[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24249-24250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12027]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[Docket No. PRM-72-3]


Fawn Shillinglaw; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and 
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by Fawn 
Shillinglaw. The petition has been docketed by the Commission and has 
been assigned Docket No. PRM-72-3. The petitioner requests that the NRC 
amend its regulations which govern independent storage of spent nuclear 
fuel in dry storage casks to require that the safety analysis report 
for a cask design fully conforms with the associated NRC safety 
evaluation report and certificate of compliance before NRC 
certification of the cask design. The petitioner also requests that the 
revision date and number of a safety analysis report be specified 
whenever that report is referenced in documents. The petitioner 
believes that her proposal would eliminate confusion among licensees, 
vendors, fabricators, and others who often refer to only the safety 
analysis report as the relevant document when there may be revisions 
that must be included to ensure compliance with the NRC safety 
evaluation report and certificate of compliance. The petitioner also 
believes that the NRC must clarify the process for modification of a 
safety analysis report after a cask has been certified.

DATES: Submit comments by July 29, 1996. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of 
consideration cannot be given except as to comments received on or 
before this date.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Attention: Docketing and Service 
Branch.
    Deliver comments to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 
between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm on Federal workdays.
    For a copy of the petition, write: Division of Freedom of 
Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
    For information regarding electronic submission of comments, see 
the language in the Supplementary Information section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555. Telephone: 301-415-7163 or Toll Free: 800-368-5642.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a petition for 
rulemaking submitted by Fawn Shillinglaw in the form of two letters 
addressed to Chairman Jackson dated December 9 and December 29, 1995. A 
determination by the Office of the General Counsel on March 5, 1996, 
specified that the issues presented would be treated as a petition for 
rulemaking. The petition was docketed as PRM-72-3 on March 14, 1996. 
The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10 CFR 
Part 72 entitled, ``Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage 
of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste.''
    Specifically, the petitioner requests that 10 CFR Part 72 be 
amended to require that the safety analysis report (SAR) for a spent 
fuel dry storage cask design fully conforms with the associated NRC 
safety evaluation report (SER) and certificate of compliance (COC) 
before NRC certification of the cask design. The petitioner also 
requests that 10 CFR Part 72 be amended to require that the revision 
date and number of an SAR be specified whenever that report is 
referenced in documents. The petitioner believes there is confusion 
among licensees, vendors, fabricators, and others who often refer to 
only the safety analysis report as if it is the only relevant document 
when there may be revisions that must be included to prevent 
discrepancies between versions of the SAR and the NRC SER and COC for a 
specific cask design.
    The petitioner cites the VSC-24 cask, designed by Sierra Nuclear 
Corporation, as an example where revisions to the SAR occurred after 
the NRC SER and COC were issued. The petitioner believes that no 
procedures are currently in place to permit a cask vendor to make 
changes to its SAR after issuance of the NRC SER and COC. The 
petitioner also believes that this situation creates confusion and the 
possibility that an SAR version is being used that directly contradicts 
SER and COC requirements. The petitioner asks for an explanation of the 
process that the NRC used for allowing changes to be made by the vendor 
to the VSC-24 cask after NRC certification, what were those changes, 
and how this was accomplished without rulemaking. The petitioner also 
recommends that the NRC make cask unloading procedures publicly 
available.
    The NRC is soliciting public comment on the petition for rulemaking 
submitted by Fawn Shillinglaw that requests the changes to the 
regulations in 10 CFR Part 72 as discussed below.

Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner notes that the regulations in 10 CFR Part 72 
establish requirements and criteria for the certification of spent fuel 
dry storage cask designs by the NRC. The petitioner is concerned that 
no process exists in the regulations for a cask vendor to make changes 
to a generically approved and certified dry storage cask design. The 
petitioner cites the VSC-24 cask as an example where NRC certification 
was issued for a design that was modified after the actual 
certification took place. The petitioner notes that NRC certified the 
design for the VSC-24 cask on May 7, 1993. The vendor of the VSC-24 
cask, Sierra Nuclear Corporation (Sierra), agreed to submit a revision 
to its SAR (Rev. OA) for this cask in July 1993, about 3 months after 
NRC certification, because changes were necessary to meet requirements 
contained in the NRC SER and COC.
    The petitioner states that this revision was never completed and 
cites an NRC letter to Sierra dated November 28, 1994, which indicated 
that the SAR still needed modification to eliminate contradictions and 
differences between the VSC-24 cask SAR and the NRC SER and COC. The 
petitioner cites a Sierra submittal dated June 5, 1995, as the first 
instance where a revision (Rev. 0AA) appears with the necessary 
changes. The petitioner also cites a letter from NRC to Sierra which 
states that Revs. O and OA insert material into the SAR that NRC asked 
Sierra to perform. However, the petitioner believes that the material 
appears in the licensing record but not in the SAR. The petitioner 
indicates that constant references to the SAR exist in various 
documents but is concerned that the references do not specify the 
revision number. The petitioner believes this creates confusion and the 
possibility that an SAR version is being

