[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44650-44652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17194]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2021-0108]
RIN 3150-AK64


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas, LLC, 
Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System, 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, Renewal of Initial Certificate and 
Amendment Nos. 1, 3, and 4

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 TN Americas, 
LLC, Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage 
System listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' 
to renew, for an additional 40 years, the initial certificate and 
Amendment Nos. 1, 3, and 4 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1029. The 
renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment Nos. 1, 3, and 4 
revises the certificate of compliance's conditions and technical

[[Page 44651]]

specifications to address aging management activities related to the 
structures, systems, and components of the dry storage system to ensure 
that these will maintain their intended functions during the period of 
extended storage operations.

DATES: Submit comments by September 13, 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-2021-0108, 
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: Christopher Markley, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6293, email: 
[email protected] and Irene Wu, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1951, 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-2021-0108 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-2021-0108. 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-2021-0108 in your comment submission. 
The NRC requests that you submit comments through the Federal 
rulemaking website 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 27, 
2021. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by 
September 13, 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.
    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

[[Page 44652]]

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 NRC subsequently issued a final rule on 
January 6, 2003 (68 FR 463), that approved the Standardized Advanced 
NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System design and added it to 
the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1029.

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 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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TN Americas, LLC Renewal Application for the      ML19148A484 (package).
 Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular
 Storage System Certificate of Compliance No.
 1029, dated May 22, 2019.
TN Americas, LLC Response to Request for          ML19338E132.
 Supplemental Information for the Technical
 Review of the Application for Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1029, dated December 4, 2019.
TN Americas, LLC Response to Request for          ML20192A127.
 Additional Information of the Application for
 Renewal of the Certificate of Compliance No.
 1029, dated May 28, 2020.
User Need Memorandum for Rulemaking for           ML21067A166.
 Certificate of Compliance Renewal, Initial
 Issue (Amendment Number 0), Amendment Numbers
 1, 3, and 4 to Standardized Advanced
 NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage
 System.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for the      ML21067A167.
 Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal
 Modular Storage System Certificate of
 Compliance Renewal.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1029,      ML21067A168.
 Renewed Initial Certificate.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Attachment A,  ML21067A169.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, Renewed
 Initial Certificate.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1029,      ML21067A170.
 Renewed Amendment No. 1.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Attachment A,  ML21067A171.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, Renewed
 Amendment No. 1.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1029,      ML21067A172.
 Renewed Amendment No. 3.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Attachment A,  ML21067A173.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, Renewed
 Amendment No. 3.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1029,      ML21067A174.
 Renewed Amendment No. 4.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Attachment A,  ML21067A175.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1029, Renewed
 Amendment No. 4.
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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-2021-0108.

    Dated: August 6, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021-17194 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
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