[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14332-14334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06366]


 ========================================================================
 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. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 14332]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2014-0275]
RIN 3150-AJ52


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec HI-STORM Flood/
Wind System; Certificate of Compliance No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, 
Revision 1

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 Holtec 
International, Inc. (Holtec), HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) System listing 
within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to add 
Amendment No. 1, Revision 1, to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 
1032. Amendment No. 1, Revision 1, allows these casks to accept 14X14B 
fuel assemblies with minor changes in the internal diameter of the fuel 
cladding, diameter of the fuel pellet, and spacing between the fuel 
pins. The amendment also updates testing requirements for the 
fabrication of Metamic HT neutron-absorbing structural material.

DATES: Submit comments by April 20, 2015. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure 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-2014-0275. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions 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.
     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 obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert D. MacDougall, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5175, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0275 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0275.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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]. For 
the convenience of the reader, instructions about obtaining materials 
referenced in this document are provided in the ``Availability of 
Documents'' section.
     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-2014-0275 in the subject line of your 
comment submission.
    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. 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. Procedural Background

    This proposed rule is limited to adding Amendment No. 1, Revision 
1, which will supersede Amendment No. 1 (effective December 17, 2014), 
to CoC No. 1032 to the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' 
and does not include other aspects of the Holtec HI-STORM FW System 
design. Amendment No. 1 continues to be effective but is now being 
modified with respect to certain specified provisions, as outlined in 
Amendment No. 1, Revision 1, which apply to all general licensees using 
the casks for Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs). 
Therefore, Amendment No. 1, Revision 1, supersedes the previously 
issued Amendment No. 1 (effective December 17, 2014). In requesting 
this revision, Holtec indicated that no ISFSI licensee has placed such 
a cask into service under CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1.
    Because the NRC considers this action noncontroversial and routine, 
the NRC is publishing this proposed rule

[[Page 14333]]

concurrently with a direct final rule in the Rules and Regulations 
section of this issue of the Federal Register. The direct final rule 
will become effective on June 2, 2015. However, if the NRC receives 
significant adverse comments on this proposed rule by April 20, 2015, 
then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct final 
rule. If the 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 (TSs).
    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 ``[t]]he 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 in part 72 of Title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 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 in 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 
October 3, 2014 (79 FR 59623), that approved the HI-STORM FW System 
design amendment and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs 
in 10 CFR 72.214 as CoC No. 1032, Amendment 1.

IV. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized 
manner that also follows other best practices appropriate to the 
subject or field and the intended audience. The NRC has written this 
document to be consistent with the Plain Writing Act as well as the 
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in Government Writing,'' 
published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883). The NRC requests comment on the 
proposed rule with respect to clarity and effectiveness of the language 
used.

V. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         ADAMS Accession No./ Web link/
               Document                    Federal Register  citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed CoC No. 1032, Amendment No.   ML14276A621
 1, Revision 1.
Proposed CoC No. 1032, Amendment No.   ML14276A618
 1, Revision 1, Appendix A to the
 Technical Specifications.
Proposed CoC No. 1032, Amendment No.   ML14276A617
 1, Revision 1, Appendix B to the
 Technical Specifications.
CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1,         ML14276A620
 Revision 1, Preliminary SER.
Holtec International HI-STORM Flood/   ML13214A023
 Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage
 System, License Amendment Request
 1032-2, July 31, 2013.
Submittal of Response to First         ML13311A103
 Request for Additional Information
 for License Amendment Request No. 2
 to the Holtec International
 HI[dash]STORM Flood/Wind Multi-
 Purpose Canister Storage System,
 November 5, 2013.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC may post materials related to this proposed rule, including 
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2014-0275. The Federal 
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2014-0275); (2) click the ``Sign up for Email 
Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select how 
frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

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,

[[Page 14334]]

as amended; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended; and 5 
U.S.C. 552 and 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, 2239, 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); Government 
Paperwork Elimination Act sec. 1704 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note); Energy 
Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 788 (2005).
    Section 72.44(g) also issued under Nuclear Waste Policy Act 
secs. 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 also issued under Nuclear Waste Policy Act sec. 218(a) 
(42 U.S.C. 10198).

0
2. In Sec.  72.214, Certificate of Compliance No. 1032 is revised to 
read as follows:


Sec.  72.214  List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *
    Certificate Number: 1032.
    Initial Certificate Effective Date: June 13, 2011.
    Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: December 17, 2014, superseded by 
Amendment Number 1, Revision 1, on [DATE 75 DAYS FROM DATE OF 
PUBLICATION OF FINAL RULE IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
    Amendment Number 1, Revision 1, Effective Date: [DATE 75 DAYS FROM 
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL RULE IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
    SAR Submitted by: Holtec International, Inc.
    SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the Holtec HI-STORM FW 
System.
    Docket Number: 72-1032.
    Certificate Expiration Date: June 12, 2031.
    Model Numbers: HI-STORM FW MPC-37, MPC-89.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of March, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark A. Satorius,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2015-06366 Filed 3-18-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P