Review of Fissile Material Exemptions and General Licenses in 10 CFR Part 71

Title 10 of the United States (US) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 71, Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material, includes requirements for the transport of fissile material in packages. These regulations provide requirements for packaging that is certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to transport fissile material. The regulations also include provisions that allow for shipment in packages that are not required to be certified by the NRC. These provisions include criteria for exemptions from classification as fissile material (§71.15) and permit general licenses for limited quantities of fissile material and plutoniumberyllium special form sources (§71.22 and §71.23, respectively). These regulations are used frequently for a wide-variety of fissile material shipping operations and shippers must interpret the regulations for particular shipping situations.The quantity of fissile material that presents a criticality safety risk depends on: 1) the mass, concentration, or isotopic distribution of the fissile material; 2) the system geometry and neutron reflection of the package from surrounding materials; and 3) other materials in the system that might absorb neutrons emitted from fission or moderate those neutrons to lower energies where the probability of them creating an additional fission is highest. These parameters were carefully considered in developing the requirements for the exemptions from the classification of fissile material and the requirements for general licenses for fissile material.A reference NUREG/CR document, recently developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the NRC, provides technical recommendations to fissile material licensees on how to apply the fissile material exemption and general license regulations. This paper will outline this NUREG/CR, including: 1) the technical basis, intent, and anticipated usage of each of the fissile material exemption and general license provisions; 2) the recent regulatory history of the Part 71 fissile material exemptions and general licenses, including the 2015 rulemaking effort; and 3) recommendations being formulated for a potential future revision to the regulations.