be replaced by an updated or new topical report, which has a new identifier and new NRC charge number to avoid confusion with the withdrawn report.