[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withdrawn.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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