10 C.F.R. §§ 53.1620–53.1650

5 sections in range

§53.1620. Maintenance of records, making of reports.

10 C.F.R. § 53.1620

(a)

Each holder of an ML, OL, COL, CP, or early site permit must maintain all records and make all reports, in connection with the activity, as may be required by the conditions of the license or permit or by the regulations and orders of the Commission in effectuating the purposes of the Act and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended. Reports must be submitted in accordance with § 53.040.

(b)

[Reserved]

(c)

Records that are required by the regulations in this part, by license condition, or by technical specifications must be retained for the period specified by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification. If a retention period is not otherwise specified, these records must be retained until the Commission terminates the facility license or, in the case of an early site permit, until the permit expires.

(d)

(1)

Records which must be retained under this part may be the original or a reproduced copy or a microform if the reproduced copy or microform is duly authenticated by authorized personnel and the microform is capable of producing a clear and legible copy after storage for the period specified by Commission regulations. The record may also be stored in electronic media with the capability of producing legible, accurate, and complete records during the required retention period. Records such as letters, drawings, and specifications, must include all pertinent information such as stamps, initials, and signatures. The licensee must maintain adequate safeguards against tampering with, and loss of records.

(2)

If there is a conflict between the Commission's regulations in this part, license condition, or technical specification, or other written Commission approval or authorization pertaining to the retention period for the same type of record, the retention period specified in the regulations in this part for such records shall apply unless the Commission, under § 53.080 of this part, has granted a specific exemption from the record retention requirements in the regulations in this part.

(e)

Each licensee must notify the Commission as specified in § 53.040 of this part, of successfully completing power ascension testing or startup testing as applicable within 30 calendar days of completing the testing.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 101, 103, 108, 122, 147, 161, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2131, 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2138, 2152, 2167, 2169, 2201, 2231, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2235, 2236, 2237, 2239, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202, 206, 211 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846, 5851); Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, sec. 306 (42 U.S.C. 10226); National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note; Pub. L. 115-439, 132 Stat. 5571.

Source

Source: 91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

§53.1630. Immediate notification requirements for operating commercial nuclear plants.

10 C.F.R. § 53.1630

(a)

General requirements. 1 (1) Each holder of an OL under this part or a COL under this part after the Commission makes the finding under § 53.1452(g), must notify the NRC Headquarters Operations Center via the Emergency Notification System (ENS) of—

(i)

The declaration of any of the Emergency Classes specified in the licensee's approved Emergency Plan; or

(ii)

Those non-emergency events specified in paragraph (b) of this section that occurred within 3 years of the date of discovery.

(2)

If the ENS is inoperative, the licensee must make the required notifications via commercial telephone service, other dedicated telephone system, or any other method which will ensure that a report is made as soon as practical to the NRC Headquarters Operations Center at the numbers specified in appendix A to part 73 of this chapter.

(3)

The licensee must notify the NRC immediately after notification of the appropriate State or local agencies and not later than 1 hour after the time the licensee declares one of the Emergency Classes.

(4)

The licensee must activate the data links with the NRC as specified in their emergency plans after declaring an Emergency Class for events of actual or potential substantial degradation of plant safety or security, probable risk to site personnel life, or site equipment damage caused by hostile action. The data links may also be activated by the licensee during emergency drills or exercises if the licensee's computer system has the capability to transmit the exercise data.

(5)

When making a report under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the licensee must identify—

(i)

The Emergency Class declared; or

(ii)

Paragraph (b)(1), “One-hour reports,” paragraph (b)(2), “Four-hour reports,” or paragraph (b)(3), “Eight-hour reports,” as the paragraph of this section requiring notification of the non-emergency event.

(6)

In lieu of submitting a report required under paragraph (b)(2) or (b)(3) of this section through the Emergency Notification System, the licensee may submit the report using other methods, provided the licensee submits the report to the NRC Headquarters Operations Center within the required timeframe and confirms receipt of the report by the NRC.

