[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12040-12042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6390]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[Docket No. PRM-72-4]
Prairie Island Coalition; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; Notice of receipt.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by the
Prairie Island Coalition. The petition has been docketed by the
Commission and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-72-4. The petitioner
requests that NRC undertake rulemaking to examine certain issues
addressed in the petition relating to the potential for thermal shock
and corrosion in dry cask storage. The petitioner requests that the NRC
amend its regulations that govern independent storage of spent nuclear
fuel in dry storage casks to define the parameters of acceptable
degradation of spent fuel in dry cask storage. The petitioner also
requests an amendment to the regulations to define the parameters of
retrievability of spent nuclear fuel in dry cask storage and to require
licensees to demonstrate safe cask unloading ability before a cask may
be used at an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI).
DATES: Submit comments by May 26, 1998. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of
consideration cannot be given except as to comments received on or
before this date.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications staff.
Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm on Federal workdays.
For a copy of the petition, write: David L. Meyer, Chief, Rules and
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking
website through the NRC home page (http://www.nrc.gov). This site
provides the availability to upload comments as files (any format), if
your web browser supports that function. For information about the
interactive rulemaking website, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-
5905 (e-mail: [email protected]).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David L. Meyer, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555. Telephone: 301-415-7163 or Toll Free: 1-800-368-5642 or E-mail:
[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a petition for
rulemaking submitted by George Crocker on behalf of the Prairie Island
Coalition (PIC) in the form of a letter and an attached document
addressed to L. Joseph Callan, Executive Director for Operations, NRC,
dated August 26, 1997. Most of the issues presented in Mr. Crocker's
letter and the attached document pertain to a petition filed under 10
CFR 2.206 regarding dry storage cask regulations that has been reviewed
by the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). See 62 FR 53031.
The resolution of these issues is presented in a decision published by
the Director, NRR (DD-98-02; 2/11/98). This notice pertains to
paragraphs 13, 14, and 15 on page 3 of the document attached to the
August 26, 1997, letter from PIC. These paragraphs contain a request
for rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure
Act (APA).
The NRC has determined that the issues presented in paragraphs 13,
14, and 15 of the PIC document constitute a petition for rulemaking
under 10 CFR 2.802. Paragraph 13 requests NRC to solicit and review
information regarding thermal shock and corrosion inherent in dry cask
storage and usage and to define the parameters of degradation of spent
nuclear fuel in dry cask storage acceptable under 10 CFR 72.122(h).
Paragraph 14 requests NRC to define the parameters of retrievability
required
[[Page 12041]]
under 10 CFR 72.122(l). Paragraph 15 requests NRC to require
demonstration of a safe cask unloading ability before a cask may be
used at an ISFSI. These requests do meet the sufficiency requirements
for a petition for rulemaking under 10 CFR 2.802. The petition,
consisting of paragraphs 13, 14, and 15, has been docketed as PRM-72-4.
As set forth in the petition, the petitioner is the Prairie Island
Coalition (PIC), a consortium of environmental, business, citizen, and
religious groups, and tribal and urban Indian organizations. PIC is
involved in locating and disseminating information regarding dry cask
storage of spent nuclear fuel, and opposes Northern States Power
Company's (NSP) plans to construct and operate an ISFSI at the Prairie
Island Nuclear Generating Station (PI). PIC has participated in various
Minnesota and NRC proceedings that pertain to operational and waste
issues at the Prairie Island facility.
The NRC is soliciting public comment on the petition for rulemaking
submitted by the Prairie Island Coalition that requests the changes to
the regulations in 10 CFR part 72 discussed below.
Discussion of the Petition
The petitioner notes that the regulations in 10 CFR Part 72
establish requirements and criteria for spent fuel dry cask storage and
usage. The petitioner has requested a rulemaking proceeding to examine
issues regarding degradation, retrieval, and unloading of spent nuclear
fuel in dry storage casks.
Degradation of Spent Nuclear Fuel
The petitioner requests an amendment of the regulations in 10 CFR
part 72 to define the parameters of spent fuel degradation that are
acceptable to the NRC under 10 CFR 72.122(h). Section 72.122(h)
provides that spent fuel cladding must be protected during storage
against degradation or that the fuel must be configured such that
degradation will not pose an operational safety concern. The petitioner
is concerned about the potential effect of spent fuel degradation on
the ability to safely unload a dry storage cask. The petitioner
believes that factors such as thermal shock will cause spent fuel to
degrade in the course of unloading and expose onsite personnel and the
environment to radioactive emissions. The petitioner states that no
procedures have been developed to protect operational safety and to
assess worker or offsite radiation exposure in such a situation. The
petitioner cites a February 25, 1997, letter from Dr. Gail H. Marcus,
NRC, to PIC in support of the petition. PIC asserts, based on the
letter, that temperature differences between spent fuel and coolant
create the potential for thermal shock and spent fuel degradation.
