[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41369-41370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17425]


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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: Direct final rule; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a 
direct final 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 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 Safety Analysis Report (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.

DATES: The direct final rule published May 6, 2010 (75 FR 24786), 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withdrawn.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 6, 2010 (75 FR 24786), the NRC 
published in the Federal Register a direct final 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 
have modified the present cask system by adding Combustion Engineering 
16x16 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 
requirements to qualify metal matrix composite neutron absorbers with 
integral aluminum cladding, deleting 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

[[Page 41370]]

corresponding changes to the technical specifications.
    The NRC also published a companion proposed rule on May 7, 2010 (75 
FR 25120). A correction notice was published on May 17, 2010 (75 FR 
27401), to correctly specify an effective date of July 21, 2010. The 
direct final rulemaking and the companion 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. 2010-17425 Filed 7-15-10; 8:45 am]
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