ML20183A187 (3) NRC Form 742C -SS

FINAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT
FOR
DOE/NRC FORM 742C
"PHYSICAL INVENTORY LISTING"
AND NUREG/BR-0007, REVISION 7
"INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION
OF MATERIAL STATUS REPORTS (DOE/NRC Forms 742C)"
(3150-0058)
--EXTENSION
Description of the Information Collection
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations require each licensee who is
authorized to possess at any one time and location special nuclear material (SNM) in a quantity
totaling more than one gram of contained uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium, or any
combination thereof, to prepare and submit reports concerning SNM received, produced,
possessed, transferred, consumed, disposed of, or lost. Each NRC licensee who has been
selected for the application of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards under
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 75 is required to complete and submit
Department of Energy (DOE)/NRC Form 742C, "Physical Inventory Listing," within 30 days after
the start of a physical inventory. The instructions for completing Form 742C are in NUREG/BR0007, “Instructions for the Preparation and Distribution of Material Status Reports.”
A.
1.

JUSTIFICATION
Need for and Practical Utility of the Collection of Information
In order for the United States to fulfill its responsibilities as a participant in the U.S.-IAEA
Safeguards Agreements and to satisfy various bilateral agreements for nuclear
cooperation with other countries, and its domestic safeguards responsibilities, it is
necessary for licensees affected by 10 CFR Part 75 and related sections of Parts 30, 40,
50, 70, 74, and 150 to submit accounting reports. These reports are required to be
submitted to the IAEA annually. The annual accounting reports for each IAEA material
balance area must include material status reports based on a physical inventory of
nuclear materials actually present.
10 CFR parts 75.35 and 74.13 requires that each licensee identified by the Agreement
submit material status annual reports for each physical inventory taken as part of the
material accounting and control procedures. A computer-readable DOE/NRC Form
742C is used for the collection of the information on the physical inventory of nuclear
material.

2.

Agency Use of the Information
The NRC is required to collect nuclear material inventory information and make it
available to the IAEA. The use of DOE/NRC Form 742C, together with
NUREG/BR-0007, the instructions for completing the form, enables NRC to collect,
retrieve, analyze as necessary, and submit the data to IAEA to fulfill its reporting
responsibilities. Use of this computer-readable report form enhances NRC's ability to
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collect and provide this data. This information is needed to satisfy the terms of the U.S.IAEA Safeguards Agreements; and for the domestic inspection program.
3.

Reduction of Burden Through Information Technology
The NRC has issued Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC which provides
direction for the electronic transmission and submittal of documents to the NRC.
Electronic transmission and submittal of documents can be accomplished via the
following avenues: the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) process, which is
available from the NRC's “Electronic Submittals” Web page, by Optical Storage Media
(OSM) (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD), by facsimile or by e-mail. It is estimated that
approximately 99% of the potential responses are filed electronically.
There are no legal obstacles to reducing the burden associated with this information
collection. The NRC encourages respondents to use information technology when it
would be beneficial to them.
Form 742C is a common form hosted by the NRC that is also used by the DOE. The
NRC provides the form and instructions to all affected NRC licensees who must submit
reports in a computer readable format. Once submitted by licensees, information from
these forms is saved in a Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System
(NMMSS). The use of common reporting forms minimizes the reporting burden on
industry members required to provide regulations or contractual obligations. The
licensee is thus able to file one report to meet the requirements of both agencies.
Compliance with specific reporting requirements is monitored by the agency for which
the specific data are required. Currently DOE has no burden hours associated with the
use of this form.

4.

Effort to Identify Duplication and Use Similar Information
No sources of similar information are available. There is no duplication of requirements.
In addition, the use of common reporting forms by DOE and NRC minimizes the
reporting burden on industry members required to provide nuclear material data to one
or both agencies.

5.

Effort to Reduce Small Business Burden
Approximately 180 of these licensees are large, independent industrial firms, each with
an estimated annual gross income of more than $1 million and a staff of more than 500
people. The reporting burden for larger inventories is estimated to be 6 hours or less per
licensee. The remaining approximately 205 licensees are facilities that maintain smaller
inventories, less than 350 grams of nuclear material. Due to the smaller inventories, the
reporting burden is estimated to be 2 hours or less per licensee.

6.