PIC also believes the TN-40 cask is subject to failed welds and to
fuel degradation due to cask seal failure as a result of helium gas
release. PIC cites as support for the petition a letter dated April 15,
1997, from Dr. Susan Frant Shankman, NRC, to Sierra Nuclear, and
contends that cladding degradation during storage is unacceptable
because it could lead to future fuel handling and retrievability
problems. The petitioner also cites the Safety Analysis Report
submitted by NSP for the ISFSI at the PI facility that requires the
licensee to replace cask seals to prevent a helium leak and fuel
degradation. Copies of the supporting documents referenced above are
attached to the petition.
PIC contends that NRC has not adequately addressed the possibility
of damage caused by thermal shock when cool water from a storage pool
is placed in a cask that contains spent nuclear fuel. The petitioner
also contends that NRC had not adequately addressed degradation of
spent nuclear fuel due to the loss of helium from failed seals or due
to the passage of time.
Retrievability of Spent Nuclear Fuel
The petitioner also requests an amendment to the regulations in 10
CFR Part 72 that govern storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage
casks to define the parameters of retrievability of spent fuel required
by the NRC under 10 CFR 72.122(l). Section 72.122(l) provides that
spent fuel storage systems must be designed to allow ready
retrievability of the spent fuel for future processing or disposal.
PIC is concerned that the NRC has not taken into account the
potential problems that may be encountered in unloading a cask to
retrieve spent fuel. In support of its claim, PIC cites an April 16,
1997, memorandum from Jack Roe, NRC, to Cynthia Pederson, NRC Region
III, and asserts that this memorandum is evidence that NRC has not
taken into account possible problems with retrieval of spent fuel.
The petitioner also cites a study of the TN-24 cask conducted by
the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) in 1990, which
involved opening TN-24 casks that contained canisters of spent fuel
assemblies that had been stored for several years. The petitioner
contends that the INEL study found the thermal damage so great that
some canisters containing spent nuclear fuel could not be retrieved
from the cask. The petitioner believes that the INEL study and the
cited NRC memorandum, copies of which are attached to the petition,
demonstrate that spent nuclear fuel cannot be reliably retrieved from
dry storage casks.
Unloading of Spent Nuclear Fuel
Lastly, the petitioner requests an amendment to the regulations to
require licensees to demonstrate the ability to unload spent nuclear
fuel safely from a dry storage cask before a cask may be used at an
ISFSI. The petitioner contends that if a licensee can demonstrate
ability to unload spent nuclear fuel safely from a cask in a pool after
long-term storage, then the public will have assurance that a spent
fuel storage cask can be unloaded.
PIC contends that a cask may need to be unloaded for various
reasons. The petitioner notes that Minnesota law in, In the Matter of
Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 501 N.W.2d 638 (Minn. Ct. App. 1993),
requires a licensee to move casks after eight years of temporary
storage. The petitioner believes that the 1990 NRC Waste Confidence
Decision also contemplates that casks will need to be unloaded before
transport to a Federal interim site or repository.
PIC believes that although NRC regulations do not require a
licensee to be able to immediately unload a cask, NRC clearly requires
a licensee to be able to unload the spent fuel at some point. The
petitioner also believes that because in-pool unloading of spent fuel
from a dry storage cask that has contained the fuel for a protracted
time period has not been completed, there is sufficient reason to
require a licensee to demonstrate the ability to actually unload a dry
storage cask underwater. PIC states that it would be satisfied if a
licensee can demonstrate the ability to unload spent nuclear fuel from
a dry storage cask at some reasonable point in time.
The Petitioner's Conclusions
The petitioner has concluded that NRC regulations in 10 CFR Part 72
that govern independent storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage
casks must be amended. PIC has concluded that thermal shock and
associated degradation of spent nuclear fuel during the unloading of
dry storage casks has not been adequately addressed in NRC regulations.
The petitioner requests an amendment to the regulations to define the
parameters of acceptable degradation of spent nuclear fuel in dry
storage under 10 CFR 72.122(h).
The petitioner has also concluded that NRC regulations do not
adequately
[[Page 12042]]
address issues related to the retrieval of spent nuclear fuel from dry
storage casks. The petitioner requests an amendment to the regulations
to define the parameters of retrievability of spent fuel from dry
storage casks required under 10 CFR 72.122(l).
Lastly, the petitioner has concluded that NRC regulations do not
adequately address issues pertaining to unloading of spent nuclear fuel
from dry storage casks. The petitioner requests an amendment to the
regulations to require licensees to demonstrate the ability to unload
spent nuclear fuel safely from a dry storage cask before the cask may
be used at an ISFSI.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of March, 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-6390 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
