[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 156 (Friday, August 13, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50053-50056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18513]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
RIN 3150-AH50
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC-MPC Revision
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
regulations revising the NAC International, Inc., NAC-MPC cask system
listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to
include Amendment No. 4 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1025.
Amendment No. 4 will modify the present cask system design to
incorporate vacuum drying enhancements under a general license.
Specifically, the amendment will increase vacuum drying time limits,
delete canister removal from concrete cask requirements, revise surface
contamination removal time limits, and revise allowable contents fuel
assembly limits.
DATES: The final rule is effective October 27, 2004, unless significant
adverse comments are received by September 13, 2004. A significant
adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule
would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying
premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a
change. If the rule is withdrawn, timely notice will be published in
the Federal Register.
[[Page 50054]]
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH50) in the subject line
of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in
electronic form will be made available for public inspection. Because
your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact
information, the NRC cautions you against including personal
information such as security numbers and birth dates in your
submission.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not receive a reply e-
mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us
directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions
about our rulemaking Web site to Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail
[email protected]. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays [telephone (301)
415-1966].
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
(301) 415-1101.
Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR), O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor
will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments,
can be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking
website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. From this site, the
public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and
Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC
PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
[email protected]. An electronic copy of the proposed CoC, proposed Technical
Specifications (TS), and preliminary safety evaluation report (SER) can
be found under ADAMS Accession Nos. ML041600307, ML041600562, and
ML041600568, respectively.
CoC No. 1025, the revised TS, the underlying SER for Amendment No.
4, and the Environmental Assessment (EA), are available for inspection
at the NRC PDR, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. Single copies of
these documents may be obtained from Jayne M. McCausland, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6219, e-mail
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayne M. McCausland, telephone (301)
415-6219, e-mail [email protected], of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended
(NWPA), requires that ``[t]he Secretary [of the Department of Energy
(DOE)] shall establish a demonstration program, in cooperation with the
private sector, for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at civilian
nuclear power reactor sites, with the objective of establishing one or
more technologies that the [Nuclear Regulatory] Commission may, by
rule, approve for use at the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors
without, to the maximum extent practicable, the need for additional
site-specific approvals by the Commission.'' Section 133 of the NWPA
states, in part, that ``[t]he Commission shall, by rule, establish
procedures for the licensing of any technology approved by the
Commission under Section 218(a) for use at the site of any civilian
nuclear power reactor.''
To implement this mandate, the NRC approved dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in NRC-approved casks under a general license by
publishing a final rule in 10 CFR part 72 entitled ``General License
for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites'' (55 FR 29181; July
18, 1990). This rule also established a new subpart L within 10 CFR
part 72, entitled ``Approval of Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' containing
procedures and criteria for obtaining NRC approval of spent fuel
storage cask designs. The NRC subsequently issued a final rule on March
9, 2000 (65 FR 12444), that approved the NAC-Multipurpose Canister
(NAC-MPC) cask design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask
designs in Sec. 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance Number (CoC No.)
1025.
Discussion
On August 1, 2003, and as supplemented on September 5 and November
5, 2003, the certificate holder (NAC International, Inc.) submitted an
application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1025 to incorporate vacuum
drying enhancements. Specifically, the amendment will increase vacuum
drying time limits, delete canister removal from concrete cask
requirements, revise surface contamination removal time limits, and
revise allowable contents fuel assembly limits under a general license.
The amendment also incorporates editorial and administrative changes in
the CoC. No other changes to the NAC-MPC cask system design were
requested in this application. The NRC staff performed a detailed
safety evaluation of the proposed CoC amendment request and found that
an acceptable safety margin is maintained. In addition, the NRC staff
has determined that there is still reasonable assurance that public
health and safety and the environment will be adequately protected.
This direct final rule revises the NAC-MPC cask design listing in
Sec. 72.214 by adding Amendment No. 4 to CoC No. 1025. The particular
TS which are changed are identified in the NRC staff's SER for
Amendment No. 4.
The amended NAC-MPC cask system, when used in accordance with the
conditions specified in the CoC, the TS, and NRC regulations, will meet
the requirements of Part 72; thus, adequate protection of public health
and safety will continue to be ensured.
Discussion of Amendments by Section
Section 72.214 List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks
Certificate No. 1025 is revised by adding the effective date of
Amendment Number 4.
Procedural Background
This rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment 4 to CoC
No. 1025 and does not include other aspects of the NAC-MPC cask system
design. The NRC is using the ``direct final rule procedure'' to issue
this amendment because it represents a limited and routine change to an
existing CoC that is expected to be noncontroversial. Adequate
protection of public health and safety continues to be ensured. The
amendment to the rule will become effective on October 27, 2004.
However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by September
13, 2004, then
[[Page 50055]]
the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this action and will
address the comments received in response to the proposed amendments
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. A
significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains
why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's
underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable
without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient
to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For
example, a substantive response is required when--
(A) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider)
its position or conduct additional analysis;
(B) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a
substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
(C) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously
addressed or considered by the NRC staff.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable
without incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than
editorial) to the CoC or TS.
These comments will be addressed in a subsequent final rule. The
NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action. However,
if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by September 13, 2004,
then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this action and
will address the comments received in response to the proposed
amendments published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113)
requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are
developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless the
use of such a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. In this direct final rule, the NRC would revise the NAC-
MPC cask system design listed in Sec. 72.214 (List of NRC-approved
spent fuel storage cask designs). This action does not constitute the
establishment of a standard that establishes generally applicable
requirements.
