[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1129-1130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-28374]


 ========================================================================
 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. 85, No. 6 / Thursday, January 9, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 1129]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2019-0195]
RIN 3150-AK38


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International 
MAGNASTOR[supreg] System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment 
No. 8

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, Inc. (NAC) MAGNASTOR[supreg] System listing within the 
``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 
8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031. Amendment No. 8 revises the 
technical specifications to delete Technical Specification A5.6 and 
revise the maximum pellet diameter in the technical specifications, 
Appendix B, Table B2-3, from 0.325 inches to 0.3255 inches for the 
CE16H1 hybrid fuel assembly, which includes Combustion Engineering 
16x16 fuel assemblies.

DATES: Submit comments by February 10, 2020. 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-2019-0195. 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 White, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6577; email: 
[email protected] or Edward M. Lohr, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-0253; 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-2019-0195 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-2019-0195.
     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-2019-0195 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 March 24, 
2020. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this 
proposed rule by February 10, 2020, 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

[[Page 1130]]

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 
November 21, 2008, that approved the NAC MAGNASTOR[supreg] System 
design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  
72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 (73 FR 70587).

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               ADAMS
                        Document                           Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submission of NAC International MAGNASTOR[supreg] System     ML18257A079
 Thermal Performance Test Data Satisfying the
 Requirements of Certificate of Compliance, Appendix A,
 Section 5.6, September 12, 2018........................
NRC Letter, Receipt of Test Data for Thermal Performance     ML18299A008
 Test for MAGNASTOR[supreg] System for Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1031--Acknowledgment Letter, October 25,
 2018...................................................
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Amendment No.     ML18331A180
 8 Request and Supplement Information, November 2, 2018.
NRC Letter, Application for Amendment No. 8 Request for      ML19056A057
 Additional Information, February 22, 2019..............
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Supplement to     ML19171A269
 Amendment No. 8 Request, June 14, 2019.................
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Supplement to     ML19199A151
 Amendment No. 8 Request, July 16, 2019.................
Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for Rulemaking for        ML19228A239
 Amendment No. 8, September 26, 2019....................
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment        ML19228A235
 No. 8, Technical Specifications, Appendix A............
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment        ML19228A236
 No. 8, Technical Specifications, Appendix B............
Draft Certificate of Compliance 1031, Amendment No. 8...     ML19228A237
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment No. 8,          ML19228A238
 Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2019-0195. 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-2019-0195); (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 13th day of December 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2019-28374 Filed 1-8-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P