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Fuel Cycle Facilities Regulations, Guidance, and Communications

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Regulations

NRC's regulations are found in Chapter I of Title 10, "Energy," of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Chapter I is divided into Parts 1 through 199. The following are the principal parts governing the licensing and operation of fuel cycle facilities:

  • Part 40 - Domestic licensing of source material
  • Part 70 - Domestic licensing of special nuclear material (fuel cycle facilities)
  • Part 73 - Physical protection of plants and materials (fuel cycle facilities)
  • Part 74 - Material control and accounting of special nuclear material (fuel cycle facilities)
  • Part 76 - Certification of gaseous diffusion plants
  • The "NRC Regulatory Agenda" (NUREG-0936) - A semiannual compilation of brief descriptions of all rulemaking actions
  • Rulemaking Dockets

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Guidance

Regulatory guides are issued in 10 divisions and are intended to aid licensees in implementing regulations. The guides most applicable to nuclear fuel and fuel cycle facilities are in

Web (HTML or PDF) versions of some regulatory guides are available for viewing or downloading. Those available are highlighted in the index to our Regulatory Guide Document Collection. All active final and draft guides are also available in NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS).

Regulatory Guide Update Program – In 2006 the NRC staff initiated an effort to review, prioritize, and revise all Regulatory Guides.

See information on the status of Regulatory Guides being reviewed/developed by Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards (FCSS).

Other guidance documents that may be useful to licensees and other stakeholders are:

  • Standard Format and Content Acceptance Criteria for the Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) Reform Amendment (NUREG-1280)
  • Integrated Safety Analysis Guidance Document (NUREG-1513)
  • Standard Review Plan for the Review of a License Application for a Fuel Cycle Facility (NUREG-1520)
  • Standard Review Plan for the Review of an Application for a Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (NUREG-1718)
  • Acceptable Standard Format and Content for the Fundamental Nuclear Material Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-Enriched Uranium Facilities (NUREG-1065)
  • Recommendations to the NRC on Acceptable Standard Format and Content for the Fundamental Nuclear Material Control (FNMC) Plan Required for Low-Enriched Uranium Enrichment Facilities (NUREG/CR-5734)
  • Handbook of Nuclear Safeguards Measurement Methods (NUREG/CR-2078)*
  • Passive Nondestructive Assay of Nuclear Materials (NUREG/CR-5550)*
  • Statistical Methods for Nuclear Material Management (NUREG/CR-4604)*

*These large documents can be obtained from the NRC Public Document Room.

Web(HTML) versions of some guidance documents are available in our NRC Formal Publication Collection. Some are also are available in ADAMS (see our table listing their availability). Also available in this collection on the Web site are guidance and information on many types of materials licenses in Volumes 1–20 of NUREG-1556. For additional information, see Uranium Recovery Regulations, Guidance, and Communications.

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Communications

Generic communications are NRC's primary method of sending information to specific classes of licensees. There are several types:

Newsletters are another way of sending information to NRC licensees. The NMSS Licensee Newsletter (NUREG/BR-0117) is published quarterly and contains information about fuel cycle facilities.

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, June 19, 2012