[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]


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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.

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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.

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                                               ADAMS accession No./Web
                  Document                      link/Federal Register
                                                       citation
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                   Proposed Certificate of Compliance
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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.
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                  Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report
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Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for     ML23213A161.
 Renewed Certificate of Compliance No.
 1015, Amendments Nos. 1 through 9.
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      Proposed Conditions for Cask Use and Technical Specifications
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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.
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                         Environmental Documents
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``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).
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    NAC International, Inc., NAC-UMS Universal Storage System Renewal
                          Application Documents
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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.
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                             Other Documents
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``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).
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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-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]
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