03-18262. List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NAC-MPC Revision

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations revising the NAC International, Inc., Multipurpose Canister cask system listing within the “List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks” to include Amendment No. 3 to the Certificate of Compliance (CoC). This amendment would incorporate changes in support of the Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Yankee Rowe) fuel loading campaign and make corrections to the Connecticut Yankee technical specifications. Specifically, the amendment would incorporate fuel enrichment tolerances; incorporate fuel assemblies with up to 20 damaged fuel rods, recaged assemblies, the Yankee Rowe damaged fuel can, and assembly weights up to 432 kilograms (950 pounds); revise the average surface dose rate limits for the concrete cask; incorporate administrative changes in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Alternatives; correct the Connecticut Yankee tables for fuel assembly limits and intact fuel assembly characteristics; and incorporate editorial and administrative changes in the CoC.

DATES:

Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before August 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH20) 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.

Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.

E-mail comments to: [e-mail]. If you do not receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us directly at [phone]. 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 [phone]; email [e-mail].

Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays (telephone [phone]).

Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at [phone].

Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be examined and copied for a fee at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Public File Area O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. 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/​index.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 Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [e-mail]. An electronic copy of the proposed Certificate of Compliance (CoC), Technical Specifications (TS), and preliminary safety evaluation report (SER) can be found under ADAMS Accession Nos. ML031330790, ML031340571, and ML031330792, respectively.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jayne M. McCausland, telephone [phone], e-mail, [e-mail] of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

For additional information, see the direct final rule published in the final rules section of this Federal Register.

Procedural Background

This rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment 3 to CoC No. 1025 and does not include other aspects of the NAC-MPC cask 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 CoC that is expected to be noncontroversial. Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be ensured. The direct final rule will become effective on October 1, 2003. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by August 18, 2003, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct final rule and will subsequently address the comments received in a final rule. 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:

(1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For example, in a substantive response:

(a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or conduct additional analysis;

(b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or

(c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC staff.

(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without incorporation of the change or addition.

(3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than editorial) to the CoC or technical specifications.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72

• Administrative practice and procedure
• Criminal penalties
• Manpower training programs
• Nuclear materials
• Occupational safety and health
• Penalties
• Radiation protection
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Security measures
• Spent fuel
• Whistleblowing

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; and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC is proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR Part 72.

PART 72—LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE

1. The authority citation for Part 72 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L. 86-373, 73 Stat. 688, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-486, sec. 7902, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152, 10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C. 10162(b), 10168(c), (d)). Section 72.46 also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C.10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)). Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15), 2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C. 10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198).

2. In § 72.214, Certificate of Compliance 1025 is revised to read as follows:

§ 72.214

List of approved spent fuel storage casks.

* * * * *

Certificate Number: 1025.

Initial Certificate Effective Date: April 10, 2000.

Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: November 13, 2001.

Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: May 29, 2002.

Amendment Number 3 Effective Date: October 1, 2003.

SAR Submitted by: NAC International, Inc.

SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the NAC-Multipurpose Canister System (NAC-MPC System).

Docket Number: 72-1025.

Certificate Expiration Date: April 10, 2020.

Model Number: NAC-MPC.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of July, 2003.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William D. Travers,

Executive Director for Operations.