(b)

Non-emergency events—

(1)

One-hour reports. If not reported as a declaration of an Emergency Class under paragraph (a) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical and in all cases within one hour of the occurrence of any deviation from the plant's Technical Specifications authorized under § 53.740(h) of this part.

(2)

Four-hour reports. If not reported under paragraphs (a) or (b)(1) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical, and in all cases within 4 hours of the occurrence of any of the following:

(i)

The initiation of any commercial nuclear plant shutdown required by the plant's Technical Specifications.

(ii)

Any event or condition that results in actuation of the reactor protection system when the reactor is critical except when the actuation results from and is part of a pre-planned sequence during testing or reactor operation.

(iii)

[Reserved]

(iv)

Any event or condition that results in an unplanned movement of, change of state in, or chemical interaction involving a significant amount of radioactive material within the commercial nuclear plant.

(v)

[Reserved]

(3)

Eight-hour reports. If not reported under paragraphs (a), (b)(1), or (b)(2) of this section, the licensee must notify the NRC as soon as practical and in all cases within 8 hours of the occurrence of any of the following:

(i)

Any event or condition that results in—

(A)

The condition of the commercial nuclear plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded; or

(B)

The commercial nuclear plant being in a condition not analyzed under § 53.450 that significantly degrades plant safety.

(ii)

-(iv) [Reserved]

(v)

Any event that results in a major loss of emergency assessment capability, offsite response capability, or offsite communications capability (e.g., significant portion of control room indication, ENS, or offsite notification system).

(c)

Follow-up notification— With respect to the notifications made under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, in addition to making the required initial notification, each licensee, must during the course of the event—

(1)

Immediately report—

(i)

Any further degradation in the level of safety of the plant or other worsening plant conditions, including those that require the declaration of any of the Emergency Classes, if such a declaration has not been previously made; or

(ii)

Any change from one Emergency Class to another; or

(iii)

A termination of the Emergency Class.

(2)

Immediately report—

(i)

The results of ensuing evaluations or assessments of plant conditions,

(ii)

The effectiveness of response or protective measures taken, and

(iii)

Important information related to plant behavior that is not understood.

(3)

Maintain an open, continuous communication channel with the NRC Headquarters Operation Center upon request by the NRC.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Source

Source: 91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

§53.1640. Licensee event report system.

10 C.F.R. § 53.1640

(a)

Reportable events.

(1)

Each commercial nuclear plant licensee holding an OL under this part or a COL under this part after the Commission makes the finding under § 53.1452(g), must submit a Licensee Event Report (LER) for any event of the type described in this paragraph (a) within 60 days after discovery of the event. In the case of an invalid actuation reported under § 53.1640(a)(2), other than automatic reactor shutdown when the reactor is critical, the licensee may, at its option, provide a telephone notification to the NRC Operations Center within 60 days after discovery of the event instead of submitting a written LER. Unless otherwise specified in this section, the licensee must report an event if it occurred within 3 years of the date of discovery regardless of the plant mode or power level, and regardless of the significance of the structure, system, or component that initiated the event.

(2)

The licensee must report—

(i)

(A)

The completion of any commercial nuclear plant shutdown required by the plant's Technical Specifications.

(B)

Any operation or condition which was prohibited by the plant's Technical Specifications except when— (1) The Technical Specification is administrative in nature;

(2) The event consisted solely of a case of a late surveillance test where the oversight was corrected, the test was performed, and the equipment was found to be capable of performing its specified safety functions; or

(3) The Technical Specification was revised prior to discovery of the event such that the operation or condition was no longer prohibited at the time of the event.

(C)

Any deviation from the plant's Technical Specifications authorized under § 53.740(h).

(ii)

Any event or condition that resulted in—

(A)

The condition of the commercial nuclear plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded; or

(B)

The commercial nuclear plant being in a condition not analyzed under § 53.450 that significantly degrades plant safety.

