10 CFR § 72.74 - Reports of accidental criticality or loss of special nuclear material.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t10/s72.74"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "10 CFR § 72.74 - Reports of accidental criticality or loss of special nuclear material."
title_number: 10
title_name: "Energy"
section_number: "72.74"
section_name: "Reports of accidental criticality or loss of special nuclear material."
chapter_name: "NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION"
part_number: "72"
part_name: "LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 223, 234, 274 (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2210e, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2273, 2282, 2021); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202, 206, 211 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846, 5851); National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, secs. 117(a), 132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 141, 145(g), 148, 218(a) (42 U.S.C. 10137(a), 10152, 10153, 10154, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10165(g), 10168, 10198(a)); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note."
regulatory_source: "53 FR 31658, Aug. 19, 1988, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "72"
---


# 72.74 Reports of accidental criticality or loss of special nuclear material.

(a) Each licensee shall notify the NRC Headquarters Operations Center by telephone at the numbers specified in appendix A to part 73 of this chapter within 1 hour of discovery of accidental criticality or any loss of special nuclear material.

(b) This notification must be made to the NRC Operations Center via the Emergency Notification System if the licensee is party to that system. If the Emergency Notification System is inoperative or unavailable, the licensee shall make the required notification via commercial telephonic service or any other dedicated telephonic system or any other method that will ensure that a report is received by the NRC Operations Center within one hour. The exemption of § 73.22(f)(3) of this chapter applies to all telephonic reports required by this section.

(c) Reports required under § 73.1200 of this chapter need not be duplicated under the requirements of this section.

[53 FR 31658, Aug. 19, 1988, as amended at 59 FR 14087, Mar. 25, 1994, 81 FR 86910, Dec. 2, 2016; 85 FR 65664, Oct. 16, 2020; 88 FR 15881, Mar. 14, 2023]