[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 83 (Monday, April 29, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33291-33294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08509]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[NRC-2024-0034]
RIN 3150-AL07
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International,
Inc., NAC-UMS Universal Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No.
1015, Renewal of Initial Certificate and Amendment Nos. 1 Through 9
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the NAC
International, Inc., NAC-UMS Universal Storage System listing within
the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to renew the initial
certificate and Amendment Nos. 1 through 9 of Certificate of Compliance
No. 1015. The renewal of the initial certificate of compliance and
Amendment Nos. 1 through 9 for 40 years changes the certificate's
conditions and technical specifications to address aging management
activities related to the structures, systems, and components important
to safety 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 May 29, 2024. 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-2024-0034,
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.
You can read a plain language description of this proposed rule at
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2024-0034. 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 Greg Trussell, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-6244, 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-2024-0034, 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-2024-0034. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang, telephone: 301-415-3228,
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the
individual 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
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0034 in your comment submission.
[[Page 33292]]
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 July 15, 2024.
However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by May 29,
2024, 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,
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
October 19, 2000 (65 FR 62581), that approved the NAC-UMS Universal
Storage System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask
designs in Sec. 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1015.
On August 28, 2007 (72 FR 49352), the NRC amended the scope of the
general licenses issued under 10 CFR 72.210 to include the storage of
spent fuel in an independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSI)
at power reactor sites to persons authorized to possess or operate
nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR part 52. On February 16, 2011 (76
FR 8872), the NRC amended subparts K and L in 10 CFR part 72, to extend
and clarify the term limits for certificates of compliance and to
revise the conditions for spent fuel storage cask renewals, including
adding requirements for the safety analysis report to include time-
limited aging analyses and a description of aging management programs.
The NRC also clarified the terminology used in the regulations to use
``renewal'' rather than ``reapproval'' to better reflect that extending
the term of a currently approved cask design is based on the cask
design standards in effect at the time the CoC was approved rather than
current standards.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS accession No./Web
Document link/Federal Register
citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Certificate of Compliance
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A151.
No. 1015, Renewed Initial Certificate.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A152.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 1.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A153.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 2.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A154.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 3.
[[Page 33293]]
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A155.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 4.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A156.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 5.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A157.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 6.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A158.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 7.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A159.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 8.
Proposed Renewed Certificate of Compliance ML23213A160.
No. 1015, Renewed Amendment 9.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for ML23213A161.
Renewed Certificate of Compliance No.
1015, Amendments Nos. 1 through 9.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and Technical Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A164.
Technical Specifications, Renewed Initial
Certificate.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A166.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 1.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A168.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 2.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A171.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 3, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A178.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 3, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A172.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 4, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A179.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 4, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A173.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 5, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A180.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 5, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A174.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 6, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A181.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 6, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A175.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 7, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A182.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 7, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A176.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 8, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A183.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 8, Appendix B.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A177.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 9, Appendix A.
Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and ML23213A184.
Technical Specifications, Renewed
Amendment 9, Appendix B.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Environmental Assessment for Proposed ML051230231.
Rule Entitled, ``Storage of Spent Nuclear
Fuel in NRC-Approved Storage Casks at
Nuclear Power Reactor Sites.'' (1989).
``Environmental Assessment and Findings of ML100710441.
No Significant Impact for the Final Rule
Amending 10 CFR Part 72 License and
Certificate of Compliance Terms.'' (2010).
Generic Environmental Impact Statement for ML14198A440 (package).
Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel:
Final Report (NUREG-2157, Volumes 1 and
2). (2014).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAC International, Inc., NAC-UMS Universal Storage System Renewal
Application Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAC International, Inc., NAC-UMS Universal ML20293A102.
Storage System, Certificate of Compliance
(CoC) Renewal Application, October 13,
2020.
NAC International, Inc., Request for ML22062A764.
Additional Information Responses NAC-UMS
Cask System, Revision 22A, March 3, 2022.
Replacement Page for Responses to the ML22077A076.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC)
Request for Additional Information for the
Request to Renew the NAC-UMS Cask System
Certificate of Compliance No. 1015, March
18, 2022.
NAC, Supplement to the NRC's Request for ML22209A078 (package).
Additional Information for the Request to
Renew the NAC-UMS Cask System Certificate
of Compliance No. 1015, July 28, 2022.
Request to Withdraw Administrative Controls ML22355A120.
for Adverse Weather Events During
Operations from NAC-MPC CoC Renewal
Application, December 21, 2022.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel 55 FR 29181.
at Power Reactor Sites.'' (July 18, 1990).
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 72 FR 49352.
for Nuclear Power Plants.'' (August 28,
2007).
``License and Certificate of Compliance 76 FR 8872.
Terms.'' (February 16, 2011).
``Agreement State Program Policy Statement; 82 FR 48535.
Correction.'' (October 18, 2017).
Nuclear Energy Institute NEI 14-03, ML16356A210.
Revision 2, ``Format, Content and
Implementation Guidance for Dry Cask
Storage Operations-Based Aging
Management.'' (December 21, 2016).
Regulatory Guide 3.76, Revision 0, ML21098A022.
``Implementation of Aging Management
Requirements for Spent Fuel Storage
Renewals.'' (July 31, 2021).
``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage 65 FR 62581.
Casks: NAC-UMS Addition.'' (October 19,
2000).
Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain Language 63 FR 31885.
in Government Writing.'' (June 10, 1998).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-2024-0034. 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:
[[Page 33294]]
(1) navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2024-0034); (2) click the
``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the
``Subscribe'' link.
Dated: April 9, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Raymond Furstenau,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2024-08509 Filed 4-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P