[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 216 (Thursday, November 7, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66858-66859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26726]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 216 / Thursday, November 7, 2013 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 66858]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 51

[NRC-2012-0246]
RIN 3150-AJ20


Waste Confidence--Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On September 13, 2013, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) published for public comment a proposed rule revising its generic 
determination on the environmental impacts of the continued storage of 
spent nuclear fuel beyond a reactor's licensed life for operation and 
prior to ultimate disposal. The public comment period for this proposed 
rule was to have ended on November 27, 2013. Due to the lapse in 
Federal funding and the subsequent shutdown of the NRC, and requests 
from members of the public to extend the comment period, the NRC has 
decided to extend the comment period until December 20, 2013. Although 
public meetings are not required for rulemaking, the extension of the 
comment period will also allow the NRC to attempt to reschedule 
meetings related to this rulemaking that were cancelled due to the 
government shutdown so that they occur during the comment period.

DATES: For the proposed rule published on September 13, 2013 (78 FR 
56776), the comment period has been extended and now ends on December 
20, 2013. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is 
practical to do so, but the NRC is able to assure consideration only 
for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0246. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merri Horn, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-9167; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0246 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this proposed rule. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this proposed rule by 
any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0246.
     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].
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0246 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS and the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    On September 13, 2013, the NRC published a proposed rule revising 
the generic determination of the environmental impacts of the continued 
storage of spent nuclear fuel beyond a reactor's licensed life for 
operation and prior to ultimate disposal. (78 FR 56776). The NRC 
prepared a draft generic environmental impact statement to support this 
proposed rule. In the proposed rule, the Commission proposes to 
conclude that the generic environmental impact statement generically 
addresses the environmental impacts of continued storage of spent 
nuclear fuel beyond the licensed life for operation of a reactor and 
supports the determinations that it is feasible to safely store spent 
nuclear fuel beyond

[[Page 66859]]

the licensed life for operation of a reactor and to have a mined 
geologic repository within 60 years following the licensed life for 
operation of a reactor. The proposed rule also would clarify that the 
generic determination applies to a license renewal for an independent 
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI).
    The public comment period for the proposed rule and the draft 
generic environmental impact statement was to have expired on November 
27, 2013. Due to the lapse in Federal funding and the subsequent 
shutdown of the NRC, and requests from members of the public to extend 
the comment period, the NRC has decided to extend the comment period 
until December 20, 2013.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of November 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-26726 Filed 11-6-13; 8:45 am]
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