[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 126 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39096-39098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13729]


 ========================================================================
 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. 126 / Tuesday, June 30, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 39096]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2019-0202]
RIN 3150-AK39


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC, 
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1004, Renewed Amendment No. 16

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its regulations by revising the TN Americas LLC, Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System (Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] System) listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel 
storage casks'' to include Renewed Amendment No. 16 to Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1004. This amendment used a qualitative risk-informed 
approach (graded approach criteria) to streamline the format and 
content of the certificate of compliance. Renewed Amendment No. 16 does 
not include any design or fabrication changes to the Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] System.

DATES: Submit comments by July 30, 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-2019-0202. 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: Norma Garcia Santos, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6999; 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
III. Background
IV. Plain Writing
V. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0202 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-2019-0202.
     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.
     Attention: The Public Document Room (PDR), where you may 
examine and order copies of public documents is currently closed. You 
may submit your request to the PDR via email at [email protected] or 
call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0202 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 September 14, 
2020. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comments by 
July 30, 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.

[[Page 39097]]

    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 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 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'' (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 
December 22, 1994 (59 FR 65898), that approved the Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved 
cask designs provided in Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 
1004.
    On June 29, 2017, TN Americas LLC submitted a request to the NRC to 
amend Certificate of Compliance No. 1004. TN Americas LLC supplemented 
its request on the following dates: August 31, 2017; October 13, 2017; 
November 16, 2017; April 26, 2018; June 7, 2018; September 3, 2019; 
September 6, 2019; September 10, 2019; and September 11, 2019. Because 
this amendment is subsequent to TN Americas LLC's Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1004 renewal, it 
is subject to the Aging Management Program requirements of the renewed 
certificate of compliance; therefore, it is referred to as ``Renewed 
Amendment No. 16.'' Renewed Amendment No. 16 contains no design or 
fabrication changes to the Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] System; rather, 
the applicant requested changes to the format and content of the 
certificate.
    This amendment application was used as a pilot project to apply a 
qualitative risk-informed approach (using the ``graded approach 
criteria'') that could be used to streamline the format and content of 
certificates of compliance. In 2016 and 2017, the NRC coordinated with 
external stakeholders through a series of public workshops to explore 
options for achieving efficiencies through changes to the format and 
content of certificates of compliance. The information obtained from 
those workshops supported development of risk-informed graded approach 
criteria to streamline the format and content of a certificate of 
compliance for a spent fuel storage system. The graded approach 
criteria help determine the level of detail and location of information 
that should be included in a certificate of compliance for a spent fuel 
dry storage cask design. Chapter 2 of the preliminary safety evaluation 
report for this amendment discusses the development of the graded 
approach criteria in more detail, including information on the public 
meetings that were held and how the criteria were applied in review of 
this amendment request. The graded approach is further described in 
Regulatory Issue Resolution Protocol I-16-01. The NRC recently endorsed 
the graded approach criteria by letter to the Nuclear Energy Institute, 
dated January 8, 2020. For additional information about this amendment, 
see the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations 
section of this issue of the Federal Register.

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., (ADAMS package
           Document               accession  No.), or Federal Register
                                                citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Areva Inc.'s (former name of   (ML15239A718)
 TN Americas LLC) Request to
 Make Changes to Certificate
 of Compliance 1004,
 Amendments 0-11 and 13;
 dated August 24, 2015.
Letter from P. Triska, Areva,  (ML16054A214)
 to the NRC; Response to
 Request for Additional
 Information; dated February
 9, 2016.
Letter from P. Triska, Areva,  (ML16054A226)
 to the NRC; Response to
 Request for Additional
 Information; dated February
 9, 2016.

[[Page 39098]]

 
Letter from R. McCullum/NEI    ML17138A119
 to M. Layton/NMSS/DSFM re:
 Regulatory Issue Protocol
 Screening Form and
 Resolution Plan for
 Improving the Part 72
 Regulatory Framework (RIRP-I-
 16-01), dated, May 12, 2017.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML17191A227)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; letter dated June
 29, 2017.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML17249A001)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated August 31, 2017.
TN Americas LLC; Certificate   82 FR 44879
 of Compliance No. 1004,
 Renewed Amendment No. 14;
 letter dated September 27,
 2017.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML17304A278)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated October 13,
 2017.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML17325A408)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated November 16,
 2017.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML18124A195)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated April 26, 2018.
TN Americas LLC Request to     ML18162A093
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated June 7, 2018.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML19255E934)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004; supplemental
 letter dated September 3,
 2019.
Email from D. Shaw (TN         ML19252A394
 Americas LLC) to N. Garcia
 Santos (NRC) RE: Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1004,
 Amendment 16
 (NUHOMS[supreg])--NRC
 Clarification of Terminology
 in Certificate of
 Compliance; Dated September
 6, 2019.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML19253C390)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004, Form 74--
 Correction to Appendix A of
 the Certificate of
 Compliance, dated, September
 10, 2019.
TN Americas LLC Request to     (ML19254C951)
 Add Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004, Form 29--
 Correction to Appendix A and
 B of the Certificate of
 Compliance; dated, September
 11, 2019.
TN Americas LLC Amendment No.  ML19262E160
 16 to Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1004.
Technical Specifications for   ML19262E154, ML19262E156, and ML19262E158
 TN Americas LLC Amendment
 No. 16 to Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1004.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation  ML19262E161
 Report for TN Americas LLC
 Amendment No. 16 to
 Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1004.
Letter from A. Kock, NMSS/     (ML19353D337)
 DFM, to R. McCullum, NEI,
 Endorsement of Graded
 Approach Criteria; dated
 January 8, 2020.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2019-0202. 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-2019-0202; (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 June 15, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret Doane,
Executive Director of Operations.
[FR Doc. 2020-13729 Filed 6-29-20; 8:45 am]
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