[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13260-13261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05107]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 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.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 2014 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 13260]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2013-0236]
RIN 3150-AJ28


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Transnuclear, Inc. 
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Transnuclear, 
Inc. Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System listing within the ``List 
of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 13 to 
Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1004. Amendment No. 13 includes 
changes to: (1) Add two new dry shielded canisters (DSCs), the -37PTH 
and the -69BTH; (2) add new approved contents, including blended low 
enriched uranium fuel, and control components to already approved DSCs; 
and (3) extend the use of the high-seismic horizontal storage module 
for storage of already approved DSCs. In addition, the amendment makes 
several other changes as described in Section III of the direct final 
rule published in the Rules and Regulation section of this issue of the 
Federal Register.

DATES: Submit comments by April 9, 2014. 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: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this proposed rulemaking, which the NRC possesses and is publicly 
available, by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID 
NRC-2013-0236. You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0236. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, telephone: 301-287-
3422, email: [email protected]. For technical questions, please 
contact the individual 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.
    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: 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, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

 I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0236 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this proposed rule. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this proposed 
rulemaking by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0236.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced.
     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-2013-0236 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 in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS, and the NRC does not 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 in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Procedural Background

    This rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment No. 13 
to CoC No. 1004 and does not include other aspects of the Transnuclear, 
Inc., Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System design. Because the NRC 
considers this action noncontroversial and routine, the NRC is 
publishing this proposed rule concurrently as a direct final rule in 
the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal 
Register. Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to 
be ensured. The direct final rule will become effective on May 24, 
2014. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this 
proposed rule by April 9, 2014, then the NRC will publish a document 
that withdraws the direct final rule. If the

[[Page 13261]]

direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC will address the comments 
received in response to these proposed revisions in a subsequent final 
rule. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions 
requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment 
period on this action in the event the direct final rule is withdrawn.
    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 Technical Specifications.
    For additional procedural information and the regulatory analysis, 
see the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations 
section of this issue of the Federal Register.

III. 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, which added a new Subpart K within Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (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 December 22, 1994 (59 FR 65898), that approved 
the Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System design and added it to the 
list of NRC-approved cask designs in 10 CFR 72.214 as CoC No. 1004.

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. 553; the NRC is proposing to adopt 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 
secs. 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. 
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 1004 is revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  72.214  List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *
    Certificate Number: 1004.
    Initial Certificate Effective Date: January 23, 1995.
    Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: April 27, 2000.
    Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: September 5, 2000.
    Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: September 12, 2001.
    Amendment Number 4 Effective Date: February 12, 2002.
    Amendment Number 5 Effective Date: January 7, 2004.
    Amendment Number 6 Effective Date: December 22, 2003.
    Amendment Number 7 Effective Date: March 2, 2004.
    Amendment Number 8 Effective Date: December 5, 2005.
    Amendment Number 9 Effective Date: April 17, 2007.
    Amendment Number 10 Effective Date: August 24, 2009.
    Amendment Number 11 Effective Date: January 7, 2014.
    Amendment Number 12 Effective Date: Amendment not issued by the 
NRC.
    Amendment Number 13 Effective Date: May 24, 2014.
    SAR Submitted by: Transnuclear, Inc.
    SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System for Irradiated Nuclear 
Fuel.
    Docket Number: 72-1004.
    Certificate Expiration Date: January 23, 2015.
    Model Number: NUHOMS[supreg]-24P, -24PHB, -24PTH, -32PT, -32PTH1, -
37PTH, -52B, -61BT, -61BTH, and -69BTH.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of December, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2014-05107 Filed 3-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P