[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41404-41405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17424]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2009-0538]
RIN 3150-AI75


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: 
NUHOMS[supreg] HD Revision 1; Withdrawal

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a 
proposed rule that would have revised the NUHOMS[supreg] HD 
cask system listing within the list of approved spent fuel storage 
casks to include Amendment No. 1 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 
Number 1030. The NRC is taking this action because the applicant 
identified that a certain Technical Specification (TS) for Boral 
characterization was not written precisely. Specifically, the 
requirements for meeting TS 4.3.1, ``Neutron Absorber Tests,'' which 
references Section 9.1.7.3 of the Safety Analysis Report (SAR), are not 
precisely quantified in that it requires that ``the average size of the 
boron carbide

[[Page 41405]]

particles in the finished product is approximately 50 microns after 
rolling.'' Use of language such as ``average'' and ``approximately'' is 
imprecise, and no ranges or statistical variations are specified. The 
NRC will publish a revised direct final rule along with its companion 
proposed rule after the necessary revisions to the TS are made.

DATES: The proposed rule published May 7, 2010 (75 FR 25120), is 
withdrawn.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayne M. McCausland, Office of Federal 
and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-
6219, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 7, 2010 (75 FR 25120), the NRC 
published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would have 
amended its regulations in 10 CFR 72.214 to revise the 
NUHOMS[supreg] HD System listing within the ``List of 
Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 1 to the 
CoC. Amendment No. 1 would modify the present cask system by adding 
Combustion Engineering 16 x 16 class fuel assemblies as authorized 
contents, reducing the minimum off-normal ambient temperature from -
20[deg]F to -21[deg]F, expanding the authorized contents of the 
NUHOMS[supreg] HD System to include pressurized water 
reactor fuel assemblies with control components, reducing the minimum 
initial enrichment of fuel assemblies from 1.5 weight percent uranium-
235 to 0.2 weight percent uranium-235, clarifying the requirements of 
reconstituted fuel assemblies, adding the requirements to qualify metal 
matrix composite neutron absorbers with integral aluminum cladding, 
deleting the use of nitrogen for draining the water from the dry 
shielded canister (DSC) and allowing only helium as a cover gas during 
DSC cavity water removal operations, and making corresponding changes 
to the technical specifications. The NRC also published a direct final 
rule on May 6, 2010 (75 FR 24786), that would have become effective on 
July 20, 2010. A correction notice was published on May 17, 2010 (75 FR 
24786), to correctly specify an effective date of July 21, 2010. The 
direct final rulemaking and the companion notice of proposed rulemaking 
were published in the Federal Register on different dates instead of 
being published concurrently on the same date.
    The rulemaking is being withdrawn because the applicant identified 
that a certain TS for Boral characterization was not written precisely 
and in a manner that could be readily and demonstrably implemented. 
Specifically, the requirements for meeting TS 4.3.1, ``Neutron Absorber 
Tests,'' which references Section 9.1.7.3 of the SAR, are not precisely 
quantified in that it requires that ``the average size of the boron 
carbide particles in the finished product is approximately 50 microns 
after rolling.'' Use of language such as ``average'' and 
``approximately'' is imprecise, and no ranges or statistical variations 
are specified. The NRC will publish a revised direct final rule along 
with its companion proposed rule after the necessary revisions to the 
TS are made.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of July, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R.W. Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-17424 Filed 7-15-10; 8:45 am]
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