(iii)

Any natural phenomena or other external condition that posed an actual threat to the safety of the commercial nuclear plant or significantly hampered site personnel in the performance of duties necessary for the safe operation of the commercial nuclear plant.

(iv)

Any event or condition that resulted in inadvertent operation of any structures, systems, and component classified as safety-related (SR) for an identified safety function under § 53.460 or the unplanned sole reliance on an SR system for those systems that are in constant operation, except when—

(A)

The actuation resulted from and was part of a pre-planned sequence during testing; or

(B)

The actuation was invalid and— (1) Occurred while the system was properly removed from service; or

(2) Occurred after the safety function had been already completed.

(v)

Any event or condition that could have prevented the fulfillment of the safety functions identified under § 53.230.

(vi)

Events covered in paragraph (a)(2)(v) of this section may include one or more procedural errors, equipment failures, and/or discovery of design, fabrication, construction, and/or procedural inadequacies. However, individual component failures need not be reported pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(v) of this section if any other equipment was operable and available to perform the required safety function.

(vii)

(A)

Any event or condition that as a result of a single cause could have prevented the fulfillment of any of the safety functions identified under § 53.230.

(B)

Events covered in paragraph (a)(2)(vii)(A) of this section may include cases of procedural error, equipment failure, and/or discovery of a design, analysis, fabrication, construction, and/or procedural inadequacy. However, licensees are not required to report an event pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(vii)(A) of this section if the event results from—

(1) A shared dependency among trains or channels that is a natural or expected consequence of the approved plant design; or

(2) Normal and expected wear or degradation.

(viii)

(A)

Any airborne radioactive release that, when averaged over a time period of 1-hour, resulted in airborne radionuclide concentrations in an unrestricted area that exceeds 20 times the applicable concentration limits specified in appendix B to 10 CFR part 20, table 2, column 1.

(B)

Any liquid effluent release that, when averaged over a time period of 1-hour, exceeds 20 times the applicable concentrations specified in appendix B to 10 CFR part 20, table 2, column 2, at the point of entry into the receiving waters (i.e., unrestricted area) for all radionuclides except tritium and dissolved noble gases.

(ix)

Any event that posed an actual threat to the safety of the commercial nuclear plant or significantly hampered site personnel in the performance of duties necessary for the safe operation of the plant, including fires, toxic gas releases, or radioactive releases.

(b)

Contents. The LER must contain—

(1)

A brief abstract describing the major occurrences during the event, including all component or system failures that contributed to the event and significant corrective action taken or planned to prevent recurrence.

(2)

(i)

A clear, specific narrative description of what occurred so that knowledgeable readers conversant with the design of commercial nuclear plants, but not familiar with the details of a particular plant, can understand the complete event.

(ii)

The narrative description must include the following specific information as appropriate for the particular event:

(A)

Plant operating conditions before the event.

(B)

Status of systems, structures, or components that were inoperable at the start of the event and that contributed to the event.

(C)

Dates and approximate time of the occurrences.

(D)

The cause of each component or system failure or personnel error, if known.

(E)

The failure mode, mechanism, and effect of each failed component, if known.

(F)

[Reserved]

(G)

For failures of components with multiple functions, include a list of systems or secondary functions that were also affected.

(H)

For failure that rendered a component or system classified as SR or non-safety-related but safety-significant inoperable, an estimate of the elapsed time from the discovery of the failure until the component or system was returned to service.

(I)

The method of discovery of each component or system failure or procedural error.

(J)

For each human performance related root cause, the licensee must discuss the cause(s) and circumstances.

(K)

Automatically and manually initiated safety system responses.

(L)

The manufacturer and model number (or other identification) of each component that failed during the event.

(3)

An assessment of the safety consequences and implications of the event. This assessment must include—

(i)

The availability of systems or components that could have performed the same function as the components and systems that failed during the event, and

(ii)

For events that occurred when the reactor was shut down, the availability of systems or components that are needed to shut down the reactor and maintain safe shutdown conditions, remove residual heat, control the release of radioactive material, or mitigate the consequences of an accident.

