[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17019-17022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7102]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 59 / Monday, March 28, 2011 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 17019]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2011-0007]
RIN 3150-AI90


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI-STORM Flood/Wind 
Addition

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the 
Commission) is amending its regulations to add the HI-STORM Flood/Wind 
cask system to the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks.'' This 
direct final rule allows the holders of power reactor operating 
licenses to store spent fuel in this approved cask system under a 
general license.

DATES: The final rule is effective June 13, 2011, unless significant 
adverse comments are received by April 27, 2011. A significant adverse 
comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be 
inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or 
approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. If 
the rule is withdrawn, timely notice will be published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document using the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2011-0007]. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail 
[email protected].
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O-
1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain 
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR 
Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected]. An electronic copy of the proposed Certificate of 
Compliance (CoC), Technical Specifications (TS), and preliminary safety 
evaluation report (SER) can be found under ADAMS Package Accession 
Number ML103020135. The ADAMS Accession Number for the Holtec 
international, Inc. (Holtec) application, dated September 18, 2009, is 
ML092650747.
    CoC No. 1032, the TS, the preliminary SER, and the environmental 
assessment are available for inspection at the NRC's PDR, Room O-1F21, 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. 
Single copies of these documents may be obtained from Gregory Trussell, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone 301-415-6445, e-mail [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Trussell, Office of Federal 
and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone 301-415-
6445, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982, as 
amended, requires that ``the Secretary [of the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE)] shall establish a demonstration program, in cooperation 
with the private sector, for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at 
civilian nuclear power reactor sites, with the objective of 
establishing one or more technologies that the [Nuclear Regulatory] 
Commission may, by rule, approve for use at the sites of civilian 
nuclear power reactors without, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
need for additional site-specific approvals by the Commission.'' 
Section 133 of the NWPA states, in part, that ``the Commission shall, 
by rule, establish procedures for the licensing of any technology 
approved by the Commission under Section 218(a) for use at the site of 
any civilian nuclear power reactor.''
    To implement this mandate, the NRC approved dry storage of spent 
nuclear fuel in NRC-approved casks under a general license by 
publishing a final rule in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) part 72, which added a new Subpart K within 10 CFR part 72, 
entitled ``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor 
Sites'' (55 FR 29181; July 18, 1990). This rule also established a new 
Subpart L within 10 CFR part 72, entitled ``Approval of Spent Fuel 
Storage Casks,'' which contains procedures and criteria for obtaining 
NRC approval of spent fuel storage cask designs.

Discussion

    This rule will add the Holtec HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) cask system 
to the list of approved spent fuel storage casks in 10 CFR 72.214. 
Following the procedures specified in 10 CFR 72.230 of Subpart L, 
Holtec submitted an application for NRC approval, together with the 
Safety Analysis Report (SAR) entitled ``Safety Analysis Report on the 
HI-STORM FW System.'' The NRC evaluated the Holtec submittal and issued 
a preliminary SER and a proposed CoC for the HI-STORM FW System.
    The HI-STORM FW System provides the following: (1) The ability to 
store and transport Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) fuel with high initial 
enrichment (up to 4.8 weight percent uranium-235 planer average) 
without reliance on burnup or gadolinium credit; (2) the ability to 
load and store spent nuclear fuel from the longest to the shortest 
currently, and expected to be produced, in the United States without 
requiring site crane upgrades; (3) a reduction in the 10 CFR part 71 
burnup credit requirement for the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) 
basket allowing transportation of 5 weight percent uranium-235 fuel 
with moderate

[[Page 17020]]

burnup; (4) enlarged storage cell opening sizes in both PWR and BWR 
multipurpose canisters (MPC) to ensure distorted irradiated fuel will 
fit without difficulty and to permit canisterized fuel to be stored in 
certain designated locations; (5) greater heat rejection capacity with 
lower peak fuel cladding temperature than the HI-STORM 100 cask system, 
CoC No. 1014; and (6) a variable weight (HI-TRAC VW) transfer cask that 
will allow use of the full capacity of a facility's cask crane. The HI-
STORM FW System consists of the following major components: HI-STORM FW 
Overpack, PWR MPC-37, BWR MPC-89, and HI-TRAC VW Transfer Cask.
    The NRC finds that the HI-STORM FW System, as designed and when 
fabricated and used under the conditions specified in its CoC, meets 
the requirements of 10 CFR part 72. Thus, use of the HI-STORM FW 
System, as approved by the NRC, will provide adequate protection of 
public health and safety. With this final rule, the NRC is approving 
the use of the HI-STORM FW System under the general license in 10 CFR 
part 72, subpart K, by holders of power reactor operating licenses 
under 10 CFR part 50. Simultaneously, the NRC is issuing a final SER 
and CoC that will be effective on June 13, 2011. Single copies of the 
CoC and SER are available for public inspection and/or copying for a 
fee at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    This direct final rule amends 10 CFR 72.214 by adding CoC No. 1032 
to the list of approved spent fuel storage casks.
    The HI-STORM FW System, when used under the conditions specified in 
CoC No. 1032, the TS, and NRC regulations, will meet the requirements 
of part 72; thus, adequate protection of public health and safety will 
continue to be ensured.

