The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally closed out a regulatory update to expand the scope of stakeholders who would be required to provide “complete and accurate information” in applying for a regulatory approval.
The rulemaking was initiated by a petition filed in April 2013 by James Lieberman, a former NRC official who consults on nuclear safety and regulatory issues.
“The NRC has not identified an immediate safety, environmental, or security concern, and the petitioner did not demonstrate how a lack of requirements in this area would contribute to such a concern,” according to a notice published last month in the Federal Register.
The commission voted 3-1 in favor of ending the rulemaking, according to vote sheets released on Oct. 2. Commissioner Jeff Baran was the lone dissenter. Baran said he was not convinced by the argument from NRC staff that addressing the “regulatory loophole” should be considered low priority, that there was not likely to be funding for the rulemaking in the near term, and that “the lack of this obvious regulatory requirement” had not to date presented a problem.
Lieberman’s intention was to ensure that entities that do not have NRC licenses, such as vendors and other contractors, are required to meet “the same legal standards for the submittal of complete and accurate information” as any license holder or applicant in requesting a regulatory approval from the agency.
The original petition addressed only regulations for nuclear reactors. Lieberman amended his petition in September 2013 to cover radioactive materials, waste disposal, transportation, and spent fuel storage activities covered under separate regulations.
In a March 2015 Federal Register notice, the NRC said it had determined the issues cited in the amended petition were viable for a rulemaking. But it assigned low priority to the proceeding.
