10 C.F.R. § 170.3

Current through October 31, 2024

Section 170.3 - Definitions

As used in this part:

Act means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 919) including any amendments thereto;

Agency support (corporate support and the IG) means resources located in executive, administrative, and other support offices such as the Office of the Commission, the Office of the Secretary, the Office of the Executive Director for Operations, the Offices of Congressional and Public Affairs, the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Administration, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer and the Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. These resources administer the corporate or shared efforts that more broadly support the activities of the agency. These resources also include information technology services, human capital services, financial management, and administrative support.

Agreement State means any State with which the Commission or the Atomic Energy Commission has entered into an effective agreement under subsection 274b of the Act. "Nonagreement State" means any other State.

Application means any request filed with the Commission for a permit, license, approval, exemption, certificate, other permission, or for any other service.

Byproduct material means-

(1) Any radioactive material (except special nuclear material) yielded in, or made radioactive by, exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or using special nuclear material;

(2)

(i) Any discrete source of radium-226 that is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; or

(ii) Any material that-

(A) Has been made radioactive by use of a particle accelerator; and

(B) Is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and

(3) Any discrete source of naturally occurring radioactive material, other than source material, that-

(i) The Commission, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other appropriate Federal agency, determines would pose a threat similar to the threat posed by a discrete source of radium-226 to the public health and safety or the common defense and security; and

(ii) Before, on, or after August 8, 2005, is extracted or converted after extraction for use in a commercial, medical, or research activity.

Government agency means any executive department, commission, independent establishment, corporation, wholly or partly owned by the United States of America which is an instrumentality of the United States, or any board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government.

Greater Than Class C Waste or GTCC Waste means low-level radioactive waste that exceeds the concentration limits of radionuclides established for Class C waste in 10 CFR 61.55 .

High Enriched Uranium means uranium enriched to 20 percent or greater in the isotope uranium-235.

Human use means the internal or external administration of byproduct, source, or special nuclear material, or the radiation therefrom, to human beings.

Inspections means:

(1) Routine inspections designed to evaluate the licensee's activities within the context of the licensee having primary responsibility for protection of the public and environment;

(2) Non-routine inspections in response or reaction to an incident, allegation, follow up to inspection deficiencies or inspections to determine implementation of safety issues. A non-routine or reactive inspection has the same purpose as the routine inspection;

(3) Reviews and assessments of licensee performance;

(4) Evaluations, such as those performed by Diagnostic Evaluation Teams; or

(5) Incident investigations.

Low Enriched Uranium means uranium enriched below 20 percent in the isotope uranium-235.

Manufacturing license means a license pursuant to Appendix M of part 52 of this chapter to manufacture a nuclear power reactor(s) to be operated at sites not identified in the license application.

Materials license means a license, certificate, approval, registration, or other form of permission issued or granted by the NRC under the regulations in 10 CFR Parts 30 , 31 through 36 , 39 , 40 , 61 , 70 , 72 , and 76 .

Mission-direct program salaries and benefits means resources that are allocated to perform core work activities committed to fulfilling the agency's mission of protecting the public health and safety, promoting the common defense and security, and protecting the environment. These resources include the core work activities assigned within the major program business lines (Operating Reactors, New Reactors, Fuel Facilities, Nuclear Materials Users, Decommissioning and Low-Level Waste, and Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation).

Mission-indirect program support means resources that support the core mission-direct activities. These resources include supervisory and nonsupervisory support and mission travel and training. Supervisory and nonsupervisory support and mission travel and training resources assigned under direct business line structure are considered mission-indirect due to their supporting role of the core mission activities.

Non-power production or utilization facility means a production or utilization facility licensed under 10 CFR 50.21(a) or (c) , or 10 CFR 50.22 , as applicable, that is not a nuclear power reactor or production facility as defined under paragraphs (1) and (2) of the definition of "production facility" in 10 CFR 50.2 .

Nonprofit educational institution means a public or nonprofit educational institution whose primary function is education, whose programs are accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, who is legally authorized to provide a program of organized instruction or study, who provides an educational program for which it awards academic degrees, and whose educational programs are available to the public.

Nuclear reactor means an apparatus, other than an atomic weapon, designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction.

Other production or utilization facility means a facility other than a nuclear reactor licensed by the Commission under the authority of section 103 or 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and pursuant to the provisions of part 50 of this chapter.

Part 55 Reviews as used in this part means those services provided by the Commission to administer requalification and replacement examinations and tests for reactor operators licensed pursuant to 10 CFR part 55 of the Commission's regulations and employed by part 50 licensees. These services also include related items such as the preparation, review, and grading of the examinations and tests.

