76896 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

RIN 3150–AG57

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage

Casks: NAC–UMS Revision

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is amending its

regulations revising the NAC

International (NAC) Universal Storage

System (NAC–UMS) listing within the

‘‘List of approved spent fuel storage

casks’’ to include Amendment No. 1 to

the Certificate of Compliance (CoC).

This amendment will allow holders of

power reactor operating licenses as

general licensees to store PWR design

basis fuel assemblies in accordance with

revised technical specifications and

Maine Yankee site-specific spent fuel in

the NAC–UMS. The changes for

Amendment No. 1 to the NAC–UMS

CoC include: changes to authorized

contents to allow Maine Yankee sitespecific spent fuels within the PWR

basket, including damaged or

consolidated fuel in a Maine Yankee

fuel can and burnups up to 50,000

MWd/MTU; changes to allow longer

times for PWR spent fuel cask loading

operations based on reduced heat loads;

authorization to store, without canning,

intact PWR assemblies with missing

grid spacers (up to an unsupported

length of 60 inches); editorial

clarifications to the technical

specifications (TS); and deletion of a

certificate reference to the NS–4–FR

trade name of the solid neutron

shielding material in the VCC shield

plug.

DATES: The final rule is effective

February 20, 2001, unless significant

adverse comments are received by

January 8, 2001. If the rule is withdrawn

timely notice will be published in the

Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to:

Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, Attn: Rulemakings and

Adjudications Staff. Deliver comments

to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD,

between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm on

Federal workdays.

All publicly available documents

related to this rulemaking, as well as all

public comments received on this

rulemaking, may be viewed and

downloaded electronically via the

NRC’s rulemaking website at http://

ruleforum.llnl.gov. You may also

provide comments via this website by

uploading comments as files (any

format) if your web browser supports

that function. For information about the

interactive rulemaking site, contact Ms.

Carol Gallagher (301) 415–5905; e-mail

CAG@nrc.gov.

Certain documents related to this rule,

including comments received by the

NRC, may also be examined at the NRC

Public Document Room, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. For more

information, contact the NRC’s Public

Document Room Reference staff at 1–

800–397–4209, (301) 415–4737 or by email to pdr@nrc.gov.

Documents created or received at the

NRC after November 1, 1999 are also

available electronically at the NRC

Public Electronic Reading Room on the

Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/

ADAMS/index.html. From this site, the

public can gain entry into the NRC’s

Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS), which

provides text and image files of NRC’s

public documents. An electronic copy

of the proposed CoC and preliminary

safety evaluation report (SER) can be

found under ADAMS Accession No.

ML003754655.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Keith McDaniel, telephone (301) 415–

5252, e-mail, KKM@nrc.gov, of the

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste

Policy Act of 1982, as amended

(NWPA), requires that ‘‘[t]he Secretary

[of the Department of Energy (DOE)]

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

NWPA states, in part, that ‘‘[t]he

Commission shall, by rule, establish

procedures for the licensing of any

technology approved by the

Commission under Section 218(a) for

use at the site of any civilian nuclear

power reactor.’’

To implement this mandate, the NRC

approved dry storage of spent nuclear

fuel in NRC-approved casks under a

general license by publishing a final

rule in 10 CFR Part 72 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 within 10 CFR Part 72,

entitled ‘‘Approval of Spent Fuel

Storage Casks’’ containing 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 cask design

and added it to the list of NRC-approved

cask designs in § 72.214 as Certificate of

Compliance Number (1015).

