Spent Fuel Cask Certificate of Compliance Format and Content
| Published date | 19 October 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 66285 |
| Record Number | 2020-22268 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 202 (Monday, October 19, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 202 (Monday, October 19, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66285-66287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22268]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[Docket Nos. PRM-72-7; NRC-2012-0266; NRC-2014-0067]
Spent Fuel Cask Certificate of Compliance Format and Content
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Withdrawal of petition for rulemaking; discontinuation of
rulemaking activity.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the
withdrawal of Petition for Rulemaking PRM-72-7 (PRM; petition), and
discontinuation of the associated rulemaking activity, ``Spent Fuel
Cask Certificate of Compliance Format and Content.'' The NRC will no
longer track this rulemaking activity or PRM.
DATES: The docket for the rulemaking is closed on October 19, 2020. The
petition was withdrawn on February 25, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs NRC-2012-0266 or NRC-2014-0067
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-2012-0266 or NRC-2014-
0067. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher;
telephone: 301-415-3463; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
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 [email protected]. Instructions about obtaining
materials referenced in this document are provided in the Availability
of Documents section of this document.
Attention: The Public Document Room (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 [email protected] or
call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Anderson, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7126; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Discussion
II. NRC Analysis
III. Availability of Documents
IV. Conclusion
I. Discussion
On October 3, 2012, the NRC received PRM-72-7 from the Nuclear
Energy Institute (NEI; petitioner). The petition requested that the NRC
revise part 72 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear
Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than
Class C Waste,'' to add a new rule governing spent fuel storage cask
certificate of compliance format and content and make other changes to
NRC oversight of dry cask storage activities.
The petition was noticed in the Federal Register for public comment
on February 5, 2013. The NRC received five comment letters, all
supporting the petition. On July 18, 2014, the NRC announced that the
six issues raised in the petition were appropriate for consideration in
the rulemaking process. The petition issues were identified as follows:
Issue No. 1: The petition requested an amendment to 10 CFR part 72,
subpart L, ``Approval of Spent Fuel Storage Casks,'' to provide
specific criteria for the format and content of the certificate of
compliance for a spent fuel storage cask.
Issue No. 2: The petition requested an amendment to Sec. 72.62 to
provide backfit protection to certificate of compliance holders in
addition to licensees.
Issue No. 3: The petition requested an amendment to 10 CFR part 72,
subpart
[[Page 66286]]
K, ``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor
Sites,'' to remove the requirement in Sec. 72.212(b)(6) for general
licensees to perform a review of the NRC's safety evaluation report for
the certificate of compliance or amended certificate of compliance
prior to use by a general licensee.
Issue No. 4: The petition requested an amendment to 10 CFR part 72,
subpart K, to clarify the requirement to review various plans and
programs that are governed by other NRC regulations.
Issue No. 5: The petition requested an amendment to 10 CFR part 72,
subpart L, to remove the requirement in Sec. 72.236(k)(3) to mark the
empty weight on each storage cask.
Issue No. 6: The petition requested an amendment to Sec. 72.124(c)
to expand the scope of activities for which criticality monitoring is
not required.
NRC's review of these six issues showed that they did not address
safety, environmental, or security concerns. Accordingly, the
rulemaking was assigned a medium priority.
II. NRC Analysis
NRC staff evaluated the issues raised by the petitioner in
accordance with its rulemaking process. The staff's early assessment of
the petition issues determined that Issue No. 1 pertaining to the
certificate of compliance format and content was the most consequential
for improving the efficiency of the licensing process.
In 2016 and 2017, the NRC staff engaged with external stakeholders
through a series of public workshops to explore options for achieving
the efficiency improvements raised by Issue No. 1. The information
obtained from those workshops supported development of qualitative
risk-informed graded approach criteria that could be used to streamline
the format and content of certificates of compliance and focus the
certificate of compliance content on the most risk significant aspects.
The graded approach criteria help determine the level of detail and
location of information that should be included in a certificate of
compliance for a spent fuel dry storage cask design. This graded
approach is described in Regulatory Issue Resolution Protocol I-16-01.
On June 29, 2017, TN Americas LLC (formerly AREVA) submitted an
application for Renewed Amendment 16 \1\ to the Standardized
NUHOMS[supreg] Horizontal Modular Storage System (NUHOMS[supreg])
Certificate of Compliance No. 1004 to pilot the application of the
graded approach criteria. Chapter 2 of the preliminary safety
evaluation report for the amendment discusses the development of the
graded approach criteria in more detail, including information on the
public meetings that were held and how the criteria were applied in
review of the amendment request. After completing a safety review of
the application, the staff, by letter dated January 8, 2020, endorsed
the use of the pilot study's graded approach criteria by other cask
vendors. This letter noted that NRC will continue to explore the use of
risk information and enhancements to the dry storage licensing process.
On June 30, 2020 (85 FR 39049), the NRC published the rulemaking for
this pilot amendment with a direct final rule and companion proposed
rule in the Federal Register; as corrected on July 17, 2020 (85 FR
43419).
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\1\ On December 3, 2017, the NRC issued the renewals of initial
certificate; Amendment Nos. 1 through 11 and 13, Revision 1; and
Amendment No. 14 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1004 for the
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] System. Subsequently, Renewed Amendment
No. 15 was issued on December 14, 2018. The certificates were
renewed for an additional 40-year period. The TN Americas LLC
Certificate of Compliance No. 1004, its amendments, and all future
amendments to the certificate are referred to as Renewed Amendments.
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While the TN Americas LLC renewed amendment was under development,
the staff, in the summer of 2019, identified potential rulemaking
alternatives for the petition items and performed a preliminary cost-
benefit analysis in support of the rulemaking plan. These assessments
determined that resolution of Issue No. 1 could result in substantial
averted costs (benefits) to the NRC, certificate of compliance holders,
and licensees and could be achieved without rulemaking. The remaining
Issues 2-6 were estimated to produce negligible net benefits that,
without the benefits of Issue No. 1, would not justify the costs of
rulemaking. Furthermore, other staff assessments indicated that, in
addition to Issue No. 1, some of the other issues raised by the
petition could be satisfactorily addressed outside of the rulemaking
process using non-rulemaking approaches.
On November 18, 2019, the NRC staff held a public meeting on the
status of the rulemaking associated with PRM-72-7. At the meeting, the
petitioner, NEI, supported non-rulemaking alternatives to gain
certificate of compliance efficiencies as soon as possible. The
transcript and public meeting summary from this meeting are listed in
Section III, Availability of Documents, of this notice.
Subsequently, in a letter dated February 25, 2020, NEI withdrew the
petition. In this letter, NEI stated that Issue No. 1 was ``the central
purpose of PRM 72-7,'' and that this issue was addressed through the
NRC's endorsement of the graded approach criteria. In addition, NEI
indicated that, with this central purpose addressed, ``none of the
other issues raised in the petition, on their own merits, warrant the
dedication of specific [NRC] resources to a rulemaking.''
With the development and endorsement of the graded approach
criteria, the NRC finds that the primary intent of the petition has
been satisfied. Additionally, a preliminary cost-benefit analysis
demonstrates that rulemaking is not cost-justified for the remaining
issues. Accordingly, the NRC is taking no further action on the
petition and is discontinuing the rulemaking effort.
III. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are related to this
action and are available to interested persons through one or more of
the following methods, as indicated.
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Adams Accession No./ Federal Register
Document Citation
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Petition for rulemaking from the ML12299A380
Nuclear Energy Institute,
October 3, 2012.
Federal Register notice for 78 FR 8050
receipt and request for comment,
``Spent Fuel Cask Certificate of
Compliance Format and Content,''
February 5, 2013.
Letters, Public Comments on PRM- ML14134A072 (package)
72-7, May 15, 2014.
Federal Register notice for 79 FR 41935
consideration in rulemaking
process, ``Spent Fuel Cask
Certificate of Compliance Format
and Content,'' July 18, 2014.
Letter, ``Proposed RIRP Issue ML16158A048
Screening Form and Resolution
Plan for Improving the
Efficiency of the Regulatory
Framework for Dry Storage of
Spent Nuclear Fuel,'' April 12,
2016.
[[Page 66287]]
Letter, ``Regulatory Issue ML17138A119
Resolution Protocol Screening
Form and Resolution Plan for
Improving the Part 72 Regulatory
Framework (RIRP-I-16-01),'' May
12, 2017.
Letter, ``Response to Nuclear ML17150A458
Energy Institute's Letter
Regarding Regulatory Issue
Resolution Protocol Screening
Form and Resolution Plan for
Improving the Part 72 Regulatory
Framework (RIRP-I-16-01),'' June
5, 2017.
Letter, ``Application for ML17191A235
Amendment 16 to Standardized
NUHOMS[supreg] Certificate of
Compliance No. 1004 for Spent
Fuel Storage Casks, Revision 0
(Docket No. 72-1004),'' June 29,
2017.
Letter, ``Application for ML17206A045
Amendment No. 16 to Standardized
NUHOMS[supreg] Certificate of
Compliance No. 1004--Accepted
for Review,'' July 21, 2017.
Preliminary Safety Evaluation ML19262E161
Report, ``TN Americas LLC
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg]
Horizontal Modular Storage
System for Irradiated Nuclear
Fuel Docket No. 72-1004
NUHOMS[supreg] System Amendment
No. 16,'' September 18, 2019.
Letter, ``Industry White Paper-- ML19318D970
Defining Spent Fuel Performance
Margins,'' November 8, 2019.
Public Meeting Documentation, ML19324C657 (package)
November 18, 2019.
Summary, November 18, 2019 Public ML19340A414
Meeting, December 18, 2019.
Transcript, ``Public Meeting to ML20079H441
Discuss the Issues Contained in
PRM-72-7 and Additional Staff-
Identified.
Changes to 10 CFR Part 72,''
November 18, 2019.
Letter, Endorsement of Graded ML19353D337 (package)
Approach, January 8, 2020.
Letter, Request to Withdraw PRM- ML20058B100
72-7, February 25, 2020.
Federal Register notice for 85 FR 39049
direct final rule, ``TN Americas
LLC, Standardized NUHOMS[supreg]
Horizontal Modular Storage
System, Certificate of
Compliance No. 1004, Renewed
Amendment No. 16,'' June 30,
2020.
Federal Register notice 85 FR 43419
correction, ``TN Americas LLC,
Standardized NUHOMS[supreg]
Horizontal Modular Storage
System, Certificate of
Compliance No. 1004, Renewed
Amendment No. 16,'' July 17,
2020.
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IV. Conclusion
The NRC is withdrawing PRM-72-7 and is no longer pursuing the Spent
Fuel Cask Certificate of Compliance Format and Content rulemaking for
the reasons discussed in this document. If the NRC decides to pursue a
similar or related rulemaking in the future, it will inform the public
through a new rulemaking entry in the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and
Deregulatory Activities.
Dated: October 2, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-22268 Filed 10-16-20; 8:45 am]
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