[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 120 (Tuesday, June 23, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35872-35874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15474]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[NRC-2015-0067]
RIN 3150-AJ58
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International
HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No.
1040, Amendment No. 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 (Holtec International Storage
Module) Underground Maximum Capacity (UMAX) Canister Storage System
listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to add
Amendment No. 1 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1040. Amendment
No. 1 provides a seismically enhanced version of the HI-STORM UMAX
Canister Storage System, identified as the ``Most Severe Earthquake
(MSE)'' version that could be used in areas with higher seismic demands
than those analyzed previously. Amendment No. 1 also includes minor
physical design changes to help ensure structural integrity of the
amended system. These are the addition of a hold-down system to the
closure lid; replacing the fill material in the interstitial spaces
between the cavity enclosure containers (CECs) surrounding the casks
with plain concrete with a minimum comprehensive strength of 3000 psi
concrete; strengthening the multi-purpose canister (MPC) guides; and
engineering the guides' nominal gap with the MPC to be tighter than the
original HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System design.
DATES: Submit comments by July 23, 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-2015-0067. 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: Solomon Sahle, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: (301) 415-3781; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0067 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-2015-0067.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access 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-2015-0067 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 the changes contained in Amendment
No. 1 to CoC No. 1040 and does not include other aspects of the Holtec
HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System. Because the NRC considers this
action noncontroversial and routine, the NRC is publishing this
proposed rule
[[Page 35873]]
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 September 8, 2015. However, if the NRC
receives significant adverse comments on this proposed rule by July 23,
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 U.S. 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 [U.S. 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
March 6, 2015 (80 FR 12073), as corrected on March 25, 2015 (80 FR
15679), that approved the HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System design
and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in 10 CFR 72.214
as CoC No. 1040.
IV. 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 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adams accession No./ Web link/
Document Federal Register citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed CoC No. 1040, Amendment ML15070A151
No. 1.
Appendix A of Proposed TS.......... ML15070A153
Appendix B of Proposed TS.......... ML15070A152
Preliminary SER.................... ML15070A149
Request for Amendment Application ML14202A029
dated July 11, 2014.
Supplemental Information for ML14308A164
Proposed Action dated October 31,
2014.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC may post materials related to this document, including
public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2015-0067. 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-2015-0067); (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, 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.
[[Page 35874]]
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. 1040 is revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 72.214 List of approved spent fuel storage casks.
* * * * *
Certificate Number: 1040.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: April 6, 2015.
Amendment No. 1 Effective Date: September 8, 2015.
SAR Submitted by: Holtec International, Inc.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the Holtec
International HI-STORM UMAX Canister Storage System.
Docket Number: 72-1040.
Certificate Expiration Date: April 6, 2035.
Model Number: MPC-37, MPC-89.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of June, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark A. Satorius,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2015-15474 Filed 6-22-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P