Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 39475 

dated March 16, 2018, the Southern 

Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) 

requested from the Commission an 

exemption to allow departures from Tier 

1 information in the certified DCD 

incorporated by reference in 10 CFR 

part 52, appendix D, as part of license 

amendment request 17–042, ‘‘Tier 1 and 

Tier 2* Editorial and Consistency 

Changes.’’ 

For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2 

of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation that 

which can be found in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML18106A638), the 

Commission finds that: 

A. The exemption is authorized by 

law; 

B. the exemption presents no undue 

risk to public health and safety; 

C. the exemption is consistent with 

the common defense and security; 

D. special circumstances are present 

in that the application of the rule in this 

circumstance is not necessary to serve 

the underlying purpose of the rule; 

E. the special circumstances outweigh 

any decrease in safety that may result 

from the reduction in standardization 

caused by the exemption; and 

F. the exemption will not result in a 

significant decrease in the level of safety 

otherwise provided by the design. 

2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted 

an exemption from the certified DCD 

Tier 1 information, with corresponding 

changes to appendix C of the Facility 

Combined License, as described in the 

licensee’s request dated November 30, 

2017, as supplemented by the letter 

dated March 16, 2018. This exemption 

is related to, and necessary for, the 

granting of License Amendment No. 125 

[for Unit 3 and No. 124 for Unit 4], 

which is being issued concurrently with 

this exemption. 

3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the 

NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML18106A638), this 

exemption meets the eligibility criteria 

for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 

CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 

10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment needs to be prepared in 

connection with the issuance of the 

exemption. 

4. This exemption is effective as of the 

date of its issuance. 

III. License Amendment Request 

By letter dated November 30, 2017 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML17334B211), 

the licensee requested that the NRC 

amend the COLs for VEGP, Units 3 and 

4, COLs NPF–91 and NPF–92. The 

proposed amendment is described in 

Section I of this document. 

The Commission has determined for 

these amendments that the application 

complies with the standards and 

requirements of the Atomic Energy Act 

of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations. 

The Commission has made appropriate 

findings as required by the Act and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations in 

10 CFR chapter I, which are set forth in 

the license amendment. 

A notice of consideration of issuance 

of amendment to facility operating 

license or COL, as applicable, proposed 

no significant hazards consideration 

determination, and opportunity for a 

hearing in connection with these 

actions, was published in the Federal 

Register on March 30, 2018 (83 FR 

13796). No comments were received 

during the 30-day comment period. 

The Commission has determined that 

these amendments satisfy the criteria for 

categorical exclusion in accordance 

with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant 

to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment need be prepared for these 

amendments. 

IV. Conclusion 

Using the reasons set forth in the 

combined safety evaluation, the staff 

granted the exemption and issued the 

amendment that the licensee requested 

on November 30, 2017. 

The exemption and amendment were 

issued on May 31, 2018, as part of a 

combined package to the licensee 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML18106A626). 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day 

of August 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity, 

Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of 

Licensing, Siting, and Environmental 

Analysis Office of New Reactors. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16995 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2018–0066] 

Dry Storage and Transportation of 

High Burnup Spent Nuclear Fuel 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing for public 

comment a draft NUREG, NUREG–2224, 

‘‘Dry Storage and Transportation of High 

Burnup Spent Nuclear Fuel.’’ The draft 

NUREG provides technical background 

information applicable to high burnup 

spent nuclear fuel (HBU SNF), provides 

an engineering assessment of recent 

NRC-sponsored mechanical testing of 

HBU SNF, and proposes example 

approaches for licensing and 

certification of HBU SNF in 

transportation and dry storage. 

DATES: Submit comments on the draft 

NUREG–2224 by September 24, 2018. 

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: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0066. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• Mail comments to: May Ma, Office 

of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7– 

A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001. 

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: 

Wendy Reed, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301– 

415–7213; email: Wendy.Reed@nrc.gov; 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0066 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this 

action by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0066. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://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– 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
39476 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. Draft NUREG–2224, ‘‘Dry 

Storage and Transportation of High 

Burnup Spent Nuclear Fuel,’’ is 

available in ADAMS under Accession 

No. ML18214A132 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0066 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 http://

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. Discussion 

Historically, the potential for changes 

in the cladding performance of HBU 

SNF to compromise the analyzed fuel 

configuration in transportation packages 

and dry storage systems has been 

addressed through safety review 

guidance (Interim Staff Guidance 

(ISG)—11, Revision 3, ‘‘Cladding 

Considerations for the Transportation 

and Storage of Spent Fuel’’ (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML033230335); NUREG– 

1536, Revision 1, ‘‘Standard Review 

Plan for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Systems 

at a General License Facility’’ (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML101040620)). Timedependent changes on the cladding 

performance of HBU SNF are primarily 

driven by the fuel’s temperature, rod 

internal pressure (and corresponding 

pressure-induced cladding hoop 

stresses), and the environment during 

dry storage or transport operations. ISG– 

11, Revision 3 and NUREG–1536, 

Revision 1 defines adequate fuel 

conditions, including peak cladding 

temperatures during short-term loading 

operations to prevent and mitigate 

degradation of the cladding. 

