[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 148 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42751-42753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16703]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

[NRC-2021-0052]
RIN 3150-AK63


List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International NAC-
UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No. 
1015, Amendment No. 8

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the NAC 
International NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System listing within 
the ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks'' to include Amendment 
No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1015. Amendment No. 8 revises 
the certificate of compliance to add the storage of damaged boiling-
water reactor spent fuel, including higher enrichment and higher burnup 
spent fuel; change the allowable fuel burnup range; expand the boiling-
water reactor class 5 fuel inventory that could be stored in the cask; 
and revise definitions in the technical specifications.

DATES: Submit comments by September 7, 2021. 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-2021-0052, 
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: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6577; email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4f0d2a3d212e3d2b611827263b2a0f213d2c61282039"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="94d6f1e6faf5e6f0bac3fcfde0f1d4fae6f7baf3fbe2">[email protected]</span></a> or James Firth, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6628, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#307a515d55431e7659424458705e42531e575f46"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0a406b676f79244c63787e624a647869246d657c">[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-2021-0052 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-2021-0052. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder, telephone: 301-415-3407, 
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9fdd8ced797ffd6cbdddccbf9d7cbda97ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="612500160f4f270e13050413210f13024f060e17">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical questions contact the 
individuals 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#423226306c3027312d37302127022c30216c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fe8e9a8cd08c9b8d918b8c9d9bbe908c9dd0999188">[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> Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4d3d293f633f283e22383f2e280d233f2e632a223b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a9d9cddb87dbccdac6dcdbcacce9c7dbca87cec6df">[email protected]</span></a> or call 1-800-397-4209 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2021-0052 in your comment submission. 
The NRC requests that you submit comments through the Federal 
rulemaking website

[[Page 42752]]

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 October 19, 
2021. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse comment by 
September 7, 2021, 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. 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, 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 casks approved for use under the terms, 
conditions, and specifications of their certificate of compliance or an 
amended certificate of compliance pursuant to this general license are 
listed in Sec.  72.214. The NRC subsequently issued a final rule on 
October 19, 2000 (65 FR 62581), that approved the NAC International 
NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System and added it to the list of 
NRC-approved cask designs in Sec.  72.214 as Certificate of Compliance 
No. 1015.
    The NAC International NAC-UMS[supreg] Universal Storage System 
consists of the following components: (1) Transportable storage 
canister (TSC), which contains the spent fuel; (2) vertical concrete 
cask, which contains the TSC during storage; and (3) a transfer cask, 
which contains the TSC during loading, unloading, and transfer 
operations. Amendment No. 8 revises the certificate of compliance to 
(1) add the storage of damaged boiling-water reactor spent fuel, 
including higher enrichment and higher burnup spent fuel; (2) change 
the allowable fuel burnup range; and (3) expand the boiling-water 
reactor class 5 fuel inventory that could be stored in the cask; and 
(4) change definitions in the technical specifications that are 
associated with the contents of the spent nuclear fuel stored in the 
cask (e.g., high burnup fuel and initial peak planar-average 
enrichment).

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.

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                   Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
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Submission of a Request to Amend the U.S.       ML20006D749
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Certificate of
 Compliance No. 1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask
 System, December 18, 2019.
Application for Amendment No. 8 to the Model    ML20076A546
 No. NAC-UMS Storage Cask--Acceptance Letter,
 March 17, 2020.

[[Page 42753]]

 
NAC International, Submittal of Supplement to   ML20122A201
 Amend the NRC Certificate of Compliance No.
 1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask System, April 24,
 2020.
Application for Amendment No. 8 to the Model    ML20170A800
 No. NAC-UMS Storage Cask--Request for
 Additional Information, June 25, 2020.
Submission of Responses to the U.S. Nuclear     ML20227A066
 Regulatory Commission Request for Additional
 Information for Certificate of Compliance No.
 1015 for the NAC-UMS Cask System, August 7,
 2020.
Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for          ML20358A255
 Rulemaking for Amendment No. 8 Request,
 February 23, 2021.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1015     ML20358A257
 Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications,
 Appendix A.
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1015,    ML20358A258
 Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications
 Appendix B.
Draft Certificate of Compliance No. 1015        ML20358A256
 Amendment No. 8.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1015 Amendment    ML20358A259
 No. 8, Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report.
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    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-2021-0052.

    Dated: July 26, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021-16703 Filed 8-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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