[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72681-72682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-6892]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Availability of Documents Regarding Spent Fuel 
Transportation Package Response to the Baltimore Tunnel Fire Scenario

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allen Hansen, Thermal Engineer, 
Criticality, Shielding and Heat Transfer Section, Spent Fuel Project 
Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-
1390; fax number: (301) 415-8555; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    Under contract with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the 
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory prepared the draft NUREG/CR-6886 
report, ``Spent Fuel Transportation Package Response to the Baltimore 
Tunnel Fire (BTF) Scenario.'' The BTF was chosen for the study because 
it represents a severe historical accident, even though it is a very 
low frequency event. This NUREG/CR documents the thermal analyses of 
three different spent fuel transportation packages exposed to the BTF 
scenario: Transnuclear's TN-68, Holtec's HI-STAR 100 and the NAC's LWT.
    To date comments have been received from the State of Nevada, 
Office of the Governor, Agency For Nuclear Projects and the Western 
Interstate Energy Board. These comments do not need to be re-submitted.
    The format of this NUREG/CR has been modified since original 
posting on the NRC Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html in September 2005. The modified draft NUREG/CR is 
now posted on the NRC Web site at the following URLs:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/docs4comment.html.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/contract/cr6886/.

These links include access to the formal comment template.
    The results of this study strongly indicate that neither spent 
nuclear fuel (SNF) particles nor fission products would be released 
from a spent fuel shipping cask involved in a severe tunnel fire such 
as the Baltimore Tunnel Fire. None of the three cask designs analyzed 
for the Baltimore Tunnel fire scenario experienced internal 
temperatures that would result in rupture of the fuel cladding. 
Therefore, the radioactive material (i.e., SNF particles or fission 
products) would be retained within the fuel rods.
    For two of the casks, the TN-68 and the NAC-LWT, the maximum 
temperatures experienced in the regions of the lid, vent and drain 
ports exceeded the seals' rated service temperatures, making it 
possible to get a small release from the CRUD \1\ that might spall off 
of the surfaces of the fuel rods. However, any release is expected to 
be very small due to a number of factors. These include: (1) The tight 
clearances maintained between the lid and cask body; (2) the low 
pressure differential between the cask interior and the outside; (3) 
the tendency of the small clearances to plug; and (4) the tendency of 
CRUD particles to settle or plate out. The potential releases 
calculated in Chapter 8 for the TN-68 rail cask and the NAC-LWT truck 
cask indicate that the release of CRUD from either cask, if any, would 
be very small. There would be no release from the HI-STAR 100 because 
the inner welded canister remains leak tight.
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    \1\ CRUD is an abbreviation of Chalk River Unknown Deposit, a 
generic term for various residues deposited on fuel rod surfaces, 
originally coined by Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. to describe 
deposits observed on fuel removed from the test reactor at Chalk 
River.
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II. Summary

    The purpose of this notice is to provide the public an opportunity 
to review and comment on the Draft NUREG/CR-6886 thermal analyses, the 
consequence analyses and the conclusions.

III. Further Information

    The draft NUREG/CR can also be viewed at the NRC's Electronic 
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this 
site you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management 
System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. The ADAMS accession number for the edited (format only) 
NUREG is ML053200024. This file is in ``black and white.'' The original 
draft is in color and can be accessed at the following accession 
numbers:

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              NUREG/CR Files                    ADAMS accession No.
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Spent Fuel Transportation Package          ML052500391
 Response to the Baltimore Tunnel Fire
 Scenario.
Appendix A--Material Properties for COBRA- ML052490246
 SFS Model of TN-68 Package.
Appendix B--Material Properties for ANSYS  ML052490258
 Model of HI-STAR 100 Package.
Appendix C--Material Properties for ANSYS  ML052490264
 Model of Legal Weight Truck Package.
Appendix D--Blackbody View Factors for     ML052490268
 COBRA-SFS Model of TN-68 Package.
Appendix E--HOLTEC HI-STAR 100 Component   ML052490270
 Temperature Distributions.
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[[Page 72682]]

If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the document, you may contact the NRC Public Document Room 
(PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    This document may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee. Comments and questions on 
draft NUREG/CR-6886 should be entered in the comment box (see URLs 
above) or directed to the NRC contact listed below by December 30, 
2005. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is 
practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to 
comments received after this date.
    Contact: Allen Hansen, Thermal Engineer, Criticality, Shielding and 
Heat Transfer Section, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20005-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-1390; fax number: (301) 
415-8555; e-mail: [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 30th day of November, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
M. Wayne Hodges,
Deputy Director, Technical Review Directorate, Spent Fuel Project 
Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
 [FR Doc. E5-6892 Filed 12-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P