Consequences to Federal Program or Policy Activities if the Collection is Not Conducted
or is Conducted Less Frequently
Affected licensees are required to submit reports annually, as required in 10 CFR Part
74 (section 74.13). This is the minimum frequency of collection required to satisfy
reporting regulations and as required by the facility’s license to possess material. This
schedule is reasonable because the submission will coincide with taking a physical
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inventory. The collection and recording of data for inventory purposes is a continuing
process that the licensee carries out throughout the year for the licensee's internal
records. At the specified times for inventory reports, the licensee simply submits the
accumulated data from the licensee's records, based either on book inventory or on data
from a physical inventory, to NRC on DOE/NRC Form 742C. The requirement to report
within 60 days of the ending date is a reasonable measure to ensure timeliness in
receipt of inventory data by NRC in order to maintain material accountability under its
statutory responsibility pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act to assure protection of the
common defense and security. Moreover, the U.S.-IAEA Safeguards Agreements
specifies that reports are to be submitted within 30 days following the physical inventory
by licensees selected and reporting pursuant to 10 CFR Part 75 (section 75.35).
If licensees are not required to submit these reports, NRC will not be able to maintain
material accountability under its statutory responsibilities of the Atomic Energy Act.
7.

Circumstances which Justify Variation from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Guidance
Contrary to OMB guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d), 10 CFR 75.35 requires submission of
the report within 30 days or less. This requirement is necessary to satisfy the terms of
the U.S.-IAEA Safeguards Agreements.

8.

Consultations Outside of NRC
Opportunity for public comment on the information collection requirements for this
clearance package was published in the Federal Register on April 29, 2020 (85 FR
23870). As part of the consultation process, the NRC staff directly contacted, via email,
four fuel cycle licensees. No responses or comments were received as a result of the
FRN or the NRC staff’s direct solicitation of comment.

9.

Payment or Gift to Respondents
Not applicable.

10.

Confidentiality of the Information
Confidential and proprietary information is protected in accordance with NRC regulations
at 10 CFR 9.17(a) and 10 CFR 2.390(b).

11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions
This information collection does not involve sensitive questions.

12.

Estimated Burden and Burden Hour Cost
The annual burden for a licensee for the preparation and submission of DOE/NRC Form
742C data is estimated to be 2 or 6 hours, depending on the size of the licensee. This
time estimate includes reading the instructions for completing Form 742C (NUREG/BR0007), “Instructions for the Preparation and Distribution of Material Status Reports.” It is
estimated, based on NRC staff knowledge of the industry as well as submittals to NRC
in recent years that 385 licensees (180 large licensees and 205 small licensees) will
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each submit DOE/NRC Form 742C data each year, resulting in a total of approximately
385 reports submitted annually. For the smaller licensees, the burden will total to 410
hours (205 reports x 2 hours/report). For the larger licensees, the burden will total to
1,080 hours (180 reports x 6 hours/report). Thus, the total burden for all licensees will
be 1,490 hours. At $278/hour, the cost to licensees would be $414,220 (1,490 hours x
$278/hour).
The $278 hourly rate used in the burden estimates is based on the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s fee for hourly rates as noted in 10 CFR 170.20 “Average cost per
professional staff-hour.” For more information regarding the basis of this rate, see the
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2019 (84 FR 22331, May 17,
2019).
13.

Estimate of Other Additional Costs
There are no additional costs.

14.

Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
The collected information is not submitted to the NRC. Licensees report directly
to the DOE NMMSS contractor. The data contained in the NMMSS is available to vario
us NRC staff that uses it to perform their assigned job functions; however,
the individual submissions are not reviewed by NRC staff. The NRC costs for NMMSS
operations are approximately $1,900,000 per fiscal year This is the NRC’s contribution
for the operations of the NMMSS to support the collection of Forms 740M, 741, 742,
and 742C data, in addition to other data collections and operations.
The staff has developed estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government
related to the conduct of this collection of information. These estimates are based on
staff experience and subject matter expertise and include the burden needed to review,
analyze, and process the collected information and any relevant operational expenses.

15.

Reasons for Change in Burden or Cost
The number of estimated reports and associated burden has not changed. The cost per
hour has increased from $265 to $278 per hour, based on the increase in NRC’s fee
rule.

16.

Publication for Statistical Use
None.

17.

Reason for Not Displaying the Expiration Date
The expiration date is displayed on DOE/NRC Form 742C.

18.

Exceptions to the Certification Statement
There are no exceptions.

B.

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
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Statistical methods are not used in this collection of information.

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