Discussion

On July 16, 1999, the certificate

holder (NAC) submitted an application

to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1015 to

allow holders of power reactor operating

licenses to store spent fuel in the cask

under revised conditions. Amendment

No. 1 includes: (1) changes to

authorized contents to allow Maine

Yankee site-specific spent fuels within

the PWR basket, including damaged or

consolidated fuel in a Maine Yankee

fuel can and burnups up to 50,000

MWd/MTU; (2) changes to allow longer

times for PWR spent fuel cask loading

operations based on reduced heat loads;

(3) authorization to store, without

canning, intact PWR assemblies with

missing grid spacers (up to an

unsupported length of 60 inches); (4)

editorial clarifications to the technical

specifications; and (5) deletion of a

certificate reference to the NS–4–FR

trade name of the solid neutron

shielding material in the VCC shield

plug. No other changes to the NAC–

UMS cask system design were requested

in this application. The NRC staff

performed a detailed safety evaluation

of the proposed CoC amendment request

which is summarized in the paragraph

below.

The NAC–UMS cask was evaluated

against the regulatory standards in 10

CFR Part 72. NAC demonstrated the

structural adequacy of the Maine

Yankee site-specific fuels (MYSSF) that

are intact (with and without damaged

assembly hardware), consolidated,

damaged, and high-burnup. The thermal

evaluation verified that the cladding

(including high-burnup) and cask

component temperatures were

acceptable for all authorized spent fuel

contents and configurations under

normal, off-normal and accident

conditions. The shielding evaluation

determined that the site-specific spent

fuels and various configurations,

including fuel assembly hardware, are

either bounded by the design basis fuel

or were acceptable for meeting the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 76897

applicable regulatory requirements. The

criticality evaluation demonstrated that,

for all proposed MYSSF configurations,

the criticality requirements of 10 CFR

Part 72 are met. The original NAC–UMS

confinement evaluation remains valid

since the design is ‘‘leak-tight.’’ The TS

were revised and identify the necessary

specifications to provide reasonable

assurance that the NAC–UMS cask will

allow safe storage of all authorized

contents.

The staff found that the changes

stated above do not reduce the safety

margin. In addition, the NRC staff has

determined that changes do not pose

any increased risk to public health and

safety. A full discussion of the staff’s

evaluation is set out in its SER which

can be found under ADAMS Accession

No. ML003754655.

This direct final rule revises the

NAC–UMS cask design listing in

§ 72.214 by adding Amendment No. 1 to

CoC No. 1015. The amendment consists

of changes to the TS identified in the

NRC staff’s SER for Amendment No. 1.

The amended NAC–UMS cask system,

when used under the conditions

specified in the CoC, the TSs, and NRC

regulations, will meet the requirements

of Part 72; thus, adequate protection of

public health and safety will continue to

be ensured.

CoC No. 1015, the revised Technical

Specifications, and the underlying SER

for Amendment No. 1, and the

Environmental Assessment are available

for inspection at the NRC Public

Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, MD. Single copies of the CoC

may be obtained from Keith McDaniel,

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555,

telephone (301) 415–5252, email

KKM@nrc.gov.

Discussion of Amendments by Section

Section 72.214 List of approved spent

fuel storage casks.

Certificate No. 1015 is revised by

adding the effective date of the initial

certificate and the effective date of

Amendment Number 1.

Procedural Background

This rule is limited to the changes

contained in Amendment No. 1 to CoC

No. 1015 and does not include other

aspects of the NAC–UMS cask system

design. The NRC is using the ‘‘direct

final rule procedure’’ to promulgate this

amendment because it represents a

limited and routine change to an

existing CoC that is expected to be

noncontroversial; adequate protection of

public health and safety continues to be

ensured. This amendment is not

considered to be a significant

amendment by the NRC staff. The

amendment to the rules will become

effective on February 20, 2001.

However, if the NRC receives significant

adverse comments by January 8, 2001,

then the NRC will publish a document

that withdraws this action and will

address the comments received in

response to the proposed amendments

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register. These comments will

be addressed in a subsequent final rule.

The NRC will not initiate a second

comment period on this action.

