Criticality Accident Requirements; Withdrawal of Direct Final Rule and Revocation of Regulatory Text

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is withdrawing a direct final rule that would have amended the Commission's regulations to provide light-water nuclear power reactor licensees with greater flexibility in meeting the requirement that licensees authorized to possess more than a small amount of special nuclear material (SNM) maintain a criticality monitoring system in each area where the material is handled, used, or stored. The NRC is taking this action because it has received significant adverse comments in response to an identical proposed rule which was concurrently published in the Federal Register. Because the effective date for the direct final rule has passed, the NRC is removing the regulatory text codified in that action.