[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72342-72344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19802]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 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.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 172 / Thursday, September 5, 2024 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 72342]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2024-0105]
RIN 3150-AL18


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International 
HI-STORM 100 Cask System Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Renewed 
Amendment No. 18

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. 18 to Certificate 
of Compliance No. 1014. Renewed Amendment No. 18 would amend the 
certificate of compliance to incorporate the Holtec Report No. HI-
2200343-A entitled, ``Topical Report for Allowance of Heat Load 
Patterns in HI-STORM 100 and HI-STORM FW Systems.''

DATES: Submit comments by October 7, 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-2024-0105 
at https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted 
using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individual listed 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for 
alternate instructions.
    You can read a plain language description of this direct final rule 
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2024-0105. 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: Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6825; email: 
[email protected] or Sarah Lopas, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6360; 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-2024-0105 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-2024-0105. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang, telephone: 301-415-3228, 
email: [email protected] or 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-2024-0105 in your comment submission.
    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 November 19, 
2024. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by 
October 7, 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

[[Page 72343]]

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, certificate of compliance, or technical 
specifications.
    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./
                    Document                         Federal Register
                                                         citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Proposed Certificate of Compliance, Proposed Technical Specifications,
 and Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for Certificate of Compliance
                   No. 1014, Renewed Amendment No. 18
------------------------------------------------------------------------
User Need Rulemaking Package for Certificate of   ML24095A039 (package).
 Compliance No. 1014, HI-STORM 100 Cask System,
 Renewed Amendment No. 18.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report, Docket No.  ML24095A048.
 72-1014, Holtec International Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1014 HI-STORM 100 Cask System
 Renewed Amendment No. 18.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Environmental Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Assessment for Proposed Rule        ML051230231.
 Entitled, ``Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel in
 NRC-Approved Storage Casks at Nuclear Power
 Reactor Sites.'' (1989).
``Environmental Assessment and Finding of No      ML100710441.
 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).
``Storage of Spent Fuel In NRC-Approved Storage   55 FR 29181.
 Casks at Power Reactor Sites'' Final Rule (July
 18, 1990).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Holtec International HI-STORM 100 Cask Design System Amendment No. 18
                            Request Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holtec International, Submittal of HI-STORM 100   ML21349B418 (package).
 Request for Amendment No. 18, dated December
 15, 2021.
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100 Amendment No.  ML22245A103 (package).
 18 Responses to Requests for Supplemental
 Information, dated September 2, 2022.
Holtec International--Submittal of RAI Responses  ML23146A138 (package).
 on HI-STORM 100 Amendment No. 18, dated May 26,
 2023.
Holtec International, Submittal of Supplement to  ML23251A250 (package).
 RAI Responses on HI-STORM 100 Amendment No. 18,
 dated September 8, 2023.
Holtec International, Submittal of Supplement to  ML23338A304 (package).
 RAI Responses on HI-STORM 100 Amendment No. 18,
 dated December 4, 2023.
Holtec International, Administrative Change to    ML24018A198 (package).
 HI-2200343-A, dated January 18, 2024.
Holtec International, Submittal of Supplement to  ML24046A254 (package).
 RAI Responses on HI-STORM 100 Amendment No. 18,
 dated February 15, 2024.

[[Page 72344]]

 
Holtec Report No. HI-2200343-A, ``Topical Report  ML24018A198 (package).
 for Allowance of Heat Load Patterns in HI-STORM
 100 and HI-STORM FW Systems'' (January 18,
 2024).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Other Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Agreement State Program Policy Statement;       82 FR 48535.
 Correction'' (October 18, 2017).
Plain Language in Government Writing, dated June  63 FR 31885.
 10, 1998.
Storage of Spent Fuel In NRC-Approved Storage     55 FR 29181.
 Casks at Power Reactor Sites: Final Rule, dated
 July 18, 1990.
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks:        65 FR 25241.
 Holtec HI-STORM 100 Addition, dated May 1, 2000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2024-0105. 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-2024-0105); (2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

    Dated: August 22, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mirela Gavrilas,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2024-19802 Filed 9-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P