(a) Subject to the conditions in Section 4(b) of this Chapter and without obtaining a license amendment pursuant to Chapter 4 of these rules, a licensee may: - (i) Make changes to the components of the licensed facility, which have a nexus to licensed material described in the most updated license application;
- (ii) Make changes in the procedures as described in the most updated license application involving licensed material; and
- (iii) Conduct tests or experiments not described in the most updated license application involving licensed material.
(b) The licensee shall obtain a license amendment pursuant to Chapter 4 of these rules prior to implementing a proposed change, test, or experiment if the change, test, or experiment would result in or create the following: - (i) More than a minimal increase in the frequency of occurrence of an accident involving licensed materials, previously evaluated in the most updated license application;
- (ii) More than a minimal increase in the likelihood of occurrence of a malfunction of facility structure equipment, or monitoring system (SEMS) important to licensed material safety previously evaluated in the most updated license application;
- (iii) More than a minimal increase in the consequence of an accident involving licensed material previously evaluated in the most updated license application;
- (iv) More than a minimal increase in the consequences of a malfunction of a SEMS important to licensed material safety previously evaluated in the most updated license application;
- (v) A possibility for a credible and potentially significant accident scenario of a different type, involving licensed material, than any previously evaluated in the most updated license application;
- (vi) A possibility for a malfunction of a SEMS important to licensed material safety with a different result than previously evaluated in the most updated license application; and
- (vii) A departure from the method of evaluation of radiological safety described in the most updated license application used by the Department. For NRC licenses transferred and recognized by the Department, a departure from the method of evaluation of radiological safety discussed in the NRC's final safety evaluation report (SER), any federal environmental impact statement (EIS) or environmental assessment (EA), technical evaluation reports (TER), or other analyses and evaluation for license amendments.
(c) For purposes of this Chapter, and as applied to NRC licenses recognized by the Department, SEMS means any SEMS which have been referenced in an NRC SER, TER, EA, or EIS, including supplements and amendments thereof.
(d) Licensees must obtain a license amendment unless the change, test, or experiment is consistent with the Department's and NRC's previous conclusions pertaining to radiological safety, or the basis of, or analysis leading to, the conclusion of actions, designs, or design configuration analyzed and selected in the site or facility's SER, TER, and EIS, or EA performed by the NRC. This would include all supplements and amendments, and TERs, EAs, and EISs issued with amendments to a license. NRC's previous conclusions would include, but would not be limited to Regulatory Issues Summaries (RIS), executive orders, or information notices.