Information Collection: Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of submission to the Office of Management and Budget; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.”

DATES:

Submit comments by September 22, 2021. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: Infocollects.Resource@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0035 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0035.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The supporting statement is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21168A068.
• NRC's Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by contacting the NRC's Clearance Officer, David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: Infocollects.Resource@nrc.gov.

B. Submitting Comments

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. All comment submissions are posted at https://www.regulations.gov/ and entered into ADAMS. Comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the OMB, 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 comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Background

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to OMB for review entitled, Part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.” The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on May 19, 2021, (86 FR 27119).

1. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR part 54 “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.”

2. OMB approval number: 3150-0155.

3. Type of submission: Extension.

4. The form number, if applicable: Not applicable.

5. How often the collection is required or requested: There is a one-time application for any licensee wishing to renew the operating license for its nuclear power plant. There is a one-time requirement for each licensee with a renewed operating license to submit a letter documenting the completion of inspection and testing activities. All holders of renewed licenses must perform yearly record keeping.

6. Who will be required or asked to respond: Commercial nuclear power plant licensees who wish to renew their operating licenses and holders of renewed licenses.

7. The estimated number of annual responses: 66 (11 reporting responses + 55 recordkeepers).

8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 62 (1 initial license renewal application + 1 subsequent license renewal application + 5 completion letters + 55 recordkeepers).

9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 216,700 (160,200 hours reporting + 56,500 hours recordkeeping).

10. Abstract: 10 CFR part 54 establishes license renewal requirements for commercial nuclear power plants and describes the information that licensees must submit to the NRC when applying for a license renewal. The application must contain information on how the licensee will manage the detrimental effects of age-related degradation on certain plant systems, structures, and components to continue the plant's safe operation during the renewal term. The NRC needs this information to determine whether the licensee's actions will be effective in assuring the plants' continued safe operation during the period of extended operation. Holders of renewed licenses must retain in an auditable and retrievable form, for the term of the renewed operating license, all information and documentation required to document compliance with 10 CFR part 54. The NRC needs access to this information for continuing effective regulatory oversight.