[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24249-24250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12027]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[Docket No. PRM-72-3]
Fawn Shillinglaw; 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 Fawn
Shillinglaw. The petition has been docketed by the Commission and has
been assigned Docket No. PRM-72-3. The petitioner requests that the NRC
amend its regulations which govern independent storage of spent nuclear
fuel in dry storage casks to require that the safety analysis report
for a cask design fully conforms with the associated NRC safety
evaluation report and certificate of compliance before NRC
certification of the cask design. The petitioner also requests that the
revision date and number of a safety analysis report be specified
whenever that report is referenced in documents. The petitioner
believes that her proposal would eliminate confusion among licensees,
vendors, fabricators, and others who often refer to only the safety
analysis report as the relevant document when there may be revisions
that must be included to ensure compliance with the NRC safety
evaluation report and certificate of compliance. The petitioner also
believes that the NRC must clarify the process for modification of a
safety analysis report after a cask has been certified.
DATES: Submit comments by July 29, 1996. 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: Docketing and Service
Branch.
Deliver comments to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm on Federal workdays.
For a copy of the petition, write: Division of Freedom of
Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
For information regarding electronic submission of comments, see
the language in the Supplementary Information section of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555. Telephone: 301-415-7163 or Toll Free: 800-368-5642.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a petition for
rulemaking submitted by Fawn Shillinglaw in the form of two letters
addressed to Chairman Jackson dated December 9 and December 29, 1995. A
determination by the Office of the General Counsel on March 5, 1996,
specified that the issues presented would be treated as a petition for
rulemaking. The petition was docketed as PRM-72-3 on March 14, 1996.
The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations in 10 CFR
Part 72 entitled, ``Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage
of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste.''
Specifically, the petitioner requests that 10 CFR Part 72 be
amended to require that the safety analysis report (SAR) for a spent
fuel dry storage cask design fully conforms with the associated NRC
safety evaluation report (SER) and certificate of compliance (COC)
before NRC certification of the cask design. The petitioner also
requests that 10 CFR Part 72 be amended to require that the revision
date and number of an SAR be specified whenever that report is
referenced in documents. The petitioner believes there is confusion
among licensees, vendors, fabricators, and others who often refer to
only the safety analysis report as if it is the only relevant document
when there may be revisions that must be included to prevent
discrepancies between versions of the SAR and the NRC SER and COC for a
specific cask design.
The petitioner cites the VSC-24 cask, designed by Sierra Nuclear
Corporation, as an example where revisions to the SAR occurred after
the NRC SER and COC were issued. The petitioner believes that no
procedures are currently in place to permit a cask vendor to make
changes to its SAR after issuance of the NRC SER and COC. The
petitioner also believes that this situation creates confusion and the
possibility that an SAR version is being used that directly contradicts
SER and COC requirements. The petitioner asks for an explanation of the
process that the NRC used for allowing changes to be made by the vendor
to the VSC-24 cask after NRC certification, what were those changes,
and how this was accomplished without rulemaking. The petitioner also
recommends that the NRC make cask unloading procedures publicly
available.
The NRC is soliciting public comment on the petition for rulemaking
submitted by Fawn Shillinglaw that requests the changes to the
regulations in 10 CFR Part 72 as discussed below.
Discussion of the Petition
The petitioner notes that the regulations in 10 CFR Part 72
establish requirements and criteria for the certification of spent fuel
dry storage cask designs by the NRC. The petitioner is concerned that
no process exists in the regulations for a cask vendor to make changes
to a generically approved and certified dry storage cask design. The
petitioner cites the VSC-24 cask as an example where NRC certification
was issued for a design that was modified after the actual
certification took place. The petitioner notes that NRC certified the
design for the VSC-24 cask on May 7, 1993. The vendor of the VSC-24
cask, Sierra Nuclear Corporation (Sierra), agreed to submit a revision
to its SAR (Rev. OA) for this cask in July 1993, about 3 months after
NRC certification, because changes were necessary to meet requirements
contained in the NRC SER and COC.
The petitioner states that this revision was never completed and
cites an NRC letter to Sierra dated November 28, 1994, which indicated
that the SAR still needed modification to eliminate contradictions and
differences between the VSC-24 cask SAR and the NRC SER and COC. The
petitioner cites a Sierra submittal dated June 5, 1995, as the first
instance where a revision (Rev. 0AA) appears with the necessary
changes. The petitioner also cites a letter from NRC to Sierra which
states that Revs. O and OA insert material into the SAR that NRC asked
Sierra to perform. However, the petitioner believes that the material
appears in the licensing record but not in the SAR. The petitioner
indicates that constant references to the SAR exist in various
documents but is concerned that the references do not specify the
revision number. The petitioner believes this creates confusion and the
possibility that an SAR version is being
[[Page 24250]]
used that may even contradict or differ from SER and COC requirements.
The petitioner has concluded that a final SAR for a spent fuel dry
storage cask design should be accepted which completely fulfills all
NRC SER and COC requirements before the cask is certified. The
petitioner also believes that the NRC must address how the final vendor
SAR can be modified as needed after a cask design is certified.
Currently, the only way an SAR can be amended is through rulemaking.
The petitioner has also concluded that the SAR revision number and date
should be required whenever that document is referenced to eliminate
confusion and prevent a situation where an SAR does not meet NRC SER
and COC requirements. Lastly, the petitioner is concerned that the NRC
is withholding cask unloading procedures from the public and recommends
that the NRC make these procedures publicly available. The petitioner
cites an example of a faulty dry cask at the Palisades facility where
the licensee has been waiting to have a final unloading procedure
approved by the NRC. The petitioner has concluded that dry cask storage
issues should be addressed and resolved by the NRC to set the proper
precedent for the national nuclear waste disposal program.
Electronic Submission of Comments
Comments may be submitted electronically, in either ASCII text or
WordPerfect format (version 5.1 or later), by calling the NRC
Electronic Bulletin Board (BBS) on FedWorld. The bulletin board may be
accessed using a personal computer, a modem, and one of the commonly
available communications software packages, or directly via Internet.
Background documents on this rulemaking are also available for
downloading and viewing on the bulletin board.
If using a personal computer and modem, the NRC rulemaking
subsystem on FedWorld can be accessed directly by dialing the toll free
number (800) 303-9672. Communication software parameters should be set
as follows: parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1 (N,8,1).
Using ANSI or VT-100 terminal emulation, the NRC rulemaking subsystem
can then be accessed by selecting the ``Rules Menu'' option from the
``NRC Main Menu.'' Users will find the ``FedWorld Online User's
Guides'' particularly helpful. Many NRC subsystems and data bases also
have a ``Help/Information Center'' option that is tailored to the
particular subsystem.
The NRC subsystem on FedWorld can also be accessed by a direct dial
phone number for the main FedWorld BBS, (703) 321-3339, or by using
Telnet via Internet: fedworld.gov. If using (703) 321-3339 to contact
FedWorld, the NRC subsystem will be accessed from the main FedWorld
menu by selecting the ``Regulatory, Government Administration and State
Systems,'' then selecting ``Regulatory Information Mall.'' At that
point, a menu will be displayed that has an option ``U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission'' that will take you to the NRC Online main menu.
The NRC Online area also can be accessed directly by typing ``/go nrc''
at a FedWorld command line. If you access NRC from FedWorld's main
menu, you may return to FedWorld by selecting the ``Return to
FedWorld'' option from the NRC Online Main Menu. However, if you access
NRC at FedWorld by using NRC's toll-free number, you will have full
access to all NRC systems, but you will not have access to the main
FedWorld system.
If you contact FedWorld using Telnet, you will see the NRC area and
menus, including the Rules Menu. Although you will be able to download
documents and leave messages, you will not be able to write comments or
upload files (comments). If you contact FedWorld using FTP, all files
can be accessed and downloaded but uploads are not allowed; all you
will see is a list of files without descriptions (normal Gopher look).
An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with
descriptions, is available. There is a 15-minute time limit for FTP
access.
Although FedWorld also can be accessed through the World Wide Web,
like FTP, that mode only provides access for downloading files and does
not display the NRC Rules Menu.
For more information on NRC bulletin boards call Mr. Arthur Davis,
Systems Integration and Development Branch, NRC, Washington, DC 20555,
telephone (301) 415-5780; e-mail AXD3@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of May, 1996.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 96-12027 Filed 5-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
