[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52815-52817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21210]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2019-0160]
RIN 3150-AK36


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International 
HI-STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System, Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 14

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Holtec 
International HI-STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System listing 
within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include 
Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014. Amendment No. 
14 revises the technical specifications to add new heat loading 
patterns, reduce the minimum cooling time, allow use of a damaged fuel 
isolator for storing damaged fuel, and modify the description of vents 
in overpack. Amendment No. 14 also makes other administrative changes 
to the technical specifications.

DATES: Submit comments by November 4, 2019. 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0160. 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: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected] or Torre Taylor, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-7900; 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

[[Page 52816]]

III. Background
IV. Plain Writing
V. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0160 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0160.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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-2019-0160 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 https://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. 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 December 17, 
2019. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this 
proposed rule by November 4, 2019, 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 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.
    (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 to make a change (other than 
editorial) to the rule, certificate of compliance, or technical 
specifications.
    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 of 1982, as amended, 
requires that ``[t]he 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 Nuclear 
Waste Policy Act 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 
May 1, 2000, that approved the HI-STORM 100 Cask System design and 
added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  72.214 as 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 (65 FR 25241).

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 31885). The NRC 
requests comment on the proposed rule with respect to the clarity and 
effectiveness of the language used.

V. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through the following method.

[[Page 52817]]



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                   Document                       ADAMS accession No.
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Letter from Holtec International Transmitting  ML18331A052
 Request for Amendment No. 14 to Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1014, October 31, 2018.
Attachment 1: Summary of Request for           ML18331A043
 Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1014, October 31, 2018.
Attachment 2: Proposed Amendment No. 14 to     ML18331A046
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, October
 31, 2018.
Attachment 3: Proposed Amendment No. 14 to     ML18331A047
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Appendix
 A, October 31, 2018.
Attachment 4: Proposed Amendment No. 14 to     ML18331A048
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Appendix
 B, October 31, 2018.
Attachment 5: Final Safety Analysis Report     ML18331A049
 Proposed Changes, October 31, 2018.
Letter from Holtec International Transmitting  ML18324A577
 Supplement to Amendment Request, November 6,
 2018.
Letter from Holtec International Transmitting  ML19065A053
 Responses to NRC's 1st Round of Requests for
 Additional Information for Amendment No. 14,
 February 28, 2019.
Attachment 2: Request for Additional           ML19065A027
 Information, Combined Responses, Non-
 Proprietary, February 28, 2019.
Attachment 3: Final Safety Analysis Report     ML19065A029
 Proposed Changes, Non-Proprietary, February
 28, 2019.
Attachment 4: Summary of Proposed Changes,     ML19065A030
 Non-Proprietary, February 28, 2019.
Letter from Holtec International Transmitting  ML19101A339
 Responses to Clarification Questions, April
 5, 2019.
Attachment 1: Responses to Clarification       ML19101A337
 Questions, April 5, 2019.
Attachment 2: Final Safety Analysis Report     ML19114A289
 (Proposed Revision 16B), April 5, 2019.
Letter from Holtec International, Submittal    ML19121A280
 of Responses to Clarification Questions,
 April 23, 2019.
Final Safety Analysis Report (Proposed         ML19121A279
 Revision 16B), Chapter 2, Changed Pages,
 April 5, 2019.
Letter from Holtec International, Submittal    ML19140A278
 of Responses to Clarification Questions,
 dated May 13, 2019.
Final Safety Analysis Report (Proposed         ML19140A277
 Revision 16B), Chapter 2, Changed Pages, May
 13, 2019.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014    ML19120A058
 Amendment No. 14, Certificate of Compliance
 for Spent Fuel Storage Casks.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014    ML19120A059
 Amendment No. 14, Technical Specifications,
 Appendix A.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014    ML19120A061
 Amendment No. 14, Technical Specifications,
 Appendix B.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014    ML19120A062
 Amendment No. 14, Technical Specifications,
 Appendix A-100U.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014    ML19120A063
 Amendment No. 14, Technical Specifications,
 Appendix B-100U.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Amendment   ML19120A064
 No. 14, Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report.
E-mail from J. Tomlinson, Holtec, regarding    ML19224A393
 administrative change to HI-Storm 100
 Amendment 14 CoC, Appendix B, August 8, 2019.
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    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2019-0160. 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-2019-0160); (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, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of September, 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2019-21210 Filed 10-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P