Person as used in this part has the same meaning as found in parts 30, 40, 50, and 70 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Power reactor means a nuclear reactor designed to produce electrical or heat energy licensed by the Commission under the authority of section 103 or subsection 104b of the Act and pursuant to the provisions of § 50.21(b) or § 50.22 of this chapter.

Production facility means:

(1) Any nuclear reactor designed or used primarily for the formation of plutonium or uranium-233; or

(2) Any facility designed or used for the separation of the isotopes of plutonium, except laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes only; or

(3) Any facility designed or used for the processing of irradiated materials containing special nuclear material except:

(i) Laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes;

(ii) Facilities in which the only special nuclear materials contained in the irradiated material to be processed are uranium enriched in the isotope U²³⁵ and plutonium produced by the irradiation, if the material processed contains not more than 10^-6 grams of plutonium per gram of U²³⁵ and has fission product activity not in excess of 0.25 millicurie of fission products per gram of U²³⁵; and

(iii) Facilities in which processing is conducted pursuant to a license issued under parts 30 and 70 of this chapter, or equivalent regulations of an Agreement State, for the receipt, possession, use, and transfer of irradiated special nuclear material, which authorizes the processing of the irradiated material on a batch basis for the separation of selected fission products and limits the process batch to not more than 100 grams of uranium enriched in the isotope 235 and not more than 15 grams of any other special nuclear material.

Research reactor means a nuclear reactor licensed by the Commission under the authority of subsection 104c of the Act and pursuant to the provisions of § 50.21(c) of this chapter for operation at a thermal power level of 10 megawatts or less, and which is not a testing facility as defined in this section.

Sealed source means any byproduct material that is encased in a capsule designed to prevent leakage or escape of the byproduct material.

Small modular reactor (SMR) for the purposes of calculating fees, means the class of power reactors having a licensed thermal power rating less than or equal to 1,000 MWt per module. This rating is based on the thermal power equivalent of an SMR with an electrical power generating capacity of 300 MWe or less per module.

Small modular reactor site (SMR site) is the geographically bounded location of one or more SMRs and a basis on which SMR fees are calculated.

Source material means:

(1) Uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form; or

(2) Ores which contain by weight one-twentieth of one percent (0.05%) or more of

(i) Uranium,

(ii) Thorium, or

(iii) Any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material.

Special nuclear material means:

(1) Plutonium, uranium-233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of section 51 of the Act, determines to be special nuclear material but does not include source material; or

(2) Any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material.

Special projects means specific services provided by the Commission for which fees are not otherwise specified in this chapter. This includes, but is not limited to, contested hearings on licensing actions directly related to U.S. Government national security initiatives (as determined by the NRC), topical report reviews, early site reviews, waste solidification activities, activities related to the tracking and monitoring of shipment of classified matter, services provided to certify licensee, vendor, or other private industry personnel as instructors for 10 CFR part 55 reactor operators, reviews of financial assurance submittals that do not require a license amendment, reviews of responses to Confirmatory Action Letters, reviews of uranium recovery licensees' land-use survey reports, and reviews of 10 CFR 50.71 final safety analysis reports. Special projects does not include activities otherwise exempt from fees under this part. It also does not include those contested hearings for which a fee exemption is granted in § 170.11(a)(2) , including those related to individual plant security modifications.

Testing facility means a nuclear reactor licensed by the Commission under the authority of subsection 104c of the Act and pursuant to the provisions of § 50.21(c) of this chapter for operation at:

(1) A thermal power level in excess of 10 megawatts; or

(2) A thermal power level in excess of 1 megawatt, if the reactor is to contain:

(i) A circulating loop through the core in which the applicant proposes to conduct fuel experiments; or

(ii) A liquid fuel loading; or

(iii) An experimental facility in the core in excess of 16 square inches in cross-section.

Touhy request means a request for NRC records or NRC testimony that is made pursuant to the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 9.200 through 9.204 .

Uranium enrichment facility means:

(1) Any facility used for separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235, except laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes only; or

(2) Any equipment or device, or important component part especially designed for this equipment or device, capable of separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235.

Utilization facility means:

(1) Any nuclear reactor other than one designed or used primarily for the formation of plutonium or U-233; or

(2) An accelerator-driven subcritical operating assembly used for the irradiation of materials containing special nuclear material and described in the application assigned docket number 50-608.

10 C.F.R. §170.3

33 FR 10924, Aug. 1, 1968

81 FR 32627 , 6/23/2016; 83 FR 29645 , 8/24/2018; 86 FR 32170 , 8/16/2021; 87 FR 37214 , 8/22/2022; 88 FR 39140 , 8/14/2023

For FEDERAL REGISTER citations affecting §170.3, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.