Subpart G—Special Nuclear Material Control Records, Reports, and Inspections

§ 70.50 Reporting requirements.

(a) Immediate report. Each licensee shall notify the NRC as soon as possible but not later than 4 hours after the discovery of an event that prevents immediate protective actions necessary to avoid exposures to radiation or radioactive materials that could exceed regulatory limits or releases of licensed material that could exceed regulatory limits (events may include fires, explosions, toxic gas releases, etc.).

(b) Twenty-four hour report. Each licensee shall notify the NRC within 24 hours after the discovery of any of the following events involving licensed material:

(1) An unplanned contamination event that:

(i) Requires access to the contaminated area, by workers or the public, to be restricted for more than 24 hours by imposing additional radiological controls or by prohibiting entry into the area;

(ii) Involves a quantity of material greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in Appendix B of §§ 20.1001-20.2401 of 10 CFR part 20 for the material; and

(iii) Has access to the area restricted for a reason other than to allow isotopes with a half-life of less than 24 hours to decay prior to decontamination.

(2) An event in which equipment is disabled or fails to function as designed when:

(i) The equipment is required by regulation or licensee condition to prevent releases exceeding regulatory limits, to prevent exposures to radiation and radioactive materials exceeding regulatory limits, or to mitigate the consequences of an accident;

(ii) The equipment is required to be available and operable when it is disabled or fails to function; and

(iii) No redundant equipment is available and operable to perform the required safety function.

(3) An event that requires unplanned medical treatment at a medical facility of an individual with spreadable radioactive contamination on the individual's clothing or body.

(4) An unplanned fire or explosion damaging any licensed material or any device, container, or equipment containing licensed material when:

(i) The quantity of material involved is greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in appendix B of §§ 20.1001-20.2401 of 10 CFR part 20 for the material; and

(ii) The damage affects the integrity of the licensed material or its container.

(c) Preparation and submission of reports. Reports made by licensees in response to the requirements of this section must be made as follows:

(1) Licensees shall make reports required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, and by § 70.74 and Appendix A of this part, if applicable, by telephone to the NRC Operations Center.¹ To the extent that the information is available at the time of notification, the information provided in these reports must include:

(i) Caller's name, position title, and call-back telephone number;

(ii) Date, time, and exact location of the event;

(iii) Description of the event, including:

(A) Radiological or chemical hazards involved, including isotopes, quantities, and chemical and physical form of any material released;

(B) Actual or potential health and safety consequences to the workers, the public, and the environment, including relevant chemical and radiation data for actual personnel exposures to radiation or radioactive materials or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed materials (e.g., level of radiation exposure, concentration of chemicals, and duration of exposure);

(C) The sequence of occurrences leading to the event, including degradation or failure of structures, systems, equipment, components, and activities of personnel relied on to prevent potential accidents or mitigate their consequences; and

(D) Whether the remaining structures, systems, equipment, components, and activities of personnel relied on to prevent potential accidents or mitigate their consequences are available and reliable to perform their function;

(iv) External conditions affecting the event;

(v) Additional actions taken by the licensee in response to the event;

(vi) Status of the event (e.g., whether the event is on-going or was terminated);

(vii) Current and planned site status, including any declared emergency class;

(viii) Notifications, related to the event, that were made or are planned to any local, State, or other Federal agencies;

(ix) Status of any press releases, related to the event, that were made or are planned.

(2) Written report. Each licensee that makes a report required by paragraph (a) or (b) of this section shall submit a written follow-up report within 30 days of the initial report. Written reports prepared pursuant to other regulations may be submitted to fulfill this requirement if the report contains all the necessary information, and the appropriate distribution is made. These written reports must be sent to the NRC's Document Control Desk, using an appropriate method listed in § 70.5(a), with a copy to the appropriate NRC regional office listed in appendix D to part 20 of this chapter. The reports must include the following:

(i) Complete applicable information required by § 70.50(c)(1);

(ii) The probable cause of the event, including all factors that contributed to the event and the manufacturer and model number (if applicable) of any equipment that failed or malfunctioned;

(iii) Corrective actions taken or planned to prevent occurrence of similar or identical events in the future and the results of any evaluations or assessments; and

(iv) For licensees subject to Subpart H of this part, whether the event was identified and evaluated in the Integrated Safety Analysis.

(d) The provisions of § 70.50 do not apply to licensees subject to § 50.72. They do apply to those Part 50 licensees possessing material licensed under Part 70 that are not subject to the notification requirements in § 50.72.

[56 FR 40769, Aug. 16, 1991; 56 FR 64980, Dec. 13, 1991, as amended at 59 FR 14087, Mar. 25, 1994; 65 FR 56226, Sept. 18, 2000; 68 FR 58817, Oct. 10, 2003; 79 FR 57725, Sept. 26, 2014; 85 FR 65664, Oct. 16, 2020]