[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 65 (Friday, April 3, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 18876-18878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06663]


 ========================================================================
 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. 85, No. 65 / Friday, April 3, 2020 / Proposed 
Rules  

[[Page 18876]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2019-0224]
RIN 3150-AK40


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC 
NUHOMS[supreg] EOS Dry Spent Fuel Storage System, Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1042, 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 TN Americas 
LLC NUHOMS[supreg] EOS Dry Spent Fuel Storage System listing within the 
``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 
1 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1042. Amendment No. 1 makes the 
following changes: Adds a new basket type (Type 4) to allow for the 
loading of intact, damaged, or failed fuel; adds another new basket 
type (Type 5) with low conductivity poison basket plates and low 
emissivity coated steel basket plates; accepts fuel assemblies with a 
minimum two-year cooling time, in selected locations within the basket; 
adds the NUHOMS[supreg] MATRIX design as an alternative to the EOS 
horizontal storage module design for the storage of spent fuel; and 
makes additional revisions to the certificate of compliance and the 
technical specifications for consistency and clarity.

DATES: Submit comments by May 4, 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-2019-0224. When 
preparing and submitting your comments, see ``Tips for Submitting 
Effective Comments'' at https://www.regulations.gov/docs/Tips_For_Submitting_Effective_Comments.pdf. 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 Section I, ``Obtaining Information and Submitting 
Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6825; email: 
[email protected] or Nicole Fields, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 630-829-9570; 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-2019-0224 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-2019-0224.
     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 Section V, ``Availability of Documents,'' of this document.
     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-2019-0224 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

[[Page 18877]]

the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal 
Register. The direct final rule will become effective on June 17, 2020. 
However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by May 4, 
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 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.
    For a detailed discussion of the proposed rule changes and 
associated analyses, 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 that 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.'' 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 direct final rule on March 24, 2017, that 
approved the TN Americas LLC NUHOMS[supreg] EOS Dry Spent Fuel Storage 
System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in 
Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1042.

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. 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. 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./  Federal
             Document                        Register citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Certificate of            ML19290H608.
 Compliance No. 1042, Amendment
 No. 1.
Proposed Technical                 ML19290H605.
 Specifications, Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Amendment
 No. 1, Appendix A.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation      ML19290H606.
 Report, Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Amendment
 No. 1.
Application for Amendment 1 to     ML18053A220 (package).
 the NUHOMS EOS System, Revision
 0, dated February 15, 2018.
Acceptance Review of TN Americas,  ML18178A029 (package).
 LLC Application for Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1042,
 Amendment 1 to NUHOMS EOS
 System, Rev. 1--Response to
 Request for Supplemental
 Information, dated June 14, 2018.
Acceptance Review (Continued) of   ML18255A124 (package).
 TN Americas LLC Application for
 Certificate of Compliance No.
 1042, Amendment No. 1, to the
 NUHOMS EOS System, Revision 2--
 Response to Second Request for
 Supplemental Information, dated
 August 30, 2018.
Application for Amendment 1 to     ML19058A410 (package).
 NUHOMS EOS Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Rev. 3--
 Response to Request for
 Additional Information, dated
 February 19, 2019.
Application for Amendment 1 to     ML19084A054.
 NUHOMS EOS Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Revision 4--
 Computer Files Associated with
 Certain CoC 1042 Amendment 1
 Request for Additional
 Information Items (Docket No. 72-
 1042, CAC No. 001028, EPID: L-
 2018-LLA-0043), dated March 21,
 2019.
Submittal of Amendment 1 to        ML19176A315 (package).
 NUHOMS EOS Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Revision 5--
 Revised Responses to Request for
 Additional Information, dated
 June 19, 2019.
Application for Amendment 1 to     ML19204A228 (package).
 NUHOMS EOS Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Revision 6--
 Revised Responses to Request for
 Additional Information, dated
 July 16, 2019.
E-Mail from G. Mathues/Orano TN    ML19220A177 (package).
 to C. Jacobs/NRC re: EOS
 Amendment 1 CoC Clarifications,
 dated July 17, 2019.
Transmittal Letter Regarding       ML19248C254 (package).
 Application for Amendment 1 to
 NUHOMS EOS Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1042, Revision 7--
 Technical Specifications Table 3
 Editorial Correction, dated
 August 29, 2019.
Orano USA--Application for         ML19274B914.
 Amendment 1 to NUHOMS EOS
 Certificate of Compliance No.
 1042, Revision 8--Appendix 3.9.7
 Editorial Correction, dated
 October 1, 2019.
Agreement State Program Policy     82 FR 48535.
 Statement, dated October 18,
 2017.
Plain Language in Government       63 FR 31885.
 Writing, dated June 10, 1998.
Storage of Spent Fuel In NRC-      55 FR 29181.
 Approved Storage Casks at Power
 Reactor Sites: Final Rule, dated
 July 18, 1990.

[[Page 18878]]

 
List of Approved Spent Fuel        82 FR 14987.
 Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC,
 NUHOMS[supreg] EOS Dry Spent
 Fuel Storage System, Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1042: Direct
 Final Rule, dated March 24, 2017.
Certificate of Compliance No.      ML17215A161.
 1042, Initial Certificate,
 Corrected.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2019-0224. 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-2019-0224); (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 18th day of March, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2020-06663 Filed 4-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P