[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 52 (Monday, March 18, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16601-16604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06015]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 52 / Monday, March 18, 2013 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 16601]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[NRC-2012-0308]
RIN 3150-AJ22
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: MAGNASTOR[supreg]
System
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
spent fuel storage regulations by revising the NAC International, Inc.
(NAC) Modular Advanced Generation Nuclear All-purpose Storage
(MAGNASTOR[supreg]) System listing within the ``List of Approved Spent
Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 3 to Certificate of
Compliance (CoC) No. 1031. Amendment No. 3 revises authorized contents
to include: Pressurized water reactor (PWR) damaged fuel contained in
damaged fuel (DF) cans that are placed in a damaged fuel basket
assembly; PWR fuel assemblies with nonfuel hardware per the expanded
definition in the Amendment No. 3 application; and PWR fuel assemblies
with up to five activated stainless steel fuel replacement rods at a
maximum burnup/exposure of 32.5 gigawatt days per metric ton of uranium
(GWd/MTU). Additionally, Amendment No. 3 revises paragraph 4.3.1(i) in
appendix A of the CoC Technical Specifications (TS) to clarify that the
maximum design basis earthquake accelerations of 0.37g in the
horizontal direction (without cask sliding) and 0.25g in the vertical
direction at the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI)
pad top surface do not result in cask tip-over. Amendment No. 3 also
makes additional changes to appendix A, Technical Specifications and
Design Features for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] System, and appendix B,
Approved Contents for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] System, of the CoC.
DATES: The final rule is effective June 3, 2013, unless significant
adverse comments are received by April 17, 2013. If the rule is
withdrawn as a result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal
will be published in the Federal Register. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC staff
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0308 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this final rule. You may
access information and comment submittals related to this final
rulemaking, which the NRC possesses and is publicly available by any of
the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0308.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. An electronic copy of the
proposed CoC, including appendices A and B of the TS, and preliminary
safety evaluation report (SER) can be found in ADAMS under Package
Accession No. ML12227A900. The ADAMS Accession No. for the
MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System Amendment No. 3 application dated August
26, 2010, is ML102420569.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naiem S. Tanious, Office of Federal
and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-
6103, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Procedural Background
II. Background
III. Discussion of Changes
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Agreement State Compatibility
VI. Plain Writing
VII. Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact: Availability
VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
IX. Regulatory Analysis
X. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
XI. Backfit Analysis
XII. Congressional Review Act
I. Procedural Background
This rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment No. 3 to
CoC No. 1031 and does not include other aspects of the
MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System design. The NRC is using the ``direct
final rule procedure'' to issue this amendment because it represents a
limited and routine change to an existing CoC that 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 3, 2013. However, if the NRC receives significant
adverse comments on this direct final rule by April 17, 2013, 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 in the Proposed Rule
section of 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
[[Page 16602]]
(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 in the Proposed Rule section of this
issue of the Federal Register.
II. Background
Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982, as
amended, requires that ``the Secretary [of the Department of Energy]
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 219(a) [sic: 218(a)] for use at the site of
any civilian nuclear power reactor.''
To implement this mandate, the Commission approved dry storage of
spent nuclear fuel in NRC-approved casks under a general license by
publishing a final rule in part 72 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), 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. The NRC subsequently
issued a final rule on November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70587), that approved
the MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System design and added it to the list of
NRC-approved cask designs in 10 CFR 72.214 as CoC No. 1031.
III. Discussion of Changes
On August 26, 2010 NAC submitted a request to the NRC to amend CoC
No. 1031 (ML102420569). NAC supplemented its request on the following
dates: February 4, 2011 (ML11138A224), February 16, 2011 (ML110480498),
August 15, 2011 (ML11229A701), October 3, 2011 (ML11287A020), March 21,
2012 (ML120820463), March 30, 2012 (ML12094A056), and April 6, 2012
(ML12104A025). The amendment revises authorized contents to include:
(1) PWR damaged fuel contained in damaged fuel cans that are placed in
a damaged fuel basket assembly; (2) PWR fuel assemblies with nonfuel
hardware per the expanded definition in the Amendment No. 3
application; and (3) PWR fuel assemblies with up to five activated
stainless steel fuel replacement rods at a maximum burnup/exposure of
32.5 GWd/MTU.
This amendment also revises paragraph 4.3.1(i) in appendix A of the
CoC to clarify that the maximum design basis earthquake accelerations
of 0.37g in the horizontal direction (without cask sliding) and 0.25g
in the vertical direction at the ISFSI pad top surface do not result in
cask tip-over. Furthermore, this amendment makes additional changes to
appendix A (ML12227A913) and appendix B (ML12227A912) of the CoC. The
changes to the aforementioned documents are identified with revisions
bars in the margin of each document.
