[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 97 (Thursday, May 19, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30517-30518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10754]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2022-0116]
Spent Fuel Heat Generation in an Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
Revision 3 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.54, ``Spent Fuel Heat Generation
in an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation.'' This RG includes
methods acceptable to the NRC staff for calculating spent nuclear fuel
heat generation rates for use for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation. Revision 3 incorporates corrections to Appendix A, Table
A-1 that were erroneously recorded in the previous revision (Revision 2
to this RG). In general, this revision presents an up-to-date
methodology for determining heat generation rates and it also allows
loading of higher burnup fuel by using more accurate methods for decay
heat calculations.
DATES: Revision 3 to RG 3.54 is available on May 19, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0116 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0116. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first
time that it is mentioned in this document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
Revision 3 to RG 3.54 may be found in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML22066B275.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis Sotomayor-Rivera, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7265; email:
[email protected], Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-
415-2493; email: [email protected], and Ramon Gascot Lozada
telephone: 301-415-2004, email: [email protected], both staff
of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. All are staff at the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing an administrative revision to an existing guide
in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides were
developed to describe and make available to the public information and
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific
parts of the agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in
evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the
staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The
NRC typically seeks public comment on a draft version of a RG by
announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register.
However, as explained in NRC's Management Directive (MD) 6.6
``Regulatory Guides,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML110330475) the NRC may
directly issue a final RG without a draft version or public comment
period if the changes to the RG are non-substantive.
The NRC is issuing Revision 3 of RG 3.54 directly as a final RG
because the
[[Page 30518]]
changes between Revision 2 and Revision 3 are non-substantive. This
revision (Revision 3) like Revision 2 presents an up-to-date
methodology for determining heat generation rates for both pressurized-
water reactor and boiling water reactor fuel and provides greater
flexibility (fewer restrictions). It allows loading of higher burnup
fuel by using more accurate methods for decay heat calculations by
covering a wider range of fuel characteristics, including operating
history. Appendix A provides an example that illustrates the use of the
RG for calculating the decay heat generation rate for a spent fuel
assembly. However, Appendix A to Revision 2 of RG 3.54 included
erroneous data.
Revision 3 of RG 3.54 is issued to incorporate corrections for
Appendix A, Table A-1 showing the correct irradiation data for an
assembly C-64. These corrected data are as follows: (1) The last column
of the Table A-1, the third row (operating (days)) is now recorded as
3.39E+02, (2) the fourth row (downtime (days)) is recorded as
1.633E+03, (3) the fifth row (cumulative burnup (MWd/KgU)) is recorded
as 3.9384E+01, and (4) the sixth row (Power (W/KgU)) is recorded as
2.8378E+04.
II. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the
NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC
staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that
term is defined in Section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC MD 8.4,
``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and
Information Requests'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087), nor does the
NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue finality of an
approval under 10 CFR part 52. The staff also does not intend to use
the guidance to support NRC staff actions in a manner that constitutes
forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4. If a
licensee believes that the NRC is using this RG in a manner
inconsistent with the discussion in the Implementation section of RG
3.54, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting
appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.
III. Congressional Review Act
This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.
IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides
Revision 3 of RG 3.54 is being issued without public comment.
However, a member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to
the NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new
RGs to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates
and enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.
Dated: May 13, 2022.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-10754 Filed 5-18-22; 8:45 am]
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