[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 212 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61081-61082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24211]


 ========================================================================
 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. 86, No. 212 / Friday, November 5, 2021 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 61081]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2021-0134]
RIN 3150-AK67


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC, TN-32 
Dry Storage Cask, Certificate of Compliance No. 1021, Renewal of 
Initial Certificate and Amendment No. 1

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 regulations by revising the TN Americas LLC, TN-32 
Dry Storage Cask listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel 
storage casks'' to renew, for an additional 40 years, the initial 
certificate and Amendment No. 1 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1021. 
The renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 revises the 
certificate of compliance's conditions and technical 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. The scope of the Certificate of Compliance No. 1021 renewal 
includes spent fuel storage cask models TN-32, TN-32A, and TN-32B.

DATES: Submit comments by December 6, 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-2021-0134, 
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: Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-6825, email: 
[email protected] and Caylee Kenny, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7150, 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-2021-0134 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-2021-0134. 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-2021-0134 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 noncontroversial, 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 January 19, 
2022. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comments by 
December 6, 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

[[Page 61082]]

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 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 
March 20, 2000 (65 FR 14790), that approved the TN-32 Dry Storage Cask 
System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in 
Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1021.

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TN Americas LLC Renewal Application for   ML20065J427
 the TN-32 Dry Storage Cask Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1021, dated March 5,
 2020.
TN Americas LLC Response to Request for   ML20316A030
 Additional Information for the
 Application for the Renewal of
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1021,
 dated November 11, 2020.
Supplemental Response to Request for      ML21036A237
 Additional Information for the TN
 Americas LLC Application for Renewal of
 the TN-32 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1021, dated February
 5, 2021.
Supplemental Response to Request for      ML21076A040
 Additional Information for the TN
 Americas LLC Application for Renewal of
 the TN-32 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1021, dated March 17,
 2021.
User Need Memorandum for Rulemaking for   ML21127A079
 Certificate of Compliance Renewal,
 Initial Issue (Amendment Number 0),
 Amendment Number 1 to TN-32 Dry Storage
 Cask, dated July 29, 2021.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for  ML21127A082
 the TN-32 Dry Storage Cask Certificate
 of Compliance Renewal.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No.    ML21127A080
 1021, Renewed Initial Certificate.
Proposed Technical Specifications,        ML21127A083
 Appendix A, Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1021, Renewed Initial Certificate.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No.    ML21127A081
 1021, Renewed Amendment No. 1.
Proposed Technical Specifications,        ML21127A084
 Appendix A, Certificate of Compliance
 No. 1021, Renewed Amendment No. 1.
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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-2021-0134.

    Dated: October 25, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021-24211 Filed 11-4-21; 8:45 am]
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