As documented in the SER (ML12227A914), the NRC staff performed a
detailed safety evaluation of the proposed CoC amendment request. There
are no significant changes to cask design requirements in the proposed
CoC amendment. Considering the specific design requirements for each
accident condition, the design of the cask would prevent loss of
containment, shielding, and criticality control. If there is no loss of
containment, shielding, or criticality control, the environmental
impacts would be insignificant. This amendment does not reflect a
significant change in design or fabrication of the cask. In addition,
any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the
implementation of Amendment No. 3 would remain well within the 10 CFR
part 20 limits. Thus, the proposed CoC changes will not result in any
radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that
significantly differ from the environmental impacts evaluated in the
environmental assessment supporting the November 21, 2008, final rule.
There will be no significant change in the types or significant
revisions in the amounts of any effluent released, no significant
increase in the individual or cumulative radiation exposure, and no
significant increase in the potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents.
This direct final rule revises the MAGNASTOR[supreg] System listing
in 10 CFR 72.214 by adding Amendment No. 3 to CoC No.1031. The
amendment consists of the changes previously described, as set forth in
the revised CoC and TS. The revised TS are identified in the SER.
The amended MAGNASTOR[supreg] cask design, when used under the
conditions specified in the CoC, the TS, and the NRC's regulations,
will meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 72; thus, adequate protection
of public health and safety will continue to be ensured. When this
direct final rule becomes effective, persons who hold a general license
under 10 CFR 72.210 may load spent nuclear fuel into MAGNASTOR[supreg]
Systems that meet the criteria of Amendment No. 3 to CoC No. 1031 under
10 CFR 72.212.
IV. 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 will revise
the MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System design listed in Sec. 72.214 (List
of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks). This action does not constitute
the establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable
requirements.
V. 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 10 CFR. Although an Agreement
State may not adopt program elements reserved to the 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.
[[Page 16603]]
VI. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, well-organized manner
that also follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or
field and the intended audience. The NRC has attempted to use plain
language in promulgating this rule consistent with the Federal Plain
Writing Act guidelines.
VII. 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 (ML13043A147) and, on the
basis of this environmental assessment, has made a finding of no
significant impact. This rule amends the CoC for the MAGNASTOR[supreg]
System cask design within 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. Specifically, NAC requested changes to
revise authorized contents to include: (1) PWR damaged fuel contained
in damaged fuel cans that are placed in a damaged fuel basket assembly;
(2) PWR fuel assemblies with nonfuel hardware per the expanded
definition in the Amendment No. 3 application; and (3) PWR fuel
assemblies with up to five activated stainless steel fuel replacement
rods at a maximum burnup/exposure of 32.5 GWd/MTU.
This amendment revises paragraph 4.3.1(i) in appendix A of the CoC
to clarify that the maximum design basis earthquake accelerations of
0.37g in the horizontal direction (without cask sliding) and 0.25g in
the vertical direction at the ISFSI pad top surface do not result in
cask tip-over. Furthermore, this amendment makes additional changes to
appendix A (ML12227A913) and appendix B (ML12227A912) of the CoC. The
changes to the aforementioned documents are identified with revisions
bars in the margin of each document.
The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
on which this determination is based are available for inspection at
the NRC PDR, Room O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Single copies of the environmental
assessment and finding of no significant impact are available from
Naiem Tanious, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental
Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6103, email: [email protected].
VIII. 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.
IX. Regulatory Analysis
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC issued an amendment to 10
CFR part 72 to provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel under a
general license in cask designs approved by the NRC. Any nuclear power
reactor licensee can use NRC-approved cask designs 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. A list of NRC-approved cask
designs is contained in 10 CFR 72.214. On November 21, 2008 (73 FR
70587), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 that approved the
MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System design by adding it to the list of NRC-
approved cask designs in 10 CFR 72.214.
