[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 148 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42751-42753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16703]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[NRC-2021-0052]
RIN 3150-AK63
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International NAC-
UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No.
1015, Amendment No. 8
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 NAC
International NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System listing within
the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment
No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1015. Amendment No. 8 revises
the certificate of compliance to add the storage of damaged boiling-
water reactor spent fuel, including higher enrichment and higher burnup
spent fuel; change the allowable fuel burnup range; expand the boiling-
water reactor class 5 fuel inventory that could be stored in the cask;
and revise definitions in the technical specifications.
DATES: Submit comments by September 7, 2021. 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: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID NRC-2021-0052,
at https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted
using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individuals listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for
alternate instructions.
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 James Firth, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6628, 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-2021-0052 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-2021-0052. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder, telephone: 301-415-3407,
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
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 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-2021-0052 in your comment submission.
The NRC requests that you submit comments through the Federal
rulemaking website
[[Page 42752]]
at https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted
using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individuals listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for
alternate instructions.
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 October 19,
2021. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by
September 7, 2021, 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, certificate of compliance, or technical
specifications.
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 ``[t]he 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 casks approved for use under the terms,
conditions, and specifications of their certificate of compliance or an
amended certificate of compliance pursuant to this general license are
listed in Sec. 72.214. The NRC subsequently issued a final rule on
October 19, 2000 (65 FR 62581), that approved the NAC International
NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System and added it to the list of
NRC-approved cask designs in Sec. 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance
No. 1015.
The NAC International NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System
consists of the following components: (1) Transportable storage
canister (TSC), which contains the spent fuel; (2) vertical concrete
cask, which contains the TSC during storage; and (3) a transfer cask,
which contains the TSC during loading, unloading, and transfer
operations. Amendment No. 8 revises the certificate of compliance to
(1) add the storage of damaged boiling-water reactor spent fuel,
including higher enrichment and higher burnup spent fuel; (2) change
the allowable fuel burnup range; and (3) expand the boiling-water
reactor class 5 fuel inventory that could be stored in the cask; and
(4) change definitions in the technical specifications that are
associated with the contents of the spent nuclear fuel stored in the
cask (e.g., high burnup fuel and initial peak planar-average
enrichment).
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 (63 FR
31885). 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, as indicated.
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Document ADAMS Accession No.
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Submission of a Request to Amend the U.S. ML20006D749
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Certificate of
Compliance No. 1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask
System, December 18, 2019.
Application for Amendment No. 8 to the Model ML20076A546
No. NAC-UMS Storage Cask--Acceptance Letter,
March 17, 2020.
[[Page 42753]]
NAC International, Submittal of Supplement to ML20122A201
Amend the NRC Certificate of Compliance No.
1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask System, April 24,
2020.
Application for Amendment No. 8 to the Model ML20170A800
No. NAC-UMS Storage Cask--Request for
Additional Information, June 25, 2020.
Submission of Responses to the U.S. Nuclear ML20227A066
Regulatory Commission Request for Additional
Information for Certificate of Compliance No.
1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask System, August 7,
2020.
Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for ML20358A255
Rulemaking for Amendment No. 8 Request,
February 23, 2021.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1015 ML20358A257
Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications,
Appendix A.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1015, ML20358A258
Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications
Appendix B.
Draft Certificate of Compliance No. 1015 ML20358A256
Amendment No. 8.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1015 Amendment ML20358A259
No. 8, Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report.
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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-2021-0052.
Dated: July 26, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021-16703 Filed 8-4-21; 8:45 am]
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