Agreement State Compatibility

Under the ‘‘Policy Statement on

Adequacy and Compatibility of

Agreement State Programs’’ approved by

the Commission on June 30, 1997, and

published in the Federal Register on

September 3, 1997 (62 FR 46517), this

rule is classified as compatibility

Category ‘‘NRC.’’ Compatibility is not

required for Category ‘‘NRC’’

regulations. The NRC program elements

in this category are those that relate

directly to areas of regulation reserved

to the NRC by the Atomic Energy Act of

1954, as amended (AEA), or the

provisions of Title 10 of the Code of

Federal Regulations. Although an

Agreement State may not adopt program

elements reserved to NRC, it may wish

to inform its licensees of certain

requirements by a mechanism that is

consistent with the particular State’s

administrative procedure laws, but does

not confer regulatory authority on the

State.

Plain Language

The Presidential Memorandum dated

June 1, 1998, entitled ‘‘Plain Language

in Government Writing,’’ directed that

the Federal Government’s writing be in

plain language. The NRC requests

comments on this direct final rule

specifically with respect to the clarity

and effectiveness of the language used.

Comments should be sent to the address

listed under the heading ADDRESSES

above.

Finding of No Significant

Environmental Impact: Availability

Under the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the

NRC regulations in Subpart A of 10 CFR

Part 51, the NRC has determined that

this rule, if adopted, would not be a

major Federal action significantly

affecting the quality of the human

environment and, therefore, an

environmental impact statement is not

required. The rule will amend the CoC

for the NAC–UMS cask system within

the list of approved spent fuel storage

casks that power reactor licensees can

use to store spent fuel at reactor sites

under a general license. Amendment

No. 1 includes: (1) changes to

authorized contents to allow Maine

Yankee site-specific spent fuels within

the PWR basket, including damaged or

consolidated fuel in a Maine Yankee

fuel can and burnups up to 50,000

MWd/MTU; (2) changes to allow longer

times for PWR spent fuel cask loading

operations based on reduced heat loads;

(3) authorization to store, without

canning, intact PWR assemblies with

missing grid spacers (up to an

unsupported length of 60 inches); (4)

editorial clarifications to the technical

specifications; and (5) deletion of a

certificate reference to the NS–4–FR

trade name of the solid neutron

shielding material in the VCC shield

plug. The environmental assessment

and finding of no significant impact on

which this determination is based are

available for inspection at the NRC

Public Document Room, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

Electronic copies of the environmental

assessment and finding of no significant

impact can be found in the NRC’s Public

Electronic Reading Room on the Internet

at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/

index.html. Single copies are available

from Keith McDaniel, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555, telephone (301)

415–5252, email KKM@nrc.gov.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

This direct final rule does not contain

a new or amended information

collection requirement subject to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing

requirements were approved by the

Office of Management and Budget,

Approval Number 3150–0132.

Public Protection Notification

If a means used to impose an

information collection does not display

a currently valid OMB control number,

the NRC may not conduct or sponsor,

and a person is not required to respond

to, the information collection.

Voluntary Consensus Standards

The National Technology Transfer Act

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–113) requires that

Federal agencies use technical standards

that are developed or adopted by

voluntary consensus standards bodies

unless the use of such a standard is

inconsistent with applicable law or

otherwise impractical. In this direct

final rule, the NRC will revise the NAC–

UMS cask system design list in § 72.214

76898 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

(List of NRC-approved spent fuel storage

cask designs). This action does not

constitute the establishment of a

standard that establishes generallyapplicable requirements.

Regulatory Analysis

On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the

NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR

Part 72 to provide for the storage of

spent nuclear fuel under a general

license in cask system designs approved

by the NRC. Any nuclear power reactor

licensee can use NRC-approved cask

designs to store spent nuclear fuel if it

notifies the NRC in advance, spent fuel

is stored under the conditions specified

in the cask’s CoC, and the conditions of

the general license are met. A list of

NRC-approved cask designs is contained

in § 72.214. On October 19, 2000, (65 FR

62581), the NRC issued an amendment

to Part 72 that approved the NAC–UMS

design by adding it to the list of NRCapproved cask designs in § 72.214. On

July 16, 1999, the certificate holder

(NAC), submitted an application to the

NRC to amend CoC No. 1015.

