Exemptions From Materials Licensing

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend several regulations for byproduct, source, and special nuclear material by expanding how certain nuclear material can be safely used without a license. This proposed action would be responsive to the NRC's mission to enable safe, efficient, and reliable licensing and consistent with several Executive orders. These changes would be deregulatory in nature, eliminating the need to obtain licenses for certain materials uses and quantities.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63168-63170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20335]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 191 / Monday, October 5, 2026 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 63168]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 20, 30, 40, and 70

[NRC-2025-1568]
RIN 3150-AL61


Exemptions From Materials Licensing

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend several regulations for byproduct, source, and special nuclear 
material by expanding how certain nuclear material can be safely used 
without a license. This proposed action would be responsive to the 
NRC's mission to enable safe, efficient, and reliable licensing and 
consistent with several Executive orders. These changes would be 
deregulatory in nature, eliminating the need to obtain licenses for 
certain materials uses and quantities.

DATES: Comments must be submitted electronically using <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> no later than 11:59 p.m. midnight eastern time on 
November 4, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID NRC-2025-1568, 
at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. If your material cannot be submitted 
using <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, call or email the individuals listed 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for 
alternative instructions.
    You can read a plain language description of this proposed rule at 
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2025-1538">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2025-1538</a>. For additional 
direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see 
``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Edwards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
7204, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ca8eafa4a3b9afe48faebdabb8aeb98aa4b8a9e4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7c381912150f195239180b1d0e180f3c120e1f521b130a">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
    A. Obtaining Information
    B. Submitting Comments
II. Executive Order 14300: Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission
III. Rulemaking Procedure
IV. Background
V. Plain Writing
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act
VII. Executive Orders
    A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review (as 
Amended by Executive Order 14215, Ensuring Accountability for All 
Agencies)
    B. Executive Order 14192: Unleashing Prosperity Through 
Deregulation
    C. Executive Order 14267: Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory 
Barriers
VIII. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-1568 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking website: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and search for Docket ID NRC-2025-1568.
    <bullet> NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at <a href="https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html">https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html</a>. To begin the search, select ``Begin ADAMS Public 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 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#027266702c7067716d77706167426c70612c656d74"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adddc9df83dfc8dec2d8dfcec8edc3dfce83cac2db">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. For the convenience of the reader, instructions 
about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in 
the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
    <bullet> NRC's PDR: The NRC Public Document Room (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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d0d190f730f382e32282f3e381d332f3e733a322b">[email&#160;protected]</a> 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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Comments must be submitted electronically using <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> no later than 11:59 p.m. eastern time on November 
4, 2026. Please include Docket ID NRC-2025-1568 in your comment 
submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, 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 the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Executive Order 14300: Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission

    On May 23, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 
(E.O.) 14300, ``Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.'' Section 5, ``Reforming and Modernizing the NRC's 
Regulations,'' directs the NRC to undertake a review and wholesale 
revision of its regulations and guidance documents as guided by the 
policies set forth in section 2 of the E.O. This rulemaking is part of 
the NRC's response to the direction in Section 5 of the E.O. because in 
conducing the wholesale review of its regulation, the NRC reexamined 
the regulations pertaining to the use of certain nuclear material 
without a license.

III. Rulemaking Procedure

    Because the NRC considers this action to be noncontroversial, the 
NRC is publishing this proposed rule concurrently with a direct final 
rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this

[[Page 63169]]

issue of the Federal Register. The direct final rule will become 
effective on December 21, 2026. However, if the NRC receives 
significant adverse comments on this direct final rule by November 4, 
2026 then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct 
final rule. If the direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC will address 
the comments received in a subsequent final rule or as otherwise 
appropriate. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions 
requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment 
period on this action.
    A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter 
explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to 
the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or 
unacceptable without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if:
    (1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient 
to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For 
example, a substantive response is required when:
    (a) The comment causes the NRC to reevaluate (or reconsider) its 
position or conduct additional analysis;
    (b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a 
substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
    (c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously 
addressed or considered by the NRC.
    (2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and 
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable 
without incorporation of the change or addition.
    (3) The comment causes the NRC to make a change (other than 
editorial) to the rule.
    For procedural information and the regulatory analysis, see the 
direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of 
this issue of the Federal Register.