(4)

A description of any corrective actions planned as a result of the event, including those to reduce the probability of similar events occurring in the future.

(5)

Reference to any previous similar events at the same plant that are known to the licensee.

(6)

The name and contact information of a person within the licensee's organization who is knowledgeable about the event and can provide additional information concerning the event and the plant's characteristics.

(c)

Supplemental information. The Commission may require the licensee to submit specific additional information beyond that required by paragraph (b) of this section if the Commission finds that supplemental material is necessary for complete understanding of an unusually complex or significant event. These requests for supplemental information will be made in writing and the licensee must submit, as specified in § 53.040, the requested information as a supplement to the initial LER.

(d)

Submission of reports. Licensee Event Reports must be prepared on NRC Form 366 and submitted to the NRC, as specified in § 53.040.

(e)

Report legibility. The reports and copies that licensees are required to submit to the Commission under the provisions of this section must be of sufficient quality to permit legible reproduction and micrographic processing.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Source

Source: 91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

§53.1645. Reports of radiation exposure to members of the public.

10 C.F.R. § 53.1645

(a)

Each holder of an OL, and each holder of a COL after the Commission has made the finding under § 53.1452(g), must submit radiological reports as required by 10 CFR part 20, as well as an Annual Radioactive Effluent Release Report and an Annual Radiological Environmental Operating Report. The Annual Radioactive Effluent Release Report must specify the quantity of each of the principal radionuclides released to unrestricted areas in liquid and in gaseous effluents and an estimate of the dose received by the maximally exposed member of the public in an unrestricted area from effluents and direct radiation from contained sources during the previous calendar year. The Annual Radiological Environmental Operating Report must provide data on measurable levels of radiation and radioactive materials in the environment, must include an evaluation of the relationship between quantities of radioactive material released in effluents and resultant radiation doses to individuals from principal pathways of exposure, and must include the results of environmental monitoring during the previous calendar year. These reports must also include any other information as may be required by the Commission to estimate maximum potential annual radiation doses to the public. The reports must be submitted as specified in § 53.040 by May 15 of each successive year. If the total effective dose equivalent to members of the public in unrestricted areas during the reporting period is greater than the design objectives established under § 53.425, the report must specify the causes for exceeding the design objective and describe any corrective actions. On the basis of these reports and any additional information the Commission may obtain from the licensee or others, the Commission may require the licensee to take action as the Commission deems appropriate.

(b)

If during any calendar quarter the radiation exposure to a member of the public in the unrestricted areas, calculated on the same basis as the respective design objective exposure, exceeds one-half of the annual design objective exposure, the licensee must submit a report as specified in § 53.040. The report shall specify the causes for exceeding one-half the annual design objective exposure in a quarter and describe corrective actions that the licensee will take to maintain radiation exposure to levels within the design objectives for the remainder of the year. The report shall be submitted within 30 days from the end of the quarter when one-half of the annual design objective exposure was exceeded.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Source

Source: 91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

§53.1650. Facility information and verification.

10 C.F.R. § 53.1650

(a)

In response to a written request by the Commission, each applicant for a CP or license and each recipient of a CP or a license must submit facility information, as described in § 75.10 of this chapter, on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Design Information Questionnaire forms and site information on DOC/NRC Form AP-A and associated forms;

(b)

As required by the Additional Protocol, must submit location information described in § 75.11 of this chapter on DOC/NRC Form AP-1 and associated forms; and

(c)

Must permit verification thereof by the IAEA and take other action as necessary to implement the US/IAEA Safeguards Agreement, as described in part 75 of this chapter.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Source

Source: 91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

10 C.F.R. §§ 53.1620–53.1650

§53.1620. Maintenance of records, making of reports.

Authority

Source

§53.1630. Immediate notification requirements for operating commercial nuclear plants.

Authority

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§53.1640. Licensee event report system.

Authority

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§53.1645. Reports of radiation exposure to members of the public.

Authority

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§53.1650. Facility information and verification.

Authority

Source

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