Agreement State Compatibility
Under the ``Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of
Agreement State Programs'' approved by the Commission on June 30, 1997,
and published in the Federal Register on September 3, 1997 (62 FR
46517), this rule is classified as Compatibility Category ``NRC.''
Compatibility is not required for Category ``NRC'' regulations. The NRC
program elements in this category are those that relate directly to
areas of regulation reserved to the NRC by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended (AEA), or the provisions of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations. Although an Agreement State may not adopt program
elements reserved to NRC, it may wish to inform its licensees of
certain requirements via a mechanism that is consistent with the
particular State's administrative procedure laws but does not confer
regulatory authority on the State.
Plain Language
The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998, entitled ``Plain
Language in Government Writing,'' directed that the Government's
writing be in plain language. The NRC requests comments on this direct
final rule specifically with respect to the clarity and effectiveness
of the language used. Comments should be sent to the address listed
under the heading ADDRESSES above.
Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact: Availability
Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended,
and the NRC regulations in subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has
determined that this rule, if adopted, would not be a major Federal
action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment
and, therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required. The
rule would amend the CoC for the NAC-MPC cask system within the list of
approved spent fuel storage casks that power reactor licensees can use
to store spent fuel at reactor sites under a general license. The
amendment will modify the present cask system design to incorporate
vacuum drying enhancements. Specifically, the amendment will increase
vacuum drying time limits, delete canister removal from concrete cask
requirements, revise surface contamination removal time limits, and
revise allowable contents fuel assembly limits. The environmental
assessment and finding of no significant impact on which this
determination is based are available for inspection at the NRC Public
Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. Single copies of
the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact are
available from Jayne M. McCausland, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6219, e-mail [email protected].
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This direct final rule does not contain a new or amended
information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were
approved by the Office of Management and Budget, Approval Number 3150-
0132.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a request for information or an information collection
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
Regulatory Analysis
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC issued an amendment to 10
CFR part 72 to provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel under a
general license in cask designs approved by the NRC. Any nuclear power
reactor licensee can use NRC-approved cask designs to store spent
nuclear fuel if it notifies the NRC in advance, spent fuel is stored
under the conditions specified in the cask's CoC, and the conditions of
the general license are met. A list of NRC-approved cask designs is
contained in Sec. 72.214. On March 9, 2000 (65 FR 12444), the NRC
issued an amendment to part 72 that approved the NAC-MPC cask design by
adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec. 72.214. On
August 1, 2003, and as supplemented on September 5 and November 5,
2003, the certificate holder (NAC International, Inc.) submitted an
application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1025 to incorporate vacuum
drying enhancements. Specifically, the amendment will increase vacuum
drying time limits, delete canister removal from concrete cask
requirements, revise surface contamination removal time limits, and
revise allowable contents fuel assembly limits. The amendment also
incorporates editorial and administrative changes in the CoC.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of this
amended cask system design and issue an exemption to each general
license. This alternative would cost both the NRC and the utilities
more time and money because each utility would have to pursue an
exemption.
[[Page 50056]]
Approval of the direct final rule will eliminate this problem and
is consistent with previous NRC actions. Further, the direct final rule
will have no adverse effect on public health and safety. This direct
final rule has no significant identifiable impact or benefit on other
Government agencies. Based on this discussion of the benefits and
impacts of the alternatives, the NRC concludes that the requirements of
the direct final rule are commensurate with the NRC's responsibilities
for public health and safety and the common defense and security. No
other available alternative is believed to be as satisfactory, and
thus, this action is recommended.
Regulatory Flexibility Certification
In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C.
605(b)), the NRC certifies that this rule will not, if issued, have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This direct final rule affects only the licensing and operation of
nuclear power plants, independent spent fuel storage facilities, and
NAC International, Inc. The companies that own these plants do not fall
within the scope of the definition of ``small entities'' set forth in
the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the Small Business Size Standards set
out in regulations issued by the Small Business Administration at 13
CFR part 121.
Backfit Analysis
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (10 CFR 50.109 or 10
CFR 72.62) does not apply to this direct final rule because this
amendment does not involve any provisions that would impose backfits as
defined. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a
major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget.
List of Subjects In 10 CFR Part 72
Administrative practice and procedure, Criminal penalties, Manpower
training programs, Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health,
Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
0
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act of
1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553; the NRC is adopting the
following amendments to 10 CFR part 72.
PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OFSPENT
NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-RELATED
GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE
0
1. The authority citation for part 72 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183,
184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953,
954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C.
2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233,
2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L. 86-373, 73 Stat.
688, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846);
Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-
486, sec. 7902, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub. L.
91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133, 135,
137, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148,
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152, 10153,
10155, 10157, 10161, 10168).
Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148''), (d),
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C. 10162(b),
10168(c),(d)). Section 72.46 also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat.
955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42
U.S.C.10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under sec. 145(g), Pub.
L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)). Subpart J also
issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15), 2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97-
425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244 (42 U.S.C. 10101,
10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are also issued under sec.
133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252
(42 U.S.C. 10198).
0
2. In Sec. 72.214, Certificate of Compliance 1025 is revised to read
as follows:
Sec. 72.214 List of approved spent fuel storage casks.
* * * * *
Certificate Number: 1025.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: April 10, 2000.
Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: November 13, 2001.
Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: May 29, 2002.
Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: October 1, 2003.
Amendment Number 4 Effective Date: October 27, 2004.
SAR Submitted by: NAC International, Inc.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the NAC-Multipurpose
Canister System (NAC-MPC System).
Docket Number: 72-1025.
Certificate Expiration Date: April 10, 2020.
Model Number: NAC-MPC.
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of July, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Martin J. Virgilio,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 04-18513 Filed 8-12-04; 8:45 am]
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