[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 3, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67987-67988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21828]


========================================================================
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. 88, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 3, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 67987]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2023-0131]
RIN 3150-AL03


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC 
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System for 
Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Certificate of Compliance No. 1004, 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 TN Americas, LLC (TN) 
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System for 
Irradiated Nuclear Fuel listing within the ``List of approved spent 
fuel storage casks'' to include Renewed Amendment No. 18 to Certificate 
of Compliance No. 1004. Because this amendment was submitted subsequent 
to the renewal of the TN Americas, LLC Standardized NUHOMS Horizontal 
Modular Storage System for Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1004 and, therefore, subject to the Aging Management 
Program requirements of the renewed certificate, NRC is referring to it 
as ``Renewed Amendment No. 18.'' Renewed Amendment No. 18 amends the 
certificate of compliance to provide an improved basket design, revise 
technical specifications, and incorporate administrative controls 
during short duration independent spent fuel storage installation 
handling operations. The amendment also includes a change to the 
horizontal storage module concrete to allow use of a blended Portland 
cement that meets the requirements of American Society for Testing and 
Materials standards.

DATES: Submit comments by November 2, 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-2023-0131, 
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: Rodnika Murphy, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-7153, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c496aba0aaadafa5ea89b1b6b4acbd84aab6a7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e2c111a1017151f50330b0c0e16073e100c1d50191108">[email protected]</span></a>; and Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-6825, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cd8ea5bfa4beb9a4aca3e387acaea2afbe8da3bfaee3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3e7d564c574d4a575f5010745f5d515c4d7e504c5d10595148">[email protected]</span></a>. 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-2023-0131, 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0131. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder, telephone: 301-415-3407, 
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#480c293f26660e273a2c2d3a08263a2b662f273e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ca8eabbda4e48ca5b8aeafb88aa4b8a9e4ada5bc">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical questions contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d3d293f433f081e02181f0e082d031f0e430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="81d1c5d3afd3e4f2eef4f3e2e4c1eff3e2afe6eef7">[email protected]</span></a>. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
    <bullet> 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 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#eabaaeb8c4b88f99859f98898faa849889c48d859c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2d7d697f037f485e42585f4e486d435f4e034a425b">[email protected]</span></a> 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-2023-0131, 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 individual 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

[[Page 67988]]

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 December 18, 2023. However, if the NRC 
receives any significant adverse comment by November 2, 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, 
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 
December 22, 1994 (59 FR 65897) that approved the Standardized 
NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System for Irradiated Nuclear 
Fuel System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask 
designs in Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1004.

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 link/
                       Document                         Federal Register
                                                            citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Certificate of Compliance and Proposed Technical Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed NUHOMS 1004 Amendment No. 18 Certificate of         ML23058A330
 Compliance..........................................
Proposed NUHOMS 1004 Amendment No. 18 Technical              ML23058A332
 Specification Appendix A............................
Proposed NUHOMS 1004 Amendment No. 18 Technical              ML23058A334
 Specification Appendix B............................
Proposed NUHOMS 1004 Amendment No. 18 Technical              ML23058A336
 Specification Appendix C............................
Proposed NUHOMS 1004 Amendment No. 18 Safety                 ML23058A328
 Evaluation Report...................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Other Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plain Language in Government Writing, dated June 10,         63 FR 31885
 1998................................................
Storage of Spent Fuel In NRC-Approved Storage Casks          55 FR 29181
 at Power Reactor Sites: Final Rule, dated July 18,
 1990................................................
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN                59 FR 65897
 Americas LLC, NUHOMS [supreg] Horizontal Modular
 Storage System for Irradiated Nuclear Fuel,
 Certificate of Compliance No. 1004: Direct Final
 Rule, dated December 22, 1994.......................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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-2023-0131. 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-2023-0131); (2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

    Dated: September 26, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-21828 Filed 10-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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