IV. Background

    This rulemaking (1) proposes to amend the regulations pertaining to 
quantities of byproduct material that are exempt from licensing in 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 30, ``Rules 
of General Applicability to Domestic Licensing of Byproduct Material,'' 
specifically Sec.  30.71 (``Schedule B''); and (2) expands the 
exemptions from licensing for Department of Energy (DOE) contractors. 
Exemptions for DOE contractors are in part 30, and also in 10 CFR part 
40, ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material''; and 10 CFR part 70, 
``Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,'' specifically 
Sec. Sec.  30.12, 40.11, and 70.11. The NRC has authority to issue 
licenses to persons for the use of radioactive material under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). With respect to the 
revision to Schedule B, the exempt quantities of byproduct material, 
under section 81 of the AEA, the NRC also has authority to exempt 
certain classes or quantities of byproduct material from the 
requirements for a license. In considering its exemptions from 
licensing, the NRC is directed by the AEA to make a finding that the 
exemption of such classes or quantities of such material or such kinds 
of uses or users will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common 
defense and security and to the health and safety of the public. 
Consistent with this direction, the NRC has defined limits for such 
material by quantity (mass), radioactivity (activity), the material's 
use, the person using the material, or a combination thereof.
    The NRC has identified its regulations for exempt quantities in 
Schedule B as an area for regulatory improvement. Exempt quantity 
limits for exempt use in Schedule B were identical to other quantity 
limits in the NRC's radiation protection regulations in 10 CFR part 20 
until it was revised in 1991 (56 FR 23360; May 21, 1991). The NRC 
published changes to 10 CFR part 20 to reflect the adoption of 
recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection 
(ICRP) Publication Nos. 26 and 30. At the time, the values in Schedule 
B were not revised because conformity was not considered essential when 
10 CFR part 20 was updated. In June 2001, the NRC conducted a technical 
evaluation of its exemptions, published in NUREG-1717, ``Systematic 
Radiological Assessment of Exemptions for Source and Byproduct 
Materials.'' This evaluation concluded that providing a cross-reference 
to appendix C to 10 CFR part 20 would continue to ensure reasonable 
assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety. Further 
changes were made due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which added 
additional byproduct material to the NRC's jurisdiction. Schedule B was 
partially updated in a final rule, ``Requirements for Expanded 
Definition of Byproduct Material; Final Rule'' (72 FR 55864; October 1, 
2007) to include radionuclides that were commonly used at that time. 
More recently, the NRC has received information that expanding the use 
of byproduct material under exemption should be pursued, following a 
comment letter from National Institutes of Health, dated December 15, 
2020.
    Next, based on licensing experience, the NRC also has identified 
its regulations granting exemptions to DOE contractors as an area for 
regulatory improvement. These regulations for byproduct, source, and 
special nuclear material are addressed in Sec. Sec.  30.12, 40.11, and 
70.11, respectively. Almost identical versions of these regulations 
have been in place since the existence of the Atomic Energy Commission 
(AEC) when the AEC would review its contractor activities for exemption 
(see e.g., 16 FR 3251; April 13, 1951; 21 FR 213; January 11, 1956; 29 
FR 14401; October 20, 1964). When the AEC was reorganized in 1975, the 
NRC retained the responsibility to perform the review of the exemption 
requests for DOE contractors working in areas subject to the 
jurisdiction of the NRC.

V. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized 
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the 
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 
31885). The NRC requests comment on this proposed rule with respect to 
clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule does not contain any new or amended collections 
of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing collections of information were approved 
by the Office of Management and Budget, approval numbers 3150-0017, 
3150-0020, and 3150-0009.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting 
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

VII. Executive Orders

    The following are Executive orders (E.O.) that are related to this 
proposed rule:

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review (as Amended by 
Executive Order 14215, Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies)

    The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has 
determined that this proposed rule is a

[[Page 63170]]

significant regulatory action under section 3(f) of E.O. 12866, though 
not economically significant under section 3(f)(1). Accordingly, the 
NRC submitted the proposed rule to OIRA for review. The NRC is required 
to conduct an economic analysis in accordance with section 6(a)(3)(B) 
of E.O. 12866. More can be found in Section VII of the direct final 
rule, ``Regulatory Analysis.''

B. Executive Order 14192: Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation

    This action is tentatively determined to be a deregulatory action 
as defined by E.O. 14192. Details on the estimated costs of this 
proposed rule can be found in Section VII of the direct final rule, 
``Regulatory Analysis.''

C. Executive Order 14267: Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers

    E.O. 14267 requires the NRC to identify anti-competitive 
regulations for rescission or modification. The NRC identified Sec.  
30.71 because of section 3(a)(iv) of the Executive order. The proposed 
modification of the regulation would support the objectives of E.O. 
14267 by removing regulatory requirements that could create or 
facilitate licensure or accreditation requirements that unduly limit 
competition.

VIII. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               ADAMS accession No./web
                  Document                      Link/Federal Register
                                                       Citation
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                            Related Documents
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Requirements for Expanded Definition of      72 FR 55864.
 Byproduct Material, Final Rule, October 1,
 2007.
Standards for Protection Against Radiation,  56 FR 23360.
 Final Rule, May 21, 1991.
NUREG-1717, ``Systematic Radiological        ML011980433 (package).
 Assessment of Exemptions for Source and
 Byproduct Materials,'' June 2001.
Letter from Catherine A. Ribaudo, National   ML20353A268 (package).
 Institutes of Health, December 15, 2020.
Licensing Requirements, Exemptions for       29 FR 14401.
 Certain AEC Contractors, Final Rule,
 October 20, 1964.
Licensing of Byproduct Material, Final       21 FR 213.
 Rule; January 11, 1956.
Radioisotope Distribution, Final Rule,       16 FR 3251.
 April 13, 1951.
Agreement State Program Policy Statement,    82 FR 48535.
 October 18, 2017.
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language    63 FR 31885.
 in Government Writing,'' June 10, 1998.
NRC Regulatory Analysis, Public Website....  <a href="https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/regulatory-analysis">https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/regulatory-analysis</a>.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Executive Orders
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Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory          58 FR 51735.
 Planning and Review,'' October 4, 1993.
Executive Order 14192, ``Unleashing          90 FR 9065.
 Prosperity Through Deregulation,''
 February 6, 2025.
Executive Order 14215, ``Ensuring            90 FR 10447.
 Accountability for All Agencies,''
 February 24, 2025.
Executive Order 14300, ``Ordering the        90 FR 22587.
 Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory
 Commission,'' May 29, 2025.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking website at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket ID NRC-2025-1568. In addition, the 
Federal rulemaking website allows members of the public to receive 
alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To 
subscribe: 1) navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2025-1568); 2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' button; and 3) enter an email address and click on 
the ``Subscribe'' button.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 20

    Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Fusion, Hazardous waste, 
Licensed material, Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power 
plants and reactors, Occupational safety and health, Packaging and 
containers, Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Source material, Special nuclear material, 
Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 30

    Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Government contracts, 
Intergovernmental relations, Isotopes, Nuclear energy, Nuclear 
materials, Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Whistleblowing.

10 CFR Part 40

    Criminal penalties, Exports, Government contracts, Hazardous 
materials transportation, Hazardous waste, Nuclear energy, Nuclear 
materials, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Source 
material, Uranium, Whistleblowing.

10 CFR Part 70

    Classified information, Criminal penalties, Emergency medical 
services, Hazardous materials transportation, Material control and 
accounting, Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, Packaging and 
containers, Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Scientific equipment, Security measures, 
Special nuclear material, Whistleblowing.

    Dated: October 1, 2026.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jody Martin,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2026-20335 Filed 10-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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