Discussion of Amendments by Section

Sec.  72.214 List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks

    CoC No. 1032 is added to the list of approved spent fuel storage 
casks.

Procedural Background

    The NRC is using the ``direct final rule procedure'' to add CoC No. 
1032 to the list of approved storage casks because the Holtec HI-STORM 
FW cask system is considered to be similar to other previously approved 
storage casks and, therefore, is expected to be noncontroversial. 
Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be 
ensured. The amendment to the rule will become effective on June 13, 
2011. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this 
direct final rule by April 27, 2011, then the NRC will publish a 
document that withdraws this action and will subsequently address the 
comments received in a final rule as a response to the companion 
proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions 
requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment 
period on this action.
    A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter 
explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to 
the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or 
unacceptable without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if:
    (1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient 
to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For 
example, a substantive response is required when:
    (a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) 
its position or conduct additional analysis;
    (b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a 
substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
    (c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously 
addressed or considered by the NRC staff.
    (2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and 
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable 
without incorporation of the change or addition.
    (3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than 
editorial) to the rule, CoC, or TS.
    For detailed instructions on filing comments, please see the 
companion proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the 
Federal Register.

Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. 
L. 104-113) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that 
are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless 
the use of such a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or 
otherwise impractical. In this direct final rule, the NRC is adding the 
HI-STORM FW System to the list of NRC-approved cask systems for spent 
fuel storage in 10 CFR 72.214. This action does not constitute the 
establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable 
requirements.

Agreement State Compatibility

    Under the ``Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of 
Agreement State Programs'' approved by the Commission on June 30, 1997, 
and published in the Federal Register on September 3, 1997 (62 FR 
46517), this rule is classified as Compatibility Category ``NRC.'' 
Compatibility is not required for Category ``NRC'' regulations. The NRC 
program elements in this category are those that relate directly to 
areas of regulation reserved to the NRC by the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended, or the provisions of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations. Although an Agreement State may not adopt program elements 
reserved to NRC, it may wish to inform its licensees of certain 
requirements via a mechanism that is consistent with the particular 
State's administrative procedure laws but does not confer regulatory 
authority on the State.

Plain Language

    The Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in Government 
Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883), directed that the 
Government's documents be in clear and accessible language. The NRC 
requests comments on this direct final rule specifically with respect 
to the clarity and effectiveness of the language used. Comments should 
be sent to the address listed under the heading ADDRESSES, above.

Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact: Availability

    Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 
and the NRC regulations in Subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has 
determined that this rule, if adopted, would not be a major Federal 
action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment 
and, therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required. The 
NRC has prepared an environmental assessment and, on the basis of this 
environmental assessment, has made a finding of no significant impact. 
The rule will add the CoC for the HI-STORM FW System, CoC No. 1032, to 
the list of approved spent fuel storage casks that power reactor 
licensees can use to store spent fuel at reactor sites under a general 
license. The HI-STORM FW System provides the following: (1) The ability 
to store and transport BWR fuel with high initial enrichment (up to 4.8 
weight percent uranium-235 planer average) without reliance on burnup 
or gadolinium credit; (2) the ability to load and store spent nuclear 
fuel from the longest to

[[Page 17021]]

the shortest currently, and expected to be produced, in the United 
States without requiring site crane upgrades; (3) a reduction in the 10 
CFR part 71 burnup credit requirement for the PWR basket allowing 
transportation of 5 weight percent uranium-235 fuel with moderate 
burnup; (4) enlarged storage cell opening sizes in both PWR and BWR 
MPCs to ensure distorted irradiated fuel will fit without difficulty 
and to permit canisterized fuel to be stored in certain designated 
locations; (5) greater heat rejection capacity with lower peak fuel 
cladding temperature than the HI-STORM 100 cask system, CoC No. 1014; 
and (6) a variable weight (HI-TRAC VW) transfer cask that will allow 
use of the full capacity of a facility's cask crane. The HI-STORM FW 
System consists of the following major components: HI-STORM FW 
Overpack, PWR MPC-37, BWR MPC-89, and HI-TRAC VW Transfer Cask.
    The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact 
on which this determination is based are available for inspection at 
the NRC Public Document Room, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Single copies of the environmental 
assessment and finding of no significant impact are available from 
Gregory Trussell, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6445, e-mail: 
[email protected].

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This rule does not contain any information collection requirements 
and, therefore, is not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Approval Number 3150-0132.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a request for information or an information collection 
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid 
OMB control number.

