The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday provided a large swath of its licensees with an overview of options for relief from federal nuclear rules as they strive to sustain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency addressed a letter to more than 2,400 licensees authorized to hold byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, excluding operating commercial nuclear power and research test reactors. The covered group encompasses nuclear materials users, uranium recovery, decommissioning, fuel cycle, and spent fuel storage facilities.
As of 2019, the NRC counted roughly 80 independent spent fuel storage installations in 35 states. There were more than 90 sites in various stages of decommissioning, including retired nuclear power plants, research and test reactors, uranium recovery operations, and fuel cycle facilities.
“The NRC recognizes that during the current COVID-19 [public health emergency] licensees may experience challenges in meeting certain regulatory requirements,” wrote John Lubinski, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, in a letter to licensees. “The NRC has multiple methods of providing relief from regulatory requirements while continuing to maintain safety and security. These methods fall broadly into different categories, which include exemptions from regulatory requirements, amendments to license conditions or technical specifications, and enforcement discretion.”
The emphasis is on providing relief from administrative requirements, as identified in NRC staff outreach to licensees. That could include standard activities such as audits, inventories, and employee training recertifications.
“In these areas, licensees may request that routine actions be temporarily delayed,” the agency said in a statement Thursday. “In reviewing any such requests, the NRC will ensure that public health and safety will be maintained. The NRC staff has not identified any issues that would affect public health and safety at the facilities that continue to operate.”
Lubinski cited three specific approaches to regulatory relief:
- The NRC can authorize exemptions from its regulations, as well as amendments to conditions and technical specifications set in licenses. Requests from licensees will be considered individually, with the agency potentially offering approval for a limited time. In the event of similar requests from one class of licensees, staff could establish a system for expedited processing of multiple filings. An exemption could be extended, as necessary, if the COVID-19 public health emergency persists.
- The agency is empowered to direct its inspectors to use discretion during a public health emergency against citing licensees for certain regulatory violations under “specific criteria.” Staff would receive an “enforcement guidance memorandum” laying out the parameters for applying this discretion, including how long it would last and what conditions licensees would have to meet to be considered.
- Licensees are generally advised to file a request by email with the NRC project manager for a site or another appropriate point of contact. In the event of a situation that must be addressed immediately, NRC contacts include the project manager, a licensing point of contact, or an appropriate branch head, as well as the Emergency Operations Center at agency headquarters.
As of Thursday, Lubinski’s office had not received any requests for rapid relief. The NRC said it expects its licensees would employ this option rarely and only for “unanticipated temporary situations of potential noncompliance.”
Discretion on regulatory enforcement would be applied only to cases in which noncompliance is expected to be short-lived and in which the regulator is confident it would not undermine public health and safety.
“The NRC will promptly consider exemption or amendment requests on a case-by-case basis,” the agency said Thursday. “Licensees should proactively identify any necessary regulatory relief and make every effort to submit timely license amendment or exemption requests. The NRC staff will document its decision in writing and will make every effort to evaluate requests before licensee specified need dates. The NRC will not grant amendments or exemptions unless it concludes that all applicable regulatory requirements are met.”
