[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withdrawn.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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