[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86386-86387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27250]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2022-0149]
Discontinuation of the Mississippi Agreement State Program's
Probationary Period
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has discontinued
Mississippi's Probationary period.
DATES: December 12, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0149 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0149. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individuals listed in the For Further
Information Contact section of this document.
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, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the
first time that it is mentioned in this document.
NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Johnson, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7314; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, (AEA) provides the statutory basis by which the NRC
may enter into an agreement with the governor of a State to discontinue
portions of its regulatory authority to license and regulate byproduct
materials, source materials, and certain quantities of special nuclear
materials. States may assume the authority to regulate those materials
after the NRC determines that a perspective State's radiation control
program is adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible
with the NRC's regulatory program. Through the Agreement State program,
39 States have signed agreements with the NRC. The NRC retains an
oversight role for adequacy to protect public health and safety, and
compatibility with the NRC's regulatory program.
Section 274j of the AEA, requires that the NRC periodically review
each Agreement State to ensure that the Agreement State's regulatory
programs are adequate and compatible. It is the policy of the NRC to
evaluate the radiation control program's performance in an integrated
manner, using performance indicators, to ensure that public health and
safety is being adequately protected. The periodic review process for
an Agreement State's regulatory program and the NRC's radioactive
materials program is called the Integrated Materials Performance
Evaluation Program (IMPEP).
The IMPEP review team presents the findings to a Management Review
Board (MRB). The MRB Chair then makes the final determination regarding
a radiation control program's overall performance in a public meeting.
Information considered by the MRB Chair includes the proposed final
IMPEP report which presents suggested performance indicator ratings and
recommendations prepared by the IMPEP team, input from MRB members, and
information provided by the radiation control program at the MRB
meeting. For most IMPEP reviews, no action other than issuance of the
final IMPEP report is needed. For those infrequent reviews where
additional action is needed, the MRB Chair may consider Monitoring,
Heightened
[[Page 86387]]
Oversight, and recommendations for Probation, Suspension, or
Termination. The most significant actions--Probation, Suspension, or
Termination--require Commission approval.
In 2022, the MRB Chair recommended, and the Commission agreed, to
place Mississippi on Probation, due to a significant decline in Program
performance (87 FR 60212). The MRB Chair directed staff to conduct a
follow-up IMPEP review in approximately 1 year from the 2022 IMPEP
review.
During the 2023 IMPEP review, the team found that the changes made
by Mississippi in response to the 2022 IMPEP review resulted in
significant performance improvements across the Program and improved
its performance findings relative to five indicators. The team found
Mississippi's performance to be satisfactory for the following four
performance indicators: Status of Materials Inspection Program;
Technical Quality of Inspections; Technical Quality of Incident and
Allegation Activities; and Legislation, Regulations, and Other Program
Elements. The team found Mississippi's performance to be satisfactory
but needs improvement for the following two performance indicators:
Technical Staffing and Training and Technical Quality of Licensing
Actions. The performance finding for the indicator Technical Staffing
and Training remained the same, as satisfactory but needs improvement.
On June 29, 2023, the MRB met to discuss the results of the 2023
IMPEP review. Based on the results of the 2023 IMPEP review, the MRB
Chair closed the 2017 IMPEP review recommendation, closed 9 of the 10
recommendations made during the 2022 IMPEP, and opened one new
recommendation. The MRB Chair also found Mississippi's performance
adequate to protect public health and safety but needs improvement and
compatible with the NRC's program. The MRB Chair directed staff to
conduct a periodic meeting take place in approximately 1 year with the
next IMPEP review taking place in approximately 2 years. On July 27,
2023, the staff issued the final IMPEP report documenting the bases for
these findings (ADAMS Accession No. ML23188A186).
As a result of improved performance seen during Mississippi's 2023
IMPEP review and the significant progress made on completing the
actions in the Program Improvement Plan, the MRB Chair requested that
the Commission discontinue Mississippi's Probationary period and be
placed on a period of Heightened Oversight. The Commission agreed with
the recommendations to discontinue Mississippi's Probationary Period
and the Governor of Mississippi has been notified of this decision.
Dated: December 7, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kenneth T. Erwin,
Acting Director, Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and
Tribal Programs, Office of Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-27250 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
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