[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 204 (Monday, October 22, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53191-53193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22913]


 ========================================================================
 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.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 204 / Monday, October 22, 2018 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 53191]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2018-0075]
RIN 3150-AK12


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International NAC-
UMS[supreg]; Universal Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No. 
1015, Amendment No. 6

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 NAC 
International NAC-UMS[supreg] listing within the ``List of approved 
spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 6 to Certificate of 
Compliance (CoC) No. 1015. Amendment No. 6 revises the CoC's technical 
specifications (TSs) to: Remove a redundant requirement for inspection 
of the concrete cask and canister; revise a limiting condition of 
operation (LCO) for heat removal to clarify that ``LCO not met'' means 
that the concrete heat removal system is inoperable; remove an 
inspection requirement that is already covered by LCO surveillance 
requirements for off-normal, accident, or natural phenomenon events; 
and clarify that ``immediate'' restoration of a concrete cask's heat 
removal capabilities means ``within the design-basis time limit'' in 
Section 11.2.13 of the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), ``or within 
the time limit for a less than design-basis heat load case, as 
evaluated.'' Amendment No. 6 also clarifies that an LCO for loaded cask 
surface dose rates applies prior to storage conditions, when dose rates 
will be highest.

DATES: Submit comments by November 21, 2018. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
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:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0075. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard H. White, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6577; email: 
[email protected] or Robert D. MacDougall, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-5175; email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
II. Rulemaking Procedure
III. Background
IV. Plain Writing
V. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0075 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 Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0075.
     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-2018-0075 in 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

[[Page 53192]]

submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Rulemaking Procedure

    Because the NRC considers this action to be non-controversial, the 
NRC is publishing this proposed rule 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 January 7, 
2019. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this 
proposed rule by November 21, 2018, 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.
    For 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 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 19, 2000 (65 FR 62581), that approved the NAC-UMS[supreg] 
Universal Storage System design and added it to the list of NRC-
approved cask designs provided in Sec.  72.214 as CoC No. 1015.

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. 
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request to Amend Certificate of         ML17145A380
 Compliance No. 1015 for the NAC-
 UMS[supreg] Cask System, dated May
 23, 2017.
Revision of Request to Amend            ML18018A893
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1015
 for the NAC-UMS[supreg] Cask System,
 dated January 16, 2018.
Revision 11 to NAC-UMS[supreg] Final    ML16341B102
 Safety Analysis Report for the UMS
 Universal Storage System.
Proposed CoC No. 1015, Amendment No. 6  ML18088A174
Proposed Technical Specifications.....  ML18088A176
Appendix A--Proposed Technical          ML18088A178
 Specifications.
Appendix B--Preliminary Safety          ML18088A181
 Evaluation Report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking website at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2018-0075. The Federal 
Rulemaking website allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: 1) navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2018-0075); 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, Hazardous waste, Indians, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear energy, Penalties, Radiation 
protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security 
measures, 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

[[Page 53193]]

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 of 1954, 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, 2210e, 
2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2273, 2282, 2021); Energy 
Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202, 206, 211 (42 U.S.C. 
5841, 5842, 5846, 5851); National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4332); Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, secs. 117(a), 
132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 141, 145(g), 148, 218(a) (42 U.S.C. 
10137(a), 10152, 10153, 10154, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10165(g), 10168, 
10198(a)); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.

0
2. In Sec.  72.214, Certificate of Compliance 1015 is revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  72.214  List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *
    Certificate Number: 1015.
    Initial Certificate Effective Date: November 20, 2000.
    Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: February 20, 2001.
    Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: December 31, 2001.
    Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: March 31, 2004.
    Amendment Number 4 Effective Date: October 11, 2005.
    Amendment Number 5 Effective Date: January 12, 2009.
    Amendment Number 6 Effective Date: January 7, 2019.
    SAR Submitted by: NAC International, Inc.
    SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the NAC-UMS Universal 
Storage System.
    Docket Number: 72-1015.
    Certificate Expiration Date: November 20, 2020.
    Model Number: NAC-UMS.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of October, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2018-22913 Filed 10-19-18; 8:45 am]
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