The NRC regulations in 10 CFR part 26 prescribe requirements to establish, implement, and maintain FFD programs at affected licensees and other entities. The objectives of these requirements are to provide reasonable assurance that persons subject to the rule are trustworthy, reliable, and not under the influence of any substance, legal or illegal, or mentally or physically impaired from any cause, which in any way could adversely affect their ability to safely and competently perform their duties. These requirements also provide reasonable assurance that the effects of fatigue and degraded alertness on individualâs abilities to safely and competently perform their duties are managed commensurate with maintaining public health and safety. The information collections required by 10 CFR part 26 are necessary to properly manage FFD programs and to enable effective and efficient regulatory oversight of affected licensees and other entities. These licensees and other entities must perform certain tasks, maintain records, and submit reports to comply with 10 CFR part 26 drug and alcohol and fatigue management requirements. These records and reports are necessary to enable regulatory inspection and evaluation of a licenseeâs or other entityâs compliance with NRC regulations, FFD performance, and significant FFD-related events to help maintain public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment.
The total burden for Part 26 changed from 599,647.9 hours to 540,049.8 hours, a decrease of 59,598.2 hours. The responses decreased from 368,702.6 to 324,646.3, a decrease of 44,056.3 responses.
Five reasons account for the changes to the total estimated burden from the previous clearance period.
(1) Reactor Construction Site D&A Testing Programs (Part 26, Subpart K)
The NRC anticipates that construction activities will commence at four SMR sites in 2027, the third year of this clearance period. Each SMR site is anticipated to be owned by a different licensee and therefore, each licensee will maintain one reactor construction site D&A testing program.
The NRC is estimating an increase in the burden associated with the new reactor construction site D&A testing programs for this clearance period as follows:
⢠One-time burden increase of 2,112 hours annually (Table 1), and
⢠Annual burden increase of 1,980 hours (Tables 2 â 4).
(2) Operating Nuclear Power Reactors
The NRC estimates that 94 nuclear power reactors located at 53 sites (i.e., a site has one or more power reactors) will operate for the duration of this clearance period. The previous clearance included 90 operating nuclear power reactors at 51 sites.
(3) D&A Testing Programs
For the current clearance period, the number of D&A testing programs for operating nuclear power reactor sites, Category I SNM sites, and C/Vs is estimated to remain the same as in the prior clearance period at 24 programs. No changes to the number of D&A testing programs resulted from the Byron and Dresden reactor sites that were assumed to enter decommissioning under the previous clearance but subsequently continued operating because each site is part of a corporate fleet with multiple sites that continue to operate (i.e., Constellation).
(4) Fatigue Management Programs (Part 26, Subpart I)
In the previous clearance period, the estimated burden for Part 26 activities included the submission and review of COVID-19 health emergency exemption requests. The COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ended on May 11, 2023. As a result, the annual burden associated with these fatigue management COVID-19 exemption requests has been eliminated from the current clearance period, which resulted in a decrease in estimated annual reporting burden in Table 3 of 80 hours. This submission requests the discontinuance of the COVID-19 related fatigue forms. The forms will be removed from the NRC website upon approval of this clearance.
(5) Drug Testing Laboratories
A licensee or other entity may use a licensee testing facility (LTF) to conduct initial drug and validity testing (as permitted under Part 26, Subpart F), but must use an HHS lab to conduct confirmatory drug and validity testing of specimens.
Since the last clearance period, the three remaining sites that utilized LTFs have transitioned to only conducting drug testing at HHS labs. As a result, the number of sites using an LTF has decreased from 3 to 0. NRC staff knowledge of current industry practice does not suggest any change in the number of LTFs during the current clearance period.
The transition to only using HHS labs to conduct drug and validity testing of specimens has eliminated the estimated annual burden for licensees using LTFs as reflected in Table 2 from 3,339 hours to 0 hours. The burden incurred by the 3 licensee sites that transitioned from using LTFs to only conducting testing at HHS labs for these licensees is now solely captured by the applicable requirements in Table 2 for sites only using HHS labs for specimen testing.
Finally, the NRCâs fee rate changed since the last clearance period, increasing from $279 to $300 per hour.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form NRC Form 890 10 CFR 26, Fitness for Duty Program
Burden spreadsheet for Part 26 information collection renewal.xlsx
10 CFR Part 26 FINAL supporting statement 2024 renewal.docx
10 CFR 26, Fitness for Duty Program