[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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