[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53035-53037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13734]


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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. 89, No. 122 / Tuesday, June 25, 2024 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 53035]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2024-0041]
RIN 3150-AL08


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International 
HI-STORM 100 Cask System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Renewed 
Amendment No. 16

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 Holtec 
International HI-STORM 100 Cask System listing within the ``List of 
approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Renewed Amendment No. 16 
to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014. Renewed Amendment No. 16 revises 
the certificate of compliance to add a new overpack, include the 
ability to use computational fluid dynamics analysis to evaluate site-
specific accident scenarios, modify the cask design, modify operational 
and testing requirements, and make changes to the Final Safety Analysis 
Report.

DATES: Submit comments by July 25, 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-2024-0041, 
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-2024-0041. 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: Alexandra Terres, Office of Nuclear 
Materials Safety and Safeguards, email: [email protected] and 
Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, 
telephone: 301-415-1018, 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-2024-0041 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-2024-0041. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang, telephone: 301-415-3228, 
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: 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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2024-004 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 September 9, 
2024. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by 
July 25, 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

[[Page 53036]]

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 
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, and 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 link/Federal Register
                          Document                                                 citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Amendment Request Documents
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holtec International, Submittal of HI-STORM 100              ML21068A360 (package).
 Multipurpose Canister Storage System Amendment 16 Request,
 dated March 9, 2021.
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for          ML21223A045 (package).
 Supplemental Information, dated August 11, 2021.
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for          ML22243A269 (package).
 Additional Information (Batches 1 and 2), dated August 31,
 2022.
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses    ML22249A347 (package).
 to Requests for Additional Information (Batch 2), dated
 September 9, 2022.
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for          ML22276A286 (package).
 Additional Information (Batch 3), dated October 3, 2022.
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses    ML23005A000 (package).
 to Requests for Additional Information (Batch 4), dated
 January 4, 2023.
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses    ML23005A273 (package).
 to Requests for Additional Information (Batch 4)--
 Additional Supporting Document, dated January 5, 2023.
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses    ML23013A337 (package).
 to Requests for Additional Information (Batch 5), dated
 January 13, 2023.
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 RAI 3-3 Clarification, dated       ML23076A271 (package).
 March 17, 2023.
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses to Second Round          ML23263B122 (package).
 Requests for Additional Information, dated September 20,
 2023.
Holtec International--HI-STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister     ML22048C222.
 Storage System Amendment 19, dated February 17, 2022.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Technical Specifications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16..  ML23123A104.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix A, Certificate   ML23123A105.
 of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix B, Certificate   ML23123A106.
 of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix C, Certificate   ML23123A107.
 of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix D, Certificate   ML23123A108.
 of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix A-100U,          ML23123A109.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.

[[Page 53037]]

 
Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix B-100U,          ML23123A110.
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preliminary Certificate of Compliance 1014 Amendment 16      ML23123A112.
 Safety Evaluation Report.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Additional Documents
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2024-0041. 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-2024-0041); (2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

    Dated: June 7, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Raymond Furstenau,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2024-13734 Filed 6-24-24; 8:45 am]
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