[[Page 24250]]

used that may even contradict or differ from SER and COC requirements.
    The petitioner has concluded that a final SAR for a spent fuel dry 
storage cask design should be accepted which completely fulfills all 
NRC SER and COC requirements before the cask is certified. The 
petitioner also believes that the NRC must address how the final vendor 
SAR can be modified as needed after a cask design is certified. 
Currently, the only way an SAR can be amended is through rulemaking. 
The petitioner has also concluded that the SAR revision number and date 
should be required whenever that document is referenced to eliminate 
confusion and prevent a situation where an SAR does not meet NRC SER 
and COC requirements. Lastly, the petitioner is concerned that the NRC 
is withholding cask unloading procedures from the public and recommends 
that the NRC make these procedures publicly available. The petitioner 
cites an example of a faulty dry cask at the Palisades facility where 
the licensee has been waiting to have a final unloading procedure 
approved by the NRC. The petitioner has concluded that dry cask storage 
issues should be addressed and resolved by the NRC to set the proper 
precedent for the national nuclear waste disposal program.

Electronic Submission of Comments

    Comments may be submitted electronically, in either ASCII text or 
WordPerfect format (version 5.1 or later), by calling the NRC 
Electronic Bulletin Board (BBS) on FedWorld. The bulletin board may be 
accessed using a personal computer, a modem, and one of the commonly 
available communications software packages, or directly via Internet. 
Background documents on this rulemaking are also available for 
downloading and viewing on the bulletin board.
    If using a personal computer and modem, the NRC rulemaking 
subsystem on FedWorld can be accessed directly by dialing the toll free 
number (800) 303-9672. Communication software parameters should be set 
as follows: parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1 (N,8,1). 
Using ANSI or VT-100 terminal emulation, the NRC rulemaking subsystem 
can then be accessed by selecting the ``Rules Menu'' option from the 
``NRC Main Menu.'' Users will find the ``FedWorld Online User's 
Guides'' particularly helpful. Many NRC subsystems and data bases also 
have a ``Help/Information Center'' option that is tailored to the 
particular subsystem.
    The NRC subsystem on FedWorld can also be accessed by a direct dial 
phone number for the main FedWorld BBS, (703) 321-3339, or by using 
Telnet via Internet: fedworld.gov. If using (703) 321-3339 to contact 
FedWorld, the NRC subsystem will be accessed from the main FedWorld 
menu by selecting the ``Regulatory, Government Administration and State 
Systems,'' then selecting ``Regulatory Information Mall.'' At that 
point, a menu will be displayed that has an option ``U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission'' that will take you to the NRC Online main menu. 
The NRC Online area also can be accessed directly by typing ``/go nrc'' 
at a FedWorld command line. If you access NRC from FedWorld's main 
menu, you may return to FedWorld by selecting the ``Return to 
FedWorld'' option from the NRC Online Main Menu. However, if you access 
NRC at FedWorld by using NRC's toll-free number, you will have full 
access to all NRC systems, but you will not have access to the main 
FedWorld system.
    If you contact FedWorld using Telnet, you will see the NRC area and 
menus, including the Rules Menu. Although you will be able to download 
documents and leave messages, you will not be able to write comments or 
upload files (comments). If you contact FedWorld using FTP, all files 
can be accessed and downloaded but uploads are not allowed; all you 
will see is a list of files without descriptions (normal Gopher look). 
An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with 
descriptions, is available. There is a 15-minute time limit for FTP 
access.
    Although FedWorld also can be accessed through the World Wide Web, 
like FTP, that mode only provides access for downloading files and does 
not display the NRC Rules Menu.
    For more information on NRC bulletin boards call Mr. Arthur Davis, 
Systems Integration and Development Branch, NRC, Washington, DC 20555, 
telephone (301) 415-5780; e-mail AXD[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of May, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 96-12027 Filed 5-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P