Draft NUREG–2224, ‘‘Dry Storage and 

Transportation of High Burnup Spent 

Nuclear Fuel,’’ (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML18214A132) is a technical basis 

document which expands on the aspects 

of ISG–11, Rev. 3 and NUREG–1536, 

Rev. 1 that pertain to hydride 

reorientation in HBU SNF cladding. 

Hydride reorientation is a process in 

which the orientation of hydrides 

precipitated in HBU SNF cladding 

during reactor operation changes from 

the circumferential-axial to the radialaxial direction. Draft NUREG–2224 

provides an engineering assessment of 

the results of NRC-sponsored research 

(NUREG/CR–7198, Rev. 1, ‘‘Mechanical 

Fatigue Testing of High-Burnup Fuel for 

Transportation Application,’’ ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17292B057) on the 

mechanical performance of HBU SNF 

following hydride reorientation; and per 

the conclusions of that assessment, 

presents example approaches for 

licensing and certification of HBU SNF 

for transportation (under part 71of title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR), ‘‘Packaging and 

Transportation of Radioactive Material’’) 

and dry storage (under 10 CFR part 72, 

‘‘Licensing Requirements for the 

Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear 

Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste, 

and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class 

C Waste’’). 

The staff will review and consider 

public comments received on draft 

NUREG–2224 as it finalizes the 

guidance. The NRC is particularly 

seeking public comment on the 

following: 

1. Are NRC’s assumptions regarding 

the performance of other cladding alloys 

based on data obtained from HBU SNF 

with Zircaloy-4 cladding for evaluating 

design basis drop accidents reasonable? 

If not, please explain why not. 

2. Are the described licensing and 

certification approaches easy to follow 

and practical? If not, please explain why 

not. 

3. Is the proposed approach for 

evaluation of vibration normally 

incident to transport clear? If not, please 

explain why not. 

4. Are the discussions on 

consequence analyses due to 

hypothetical fuel reconfiguration clear 

and meaningful? If not, please explain 

why not. 

5. Are there any potential conflicts 

between NUREG–2215, Standard 

Review Plan for Spent Fuel Dry Storage 

Systems and Facilities, Draft for 

Comment (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML17310A693) and this document? If 

so, please describe any conflicts. 

6. Is the NRC’s reassessment of the 

ductility transition temperature as 

measured by ring compression testing of 

defueled HBU SNF specimens 

reasonable? If not, please explain why 

not. 

In answering the questions, please 

fully explain your answers. In addition, 

comments are invited on any areas of 

the draft report. 

III. Public Meeting 

The NRC will conduct a public 

meeting for the purpose of describing 

the draft NUREG and answering 

questions from the public. The NRC will 

publish a notice of the location, time, 

and agenda of the meeting on the NRC’s 

public meeting website at least 10 

calendar days before the meeting. 

Stakeholders should monitor the NRC’s 

public meeting website for information 

about the public meeting at: http://

www.nrc.gov/public-involve/publicmeetings/index.cfm. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day 

of August 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Michael C. Layton, 

Director, Division of Spent Fuel Management, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16994 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 040–08903; NRC–2018–0154] 

Homestake Mining Company of 

California; Grants Reclamation Project; 

Groundwater Monitoring Plan 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: License amendment application; 

opportunity to request a hearing and to 

petition for leave to intervene. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has received an 

application from the Homestake Mining 

Company of California (the licensee), for 

amendment of Materials License No. 

SUA–1471, which authorizes the 

possession of residual uranium and 

byproduct material in the form of 

uranium waste tailings and other 

byproduct waste generated by the 

licensee’s past milling operations at the 

licensee’s uranium mill located in 

Cibola County, New Mexico. The 

amendment would update the 

groundwater monitoring plan to adjust 

the compliance monitoring for the 

groundwater restoration areas at the 

Grants Reclamation Project site. This 

change to the groundwater monitoring 

plan should ensure that coverage is 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES