Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/09/2019-28375/list-of-approved-spent-fuel-storage-casks-nac-international-magnastor-system-certificate-of
Timestamp: 2020-01-23 01:54:59
Document Index: 743917362

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 72', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 20', 'art 72', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', 'art 72', 'art 72', 'art 20', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 51', '§\u20092', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 72', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', '§\u200950', 'art 52', 'art 72']

Federal Register :: List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International MAGNASTOR® System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 8
A Rule by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 01/09/2020
This direct final rule is effective March 24, 2020, unless significant adverse comments are received by February 10, 2020. If this direct final rule is withdrawn as a result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal will be published in the Federal Register. 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. Comments received on this direct final rule will also be considered to be comments on a companion proposed rule published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.
1096-1100 (5 pages)
NRC-2019-0195
3150-AK38
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International MAGNASTOR Storage System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 8
Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for the MAGNASTOR Storage...
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 8
Technical Specifications - Appendix B
Technical Specifications - Appendix A
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-28375 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-28375
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the NAC International, Inc. (NAC) MAGNASTOR® System listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031. Amendment No. 8 revises the technical specifications to delete Technical Specification A5.6 and revise the maximum pellet diameter in the technical specifications, Appendix B, Table B2-3, from 0.325 inches to 0.3255 inches for the CE16H1 hybrid fuel assembly, which includes Combustion Engineering 16 x 16 fuel assemblies. These revisions are discussed in more detail in the “Discussion of Changes” section of this document.
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0195. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
Bernard White, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6577; email: Bernard.White@nrc.gov or Edward M. Lohr, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-0253; email: Edward.Lohr@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0195 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-2019-0195.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-Start Printed Page 1097available 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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For the convenience of the reader, instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in the “Availability of Documents” section.
Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0195 in your comment submission.
This direct final rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 and does not include other aspects of the NAC MAGNASTOR® System (MAGNASTOR® System) design. The NRC is using the “direct final rule” procedure to issue this amendment because it represents a limited and routine change to an existing certificate of compliance that is expected to be noncontroversial. Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be reasonably assured. The amendment to the rule will become effective on March 24, 2020. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this direct final rule by February 10, 2020, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this action and will subsequently address the comments received in a final rule as a response to the companion proposed rule published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action. 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:
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 which 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 November 21, 2008, that approved the NAC MAGNASTOR® System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 (73 FR 70587).
On September 12, 2018, as supplemented on November 2, 2018, June 14, 2019, and July 16, 2019, NAC submitted a request to amend Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 for the MAGNASTOR® System. Amendment No. 8 revises the technical specifications to delete Technical Specification A5.6, “Special Requirements for the First System Placed in Service,” and revises the maximum pellet diameter in the technical specifications, Appendix B, Table B2-3, from 0.325 inches to 0.3255 inches for the CE16H1 hybrid fuel assembly, which includes Combustion Engineering 16 x 16 fuel assemblies. The revised certificate of compliance and technical specifications are identified and evaluated in the preliminary safety evaluation report.
As documented in that preliminary safety evaluation report, the NRC performed a safety evaluation of the proposed certificate of compliance amendment request. There are no significant changes to cask design requirements in the proposed amendment. The design of the cask would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control in the event of each evaluated accident condition. This amendment does not reflect a significant change in design or fabrication of the cask. In addition, any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the implementation of Amendment No. 8 would remain well within the limits specified by 10 CFR part 20, “Standards for Protection Against Radiation.” There will be no significant change in the types or amounts of any effluent Start Printed Page 1098released, no significant increase in the individual or cumulative radiation exposure, and no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences from, radiological accidents.
The amended MAGNASTOR® System design, when used under the conditions specified in the certificate of compliance, technical specifications, and the NRC's regulations, will meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 72; therefore, adequate protection of public health and safety will continue to be reasonably assured. When this direct final rule becomes effective, persons who hold a general license under § 72.210 may, consistent with the license conditions under § 72.212, load spent nuclear fuel into those MAGNASTOR® System casks that meet the criteria of Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement 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 MAGNASTOR® System design listed in § 72.214. This action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable requirements.
Under the “Agreement State Program Policy Statement” approved by the Commission on October 2, 2017, and published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2017 (82 FR 48535), 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, or the provisions of 10 CFR chapter I. Although an Agreement State may not adopt program elements reserved to the NRC, and the Category “NRC” does not confer regulatory authority on the State, the State may wish to inform its licensees of certain requirements by means consistent with the particular Agreement State's administrative procedure laws.
The action is to amend § 72.214 to revise the NAC MAGNASTOR® System listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031.
This direct final rule amends the certificate of compliance for the NAC MAGNASTOR® System design 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. Specifically, Amendment No. 8 updates the certificate of compliance to delete Technical Specification A5.6 and revise the maximum pellet diameter in the technical specifications, Appendix B, Table B2-3, from 0.325 inches to 0.3255 inches for the CE16H1 hybrid fuel assembly, which includes Combustion Engineering 16 x 16 fuel assemblies.
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 to provide for the storage of spent fuel under a general license in cask designs approved by the NRC. The potential environmental impact of using NRC-approved storage casks was initially analyzed in the environmental assessment for the 1990 final rule. The environmental assessment for this Amendment No. 8 tiers off of the environmental assessment for the July 18, 1990, final rule. Tiering on past environmental assessments is a standard process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
The NAC MAGNASTOR® System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis accidents that could occur during storage. Design basis accidents account for human-induced events and the most severe natural phenomena reported for the site and surrounding area. Postulated accidents analyzed for an independent spent fuel storage installation, the type of facility at which a holder of a power reactor operating license would store spent fuel in casks in accordance with 10 CFR part 72, include tornado winds and tornado-generated missiles, a design basis earthquake, a design basis flood, an accidental cask drop, lightning effects, fire, explosions, and other incidents.