Regulatory Analysis

    On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the Commission issued an amendment 
to 10 CFR part 72. The amendment provided for the storage of spent 
nuclear fuel in cask systems with designs approved by the NRC under a 
general license. Any nuclear power reactor licensee can use cask 
systems with designs approved by the NRC to store spent nuclear fuel if 
it notifies the NRC in advance, the spent fuel is stored under the 
conditions specified in the cask's CoC, and the conditions of the 
general license are met. In that rule, four spent fuel storage casks 
were approved for use at reactor sites and were listed in 10 CFR 
72.214. That rule envisioned that storage casks certified in the future 
could be routinely added to the listing in 10 CFR 72.214 through the 
rulemaking process. Procedures and criteria for obtaining NRC approval 
of new spent fuel storage cask designs were provided in 10 CFR part 72, 
subpart L.
    The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of this new 
design and issue a site-specific license to each utility that proposes 
to use the casks. This alternative would cost both the NRC and 
utilities more time and money for each site-specific license. 
Conducting site-specific reviews would ignore the procedures and 
criteria currently in place for the addition of new cask designs that 
can be used under a general license, and would be in conflict with NWPA 
direction to the Commission to approve technologies for the use of 
spent fuel storage at the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors 
without, to the maximum extent practicable, the need for additional 
site reviews. This alternative also would tend to exclude new vendors 
from the business market without cause and would arbitrarily limit the 
choice of cask designs available to power reactor licensees. This final 
rule will eliminate the above problems and is consistent with previous 
Commission actions. Further, the rule will have no adverse effect on 
public health and safety.
    The benefit of this rule to nuclear power reactor licensees is to 
make available a greater choice of spent fuel storage cask designs that 
can be used under a 10 CFR part 50 general license. The new cask 
vendors with casks to be listed in 10 CFR 72.214 benefit by having to 
obtain NRC certificates only once for a design that can then be used by 
more than one power reactor licensee. The NRC also benefits because it 
will need to certify a cask design only once for use by multiple 
licensees. Casks approved through rulemaking are to be suitable for use 
under a range of environmental conditions sufficiently broad to 
encompass multiple nuclear power plants in the United States without 
the need for further site-specific approval by NRC. Vendors with cask 
designs already listed may be adversely impacted because power reactor 
licensees may choose a newly listed design over an existing one. 
However, the NRC is required by its regulations and NWPA direction to 
certify and list approved casks. This rule has no significant 
identifiable impact or benefit on other Government agencies.
    Based on the above discussion of the benefits and impacts of the 
alternatives, the NRC concludes that the requirements of the final rule 
are commensurate with the Commission's responsibilities for public 
health and safety and the common defense and security. No other 
available alternative is believed to be as satisfactory, and thus, this 
action is recommended.

Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the 
NRC certifies that this rule will not, if issued, have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This direct 
final rule affects only nuclear power plant licensees and Holtec. These 
entities do not fall within the scope of the definition of ``small 
entities'' set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the size 
standards established by the NRC (10 CFR 2.810).

Backfit Analysis

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (10 CFR 72.62) does 
not apply to this direct final rule because this amendment does not 
involve any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 
Chapter 1. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required.

Congressional Review Act

    Under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, the NRC has determined 
that this action is not a major rule and has verified this 
determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72

    Administrative practice and procedure, Hazardous waste, Nuclear 
materials, Occupational safety and health, Radiation protection, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Spent 
fuel, Whistle blowing.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization 
Act of 1974, as amended; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as 
amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553; the NRC is adopting the following 
amendments to 10 CFR part 72.

[[Page 17022]]

PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF 
SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-
RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE

0
1. The authority citation for part 72 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 
184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 
954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233, 
2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L. 86-373, 73 Stat. 
688, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); 
Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-
486, sec. 7902, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub. L. 
91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133, 135, 
137, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148, 
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152, 10153, 
10155, 10157, 10161, 10168); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 
3504 note); sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 806-10 (42 U.S.C. 
2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
    Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d), 
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C. 10162(b), 
10168(c),(d)). Section 72.46 also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 
955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 
U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under sec. 145(g), Pub. 
L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)). Subpart J also 
issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15), 2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97-
425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244 (42 U.S.C. 10101, 
10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are also issued under sec. 
133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 
(42 U.S.C. 10198).


0
2. In Sec.  72.214, Certificate of Compliance 1032 is added to read as 
follows:


Sec.  72.214  List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *
Certificate Number: 1032.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: June 13, 2011.
SAR Submitted by: Holtec International, Inc.
SAR Title: Safety Analysis Report on the HI-STORM FW System.
Docket Number: 72-1032.
Certificate Expiration Date: June 13, 2031.
Model Numbers: MPC-37, MPC-89.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of February 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R.W. Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2011-7102 Filed 3-25-11; 8:45 am]
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