[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 84 (Thursday, April 30, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23923-23925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08348]


 ========================================================================
 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. 84 / Thursday, April 30, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 23923]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2019-0250]
RIN 3150-AK41


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International 
HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Certificate 
of Compliance No. 1032, Amendment No. 4

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its regulations by revising the Holtec International HI-STORM 
Flood/Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage System listing within the 
``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment No. 
4 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1032. Amendment No. 4 revises the 
certificate of compliance to: Add multipurpose canister (MPC)-32ML for 
storage and allow the fuel assembly class 16x16D as content for MPC-
32ML; add the fuel assembly class 16X16E as content for MPC-37; and 
make changes to the final safety analysis report to separate the design 
pressure for the short-term operation from the off-normal condition (to 
provide clarity in Table 2.2.1), add cautionary notes to Sections 9.2.1 
and 9.2.3, update a definition, and replace a test program.

DATES: Submit comments by June 1, 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-2019-0250. 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.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
    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 Vanessa Cox, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-8342; 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-2019-0250 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-2019-0250.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0250 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. You should also inform 
those persons 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 July 14, 2020. 
However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by June 1, 
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

[[Page 23924]]

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. 
Responses are considered substantive 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;
    (c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously 
addressed or considered by the NRC; or
    (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 more 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 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 28, 2011 (76 FR 17019), that approved the Holtec International 
HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage System design and 
added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  72.214 as 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1032.

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Document                        ADAMS accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holtec International HI-STORM Flood/Wind          ML16190A158 (package).
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Amendment
 Request 1032-4 dated March 11, 2016.
Holtec International--Transmittal of Amendment 4  ML16265A519 (package).
 Response to Request for Supplemental
 Information date September 16, 2016.
Holtec International--HI-STORM Flood/Wind         ML17032A414 (package).
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Amendment
 4 Supplemental Response to Request for
 Supplemental Information dated January 31, 2017.
Holtec International--HI-STORM Flood/Wind         ML18117A471 (package).
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Amendment
 4 Response to Request for Additional
 Information dated April 27, 2018.
Supplement to HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose    ML18208A636 (package).
 Canister Storage System, Amendment 4 Requests
 for Additional Information Responses dated July
 27, 2018.
Holtec International--HI-STORM Flood/Wind         ML19109A181.
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Amendment
 4 Response to Second Request for Additional
 Information dated April 12, 2019.
Supplement to HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose    ML19162A102 (package).
 Canister Storage System, Amendment 4 Second
 Round Request for Additional Information
 Response dated June 11, 2019.
Holtec International HI-STORM Flood/Wind          ML19186A209 (package).
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System, Amendment
 4 Second Supplement to 2nd Round Requests for
 Additional Information dated July 5, 2019.
Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for            ML19158A272.
 Rulemaking for the Holtec International HI-
 STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage
 System, Amendment No. 4 dated December 20, 2019.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance 1032           ML19158A273.
 Amendment No. 4 [Memorandum to J. Cai re: User
 Need for Rulemaking for the Holtec
 International HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose
 Canister Storage System, Amendment No. 4].
Proposed Certificate of Compliance 1032           ML19158A274.
 Amendment No. 4 Appendix A [Memorandum to J.
 Cai re: User Need for Rulemaking for the Holtec
 International HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose
 Canister Storage System, Amendment No. 4].
Proposed Certificate of Compliance 1032           ML19158A275.
 Amendment No. 4 Appendix B [Memorandum to J.
 Cai re: User Need for Rulemaking for the Holtec
 International HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose
 Canister Storage System, Amendment No. 4].
Preliminary Certificate of Compliance 1032        ML19158A276.
 Amendment No. 4 Safety Evaluation Report
 [Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for
 Rulemaking for the Holtec International HI-
 STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose Canister Storage
 System, Amendment No. 4].
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2019-0250. The Federal 
Rulemaking website allows you

[[Page 23925]]

to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. 
To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2019-0250); (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).

    Dated this 7th day of April, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2020-08348 Filed 4-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P