[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 208 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 74068-74070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23452]


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 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. 88 , No. 208 / Monday, October 30, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 74068]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2022-0188]
RIN 3150-AK89


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International 
HI-STORM 100 Cask System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Renewed 
Amendment No. 17

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its spent fuel regulations by revising the Holtec International 
HI-STORM 100 Cask System listing within the ``List of approved spent 
fuel storage casks'' to include Renewed Amendment No. 17 to Certificate 
of Compliance No. 1014. Because this amendment is subsequent to the 
renewal of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System Certificate of Compliance No. 
1014 and, therefore, subject to the Aging Management Program 
requirements of the renewed certificate, NRC is referring to it as 
``Renewed Amendment No. 17.'' Renewed Amendment No. 17 updates the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System description in the certificate of compliance to 
indicate that only the portions of the components that contact the pool 
water need to be made of stainless steel or aluminum. This amendment 
also includes minor editorial and formatting changes to the technical 
specifications that do not change the substantive technical information 
of the certificate of compliance.

DATES: Submit comments by November 29, 2023. 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-2022-0188, 
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: Kristina Banovac, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7116, 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-2022-0188 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 NRC-2022-0188. 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.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2022-0188 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 January 16, 
2024. However, if the NRC

[[Page 74069]]

receives any significant adverse comment by November 29, 2023, 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. In general, 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, 
states 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 
May 1, 2000 (65 FR 25241), that approved the HI-STORM 100 Cask System 
design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  
72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1014.

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./ Federal Register citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holtec International, Submittal of Application for           ML21211A603 (package).
 Amendment 17 to HI-STORM 100 Cask System Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1014, dated July 30, 2021.
User Need Memorandum for Amendment No. 17 to HI-STORM 100    ML22175A087.
 Cask System, dated August 23, 2022.
Corrected User Need Memorandum for Amendment No. 17 to HI-   ML22313A038.
 STORM 100 Cask System, dated December 19, 2022.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No.   ML22175A085.
 17.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for the HI-STORM 100    ML22175A086.
 Cask System: Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment
 No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix A:      ML22175A079.
 Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
 Amendment No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix B:      ML22175A080.
 Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
 Amendment No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix C:      ML22175A081.
 Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
 Amendment No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix D:      ML22175A082.
 Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
 Amendment No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix A-      ML22175A083.
 100U: Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask
 System Amendment No. 17.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 Appendix B-      ML22175A084.
 100U: Technical Specifications for the HI-STORM 100 Cask
 System Amendment No. 17.
Final Rule, ``Storage of Spent Fuel in NRC-Approved Storage  55 FR 29181.
 Casks at Power Reactor Sites,'' published July 18, 1990.
Final Rule, ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks:     65 FR 25241.
 Holtec HI-STORM 100 Addition,'' published May 1, 2000.
Revision to Policy Statement, ``Agreement State Program      82 FR 48535.
 Policy Statement; Correction,'' published October 18, 2017.
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language in Government      63 FR 31885.
 Writing,'' published June 10, 1998.
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[[Page 74070]]

    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-2022-0188. In addition, the 
Federal rulemaking website allows members of the public to receive 
alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To 
subscribe: (1) navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2022-0188); (2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

    Dated: October 11, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-23452 Filed 10-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P