Amendment No. 1 includes: (1) changes

to authorized contents to allow Maine

Yankee site-specific spent fuels within

the PWR basket, including damaged or

consolidated fuel in a Maine Yankee

fuel can and burnups up to 50,000

MWd/MTU; (2) changes to allow longer

times for PWR spent fuel cask loading

operations based on reduced heat loads;

(3) authorization to store, without

canning, intact PWR assemblies with

missing grid spacers (up to an

unsupported length of 60 inches); (4)

editorial clarifications to the technical

specifications; and (5) deletion of a

certificate reference to the NS–4–FR

trade name of the solid neutron

shielding material in the VCC shield

plug.

The alternative to this action is to

withhold approval of this amended cask

system design and issue an exemption

to each general license. This alternative

would cost both the NRC and the

utilities more time and money because

each utility would have to pursue an

exemption.

Approval of the direct final rule will

eliminate the problems described above

and is consistent with previous

Commission actions. Further, the direct

final rule will have no adverse effect on

public health and safety. This direct

final rule has no significant identifiable

impact or benefit on other Government

agencies.

Based on the above discussion of the

benefits and impacts of the alternatives,

the NRC concludes that the

requirements of the direct final rule are

commensurate with the NRC’s

responsibilities for public health and

safety and the common defense and

security. No other available alternative

is believed to be as satisfactory, and

thus, this action is recommended.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act

In accordance with the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has

determined that this action is not a

major rule and has verified this

determination with the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget.

Regulatory Flexibility Certification

In accordance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)),

the NRC certifies that this rule will not,

if promulgated, have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. This direct

final rule affects only the operation of

nuclear power plants, independent

spent fuel storage facilities, and NAC.

The companies that own these plants do

not fall within the scope of the

definition of ‘‘small entities’’ set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the

Small Business Size Standards set out in

regulations issued by the Small

Business Administration at 13 CFR Part

121.

Backfit Analysis

The NRC has determined that the

backfit rule (10 CFR 50.109 or 10 CFR

72.62) does not apply to this direct final

rule because this amendment does not

involve any provisions that would

impose backfits as defined. Therefore, a

backfit analysis is not required.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72

Criminal penalties, Manpower

training programs, Nuclear materials,

Occupational safety and health,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Security measures, Spent

fuel.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble and under the authority of the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;

the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974,

as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 553; the NRC

is adopting the following amendments

to 10 CFR Part 72.

PART 72—LICENSING

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT

NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

1. The authority citation for Part 72

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69,

81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat.

929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954,

955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092,

2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233,

2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub.

L. 86–373, 73 Stat. 688, as amended (42

U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206,

88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42

U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); Pub. L. 95–601, sec.

10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 10d–

48b, sec. 7902, 10b Stat. 31b3 (42 U.S.C.

5851); sec. 102, Pub. L. 91–190, 83 Stat. 853

(42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133, 135,

137, 141, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230,

2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L. 100–203, 101

Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152,

10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs.

142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L. 100–203, 101

Stat. 1330–232, 1330–236 (42 U.S.C.

10162(b), 10168(c), (d)). Section 72.46 also

issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C.

2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also

issued under sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100–203,

101 Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)).

Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15),

2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat.

2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C.

10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L

are also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat.

2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198).

2. In § 72.214, Certificate of

Compliance (CoC) 1015 is revised to

read as follows:

§ 72.214 List of approved spent fuel

storage casks.

* * * * *

Certificate Number: 1015.

Initial Certificate Effective Date:

November 20, 2000.

Amendment No. 1 Effective Date:

February 20, 2001.

SAR Submitted by: NAC

International, Inc.

SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis

Report for the NAC–UMS Universal

Storage System.

Docket Number: 72–1015.

Certificate Expiration Date: November

20, 2020.

Model Number: NAC–UMS.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd

day of November 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William D. Travers,

Executive Director for Operations.

[FR Doc. 00–31097 Filed 12–6–00; 8:45 am]

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