[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 125 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37647-37649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12889]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 125 / Thursday, June 30, 2005 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 37647]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

RIN 3150-AH70


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: VSC-24 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 BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation Ventilated 
Storage Cask (VSC-24) System listing within the ``List of approved 
spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 5 to Certificate of 
Compliance Number (CoC No.) 1007. Amendment No. 5 will change the 
certificate holder's name from Pacific Sierra Nuclear Associates to BNG 
Fuel Solutions Corporation. No changes were required to be made to the 
VSC-24 Final Safety Analysis Report nor its Technical Specifications.

DATES: The final rule is effective September 13, 2005, unless 
significant adverse comments are received by August 1, 2005. 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 If the rule is withdrawn, timely notice will be 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.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH70) 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 social 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. Selected documents, including 
comments, can be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC 
rulemaking Web site 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/NRC/ADAMS/index.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 and 
preliminary safety evaluation report (SER) can be found under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML050310446.
    CoC No. 1007, the Technical Specifications (TS), and the underlying 
SER for Amendment No. 5 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 April 
7, 1993 (58 FR 17948), that approved the VSC-24 cask design and added 
it to the list of NRC-approved

[[Page 37648]]

cask designs in Sec.  72.214 as CoC No. 1007.

Discussion

    On November 2, 2004, and as supplemented on April 27, 2005, the 
certificate holder, BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation, submitted an 
application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1007 for the VSC-24 System to 
change the certificate holder's name from Pacific Sierra Nuclear 
Associates (PSNA) to BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation (BFS). The 
requested change did not require any changes to the VSC-24 Final Safety 
Analysis Report (FSAR) nor its TS. PSNA, the current certificate holder 
of CoC No. 1007 for the VSC-24 System, is jointly owned by BFS and 
Sierra Nuclear Corporation (SNC). BNG, Inc., the parent company of BFS 
and SNC, intends to have SNC transfer all of its assets and liabilities 
to BFS, and then dissolve SNC. Given that BFS will have sole ownership 
of PSNA, the applicant has requested that the certificate holder be 
changed from PSNA to BFS. No other changes to the VSC-24 System were 
requested in this application. Due to the administrative nature of the 
change requested, this amendment does not require any changes to the 
VSC-24 FSAR nor its TS. In addition, the NRC staff has determined that 
there continues to be reasonable assurance that public health and 
safety and the environment will be adequately protected.
    This direct final rule revises the VSC-24 cask design listing in 
Sec.  72.214 by adding Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1007. As discussed 
above, the amendment does not require any changes to the FSAR nor its 
TS.
    The amended VSC-24 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. 1007 is revised by adding the effective date of 
Amendment Number 5.

Procedural Background

    This rule is limited to the change contained in Amendment 5 to CoC 
No. 1007 and does not include other aspects of the VSC-24 cask 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 September 13, 2005. 
However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by August 1, 
2005, 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, 
in a subsequent final rule.
    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, in a substantive response:
    (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.

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 is revising the VSC-24 
listing 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.

Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion

    The NRC has determined that this direct final rule is the type of 
action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(2). 
Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an 
environmental assessment has been prepared for this direct final rule.

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 (OMB), 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

    A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this direct final 
rule because this rule is considered a minor, nonsubstantive amendment 
that has no economic impact on NRC licensees or the public.

[[Page 37649]]

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 consists of an administrative change to the 
company name and does not affect any small entities.

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 OF 
SPENT 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); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 
3504 note).
    Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (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 1007 is revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  72.214  List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *
Certificate Number: 1007.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: May 7, 1993.
    Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: May 30, 2000.
    Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: September 5, 2000.
    Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: May 21, 2001.
    Amendment Number 4 Effective Date: February 3, 2003.
    Amendment Number 5 Effective Date: September 13, 2005.
SAR Submitted by: BNG Fuel Solutions Corporation.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the Ventilated Storage 
Cask System.
Docket Number: 72-1007.
Certificate Expiration Date: May 7, 2013.
    Model Number: VSC-24.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of June, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Luis A. Reyes,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 05-12889 Filed 6-29-05; 8:45 am]
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