The design of the cask would prevent loss of confinement, shielding, and criticality control in the event of each evaluated accident condition. If there is no loss of confinement, shielding, or criticality control, the environmental impacts resulting from an accident would be insignificant. This amendment does not reflect a significant change in design or fabrication of the cask.
Because there are no significant design or process changes, any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the implementation of Amendment No. 8 would remain well within 10 CFR part 20 limits. Therefore, the proposed certificate of compliance changes will not result in any radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from the environmental impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting the July 18, 1990, final rule. There will be no significant change in the types or significant revisions in the amounts of any effluent released, no significant increase in the individual or cumulative radiation exposures, and no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences of, radiological accidents. The NRC documented its safety findings in a preliminary safety evaluation report.
The alternative to this action is to deny approval of Amendment No. 8 and not issue the direct final rule. Consequently, any 10 CFR part 72 general licensee that seeks to load spent nuclear fuel into the NAC MAGNASTOR® System in accordance with the changes described in proposed Amendment No. 8 would have to request an exemption from the requirements of §§ 72.212 and 72.214. Under this alternative, interested licensees would have to prepare, and the NRC would have to review, a separate exemption request, thereby increasing the administrative burden Start Printed Page 1099upon the NRC and the costs to each licensee. The environmental impacts would be the same as the proposed action.
Approval of Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 would result in no irreversible commitment of resources.
The environmental impacts of the action have been reviewed under the requirements in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the NRC's regulations in subpart A of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that this direct final rule entitled “List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC International MAGNASTOR® System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 8,” will not have a significant effect on the human environment. Therefore, the NRC has determined that an environmental impact statement is not necessary for this direct final rule.
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the NRC certifies that this direct final rule will not, if issued, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This direct final rule affects only nuclear power plant licensees and NAC. These entities do not fall within the scope of the definition of small entities set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the size standards established by the NRC (§ 2.810).
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 designs approved by the NRC. Any nuclear power reactor licensee can use NRC-approved cask designs to store spent nuclear fuel if it (1) notifies the NRC in advance, (2) the spent fuel is stored under the conditions specified in the cask's certificate of compliance, and (3) the conditions of the general license are met. A list of NRC-approved cask designs is contained in § 72.214. On November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70587), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 that approved the MAGNASTOR® System design by adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214.
On September 12, 2018, as supplemented on November 2, 2018, June 14, 2019, and July 16, 2019, NAC submitted a request to amend the MAGNASTOR® System as described in Section IV, “Discussion of Changes,” of this document.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of Amendment No. 8 and to require any 10 CFR part 72 general licensee seeking to load spent nuclear fuel into the NAC MAGNASTOR® System under the changes described in Amendment No. 8 to request an exemption from the requirements of §§ 72.212 and 72.214. Under this alternative, each interested 10 CFR part 72 licensee would have to prepare, and the NRC would have to review, a separate exemption request, thereby increasing the administrative burden on the NRC and the costs to each licensee.
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (§ 72.62) does not apply to this direct final rule. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required. This direct final rule revises Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 for the NAC MAGNASTOR® System, as currently listed in § 72.214. The revision consists of the changes in Amendment No. 8 previously described, as set forth in the revised certificate of compliance and technical specifications.
Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 for the NAC MAGNASTOR® System was initiated by NAC and was not submitted in response to new NRC requirements, or an NRC request for amendment. Amendment No. 8 applies only to new casks fabricated and used under Amendment No. 8. These changes do not affect existing users of the NAC MAGNASTOR® System, and previous amendments continue to be effective for existing users. While current certificate of compliance users may comply with the new requirements in Amendment No. 8, this would be a voluntary decision on the part of current users.
For these reasons, Amendment No. 8 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 does not constitute backfitting under § 72.62 or § 50.109(a)(1), or otherwise represent an inconsistency with the issue finality provisions applicable to combined licenses in 10 CFR part 52. Accordingly, the NRC staff has not prepared a backfit analysis for this rulemaking.
The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through the following methods.
Submission of NAC International MAGNASTOR® System Thermal Performance Test Data Satisfying the Requirements of Certificate of Compliance, Appendix A, Section 5.6, September 12, 2018 ML18257A079
NRC Letter, Receipt of Test Data for Thermal Performance Test for MAGNASTOR® System for Certificate of Compliance No. 1031—Acknowledgment Letter, October 25, 2018 ML18299A008
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Amendment No. 8 Request and Supplement Information, November 2, 2018 ML18331A180
NRC Letter, Application for Amendment No. 8 Request for Additional Information, February 22, 2019 ML19056A057
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Supplement to Amendment No. 8 Request, June 14, 2019 ML19171A269
Letter from NAC International Transmitting Supplement to Amendment No. 8 Request, July 16, 2019 ML19199A151
Memorandum to J. Cai re: User Need for Rulemaking for Amendment No. 8, September 26, 2019 ML19228A239
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications, Appendix A ML19228A235
Proposed Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment No. 8, Technical Specifications, Appendix B ML19228A236
Draft Certificate of Compliance 1031, Amendment No. 8 ML19228A237
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 Amendment No. 8, Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report ML19228A238
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-2019-0195. The Federal Rulemaking website allows you to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2019-0195); (2) click the “Sign up for Email Alerts” link; and (3) enter your email address and select how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).
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; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR part 72:
Amendment Number 7 Effective Date: August 21, 2017, as corrected (ADAMS Accession No. ML19045A346).
Amendment Number 8 Effective Date: March 24, 2020.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of December, 2019.
[FR Doc. 2019-28375 Filed 1-8-20; 8:45 am]