Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/12/18/03-31207/list-of-approved-spent-fuel-storage-casks-standardized-nuhoms
Timestamp: 2019-01-19 20:25:54
Document Index: 365848481

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART 72', 'art 72', 'art 72', '§\u200972', '§\u200972', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 51', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 72', '§\u200972', 'art 121']

A Rule by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 12/18/2003
The final rule is effective March 2, 2004, unless significant adverse comments are received by January 20, 2004. A significant adverse comment is one which 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. If the rule is withdrawn, timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.
68 FR 70423
70423-70426 (4 pages)
3150-AH28
03-31207
PART 72—LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-RELATED WASTE GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/03-31207 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/03-31207
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations revising the Transnuclear, Inc., Standardized NUHOMS® Horizontal Modular Storage System (Standardized NUHOMS® System) listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 7 in Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1004. Amendment No. 7 will incorporate changes in support of the Amergen Corporation plans to load damaged fuel and additional fuel types at its Oyster Creek Nuclear Station. Specifically, the amendment will add damaged Boiling Water Reactor spent fuel assemblies and additional fuel types to the authorized contents of the NUHOMS®-61BT Dry Shielded Canister under a general license. In addition, the amendment includes three minor changes to the Technical Specifications to correct inconsistencies and remove irrelevant references.
You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH28) in the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available to the public in their entirety on the NRC rulemaking website. Personal information will not be removed from your comments.
E-mail comments to: SECY@nrc.gov. If you do not receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions about our rulemaking website to Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail cag@nrc.gov.
Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be viewed electronically on public computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Public File Area O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments, can be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/​NRC/​ADAMS/​Start Printed Page 70424index.html. From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. An electronic copy of the proposed CoC, proposed Technical Specifications (TS), and preliminary Safety Evaluation Report (SER) can be found under ADAMS Accession Nos. ML032100773, ML032100775, and ML032100776, respectively.
CoC No. 1004, the revised Conditions for Cask Use and TS, the underlying SER for Amendment No. 7, and the Environmental Assessment (EA) are available for inspection at the NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. Single copies of these documents may be obtained from Jayne McCausland, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6219, e-mail jmm2@nrc.gov.
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 December 22, 1994 (59 FR 65920), that approved the Standardized NUHOMS® System (NUHOMS®-24P and -52B) cask designs and added them to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214 as CoC No. 1004. Amendments 3, 5, and 6, respectively, added the -61BT, -32PT, and -24PHB designs to the Standardized NUHOMS® System.
On March 29, 2002, and as supplemented on February 14, 2003, and July 10, 2003, the certificate holder, Transnuclear, Inc. (TN), submitted an application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1004 to incorporate changes in support of the Amergen Corporation plans to load damaged fuel and additional fuel types at its Oyster Creek Nuclear Station. Specifically, the amendment will add damaged Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) spent fuel assemblies and additional fuel types to the authorized contents of the NUHOMS®-61BT Dry Shielded Canister under a general license. In addition, three minor changes to the TS were requested to correct inconsistencies and remove irrelevant references. No other changes to the Standardized NUHOMS® System were requested in this application. The NRC staff performed a detailed safety evaluation of the proposed CoC amendment request and found that an acceptable safety margin is maintained. In addition, the NRC staff has determined that there is still reasonable assurance that public health and safety and the environment will be adequately protected.
This direct final rule revises the Standardized NUHOMS® System listing in § 72.214 by adding Amendment 7 to CoC No. 1004. The amended TS are identified in the NRC staff's SER for Amendment 7.
The amended Standardized NUHOMS® System, when used in accordance with the conditions specified in the CoC, the TS, and NRC regulations, will meet the requirements of part 72; thus, adequate protection of public health and safety will continue to be ensured.
Certificate No. 1004 is revised by adding the effective date of Amendment Number 7.
This rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment 7 to CoC No. 1004 and does not include other aspects of the Standardized NUHOMS® System. The NRC is using the “direct final rule procedure” to issue 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. The amendment to the rule will become effective on March 2, 2004. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by January 20, 2004, 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. A significant adverse comment is a comment which 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:
These comments will be addressed in a subsequent final rule. The NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by January 20, 2004, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this action and will address the comments received in response to the proposed Start Printed Page 70425amendments published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
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 would revise the Standardized NUHOMS® System listed in § 72.214 (List of NRC-approved spent fuel storage cask designs). This action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that establishes generally applicable requirements.
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 would amend the CoC for the Standardized NUHOMS® 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 by revising the NUHOMS®-61BT to incorporate changes in support of the Amergen Corporation plans to load damaged fuel and additional fuel types at its Oyster Creek Nuclear Station. Specifically, the amendment will add damaged BWR spent fuel assemblies and additional fuel types to the authorized contents of the NUHOMS®-61BT Dry Shielded Canister. In addition, the amendment includes three minor changes to the TS to correct inconsistencies and remove irrelevant references. The environmental assessment (EA) 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. Single copies of the EA and finding of no significant impact are available from Jayne M. McCausland, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6219, email jmm2@nrc.gov.
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 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 December 22, 1994 (59 FR 65920), the NRC issued an amendment to part 72 that approved the Standardized NUHOMS® System (NUHOMS®-24P and -52B) by adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214. Amendments 3, 5, and 6, respectively, added the -61BT, -32PT,and -24PHB cask designs to the Standardized NUHOMS® System. On March 29, 2002, and as supplemented on February 14, 2003, and July 10, 2003, the certificate holder, Transnuclear, Inc. (TN), submitted an application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1004 to incorporate changes in support of the Amergen Corporation plans to load damaged fuel and additional fuel types at its Oyster Creek Nuclear Station. Specifically, the amendment will add damaged BWR spent fuel assemblies and additional fuel types to the authorized contents of the NUHOMS®-61BT Dry Shielded Canister under a general license. In addition, the amendment includes three minor changes to the TS to correct inconsistencies and remove irrelevant references.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of this amended cask system design and issue an exemption to the general license for each utility that decides to use the amended cask system design. This alternative would cost both the NRC and the utilities more time and money because each utility would have to pursue an exemption.
In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 [5 U.S.C. 605(b)], the NRC certifies that this rule will not, if issued, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This direct final rule affects only the licensing and operation of nuclear power plants, independent spent fuel storage facilities, and Transnuclear, Inc. 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 Start Printed Page 70426issued by the Small Business Administration at 13 CFR part 121.
Amendment Number 5 Effective Date: [Reserved].
Model Number: Standardized NUHOMS®-24P, NUHOMS® -52B, NUHOMS®-61BT, NUHOMS®-32PT, and NUHOMS® -24PHB.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of November, 2003.
[FR Doc. 03-31207 Filed 12-17-03; 8:45 am]