On August 26, 2010 (ML102420569), and as supplemented on February
4, 2011 (ML11138A224), February 16, 2011 (ML110480498), August 15, 2011
(ML11229A701), October 3, 2011 (ML11287A020), March 21, 2012
(ML120820463), March 30, 2012 (ADAMS ML12094A056), and April 6, 2012
(ML12104A025), NAC submitted an application to amend the
MAGNASTOR[supreg] Cask System. The amendment revises authorized
contents to include: (1) PWR damaged fuel contained in damaged fuel
cans that are placed in a damaged fuel basket assembly; (2) PWR fuel
assemblies with nonfuel hardware per the expanded definition in the
application; and (3) PWR fuel assemblies with up to five activated
stainless steel fuel replacement rods at a maximum burnup/exposure of
32.5 GWd/MTU.
This amendment also revises paragraph 4.3.1(i) in appendix A of the
CoC to clarify that the maximum design basis earthquake accelerations
of 0.37g in the horizontal direction (without cask sliding) and 0.25g
in the vertical direction at the ISFSI pad top surface do not result in
cask tip-over. Furthermore, this amendment makes additional changes to
appendix A (ML12227A913) and appendix B (ML12227A912) of the CoC. The
changes to the aforementioned documents are identified with revisions
bars in the margin of each document.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of Amendment
No. 3 and to require any 10 CFR part 72 general licensee seeking to
load spent nuclear fuel into MAGNASTOR[supreg] Systems under the
changes described in Amendment No. 3 to request an exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212 and 72.214. Under this alternative, each
interested 10 CFR part 72 licensee would have to prepare, and the NRC
would have to review, a separate exemption request, thereby increasing
the administrative burden upon the NRC and the costs to each licensee.
Approval of the direct final rule is consistent with previous NRC
actions. Further, as documented in the SER and the environmental
assessment, the direct final rule will have no adverse effect on public
health and safety or the environment. This direct final rule has no
significant identifiable impact or benefit on other Government
agencies. Based on this regulatory analysis, the NRC concludes that the
requirements of the direct final rule are commensurate with the NRC'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.
X. 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 NAC
International, Inc. 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).
XI. Backfit Analysis
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (10 CFR 72.62) does
not apply to this direct final rule because
[[Page 16604]]
this amendment does not involve any provisions that would impose
backfits as defined in 10 CFR 72.62 Therefore, a backfit analysis is
not required.
XII. 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 of
OMB.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72
Administrative practice and procedure, Criminal penalties, Manpower
training programs, Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health,
Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
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.
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: Atomic Energy Act secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69,
81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 223, 234, 274 (42 U.S.C.
2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233,
2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2273, 2282, 2021); Energy Reorganization Act
sec. 201, 202, 206, 211 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846, 5851); National
Environmental Policy Act sec. 102 (42 U.S.C. 4332); Nuclear Waste
Policy Act secs. 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 141 148 (42 U.S.C. 10151,
10152, 10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750
(44 U.S.C. 3504 note); Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-
58, 119 Stat. 549 (2005).
Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. Nuclear Waste Policy
Act 142(b) and 148(c), (d) (42 U.S.C. 10162(b), 10168(c), (d)).
Section 72.46 also issued under Atomic Energy Act sec. 189 (42
U.S.C. 2239); Nuclear Waste Policy Act sec. 134 (42 U.S.C. 10154).
Section 72.96(d) also issued under Nuclear Waste Policy Act sec.
145(g) (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)). Subpart J also issued under Nuclear
Waste Policy Act secs. 117(a), 141(h) (42 U.S.C. 10137(a),
10161(h)). Subpart K is also issued under sec. 218(a) (42 U.S.C.
10198).
0
2. In Sec. 72.214, Certificate of Compliance 1031 is revised to read
as follows:
Sec. 72.214 List of approved spent fuel storage casks.
* * * * *
Certificate Number: 1031.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: February 4, 2009.
Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: August 30, 2010.
Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: January 30, 2012.
Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: June 3, 2013.
SAR Submitted by: NAC International, Inc.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the MAGNASTOR[supreg]
System.
Docket Number: 72-1031.
Certificate Expiration Date: February 4, 2024.
Model Number: MAGNASTOR[supreg].
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of March 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R.W. Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2013-06015 Filed 3-15-13; 8:45 am]
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